Flamenco Archives - Paul Yanuziello

‘Don’t worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don’t worry, be happy
Don’t worry, be happy now’ – Bobby McFerrin

Hello all and welcome to my weekly journal. A place where I am thrilled to share with you five points of interest. This week, a wonderful storytelling festival for the whole family, movies, music and more…

1. The Yorkshire Festival of Story, YFOS — continues until November 28th. All the events are free and donations are happily accepted.

There are still some children’s events that you can register for. Spots go fast so make sure you register early.

2. I love the creativity of Lin Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), his directorial debut with Tick Tick Boom is scheduled to premiere on Netflix this Friday, Nov. 19th. I hope I get to see it. I’ll be sure to let you all know what I think of it.

Speaking of creativity, we lost a most creative talent. Musician Dave Frishberg March 23, 1933 – November 17, 2021 – Rest in Power Maestro.

3. My musical tastes have continued to be delightfully entertained with Sheku Kanneh-Mason and his sister Isata as they perform in duet on their new recording Muse which has gone to number 1 on many classical music listings.

4. My reading pleasure this week, ‘Espresso Tales‘ which has gone back to author Alexander McCall Smith and his series 44 Scotland Street. The series takes place in McCall Smith’s hometown, Edinburgh, Scotland.

I visited a used book store close to my Sanctuary, ‘Read It Again – New & Used Books‘ and I discovered a treasure trove of well-loved books. I picked up a few…

5. I just found out that my Bobby McFerrin performance scheduled for December 18th at Koerner Hall has been postponed. The reason: The maestro is not well, a postponement due to illness.

Cancelled:

Yikes, in my experience that is not a good thing. I’ve had tickets to many concerts that were postponed; Count Basie big band the concert went ahead but the Maestro did not show up due to illness.

A Ravi Shankar concert with accompaniment by his daughter Anoushka was cancelled due to an illness by Ravi. There have been others as well. Aretha Franklin, that was rescheduled but never happened. Natalie Cole too, another cancelled concert due to illness.

I think that this cancellation is different; Bobby McFerrin is busy performing gigs closer to home and he’s sharing positivity with all those lucky folk in Berkley, California.

This week, November 16th, I celebrated International Flamenco Day. I watched about 3 hours of sublime flamenco culture and tradition.

Thank you for reading. If you think someone you know would enjoy my newsletter please share it with them. If you are looking for a great children’s book check out my new book, Samba in Brazil; Paperback version, on sale for a limited time. And the Portuguese version, Samba no Brasil, now available as a set.

Or one of my other books, Samba on a Snowy Day or the Brazilian/ Portuguese version Samba em um Dia de Neve.

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong and keep going.

Paul Yanuziello

Hello all!

Some things that interested me this week, and I hope will be of interest to you too.

Here are my five items, links or suggestions that should get you some inspiration and information.

Last week I mentioned that I was inspired by the drumming of Ginger Baker. I started drum lessons when I was ten years old. My mother forced all of us, me and my two brothers, to take some kind of lessons in the arts. I started with accordion, that lasted two lessons, I took Flamenco dance lessons, I liked that, but not dance, the percussion. I took drumming, yes that was for me, I loved banging on things. I was in a few garage/basement bands and then I got invited to sit in with a fantastic guitarist in my neighbourhood, Ed McDonald. I was fourteen years old and along with our bass player of the time, Don Alain, we practiced a lot. When I was fifteen I was playing in clubs with the band, now named, Snowaxe. I was in this band for along time. About eleven years and in that time we went through numerous bass players, and on looking back, I can say there were some good times. To get a good idea of what it was like, check out the movie This Is Spinal Tap, a movie that always makes me laugh.
This week I took in a show entitled, The Paco deLucia Project at the George Weston Recital Hall. A fantastic show with great Flamenco guitar, dance singing and percussion. latinjazznet.com Flamenco Legends. To get a good idea of the inspiration for the group, listen to the master Paco diLucia performing with his septet live in Germany. Paco diLucia Live.
Speaking of shows, the Tony award winning show Hamilton, is on its way to Toronto. Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre will play host to Hamilton this February with tickets going on sale October 28th. HamiltonEdMirvishTheatre
I have some kids in my karate class who have been victims of bullying. They haven’t said anything to me about it. It’s the parents who have mentioned it. We’re talking young kids, seven and eight years old. As a karate teacher you walk a thin line – you can’t promote violence, we teach them to refrain from violent behaviour. You can teach them about self defence, you can give them the guidelines to stand up for themselves. To not be afraid to talk to adults about their problems. Anti bullying in Canada, the policy, the procedures and the problems. What you can do is inform all the students about how to carry yourself, what is good behaviour, and not acceptable behaviour. There are some great guidelines here. Canada Guide To Anti Bullying. Bullying prevention in schools by Prev Net, Promoting Relationships & Eliminating Violence Network – Canada’s authority on research and resources for bullying prevention. A great resource,
prevnet.ca bullying-prevention-facts-and-tools-for-schools
The dance legend Alicia Alonso passed away this week, she was 98. The New York Times has some wonderful information on her outstanding achievements nytimes alicia-alonso . I learned about the inspirational Ms. Alonso from my mother who was a professional ballerina and dance master and like Ms. Alonso, continued teaching and training, well into her 70’s.

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