On Sunday, October 31, 2010, at 7:00pm, I attended the Benise “The Spanish Guitar” concert, at The Knight Theater in Charlotte, NC. Benise (pronounced Buh-ness-see) and his Emmy Award winning "Nights of Fire" cast, of dancers and musicians, returns captivating the audience with a musical journey of the Spanish guitar. An invigorating infusion of different rhythms of music and dance such as Rhumba, Flamenco, Salsa, Tango, exotic Arabic beats and an all-colorful Bollywood Dance created a sumptuous feast of world music for our eyes and ears to enjoy.
The Spanish Guitar is the story of a lost love and the gypsy guitar maker whose mysterious workings create a guitar that can transport Benise to the far ends of the world and also through time, on his quest of passion. The Spanish Guitar transports the audience to exotic places. The stage portrayed scenes from Paris with music such as The Marionettes, the Arabian desert, a corner street in Argentina with songs such as Besame de Tango, and the Tropicana days of Old Havana Salsa with music such as Cuba Libre and The Sun (Havana vignette). The Spanish Guitar concert ends with Benise finally finding his true love and dancing with her to the song Evermore (The Wedding Song).
Musicians:
· Violin - Karen Briggs
· Percussion – Daniel de los Reyes
· Singer – Karina Nuvo
· Bass – Michael Lomas
· Guitar – Yussi Wegner
