Show talk: The part that never makes the cut
By Wendy Bichel, March 23, 2007

“Something Borrowed, Something New—the Art of Re-Versing” Thurs & Fri, Mar 29 & 30, 8pm Teatro Santa Ana Biblioteca Pública Reloj 50 A 150 pesos

At the end of last month at Teatro Santa Ana, I unveiled a project that I had been working on for over a decade. It’s a one-woman show which I’m presenting again called “Something Borrowed, Something New—the Art of Re-Versing.” The first performances were extremely gratifying to me. The show sold out two nights, but more importantly, from a personal standpoint, people really “got” what I was doing. I’m delighted I’ve found my audience. After a 10-year gestation period, let me tell you, that matters. I previewed some fo the material in several mob-owned supper clubs in Queens, and nobody laughed.

Along with anecdotes about my misadventures as a budding chanteuse, the show presents 14 of my favorite standards, with new verse-intros I’ve written with several collaborators. The verse-intro is the part of the song that introduces what is to follow, like the one from “Bewitched” which begins, “He’s a fool and don’t I know it…,” and then leads into, “I’m wild again…”. It is an old-fashioned construct that isn’t really used in pop songs, but was very popular during the Golden Era of songwriting in the ‘30s and ‘40s, when songwriting geniuses like Irving Berlin, Rogers & Hart, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and their cohorts were providing both hit songs and hit shows.

Broadway show songs were often written to be pop hits—that’s what sold the shows. But something had to tie them to the plot. Enter the verse-intro. Without this little snippet of song there would have been even more moments when a character stood up and sang a great pop song that seemed to have little, if anything, to do with the rest of the musical. But when a song became a hit, the verse-intro didn’t make the cut. And the jazz versions of these standards almost never kept them. If you open a so-called “fake book,” one of those compendiums of pop songs that musicians carry with them on gigs, you probably won’t find a single one.

Personally, I don’t consider this a great loss. Although they can be fun to sing (if I’m feeling dramatic) and are often charming, by virtue of their function in the original show these verse-intros are frequently dated and irrelevant while the rest of the song, which has now achieved the status of a standard, has done so because it is both timeless and universal.

But I have to admit, I am crazy about the device itself—to the point where I decided to write my own so that they would at least be relevant to my life and times. Nothing gives me more creative pleasure than giving a familiar lyric a new twist by introducing it in an unexpected way. That’s the heart of “Something Borrowed, Something New—the Art of Re-Versing”—14 new verse-intros setting up what I hope will be 14 little surprises. Needless to say, there will be no programs.

Wendy Bichel, a jazz singer and songwriter who performed in NYC for more than 20 years, also has an MFA in music theater writing from NYU. She will be appearing with Ken Basman and Antonio Lozoya. Tickets are now on sale at the Biblioteca.

Austin meets San Miguel

Concert
San Miguel City Limits
With Gary P. Nunn, Patricia Vonne & Darin Murphy
Sun, Mar 25, 2–10pm
La Carpa de la Aurora
150 pesos


Get out your dancin’ shoes and prepare to rock the day away at San Miguel City Limits, the first of a series of what promises to be many concerts/music festivals of its type in San Miguel. Scheduled for Sunday, March 25, the doors, or flaps as the case may be, of La Carpa de la Aurora open at 2 pm, with the last guitar licks fading into the night around 10 pm. The show is produced by Los Tejanos de San Miguel, four fellow Texans turned San Miguel locals. Food and beverage concessions serve up Texas BBQ and Italian fare. Wash it all down with a 10-peso beer, a glass of wine or your favorite refresco.

Headlining the show from Austin, Texas, is Gary P. Nunn, from the days of The Armadillo World Headquarters’ fame. Fellow Austinites Patricia Vonne, sister of filmmaker Robert Rodriguez (Once Upon a Time in Mexico), and Darin Murphy also take the stage. 

Joan Yonkler: An evening with old friends

Concert Joan Yonkler: An evening with old friends Fri, Mar 30, 8pm El Market Bistro Hernándo Macías 95 50 pesos 152-3229

Something special is coming to town. Washington, DC singer Joan Yonkler is in town, and is presenting a special cabaret of her favorite songs.

Growing up in New York, Yonkler was greatly influenced by the music from her parent’s generation—(M)what is now referred to as “The Great American Songbook,” including songs by Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, and Cole Porter. There was always music played in her home: either from the family gathered around the grand piano, from old 78rpm recordings, or from the music played on the radio—jazz coming from Symphony Sid, R&B coming from Moondog, rock’n’roll coming from Alan Freed and later Murray the K, standards coming from the Make Believe Ballroom.

Music selections in Yonkler’s show include jazz standards plus bossa nova, Mexican ballads and contemporary music. Her alto voice has texture and expression; she can be sweet, sad or naughty.

