Meet Kai Narezo
Explainer-In-Chief
Kai loves teaching, and it turns out he’s really good at it. In fact, Flamenco Explained is the result of so many frustrated students telling him that they finally understood how flamenco works after studying with him.
Kai learned flamenco the old-fashioned way, by taking lessons with great guitarists in New York and Spain and spending hundreds (maybe thousands?) of hours in dance studios. He’d been playing flamenco for almost 10 years – 2 of them in Spain – when he decided to get some formal music education, so he got a scholarship to Berklee and managed to graduate in 2 years. Berklee taught him how to talk about music in a way that seems to make sense to a lot of people.
While in Boston he began gigging constantly, both as a soloist and accompanist, in addition to teaching and recording.
After graduating Kai moved back to NYC, where he began to teach at the American Institute of Guitar, where he had initially studied with Dennis Koster, and gigging all over New York.
After 9-11 Kai moved to Los Angeles, where he continued gigging and teaching and also opened Universal Exports, a small recording studio in Hollywood. Among other recording gigs, Kai recorded the first 1,200 videos for the Guitar Salon International YouTube channel. He also recorded two albums of his own music during this time.
In L.A. Kai taught at Pasadena City College and CSU Dominguez Hills, as well as teaching at CSU’s Summer Arts course, first in California and for the last five years in Granada. And he taught many many private students.
In 2020 Kai and Tara got married and pulled up stakes to set up Flamenco Explained headquarters in Granada, Spain, where they live and work now.
In addition to Dennis, some of the important guitarist/teachers in Kai’s life have been Juan Fernandez, Miguel Angel Cortes, Enrique de Melchor, El Viejin and David Cerreduela.
Meet Kai Narezo
Explainer-In-Chief
Kai loves teaching, and it turns out he’s really good at it. In fact, Flamenco Explained is the result of so many frustrated students telling him that they finally understood how flamenco works after studying with him.
Kai learned flamenco the old-fashioned way, by taking lessons with great guitarists in New York and Spain and spending hundreds (maybe thousands?) of hours in dance studios. He’d been playing flamenco for almost 10 years – 2 of them in Spain – when he decided to get some formal music education, so he got a scholarship to Berklee and managed to graduate in 2 years. Berklee taught him how to talk about music in a way that seems to make sense to a lot of people.
While in Boston he began gigging constantly, both as a soloist and accompanist, in addition to teaching and recording.
After graduating Kai moved back to NYC, where he began to teach at the American Institute of Guitar, where he had initially studied with Dennis Koster, and gigging all over New York.
After 9-11 Kai moved to Los Angeles, where he continued gigging and teaching and also opened Universal Exports, a small recording studio in Hollywood. Among other recording gigs, Kai recorded the first 1,200 videos for the Guitar Salon International YouTube channel. He also recorded two albums of his own music during this time.
In L.A. Kai taught at Pasadena City College and CSU Dominguez Hills, as well as teaching at CSU’s Summer Arts course, first in California and for the last five years in Granada. And he taught many many private students.
In 2020 Kai and Tara got married and pulled up stakes to set up Flamenco Explained headquarters in Granada, Spain, where they live and work now.
In addition to Dennis, some of the important guitarist/teachers in Kai’s life have been Juan Fernandez, Miguel Angel Cortes, Enrique de Melchor, El Viejin and David Cerreduela.
Meet Tara Narezo
CEO & Co-Founder
Tara Narezo (formerly Tara Stewart) came to the guitar via Fender, where as a ‘Preditor’ (producer/editor) she shot and edited videos of everyone from Eddie Van Halen, Ryan Adams, Stephen Stills and Snoop Dogg. But she didn’t want to learn to play the Stratocaster – she wanted to learn flamenco.
Through her powers of manifestation she found Kai and began her flamenco guitar journey. She eventually quit Fender to move to Spain and continue her guitar studies. On her return to Los Angeles she and Kai began developing the concept for Flamenco Explained, and Tara unleashed her inner nerd by creating, designing and maintaining the website, shooting and editing the videos, and generally running the show.
Their Summers in Granada convinced her that life outside of L.A. might not be a bad idea. And also that she wanted to build a guitar. So in January of 2021 she and Kai, now married, picked up and moved to Granada. Later that year Tara built a flamenco guitar. She is not taking orders to make any more guitars.
When she’s not running Flamenco Explained you can find Tara in her garden in Prado Negro, behind a paint brush, or taking care of her growing menagerie of animals. She’s hoping to have a donkey soon.
Meet Tara Narezo
CEO & Co-Founder
Tara Narezo (formerly Tara Stewart) came to the guitar via Fender, where as a ‘Preditor’ (producer/editor) she shot and edited videos of everyone from Eddie Van Halen, Ryan Adams, Stephen Stills and Snoop Dogg. But she didn’t want to learn to play the Stratocaster – she wanted to learn flamenco.
Through her powers of manifestation she found Kai and began her flamenco guitar journey. She eventually quit Fender to move to Spain and continue her guitar studies. On her return to Los Angeles she and Kai began developing the concept for Flamenco Explained, and Tara unleashed her inner nerd by creating, designing and maintaining the website, shooting and editing the videos, and generally running the show.
Their Summers in Granada convinced her that life outside of L.A. might not be a bad idea. And also that she wanted to build a guitar. So in January of 2021 she and Kai, now married, picked up and moved to Granada. Later that year Tara built a flamenco guitar. She is not taking orders to make any more guitars.
When she’s not running Flamenco Explained you can find Tara in her garden in Prado Negro, behind a paint brush, or taking care of her growing menagerie of animals. She’s hoping to have a donkey soon.