SMA rocks at Jazz & Blues Festival
By Dick Avery: Photos Jon Sievert
December 12, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

The annual San Miguel Jazz & Blues Festival roared into town recently and proved to be bigger, badder, and hotter than ever! 40 musicians playing 16 events at 5 locations, over a 7-day period!

Grammy award winners and nominees galore! San Miguel was awash in great music, and attendees got their jazz and blues jones big time!

Kicking off The Festival, a free concert in the Jardín featured The San Miguel Jazz Cats, with Ken Basman on guitar, Antonio Lozoya (Festival co-director) on bass and Victor Monterrubio on drums. Supported by guest artists Doug Robinson (Festival co-director) on keyboard, Ivan Renta on tenor sax, and SMA’s own Daddy Cool himself, Robert “Bobby” Kaplan on drums. The band kicked things off with an up-tempo “Love for Sale.” Blues singer Daline Jones joined the party, and took everyone on a trip along The Mother Road, “Route 66,” where everyone “got their kicks.” Robinson added some licks on the “melodica,” a wind instrument that looks like a cross between a child’s inflatable toy and a miniature keyboard (I know, but you had to be there!).

Next day, another free concert, this time at La Luciérnaga, featuring The Gabriel Hernandez Trio with the incredibly talented Hernandez on keyboard, Francisco Mela on drums and Taylor Mitchell on bass. Guest Ivan Renta and his hot tenor sax joined in and they tore into Cedar Walton’s “Firm Roots,” then got everyone’s head nodding with an extended set of straight ahead jamming! Later, guest bassist Augustin Bernal showed why he’s one of the area’s most in demand sidemen. Great session!

That evening saw the Teatro Ángela Peralta with a SRO crowd grooving to a triple bill of The Antonio Sánchez Trio, comprised of Sánchez on keyboard, Francisco Mela (he’s everywhere!) on drums and Antonio Lozoya on bass, with guest star Ivan Renta’s tenor adding hot riffs.

And, back for her second appearance at the Festival was the beautiful soul/jazz singer Daline Jones, and the evening’s headliner, three-time Grammy award winning drummer Antonio Sánchez and his opening-night trio.

After opening the first set with some straight ahead cookin’, Sánchez and the Trio were joined by Jones, who dove into Hoagy Carmichael’s “Blue Skies.” After swingin’ with several standards and with Francisco’s driving rhythms in the background, she interpreted Jobim’s “One Note Samba” like you’ve never heard!

Sánchez and his trio took over in the second set and proceeded to blow the doors off with some of the hottest drumming this side of Louie Bellson! Sánchez took jazz drumming to a whole new level and basically gave the audience a clinic on blue-hot, hard-driving, polyrhythmic jazz drumming. At the end of the set we were on our feet, exhausted, but happy and appreciative. Sánchez was supported by the free-form tenor sax of four-time Grammy nominee David Sánchez and the soulful bass of Orlando Le Fleming.

The next afternoon at La Luciérnaga The Ken Basman-Tyler Mitchell Trio gave everyone a swinging set! Basman kept feet tapping with his funky guitar riffs, Mitchell added his steady bass, and Rodrigo Barbosa’s drums drove the group’s rhythms. They lit into an up-tempo “All the Things You Are” with Basman giving us a free-ranging, Jerry Garcia-like extended improvisation. At the end of the set, with everyone yelling for an encore, the trio cooked with “Killer Joe” that the small, but very appreciative crowd dug!

Later, the Teatro Ángela Peralta saw a SRO crowd for the second night in a row to hear Marcia Ball and Mr. Keyboard, Gabriel Hernandez and his quintet, featuring Augustin Bernal on bass, Francisco Mela on the drums, Ivan Renta, the young man with a big sax, and Jason Palmer on trumpet.

Hernandez brought 42nd Street, NYC to San Miguel with a sizzling set of ears laid back, straight ahead, hard bop! Think The Jazz Messengers. After a couple of numbers, the crowd was on its feet, so the guys encored, and let Marvelous Mela cut loose!

In the second set, three-time Grammy award nominee, Marcia Ball, her keyboard and quintet brought “Nawlins” to town with such hits as “Peace, Love and Barbeque,” and “I Got My Red Beans Cookin’” and rocked the house! Ball brought some serious musicians with her, including the fabulous Matt Giles on guitar, Don Barnett on bass and vocals, Paul Klemperer on sax, and Corey Keller on drums!

