November 14, 2008, Music to My Ears, By John Bills, Jazz fest Grammy score–16, By Doug Robinson, Fiery intelligence and thoughtful music-making, By Glenda Robinson, A certain raunchy exuberance, By Isaac Toporek, Eastern Europe meets Latin America, Benefit for Víctor Monterrubio, You play who you are, By Dick Avery, Folklore and flamenco

Music to My Ears
By John Bills November 14, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Tres Noches de Canto

Concerts
Tres Noches de Canto
Reserve: tresnochesdecanto@hotmail.com
Dinner with Kirsten West

Thu, Nov 20
Rancho Casa Luna
Cieneguita
650 pesos members, 750 pesos nonmembers
limited to 80

Fri, Nov 21, 8pm
Teatro Ángela Peralta
Mesones 82
300/150/50 pesos

Lydia Rendón & Juan Carlos López

Sat, Nov 22, 5pm
Flor del Carmen Herrera & Rodrigo Garciarroyo

Sun, Nov 23, 5pm
St. Paul’s Church
Cardo 6
200/150/80 pesos

Last spring, Ópera de San Miguel made musical history in Mexico with its nationwide auditions seeking the most talented young singers in the country. OSM Artistic Director Joseph McClain auditioned more than 100 singers in Mexico City, bringing 11 finalists to San Miguel de Allende for a week of coaching and master classes.

The week culminated with a thrilling, sold-out final concert where winners were selected and scholarships awarded for advanced study and professional expenses. It was a stunning event, with singers of such extraordinary quality that it has already become the stuff of musical legend in San Miguel.
Next week, four finalists from the competition will have an opportunity to show the full range of their talent when they return to San Miguel for Tres Noches de Canto, a gala weekend jointly sponsored by Ópera de San Miguel and Pro Musica. The weekend begins on November 21 with an exciting evening of opera and zarzuela at Teatro Ángela Peralta featuring soprano Flor del Carmen Herrera, mezzo-soprano Lydia Rendón and tenors Rodrigo Garciarroyo and Juan Carlos López. On Saturday and Sunday the venue moves to Pro Musica’s home, St. Paul’s Church, where the singers showcase their abilities in more intimate fare with songs and duets by Bach, Beethoven and Dvorák.

As we look forward to this memorable musical weekend, Atención San Miguel wanted to catch up with these talented young singers to see what the experience with the OSM competition meant to them and how it has affected their musical and professional lives.

For first-place winner Lydia Rendón, the competition was “the most emotional and breathtaking” musical experience of her young career. She had wonderful things to say about the San Miguel audience and their support and good wishes. Flor del Carmen told me, “Sanmiguelenses are a very warm audience, and very knowledgeable.”

Both Rendón and tenor Juan Carlos López spoke to me of their friendship and admiration for their fellow singers. As an observer of the weeklong preparation for the March finals, I recall being impressed with the level of support the singers showed one another during what was surely a stressful week. I’m not sure the same sense of camaraderie and genuine goodwill would have been found in a similar contest setting in the US.

All the singers talked about the residual effect of their coaching by Joseph McClain and Maestro Mario Alberto Hernández. Garciarroyo, who has worked with Maestro Alberto for several years and refers to the pianist as “the most important person in my career,” had high praise for McClain as well. “He is a great coach. He knows the music thoroughly and he is generous and clear in his approach.” Rendón agreed, describing how both McClain and Alberto “helped me to ‘live’ the music” more deeply. “They brought out the best in me.”

The practical aspect of winning a cash award for professional studies and expenses was important as well. Third-place winner López was able to use his award to fund a trip to Miami, where he auditioned for the Florida Opera and Miami Lyric Opera. (Two of last year’s winners, mezzo-soprano Oralia Castro and soprano Fabiola Venegas, are putting their winnings to good use as well.

Castro is occupied this month with preparations for performances of Rosina in The Barber of Seville and Venegas is on a contest and audition tour to Germany.)

All the singers are excited about these three concerts. Choosing repertoire for the joint concert on Friday was fairly straightforward. For the song concerts at St. Paul’s, which feature two singers each, repertoire choices required lots of consultation among the participants. In the end they have chosen wonderfully varied programs that will show what McClain calls “a unique 360-degree view of the artistry of these four extraordinary young singers.” López describes the concert repertoire as “very beautiful, and not common.” Rendón, at the suggestion of Maestro Alberto, has prepared the “Gypsy Songs” of Antonin Dvorák for her concert. “This music is not found here in Mexico,” she says, “but we have enjoyed preparing them and they are perfect for my voice.” Flor del Carmen predicts “an unforgettable night.”

