Toronto based musician Jesse Cook will take you around the world with his guitar.
Cook returns to Lethbridge, to play the Yates Theatre, Nov. 21 as part of his One World Tour, in support of his most recent CD “One World.”
“I’m sure I’ve played Lethbridge before. I play 140 dates a year, so I guess it’s been at least four or five years since I’ve played Lethbridge,” Cook said.
He stayed in Toronto to record his latest CD “One World” and took advantage of being close to Toronto’s burgeoning world music community, but he isn’t afraid to get on a plane.
An aficionado of world music, Cook isn’t afraid to track down the music at it’s source, so he will often travel the world to play with musicians who are experts in their fields.
He has travelled to Colombia, Cairo, Cuba and Lafayette, Louisiana to to record with zydeco icon Buckwheat Zydeco.
He enjoyed recording with Buckwheat Zydeco several years ago.
“ We were recording right next to the bayou and he pulled up in an old pickup truck , it was just him and his accordion. He was the real deal,” he said.
He said sometime collaborations come easily others don‘t, but it always works out in the end.
“ lot of the musicians in foreign country only know how to play within their own genre and they don’t necessarily know what I want,“ he said, adding he tries to get them to play as naturally as possible within the context of his songs.
“There was one time in Brazil. We waited around for two days and I didn’t think it would work, it was scary but it was an adventure and it worked,” he said.
A highlight was going to Cairo.
“ I played with the musicians who played on “Kashmir by Led Zeppelin,” he said.
He loves playing with musicians of that calibre.
“It opened the door up to a whole new world of music, I might not have discovered. So I should accept that opportunity,” he said.
Cook is always working on new music and he never knows how it will sound until he is finished.
“I’m working on a new album, but haven’t decided if it will require me to get on a plane,” Cook said.
“But it is a country I have been wanting to explore for a long time,” he continued, adding he also doesn’t want to reveal the country in question in case the project doesn’t pan out and fans are consequently disappointed.
“I travelled to three different countries to record Nomad (in 2003) I went to London and Cairo. I wanted to incorporate different styles of music and different time periods,” he said.
“Sometimes I’ll start a record in a certain way and it will go in a different direction,” he said.
“One World” features some beautiful fiddle playing.
“That’s Chris Church. He’s been playing with me for about 19 years. He joined me on tour and has been with me ever since,” he said.
Cook will be joined by several long standing band members including guitarist Nicolas Hernandez, who has been with him for 13 years, drummer Chendy Leon and bassist Dennis Mohammed, who has been playing with Cook for eight years.
Cook enjoys music from all over the world, but was introduced to it through Peter Gabriel’s CD “So.”
“It’s just what I love. I remember listening to Peter Gabriel and he incorporated all of these different sounds into i his music. and he had all of these exotic drums. I remember it just blowing me away,” he said.
“And now, pop music is starting to have a lot of world music influence,” he said.
He noted the new record is half written.
“I’d like to release it by April, but we’ll see. So far I’m staying home, but we’ll see if I have to get on a plane,” he said.
His music contains a variety of influences including jazz, Brazilian, Flamenco, Cuban and much more.
“In Lethbridge I’ll be playing songs from all nine records. It will be a big rumba party. And there might be some new material. I want to help introduce people to this music and play it the best way I can,” he said.
Jesse Cook plays the Yates Theatre, Monday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $50.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. beat Editor