That evening, Jimmy Dillon Blues Band opened and had everyone clapping in time to his hot, down and dirty, gut-bucket blues, plus some rock and roll that had several of the audience dancing in the aisle! The Blues Band included Victor Monterrubio on percussion, Jimmy Dillon and Ken Basman on guitar, Antonio Lozoya on bass, Doug Robinson on keyboards and Rick Shlosser on drums. Rockin’ set!

The second set brought a change of pace when Grammy award winner pianist/composer/arranger/producer Don Grusin and guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves (a pioneer in the Bossa Nova musical movement) brought a simply beautiful collection of samba music to the stage.

Thoughtful and sensitive, the music swung like a chandelier, and had the house giving the duo a standing O!

The next day started with Emmy award-winning composer/producer, superbly talented Ken Bichel’s sensitive piano. He caressed the keys with the most beautiful rendition of “Besame Mucho” ever heard anywhere, then jacked up the intensity with some rollicking tunes, ending with a smokin’ version of the Beatles “And I Love Her.” Terrific!

The second set was a complete change of pace with the unique voice of Mexican song stylist Iraida Noriega. Her singing ranged from soulful love songs in Spanish to scat-singing to wailin’ blues, from standards to some of her original compositions. Her rendition of “If I Should Lose You” was a knockout!

The next afternoon the N. Illinois University Lab Jazz Ensemble hit town and gave a free concert at La Luciérnaga, and wowed a small but enthusiastic crowd with their swinging charts of Buddy Rich’s “Big Swing Face,” Stan Kenton’s “Stella by Starlight,” closing with Woody Herman’s wailing “Four Brothers” (which, due to the composition of the sax section, became “Three Sisters and a Brother”)!

That evening, we’re back to the Teatro Ángela Peralta with a triple bill of The Peter Welker/Randy Vincent Duo and Betsy Pecanins.

Peter and Randy got the party started with featured artists Rodrigo Villanueva (NIU Jazz Band director) on drums, Natalie Sharp and Rusa Zeltina (both NIU Band members) on reeds, and Jose Luis “Hopalong” Chagoyan on bass and some straight-ahead jamming that had the house rockin’!

Betsy Pecanins and her quintet followed, with various song styles, from sorrowful, slinky Latin love songs to in-your-face, get-down rockin’ blues! With a cool, humorous, personal style, she had everyone hanging on every note! Her quintet rocked out, with Monica del Aguila on stick cello, Hector Aguilar on percussion, Jorge Garcia on acoustic guitar, Felipe Souza on electric guitar, and Alfonso Rosas on bass.

The finale began with a roaring set from the NIU Jazz Band wailing with charts from Buddy Rich, Thad Jones, and others. The house gave them a standing O, so they encored with “Malagueña.” Terrific set!

After intermission, Doug Robinson’s tribute to the Beatles brought most of the week’s participants to the stage for a great set of Beatles music, including seldom heard tunes.

A “Fab Four” jam session, with everyone getting solo time….lots of nostalgia and fun!

So this, the XIVth SMA Jazz & Blues Fest, winds up, leaving jazz and blues lovers temporarily sated but clamoring for more! What a week! What great artists! What great work by a small, but dedicated team led by Doug and Glenda Robinson, and Antonio Lozoya, who are determined to make our Jazz and Blues Fest the best in Latin America! Can there be any doubt it will happen?

Critical to this goal are, of course, far-sighted supporters and sponsors, without which, this incredible event wouldn’t happen. Leading that list this year were the terrific people at Coats/Dolan developers of Vista Antigua, who rolled out the red carpet for the Festival. Also, important to the Festival’s success, were the folks at Cantos de Los Santos Foundation, Consejo Turistico, and Bancomer, who deserve their own standing O!. 

Dick Avery is a free lance writer and has been a jazzhead since meeting Stan Kenton in 19… .

Jon Sievert was the staff photographer and a writer and editor for Guitar Player, Keyboard, and Frets Magazines for more than 20 years. During that period, and in subsequent years, he photographed many of the greatest musicians of our time in all musical idioms, including Rock, Pop, Jazz, Blues, Bluegrass, Americana, Country, Classical, and Folk. His images have appeared on more than 100 magazine covers, dozens of album/CD covers, in film and television productions, and in hundreds of books and publications worldwide.