Oscar Hammerstein wrote in his libretto for Jerome Kern’s Showboat, “Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly.” You can add “singers gotta sing.” They can’t help doing what they were born to do. As tenor Garciarroyo told me, “We love what we do. We are hungry to show our work.” He and his colleagues will have their chance next week. I, for one, can’t wait.

Tickets to the November 21 concert are available at the Peralta box office. Tickets for the November 22–23 St. Paul’s concerts can be purchased at Casa de Papel, Mesones 57; La Conexión, Aldama 3; La Tienda at the Biblioteca Pública and at St. Paul’s.

For more information, contact Alice Sperling at alicesperling@hotmail.com or 154-7177.

Over the past six months festival director Antonio Lozoya and I (along with our trusty sidekicks Tere and Glenda) have been working hard to put together our city’s 14th Festival Internacional de Jazz y Blues.

We are two weeks away from hearing the first note of the first concert and we are excited, nervous and as proud as parents awaiting the arrival of a new baby. Somehow we have managed to attract a raft of Grammy winners and Grammy nominees to come to our fair pueblo, and we’re convinced this festival will be the best we have ever had.

Six Teatro Ángela Peralta concerts

On November 29, the first of six concerts in Teatro Ángela Peralta features three-time Grammy winner and Mexico native Antonio Sánchez. I can say without any exaggeration that Antonio is one of the most sought-after drummers alive today. He currently anchors (along with Christian McBride) both the Pat Metheny Group and the Pat Metheny Trio and has performed with the biggest names in jazz. Check out Glenda’s conversation with Antonio elsewhere in this issue. Opening for Antonio is jazz vocalist Daline Jones, who charmed many of us in last year’s free concert in the Plaza Cívica. To hear Daline is to love her.

On November 30, we feature the electrifying three-time Grammy-nominee Marcia Ball. Marcia is a pianist and singer who writes and performs Texas-Louisiana border-style blues. I’ve seen Marcia twice and she’s got wonderful energy and heart. Opening for Marcia is San Miguel’s own piano virtuoso Gabriel Hernández, who will be joined by many of his Cuban brothers, including drum sensation Francisco Mela from New York, the talk of last year’s festival.

On December 1, Grammy-winning keyboard player (and good friend) Don Grusin takes the stage with Brazilian guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, an eight-time Latin Grammy winner and one of the founders of the bossa nova sound. You can look forward to an evening of sweet, sultry Brazilian-influenced jazz. Opening for them is kick-ass Bay Area blues guitarist and singer Jimmy Dillon, backed up by drummer Rick Schlosser.

Blues man Jimmy Dillon opens for Don Grusin and Oscar Castro-Neves on December 1.

The next night, December 2, our headliner is bilingual vocalist Iraida Noriega and her quartet from Mexico City. If you missed Iraida at El Viejo Topo this summer, make sure you check her out. If you saw her, then you’ve probably already made a note to buy tickets for her festival show. She is a delightful jazz singer and arranger with an empathetic group of young players behind her. Opening for Noriega is San Miguel’s own Grammy winner Ken Bichel, who will perform his solo piano “fantasias.”

December 3 we feature international singer and Mexico resident Betsy Pecanins, who consistently wows audiences around the world with her ranchero- and bolero-infused blues ballads. Opening for Betsy are two of Northern California’s busiest jazzers, trumpeter Peter Welker and guitarist Randy Vincent group, both old friends of the festival. They will be joined by drummer Rodrigo Villanueva and our very own Hopalong on bass.

Our final Peralta concert opens December 4 with the award-winning 18-piece Jazz Lab Band of Northern Illinois University. If you’ve never heard a hard-swinging big band, live and in person, don’t miss this chance. And right after they play, stay to enjoy the grand finale: Un Tributo en Jazz a Los Beatles, which combines the talents of no fewer than 13 musicians, five singers (including Abe Zimmerman, Derek Burrows and the amazing Sibyl Lee-English) and even a few surprise guests. Lots of arrangers are pitching on the finale, including Ken Basman, Ken Bichel, Billy White, Antonio Lozoya and myself. This is the tribute concert I’ve been planning since we first performed the Ray Charles Tribute in 2006 and I think everyone’s hard work will pay off big time.

