An intimate evening of Flamenco

June 8, 2007 Flamenco Junta Flamenca Fri, June 15, 5pm Teatro Santa Ana Biblioteca Pública Insurgentes 25 200 pesos

San Miguel’s summer of Flamenco opens June 15 with an encore performance by Junta Flamenca. Mass media may have brought Flamenco to the world stage but it has always been and will remain an intimate kind of music. Some would say authentic Flamenco can only be experienced in a juerga with a small group of friends, at midnight somewhere in the south of Spain, when there is nothing around but the voice, the guitar and the body of a dancer moving in the moonlight. Join us Friday, June 15 at 5pm .in the intimate setting of the Teatro Santa Ana for a world class evening with Junta Flamenca and their special guest artists. Tickets are 200 pesos and are on sale at theater.

Have you heard?
Buried treasure and three cool musical events 

By Doug Robinson

I’ve finally recovered from Ken Bichel’s glowing review of the CD version of A Forest of Americas. Both Tim Hazell and I were humbled by the support of Ken and everyone who attended our concerts. Over the next year, the ensemble is sure to have some exciting times performing “Forest” around Mexico and the United States.

Mark your calendars

Several of San Miguel’s most interesting musicians will join me on July 2 and 3 to perform duets in the Biblioteca’s Santa Ana Theater. Every centavo of this program, “Doug Robinson Plays Well with Others” will go to Casita Linda, a charity that builds houses for Mexican families and makes a real difference.

Rio Negro, a trio that plays tango and other romantic music will join us; pianist Ken Bichel and I will perform improvised duets; flamenco guitarist and composer Billy White (Guillermo Blanco) will finally get the exposure he deserves; my wife and muse, Glenda Robinson, will grace us with a song or two; and there will the other excellent performers.

Jaime Valle Quarter


On Saturday, July 7, Café El Viejo-Topo will present The Jaime Valle Quartet. Guitarist Jaime Valle has won Best Jazz Artist at the San Diego Music Awards 13 times! Bassist Rob Thorsen has performed with Louis Bellson and Hubert Laws. Drummer Duncan Moore has recorded with dozens of acts including Chris Potter and saxophonist Tripp SpragueThis is a one-night only event.

Musicians’ cult hero

Ever heard of Kevin Gilbert? Probably not, but if you’re a fan of intelligent rock (Genesis, The Who’s Tommy), consider yourself introduced.

Here’s a short version of a tragic tale: Kevin Gilbert was the super-talented boyfriend of an unknown singer named Sheryl Crow. Sheryl had just recorded a debut album, but her label had decided not to release it. Gilbert invited Cheryl to sit in with his band, The Tuesday Night Music Club. He even wrote a song for her called “All I Wanna Do Is Have Some Fun.” The record hit big; Sheryl split from Gilbert and the band, and Gilbert slid into a depression. His solo career never took off, and a few years later, he died from asphyxiation. Since his death he has become a cult hero for knowing musicians. I recommend Gilbert’s finest work: his stunning rock opera The Shaming of the True, which chronicles the rise and fall of an ‘80s era pop star named Johnny Virgil. 

On Shaming of the True, we meet the inexperienced Johnny on his way out to L.A., certain he’s going to hit it big. He sings: “I’ve been listening to the Beatles, I’ve been listening to the Who; they don’t know it yet, but they’re gonna listen to me too.…”

He takes one meeting after another with record label executives who praise his talent but warn him to be ready to compromise his artistic vision: “Advice for the dying from the dead: silence the voices in your head, wouldn’t you rather eat instead?”

Johnny finally connects, and the third track is a hilarious canon performed entirely by voices singing into his answering machine—multiple record label execs, pitching and courting him, urging him to “dump the band, we only wanted you anyway.” 

We follow Johnny as “image makers” groom him for commercial success and hear a darkly comical pitch from a music video director. Johnny becomes a star, hangs out with the rich and famous, not an artist anymore, just a puppet. Depression and drug use follow and he sings: “A thousand screaming voices, calling out my name and I am lonely; take a look in my eyes—you’re staring into nothing at all.”

He falls apart, trapped in “The Ghetto of Beautiful Things.” He reaches out to those he thought were his friends, then to God, then to a homeless man on the street who claims to be Jesus. It’s moving and beautifully written, and when he hits rock bottom, he sees the light and heads toward “The Way Back Home.”

Gilbert died before the album was completed, leaving behind a combination of finished performances and demos, along with extensive notes about where he intended to take the unfinished bits creatively. It says a lot about the respect his musical friends had for his talent that they would step in and commit to several months of work to finish such an ambitious project. The result is seamless, a piece of musical genius from someone who was never fully appreciated during his short life.

Doug Robinson is a composer who lives in San Miguel with his wife, Glenda, and their three basset hounds.