TARIK
BANZI (Composer,
Multi-instrumentalist & Visual Artist) “a superbly
gifted player” (All Music
Guide) Tarik traces his roots back to Al-Andalus, Spain (711-1492). He
was born to one of the old Andalusian families in Tetouan, Morocco and
grew up immersed in the Andalusian musical tradition. Tarik has
performed for such notables as Queen Sofia of Spain and Princess Haifa
Al-Saud while his musicianship has complimented the albums of flamenco
and Jazz masters such as Paco de Lucia, Manolo Sanlucar, Enrique
Morente and Jorge Pardo where Tarik introduced such mainstays the
darbuka (clay or metal drum) and Udu (clay pot drum). Tarik’s students
Fain Duenas and Vicente Molina went on to form the Grammy nominated
World music group Radio Tarifa. Tarik’s diversity can be seen in
the works of Classical, Jazz, Folk, New Age, Rock and World Music
artists from Billy Oskay (Nightnoise), Guadalquivir, La Trinca,
Tijeritas, Michael Shreive and Graham Leer (Carlos Santana), Dan Crary,
Carolyn Cruso, Lief Sorby, Magical Strings, Paul Winter, John Doan,
Oregon Repertory Singers and Enrique Valdivieso... Tarik has composed
scores of soundtracks for cinema & film including Delirios de Amor
(Felix Rotaeta, Antonio Banderas), Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet,
Henry IV, Othello, Bodas de Sangre (Garcia Lorca) and Salome’ (Nuria
Espert). Tarik is a featured Arts Bridge Scholar and has guest lectured
at many universities including the Virginia Military Institute, Denver
University, Arizona State University, Washington State University,
Portland University, Western Carolina University, Reed College, Lewis
& Clark. Tarik & Julia composed music for American National
Public Radio (NPR) “Legacies: Faith, Hope and Peace” which was
subsequently awarded the “Heart of America Award” for best in radio and
was recently filmed for an upcoming American Public Broadcasting
Station (PBS) documentary on the three faiths “A Journey of Faith”
(Auteur Productions). Tarik is an accomplished visual artist who
completed his Doctoral studies Fine Arts (Ph.D.) at the Complutense
University of Madrid, Spain and further studies at the University of
California Santa Barbara. His artwork is included in
collections throughout the
world.
JULIA BANZI (Ph.D) (flamenco
guitar, viola, percussion) (flamenco guitar, viola, percussion) The
world of guitar boasts few women who ignite the sound of the guitar,
and in the macho flamenco culture, even fewer still. Rotary
Ambassadorial Scholar, Julia lived in Spain for over a decade where she
specialized in flamenco and established herself as one of a very few
female flamenco guitarists worldwide. In Andalucia’s Granada, Sanlucar
de Barrameda and later at Madrid’s Amor de Dios studios, Julia worked
accompanying notable dance instructors such as Ciro, La Tate &
Manolete and studied with Spain’s finest guitarists including Manolo
Sanlucar, Isidro Muñoz, David Serva, Felipe Maya and Rafael
Morales. Her passion for flamenco led her to explore its roots, where
she focused on Arabo-Andalusian, Ladino & Indian musics. After
obtaining a B.A. degree in music from Lewis & Clark College, she
went on to complete her Ph.D. Ethnomusicology at the University of
California Santa Barbara where she simultaneously taught ‘American
Music and Popular Culture’ and wrote a thesis ‘Women’s Andalusian
Ensembles of Tetuan, Morocco” and dissertation “Flamenco Guitar
Innovation and the Circumscription of Tradition.” Musician and
scholar, Julia authored chapters for the ‘Arab World Studies Notebook’
(AWAIR & The Middle East Policy Council w/ Audry Shabbas), ‘A solo
Dance with my Soul’ and served as a consultant for ‘The Rise of Islam’
(Stanford University). Julia is an AIMS scholar, featured Arts Bridge
Scholar, FLAS, TALMS, Eric Porshman Fellowship in Music & Art
recipient, and was selected by The National Council on US Arab
Relations for the ‘Passage to Morocco’ program. She has organized
panels and given papers at academic conferences (SEM, SEMSCC, MACSEM)
on topics ranging from ‘Academic Ethno Ensembles’ and ‘Women, Music
& Identity’ to ‘Andalusian Music’ and ‘The Marketing of Roma in
Popular Music.’ Julia is currently preparing a book on her interviews
and photographs with the late master of Andalusian music Mohammed
Temsamani. She teaches guitar at Reed College and Lewis & Clark
College in Portland, Oregon. 