Joined by friend Louis Hirsch for a duet here and there, Hirsch sings a few of his favorite songs as well. He is new to San Miguel de Allende, having moved here from the Palm Springs area of California a year and a half ago. Like Yonkler, Hirsch is a great fan of the American musical and the romantic ballad. He sings in Spanish, French and English.

The two singers are accompanied by their teacher, mentor and coach, Elena Shoemaker. Shoemaker, a local resident for 26 years, has seen many changes in San Miguel over the years. She started San Miguel’s first message service/gallery, La Luciérnaga, in the ‘80s, co-founded and directed the International Jazz Festival for 11 years, found time to direct large musicals like the Follies of San Miguel, Tales from the Jardín, and a group of 12 singers, appropriately called Broadway Muy Lejos. ( For those that don’t speak Spanish, that’s really off-off-off-very far away from Broadway!) She now teaches full time, and performs with friends.

The ticket cost goes to benefit CASA, which is a nonprofit organization that has been serving the poor, particularly adolescents and rural women, through health, social service and environmental outreach programs since 1981. Located in San Miguel de Allende, CASA sends out its urban and rural promoters to all corners of the State of Guanajuato, and most recently has begun an Advocacy training program operating in a total of five states with the ultimate goal of creating networks of volunteer social advocates all over Mexico.

Your host, Daniel Sirdey, offers one cocktail gratis and botanas pre-dinner. Come and see the changes that Daniel has made in his beautiful patio. Groups of all sizes can be accommodated. Please make your reservations directly with El Market Bistro at 152-3229. Come and enjoy terrific music.

Two titans and more at “Go for Baroque”
By B. K. Lake

Concert
Pro Musica “Go for Baroque” festival
Sat, Mar 24–Sun, Apr 1
Various locations and times

J. S. Bach and George Frederic Handel, the two titans of baroque music, and George Phillip Telemann, Domenico Scarlatti and Antonio Vivaldi are among the 12 major composers whose works are played during the first “Go for Baroque—and More!” festival March 24 to April1 in San Miguel, Querétaro and Guanajuato.

Also represented during the seven concerts of Italian, French and German Baroque music are Domenico Gabrielli, Giuseppe Maria Jachini, Marin Marais, Jean Phillipe Rameau, Jean Féry Rebel, Le Sieur Sainte-Colombe and Tomaso Antonio Vitali.

The festival, a collaboration of the San Miguel el Grande Pro Musica and the Camerata Ventapane of Houston, brings musicians from Texas, Guanajuato and Mexico City to perform on rare instruments from the Baroque period, which extended to about 1750.

Members of the Camerata Ventapane who ¡perform include artistic director Barrett Sills, cello and viole de gamba; Brad Bennight, harpsichord; Jonathan Godfrey, violin and Ana Treviño-Godfrey, soprano.

From the Capella Guanajuatensis Mikhail Rovinski, viole de gamba; Djamilia Rovinskaia, violin barroco; Cuauhtemoc Trejo, baroque flute and traverse, and organist Jose Suarez, perform.

Tickets are available at La Tienda, Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25 and La Conexion, Aldama 3. Season tickets are 1,650 pesos, including all events except transportation to Querétaro and the Guanajuato concert. Evening concerts March 28 and 30 are 200 pesos and the March 31 concert is from 75 to 200 pesos. The matinee concerts are 125 pesos with brunch or lunch 175 pesos additional. The closing gala is 550 pesos; the encore concert in Guanajuato is 120 pesos, and the films are 50 pesos each. The concert in Querétaro and the harpsichord program are free.

“Go for Baroque” calendar


Saturday, March 24: A demonstration of a French-style harpsichord and a lecture in Spanish, by maestro Juan Luis García of Mexico in the Museo Allende.

Monday, March 26: At noon, the film Tous Les Martins (All the Mornings of the World), which features a best-selling soundtrack.

At 7pm in Querétaro, at Santa Rosa de Viterbo Church is a performance on the baroque organ.

Tuesday, March 27: At noon, the film Le Roi Danse (The King is Dancing), a Golden Globe winner and nominee for an Oscar for best foreign film, is shown.

A soiree, “Up Close and Musical with Barrett Sills,” with wine and canapés will be held at 6:30pm, in the home of Barbara Porter, Sollano 49, for season ticket holders.

Wednesday, March 28: At noon there is a matinee concert in the garden room of the La Finestra Restaurant, Ancha de San Antonio 9, followed by an optional luncheon.

At 7pm, Italian Baroque music is featured in the Sala Franciscana of the ex-concert of San Antonio de Padua, Mesones 46, behind the San Francisco Church.

Friday, March 30:At 12:30pm, the matinee concert takes place in Posada Corazon, Aldama 9, preceded by an optional breakfast buffet.

