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For its second show of the season, the Williamsport Community Concert Association is bringing the fiery guitar sounds of Latin world fusion band Incendio to the stage of the Community Arts Center, 220 West Fourth Street, at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8. The Billboard-charting instrumental group will be making the long trip from Los Angeles for the performance which is sure to excite area concertgoers.
"We do a lot of work in the region, but this is our first time in Williamsport," said guitarist Jean-Pierre Durand. "We were just blown away by the venue -- it looks beautiful."
Founded 18 years ago, the harmonies of Incendio are a blend of flamenco, jazz, classical, rock and Celtic music. It was this worldly sound that first attracted the ear of WCCA president Cynthia Staiman Vosk, who says the organization prides itself on bringing diverse high-quality musicians to the stage of the CAC.
"This group epitomizes our tagline," Staiman Vosk said.
With the focus of the performance revolving around the Spanish guitar, Durand says that Incendio's show is "passionate and uplifting," and involves a lot of notes.
"We tell people that vocal music is more about the singer, but instrumental music is more about the listener," Durand said. "I kind of think it is our job to really take people away and out of whatever situation or energy they might be in and flood them with a lot of good, passionate, fun energy. We want to engage emotions.
"All we are presenting is a platform where people can let go," he added. "We provide the soundtrack for people to forget their troubles for a while and just join us on a journey. If they come with us, they will hopefully leave a little uplifted and a little less upset. There is so much turmoil right now, and it seems like our music helps give a little break from that for a little while."
Along with Durand, the other core members of Incendio include Jim Stubblefield (guitar), Liza Carbe (bass), Tim Curle (drums) and Nicole Falzone (percussion). For Thursday's show, the group will also be joined by some special guests, including violinist Bruno Nasta, percussionist Connor Saltzer and multi-disciplinary dance artist Arleen Hurtado.
Though each of the special guests will add something special to the Incendio performance, Hurtado's dancing will really liven the show up, according to Durand.
"She is accomplished in flamenco dancing, but she is also a belly dancer and a free dancer," he said. "She can dance to anything from the South American grooves to tangos to different things, bringing in a lot of the disciplines of those particular genres. In that respect, she is kind of unique, and she is amazing.
"We are very, very fortunate to have her dance with us," Durand added.
For the show's setlist, the band will be playing almost exclusively original music, taken from their 10 internationally-released CDs, with the possibility of two or three cover songs getting sprinkled in.
"We have a lot of material to choose from," Durand said.
He suggested that those unfamiliar with the band's music check them out on the streaming service Pandora -- where the band currently has over 95 million plays -- to get a feel for their sound.
"You will get a Spanish guitar-immersive experience that I think really appeals to people who like world music, as much as it appeals to people who like Stevie Ray Vaughan or Carlos Santana," said Durand. "It has that kind of fire to it, and it is definitely a really strong guitar show."