CHARLIE BISHARAT
(Violin) While you might not recognize the name, you would
instantly identify the violin artistry of Charlie Bisharat. His work
has graced the albums of such pop phenoms as Alanis Morissette, The
Rolling Stones, Jane's Addiction, and Aerosmith. His diversity can be
heard on the works of Jazz and World Music artists Strunz & Farah,
Don Grusin, and Oscar Castro-Neves. And his accomplishments have been
featured in scores of soundtracks from Swordfish, Texas Rangers, Steal
Big Steal Little to on-screen performances of Austin Powers Gold
Member, The Drew Carey Show and Friends. A Grammy Award-winning
performer, Mr. Bisharat has toured the world time and again with Jazz
and New Age groups as varied as Shadowfax, Kitaro, Yanni and John Tesh.
He has composed and produced tracks for record-setting album projects
as well. His range of styles has led him from pop to jazz to classical,
where he is often heard subbing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Orchestra and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. His wide array of
skills is best exemplified on his own recording on Universal Music
Group's Along The Amazon, an all-star album featuring some of jazz and
pop's greatest artists. A published author as well, Charlie has written
and recorded the jazz improvisational book and CD Beyond Classical
Violin for Cherry Lane Music. Mr. Bisharat’s compositions have been
featured in movies and television as well as a myriad of recording
projects. His works for small ensembles range from the original opus
Lying In Wait which appears on the album Subliminal Blues And Greens by
the all-female quartet Cello, to string arrangements for rock guitarist
Andy Summers of The Police. Charlie continues to travel the globe
performing in concert and recording with some of the most accomplished
musicians of our day. Live appearances this year alone have included
Costa Rica, Spain, Abu Dhabi, Jordan, Switzerland & Brazil. Born
and raised in Los Angeles, Mr. Bisharat is in demand as one of Southern
California's busiest violinists. Television and feature film scores
make up a generous portion of his recording schedule in town. In
addition, he has appeared as a guest speaker at the Henry Mancini
Institute and often lends a hand with the Yamaha Music Education
programs both in the U.S. and abroad.
BILLY OSKAY
(violin) is a native of Kingston New York
. He started playing violin at age seven and early on studied
with violin virtuoso Eugen Prokop at the International Academy of Music
Palma de Mallorca, Spain where he was awarded a professional diploma in
violin and chamber music. He received his MA in music from Ball State
University in Indiana. During the early seventies Billy headed the
music department at Mt. Angel College in Oregon. He has played swing
jazz with Oregon's Everythings Jake, violin/fiddle with the Irish group
Nightnoise which he co-founded on the Windham Hill label. To date
he has engineered/produced over 150 cds on several international labels.
BOUJEMAA RAZGUI (ney,
vocals, kamanja, percussion) hails from Marrakech, Morocco, where he
studied the ney with local masters. He made his first public appearance
as flutist with the Marrakech Orchestra of Modern Music and went on to
play in different groups accompanying national singers of Morocco.
Rasgui first joined Tarik & Julia Banzi in Madrid in 1987 and has
since gone on to perform in a wide variety of performance settings
throughout Spain, Morocco, France, Canada and the United States.
RANJANI KRISHNAN (Voice) was born in
Bombay, India. Ethnically she hails from the southern Indian
state of Tamilnadu and lived many years in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Her mother, an accomplished musician, has played the Veena for almost
40 years, and her father, a thespian and connoisseur of music, provided
a her a strong foundation in Indian classical music. Ránjani
learned Carnatic music from Gowri Natarajan, a disciple of the esteemed
Lalgudi Jayaraman. She graduated from Reed College and University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with degrees in Mathematics and from Lewis
and Clark College with an honors degree in music composition.
Ránjani is a versatile singer who has studied languages like
ancient Greek, Hebrew, German, Spanish, and Arabic in addition to her
native tongue of Tamil and the more familiar English and Hindi.
VIRTUDES SANCHEZ
(vocals) from Conil de la Frontera,
Spain, the cradle of flamenco. She is part of a new wave of
vocalists
that is descending upon Andalusian folk music, ready to defend
and to
enrich different schools of cante. Her voice her Andalusian heritage,
flamenco, canto Lirico Espanol as well as her classical vocal training
recieved later in life at conservatories in Conil, Sevilla and Madrid.