At 7pmGerman Baroque music will be performed in the private music room at Chorro 19.

Saturday, March 31: At 5 pm, French Baroque music will sound off the walls in St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Cardo 6. 

A buffet dinner with wine will be served at the closing party on March 31 at 7:30pm, in the Hyder House mansion, Quebrada 83, where guests can meet the artists.

Sunday, April 1: At 1 pm, there is an encore concert of French Baroque music in the Gene Byron Museum in Marfil, on the grounds of the ex-Hacienda de Santa Ana on the outskirts of Guanajuato.

Local trio encouraged composers of “Forest”
By B. K. Lake

Concert
A Forest of Americas
Sat, Mar 24, 7:30pm
Teatro Ángela Peralta
Hernández Macías and Mesones
200/150/100 pesos

Steve Kurtz is taking cello lessons. Russ Archibald describes himself as an ex-mediocre violinist. George Bell was a concert violinist in New York.

While their musical skills may vary, they share a passion for supporting classical music that converged in encouraging composers Tim Hazell and Doug Robinson to write A Forest of Americas which has an encore performance March 24 after three well-received premiere concerts in January.

As Robinson recalls, Kurtz suggested to Hazell, an expert in Mesoamerican music, “that he compose something that hadn’t been done yet, using pre-Hispanic instruments combined with harmonic forms usually found in classical music.”

“Tim then talked to George Bell, who recommended getting me involved, which would add some elements of jazz to the mix,” said Robinson, a jazz pianist and record producer in San Diego before moving to San Miguel.

The composers discussed the idea with Archibald, co-founder of Pro Musica with Kurtz. “Russ backed our project before a single note had been written,” Robinson said. “That kind of wonderful support is unusual in my experience.”

Pro Musica staged the premiere concerts, which packed St. Paul’s Church, and is presenting the encore performance in the Teatro Ángela Peralta.

“What Tim and Doug have done is to trace a line from historic traditional music to modern forms,” said Bell, who recruits string quartets and other performers for Pro Musica and the Chamber Music Festival.

Hazell and Robinson said their goal “was to combine the compositional and performance earmarks of classical chamber music, the indigenous instruments of pre-Hispanic Mexico and the improvisational creativity of jazz. Every performance of “Forest” is new since so much of it is jazz-influenced and improvised.”

The storeroom of the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City has the most advanced musical instruments of ancient Mesoamerica. Hazell said, “Multiple flutes, which produce three or four sounds simultaneously, indicate the possibility of a system of pure harmony centuries before its advent in Europe.” He added, “Melody was played on tubes with three to four fingerholes, accompanied with a bourbon or bass on the lower barrels, similar to the concept of a bagpipe or hurdy gurdy. These instruments represent a crowning achievement in the history of music and date from the Classic Maya phase, Gulf of Mexico, around 700 AD.”

For the encore concert, Hazell and Robinson have added a 10th movement that increases the length to 45 minutes. Concert violinist Maureen Conlon Gutierrez and 16-year-old cello prodigy Rolando Fernandez each will play new solo pieces before the ensemble of eight musicians present “Forest.”

Other ensemble members are Gonzalo Gomez Martinez, ancient instruments; Jose Luis “Hopalong” Chagoyan, contrabass; Victor Monterrubio, percussionist, and Ken Basman, guitar.

Also returning will be the replicas of ancient instruments that Gomez and Hazell play, including clay flutes, rainstick, rasp, ocarinas, clay whistles, and seed pod and gourd rattles. Hazell also will play ethnic strings, the 12-string guitar, the banjo and percussion instruments.

Tickets for the concert, which starts at 7:30pm, are available in the Ángela Peralta box office, Hernández Macías 62. For more information, consult www.promusicasma.com. 

Rafael de la Rocha in concert

Concert Rafael de la Rocha Tues, Mar 27, 7pm Teatro Santa Ana Biblioteca Pública Reloj 50A 100 pesos

Singer and songwriter Rafael de la Rocha plays a wide variety of music, including many original compositions. With his versatile voice he can sing flamenco and tango, which, at the invitation of Cristina Johnson, he has sung at many “milongas.” On the guitar, he plays bossa nova, jazz and romantic styles, among others. His song “San Miguel” was the winning entry in the competition sponsored by the city of San Miguel de Allende upon the 450th anniversary of its founding in 1992. Recently, Rafael performed this theme before ambassadors of various nations at the opening ceremonies of the VI Encuentro Internacional de Convivencia Universal at the Instituto Allende, and again at the esplanade of the Jardín Central. He has been a featured performer at the Feria de San Miguel for three years, and is presently performing at the Rancho Hotel El Atascadero, Fridays and Saturdays, 7 to 10pm.