Virtuoso Guitarist Knows How to Be Sexy Without Really Trying
By Rosemary Ponnekanti, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.
Jun. 20–Take a man raised in Italy, who’d studied flamenco with the Gypsies and classical guitar with Andres Segovia, throw in a talent for poetry and some killer looks, and you’d expect him to deliver on musical romance.
And Andre Feriante does just that. The Seattle guitarist has not only received compliments like “soothing and romantic” (Latin Style) and “guaranteed to open the hardest heart” (Utne Reader), he’s also just been named one of the country’s 12 sexiest bald men by msn.com.
But Feriante, who’ll play in Tacoma tonight for the first time in eight years, says he doesn’t know what all the fuss is about.
“That (msn.com article) was completely out of the blue,” he laughs. “It certainly boosted my Internet CD sales for a week. But obviously I’d rather get respect for my guitar playing than for being bald.”
He’s certainly gotten respect, too. Reviews hail his tone as a lyrical mix of classical and flamenco, and the late, great Segovia called it “muy bien … wonderful.”
Which, for Feriante, must be the most rewarding compliment. Having grown up in Naples and Rome, with an Italian father and American mother, Feriante began learning guitar at 13 and studied both classical and, with a group of village Gypsies, flamenco. He’s since studied in New York, Madrid and Bogota, picking up styles and sounds along the way, but his favorite guitarist and mentor is Segovia, with whom he studied before the Spanish maestro’s death in 1987.
Since he was 17, he’s been living in Washington, regularly performing both here and in Europe and recording award-winning albums.
His concert tonight at Urban Grace is a reflection of that multicontinental life. Using a nylon-string guitar, Feriante will play classical and flamenco works, including a Segovia tribute. On a steel-string guitar, he’ll explore some Celtic music, and he’s bringing out his electric — a rare move — for some Latin music. There’ll be some of his own compositions and poetry, and he’ll do some singing in Italian. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Washington Women in Need.
Question is, will the concert leave the audience “fanning themselves and taking more trips than normal to the bathroom,” as msn.com puts it?
“I won’t comment on that,” says Feriante, bemusedly. “I really don’t know what they meant by that.”
Rosemary Ponnekanti: 253-597-8568
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