Marrying tradition and this young cantora presents varied offerings
with a capacity to look outward toward other terrains her musicality
and sense of rhythm project a clear intention to maintain Andalucia’s
vitality marrying tradition and progress with skill and know how.
LAURA DUBROCA (Flamenco
& Andalusian dance) Born in the Abu Dhabi of the United Arab
Emirites to French ex-patriot parents, she later lived in Venvzuela,
Qatar, Indonesia and France, Laura has received diverse cultural
influences from each one of the vaired countries wehre she has
lived. She began classical ballet studies at an early age
and later discovered her love of flamenco where she has studied
with Manolo Marin, Milagros Menjibar, Carmen Ledesma and Rafael
Campallo in the Fundación Cristina Heeren de Arte Flamenco in
Sevilla. She continued with Manuela Ríos, Adela Campallo,
Juana Amaya, Pastora Galvan, Angeles Gabaldon. She is a regular
performer in the flamenco peña “La Perla de
Cadiz, Asociación Cultural Antigua Sevilla, Espacio Temporal,
AguaFresca and in concert with international harpest Meko.
MARIA JOSE
FRANCO
(Flamenco & Andalusian dance) Flamenco dancer Maria Jose Franco
belongs to the contemporary young Andalucian elite. Flamenco
dancer from a very young age, Maria Jose began her formation under
Angelita Gómez and Manolo Marín with later studies with
Carmen Cortés, Matilde Coral, El Güito, Manolete, La
Yerbabuena, Antonio Canales and Mario Maya. Maria Jose Franco is
premier dancer for Paco Peña (www.PacoPena.com). She
frequently performs alongside Antonio El Pipa.
MARGARITA BRUCE
had her
first exposure to Spanish dance through her mother, a pianist
at a Spanish dance academy in Monterey, Mexico. As a child she
studied Spanish dance with Luisa Galian in Mexico and
later trained in classical ballet, she is an experienced professional
in the world of Spanish dance, both in flamenco and in Spanish
classical dance. She has performed with such prestigious dance
companies and artists as Jose Greco, Gisela Noriegaís
Ballet Espanol, Eduardo Montemayor Fantasia Espanola, La
Chiquiís
Compania de Arte Espanol, Jose Molina, Sara deLuis and Manolo
Rivera. and has trained with dance masters such as Jose
Molina, Sara de Luis, Nana Lorca, Jose Greco, La Cintia, Paco
Romero, Ciro, Carmen Linares ìLa Chiquiî and Teo
Morca.
MARTIN
ZARZAR
(percussion) was born in Lima, Peru, where, after traveling
around the world for many years, he began to study drum-set, and
hand percussion at age thirteen. His professional music career
began at age fifteen in Portland, OR, where he met the group Al
Andalus with whom, amongst others, he traveled, performed,
and recorded. In 1996, he won a scholarship to attend Berklee
College of Music (Boston, MA), from where he now holds a Magna
Cum Laude Bachelor's Degree in Drum-Set Performance. Since his
arrival in Boston he has traveled as a performer to Europe, Canada,
South America, and within the U.S.A., performing alongside Simon
Shahin, Jamey Haddad, and Pink Martini, amongst others.
While living in Boston, he has been an active member of the music
community, finding inspiration in the work of his colleagues and
teachers alike. He currently resides in Portland where he continues
to explore the mystery of music and life in general.
GAVIN BONDY (trumpet, cornet)
of the Shanghi Wooliles, currently performs also with internationally
renowned Pink Martini. He loves many styles of music, some of his
favorites being renaissance, Armenian folk music, early jazz, and heavy
metal. He formerly played with La Mayor Salsa Orchestra and the
neo-funk/groove band Rubbernec.
JOE
HEINEMANN began Classical
piano lessons at age seven and continued through to the San Francisco
Conservatory of Music as a teenager with further studies in Europe.
Joe has toured and recorded with a wide variety ofwell known artists
such as Quincy Jones, Robben Ford, Robert Cray, Archie Shepp,
Eddie Harris, Steve Miller, Ronnie Montrose, and many more.
He toured, recorded with the Steve Miller's Blues Band,
where Joe wooed crowds and press reporters as a featured soloist.
His first CD recently won him top ten honors in Jazziz Magazine's
Keyboards On Fire national contest. He is currently appearing
with the Charlie Musselwhite Blues Band, and the Patty
Austin Band is a much sought after piano instructor in San Francisco.