In 1996, Sievert formed humble press (www.humblepress.com) to publish his book, Concert Photography: How to Shoot and Sell Music Business Photographs, which has sold more than 5,000 copies to date. He also served as the president of the (San Francisco) Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (with 200 member publishers) for two years, where he was actively involved in all aspects of independent book publishing.

Along with his wife and two border collies, Sievert moved to San Miguel in 2003, where he continues to write, photograph and work on book projects.

Violinist Luke Hsu is 2008 Sokokis Institute Scholar
By Tessi Lopez December 12, 2008 San Miguel de Allende 

Luke Hsu, 18-year-old violinist from Katy, Texas, is the 2008 Sokokis Institute Scholar. The Sokokis Institute in Maine gives scholarships and awards to deserving young students who have already begun a professional career as performing artists and who have shown a real talent and affinity for the concert stage.

 The institute, an integral part of the Festival de San Miguel de Allende, invites these students to participate in the festival. While in residence, they practice and rehearse, and have chamber music sessions and private lessons with the festival artists. They also have instruction in the many aspects of being a performing artist: stage comportment and dress, building recital programs, competition repertoire, dealing with managers and stage nerves.

Sokokis Institute Director Gilberto Munguia hears dozens of young, talented musicians throughout the year and chooses the institute scholar or the scholarship students who will participate in the festival. Every other year, the festival presents a piano quintet or a piano trio as the recipient of the Sokokis Institute scholarships. These young people are chosen for their remarkable talent as well as for the importance of their professional activities on the concert stage.

Luke Hsu started musical studies on the piano at the age of three, but switched to the violin a year later. He studied with his mother Yueming, who holds a degree in violin performance. At the age of 10, Luke went to study with the distinguished violinist and pedagogue Fredell Lack at the University of Houston.

Luke has been winning competitions since age 12, and has earned numerous awards and prizes, some of which have included solo performances with symphony orchestras. Since 2002, he has appeared annually in solo performances and concerts of chamber music at the Houston Young Artist Gala Concerts and has served for several years as concertmaster of the Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra. In 2003, he performed as a soloist with the Clear Lake Symphony Orchestra, and as a member of the Greater Houston Youth Orchestra, he won concerto competitions and debuted with two of their three orchestras: the Philharmonic (2003) and the Symphony (2004). In 2004, he was invited to perform the first Paganini Concerto as a special guest soloist with the Ludwig Symphony Orchestra in Atlanta, where a critic of The Johns Creek Herald declared him, “One of the top 10 prodigies in the world.” Luke won the gold medal in the Houston Symphony’s Concerto Competition in 2006 and played the Tchaikovsky concerto with the orchestra. 

Winning the Dallas Symphony’s Lynn Harrell Concerto Competition the following year, Luke performed the Sibelius concerto during the orchestra’s 2008 season.

Festival de San Miguel de Allende Concerts 

Teatro Ángela Peralta, Mesones 82, www.festivalsma.com 

Fine Arts Quartet
Sun, Tue, Fri & Tue, Dec 21, 23, 26 & 30, 8pm
Free Concerts 

Luke Hsu 
Piano & violin recital
Sat, Dec 20, noon

Pedro y el Lobo for children
Wed, Dec 24, 4pm

Los Violines Internacionales de los Hermanos Aguascalientes
Thurs, Dec 25, 8pm

Shauna Rolston, Thomas Hrynkiw
Sat, Dec 27, noon

Christmas magic with a touch of jazz 

Concert
Wed, Dec 17, 7pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Tues, Dec 23, 7pm
St. Paul´s Church
Cardo 6

San Miguel, as we all know, is one of the few places in the world to host such a great variety of cultures. For many it is the ideal spot to escape to in order to get away from a busy lifestyle and to soak up all the art and music atmosphere that San Miguel offers to its visitors.

In this very special place, six artists, originally from different places and with different backgrounds, come together to create an original musical touch that will make you dream and believe in Christmas again.

They will offer San Miguel a unique concert that will fill these holidays with pure magic.

