Tomas Michaud - Beauty and Fire

Beauty and Fire falls into that category of nouveau-flamenco or "new flamenco" and that means it is a far cry from traditional flamenco which has a lot of strumming; this newer style is made up of Latin-styled acoustic guitar playing with lots of gentle, but melodic lead runs. For the past two decades or so this has been a very well-liked sound for international audiences.

Tomas Michaud is a popular progenitor of this sound and aptly believes we are living in a new world where the music of many countries and cultures should be blended together to create new sounds, new art-forms. Even though his music is centered around the sound of a Latin-styled guitar, Michaud is widely-traveled and works in elements from not only all the Latin-heritage countries, but also the Mid-East, France, Bali and Singapore, among other locations.

This is world-fusion music at its best, smoothly combining diverse elements into an exotic and enchanting new sound. His influences range from the nouveau-flamenco styles of Ottmar Liebert and the Gipsy Kings, to the fluid, controlled passion of Carlos Santana.

So take a musical trip with Tomas Michaud and let him lead you to places that are as much a reflection of who we are as the exterior world around us. It is a journey well worth an hour of your time.

This CD and Michaud's previous half-dozen recordings can be purchased at Amazon and CDbaby on-line as well as many digital download locations such as iTunes and eMusic.