The Siuslaw news., December 30, 2015, WEDNESDAY EDITION, Page Page 5, Image 36

J e s s e Co o k t o b r i n g a l i t t l e H ava n a t o Fl o re n ce
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Rumba Foundation,’ I went to Colombia and worked with
musicians from Cuba as well. For me, the question has
always been: Where did you go? Where did you take your
guitar?”
Cook will perform on the main stage Jan. 29,
beginning at 7 p.m., with a pre-concert talk at 6:15 p.m.
Tickets are $30 for adults or $10 for children. For tickets,
call 541-997-1994, stop in at the FEC box offi ce at 715
Quince Street or visit www.eventcenter.org.
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Harnoy (Canada), Alex Cuba (Cuba), Los Gaiteros de San
Jacinto (Colombia), Dadawa (China), Djivan Gasparyan
(Armenia), and Dulce Pontes (Portugal), among others.
His music has been featured on several episodes
of “Sex and The City,” “The Chris Isaak Show” and at
several Olympic Games.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Irina Slutskaya of
Russia won a bronze medal skating to Cook’s composition
“Mario Takes a Walk.” In 1998, Cook was nominated for
a Juno Award as Instrumental
Artist of the Year. In 2001, he
received a Juno Nomination for
Best Male Artist. In 2001, Cook
won a Juno Award in the Best
Instrumental Album category for
“Free Fall.”
In 2009, he was Acoustic
Guitar’s Player’s Choice Award
silver winner in the Flamenco
category (gold went to Paco de
Lucia). He is a three-time winner
of the Canadian Smooth Jazz
award for Guitarist of the Year
and numerous other awards.
For Jesse Cook, music has
been a journey both literally
and sonically. “Over the years,
I’ve taken my music and tried
to cross-pollinate it with music
from different parts of the
world,” he says. “For the (2003)
album ‘Nomad,’ I went to Cairo
and recorded with musicians
there. On my (2009) record ‘The
S i u s l aw Awa rd s t o ce l e b rate Fl o re n ce’s
t o p b u s i n e s s e s, co m m u n i t y l e a d e r s
The eighth annual Siuslaw Business
Awards banquet, sponsored by the Chamber
of Commerce, will take place Jan. 20, at
the FEC. Doors open at 6 p.m., with dinner
served at 6:30 p.m. This prestigious event
recognizes excellence in the local business
community by naming recipients for
awards in Excellence in Customer Service,
Curb Appeal, Nonprofi t Achievement,
Community Caring, and the Stu Johnston
Business of the Year Award.
This year, the Florence Chamber
has added a new category: Innovation
in Business. The recipient of this award
will be a business that has introduced an
innovative product or service, or operates
in a mode where innovation is built into the
culture of the company.
The Siuslaw Awards also recognizes
two outstanding individuals in the
community by honoring them with the
For ticket information, contact The Florence Events Center box office at (541) 997-1994
Future First Citizen Award and the First
Citizen Award. The First Citizen Award
recognizes that individual who has given
selfl essly to the community based on
community involvement, leadership and
overall community impact.
The Future First Citizen Award
recognizes that student based on his or
her academic success as well as civic
involvement and contributions to the
community.
The Florence Area Chamber of
Commerce will also recognize an individual
or business that has selfl essly given of their
time and efforts in supporting the Florence
Area Chamber of Commerce and its efforts
with the Distinguished Service Award.
Tickets are $35 and available from
the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce.
For more information, call the Florence
Chamber at 541-997-3128.
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On Jan. 29, a little bit of Havana will come to Florence
when world-acclaimed guitarist and vocalist Jesse Cook
performs at the Florence Events Center.
A student of classical and jazz guitar at Canada’s
Royal Conservatory of Music, York University, and
Berklee College of Music in The United States, Cook
has often quipped that he later attempted to unlearn it all
while immersing himself in the oral traditions of Gypsy
music. This helped him widen his range of musical tastes.
Cook, who spent the fi rst few years of his life moving
between Paris, Southern France and Barcelona, was
fascinated as a toddler by the guitar and tried to emulate
the sound he heard coming from his parents’ recordings
of Manitas de Plata, a famous Gypsy guitarist from the
region of Southern France. He has been pursuing and
developing his own musical style ever since.
“My strange way of playing guitar is a hybrid of
styles. I was a classical guitarist as a kid, and I studied
fl amenco and then I studied jazz.” says Cook. “So there
are three musical and guitar traditions in my background.
Music is a constantly evolving thing.”
Cook has recorded eight studio albums, three live
DVDs and has traveled the world exploring musical
traditions that he has blended into his style of rumba
fl amenco. In addition to headlining concerts and festivals,
he has opened for such legends as B.B. King, Ray Charles
and Diana Krall. He has performed with Welsh soprano
Charlotte Church on “The Tonight Show” and toured with
legendary Irish band, The Chieftains.
Other artists Cook has performed and/or recorded
with include: Montse Cortés (Spain), Flora Purim
(Brazil), Holly Cole (Canada), Afro Celt Sound System
(England), Buckwheat Zydeco (USA), Danny Wilde of
The Rembrandts (USA), Liona Boyd (Canada), Ofra