The vocal material will be interpreted by the majestic soprano voice of Gabriela Perales Betancourt; the romantic notes of the sax played by Brazilian Josue Caceres, who also boasts numerous appearances in cities around South America, Mexico and US; and accompanying them are four more excellent and expert jazz musicians: Uriel Orozco at the keyboard, Pawis on bass, Carlos Aquinaga on drums and Julian Arcos on guitar.

Set your calendars and prepare your heart for a unique musical experience that will drift you deep into the Christmas spirit. Experience the magic of Christmas with a touch of jazz.

Christmas Concert

Sat, Dec 20, 7pm
El Sindicato
Recreo 4
Donation 50 pesos

El Sindicato Casa de Artes Escénicas holds its Christmas Concert, as it has in San Miguel for the last five years. The choir Voces Unidas, the children´s choir Kantaré and the San Miguel Ensemble, directed by Xavier Hernández will be participating in this event.

These groups are made up of both Mexican and foreign musicians and music lovers who come together each year to celebrate the closing of a cycle. They will sing traditional Mexican Christmas carols and play festive songs.

The San Miguel Ensemble is a group of talented musicians. Carly Cross plays the oboe; Liliana Gutiérrez, piano; Enrique Prado, cello and piano; Ramiro Granados, bass; and Xavier Hernández, tenor, flute and also choir director. Gabriela Perales, a well-known soprano, will also be appearing in this captivating event.

The funds raised will be used to support a colleague and friend´s daughter, Isabela de Luna, who has recently been diagnosed with diabetes.

Biblioteca Concerts

Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A

Antonio Cabrero
Wed, Dec 17, 7:30pm 
Sala Quetzal
100 pesos

Sergio Basurto
Thu, Dec 18, 7:30pm
Sala Quetzal
150 pesos

Javier Estrada
Fri, Dec 19, 7pm
Sala Quetzal
100 pesos

Juan Ramón Arceo García
Sat, Dec 20, 7pm
Teatro Santa Ana 
100 pesos

Piano concert
Pianist Antonio Cabrero combines classical training, traditional jazz, Spanish and Mexican music, and his own exotic inspirations. He is known in Mexico as a conductor, but his passionate piano concerts over recent years have added to his reputation. Many of his improvisations are influenced by the classical Indian music Cabrero discovered and explored during his student years in New York City. On Wednesday, he plays a Gershwin medley, Latin music, Spanish flamenco, Manuel de Falla and Huapango by Pablo Moncayo.


Folklore harp and flamenco guitar 
Sergio Basurto moves his fingers over the strings of his guitar in gestures so natural they’re virtually unconscious. In beginning an Argentine milonga, his instrument is part of him, an extension of his body. A delicate throbbing figure produced by the fingers on one string at time while the thumb plucks the melody gives a haunting air to a piece of romantic enchantment. And then he sets his guitar aside and takes the harp into his arms for the bright sounds of folk songs from Paraguay, Venezuela and Mexico. 

Sergio takes up the guitar again to return to Spain, gypsy soul and flamenco roots. The rhythm builds to a crescendo and listeners shout “Ole.”


Gypsy music night
Guitarist Javier Estrada sings and plays Noche de fiesta gitana, the enchanting music from the south. His light touch across the strings and the melodies of the gypsies set an intimate mood. 

Classical guitar 
By Sergio Huerta

Juan Ramon Arceo was born in Guadalajara and started studying guitar at the age of seven. He played his first concert at age 15 at the Higinio Ruvalcaba hall in Guadalajara. In 1999, he began study at the Universidad de Guadalajara Music School and over the next several years played in the Contemporary Guitar Quartet, the “Catarsis” Guitar Dúo, Diplomado de Guitarra in Tijuana and Concurso Nacional de Ensamble de Guitarra in Mexico City. In 2007, he finished the Diplom-Musiker in the Folkwang Musik Hochschule (Superior School of Music) in Essen, Germany. He plays in Mexico, Germany and Spain, and now lives in Barcelona. 

These outstanding concerts are part of the Biblioteca Pública’s cultural program. Tickets for Biblioteca concerts are available at the theater box office. For concerts at 7pm or after, enter through the Café Santa Ana entrance at Reloj 50A. Seating is limited for Sala Quetzal events. 

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