Tickets for all concerts should be on sale at the Peralta box office as you read this. And remember—we will be giving away a band new iPod Shuffle at every single concert, so make sure you enter your name in the drawing as you enter the Peralta lobby.

Special events at Vista Antigua

None of this would be possible without the support of our lead sponsor Coates/Dolan, developers of Vista Antigua and other private communities in San Miguel. They, along with Consejo Turístico de San Miguel and the private foundation Cantos de los Santos, are enabling all of us to enjoy this world-class event.

To help us get in the festival spirit, Coates/Dolan invites you to visit Vista Antigua for a couple of meet-the-artists events—a delicious champagne brunch (with great live music, of course) on November 30, and on December 3 for botanas, drinks and more live jazz with Francisco Mela. Tickets for these two special Vista Antigua events only (not for the concerts) are on sale at all La Conexión locations (Aldama 3, Libramiento San Miguel a Dolores 11, Plaza Real del Conde) and at the Vista Antigua office, Independencia 21. If you were lucky enough to attend the Sabor Festival Internacional de Gastronomía y Vino at Vista Antigua earlier this year, you know that Coates/Dolan can really put on a party. Go to www.vistaantigua.com/jazz for more information or to reserve tickets.

Free festival events

Finally, we are presenting seven terrific events to the community free of charge. The festival kicks off November 28 with a free concert in the Jardín featuring the San Miguel Jazz Cats and friends. During festival week, aficionados and students alike can take advantage of three free performer workshops at Auditorio Miguel Malo in Bellas Artes and three more free concerts in the performing space at La Luciérnaga. Of course, you also can expect lots of after-concert jamming by festival stars in local clubs.

The San Miguel International Jazz Festival was founded 14 years ago by the indomitable sanmiguelense Elena Shoemaker. In 2006, bassist and teacher Antonio Lozoya and his wife Tere Urtusástegui took it over, expanding the lineup to include blues. Doug and Glenda Robinson came on board as festival producers in 2007.

For the complete listing of festival artists, go to
www.sanmigueljazz.com.
Doug Robinson is the Jazz and Blues Festival producer.

Teatro Ángela Peralta, 8pm, Mesones 82
Tickets: 350/300/200/100 pesos

Sat, Nov 29 Antonio Sanchez Trio/Daline Jones opens

Sun, Nov 30 Marcia Ball/Gabriel Hernández Project opens

Mon, Dec 1 Don Grusin & Oscar Castro-Neves/Jimmy Dillon opens

Tue, Dec 2 Iraida Noriega Quartet/Ken Bichel opens

Wed, Dec 3 Betsy Pecanins/Peter Welker & Randy Vincent open

Thu, Dec 4 Jazz Tribute to the Beatles; N. Illinois Univ. Jazz Lab Band opens

Free Concerts

Fri, Nov 28, 6pm San Miguel Jazz Cats (Jardín)

Sat, Nov 29, 4pm Gabriel Hernández and Francisco Mela (La Luciernaga)

Sun, Nov 30, 4pm Ken Basman and Tyler Mitchell Trio (La Luciérnaga)

Wed, Dec 3, 4pm N. Illinois Univ. Jazz Lab Band (La Luciérnaga)

Free Bilingual Clinics, noon
Auditorio Miguel Malo, Bellas Artes, Hernández Macías 75

Mon, Dec 1 Randy Vincent, “Jazz Guitar”

Tue, Dec 2 Jimmy Dillon, “Playing the Blues”

Wed, Dec 3 Iraida Noriega, “Jazz Vocals”

Special Events at Vista Antigua office, Independencia 21

Sun, Nov 30, 11:30am–2pm Meet the Artists Champagne Brunch (150 pesos)

Wed, Nov 3, 5–7pm Meet the Artists Cocktail Reception (100 pesos)

Fiery intelligence and thoughtful music-making
By Glenda Robinson

Concert
Antonio Sánchez Trio
Opener: Daline Jones
Sat, Nov 29, 8pm
Teatro Ángela Peralta
Mesones 82
350/300/200/100 pesos

We’ve had an incredible stroke of luck, jazz lovers! Drummer Antonio Sánchez is bringing his new trio to our Festival Internacional de Jazz y Blues, just after a stand-out gig at the Monterey Jazz Festival last September.

“Sánchez’s group … is one of the most intriguing new sounds in jazz, melodic and exploratory by turns,” wrote Jazz Times critic Josef Woodard of that performance. “Their sound lit up Dizzy’s Den with fiery intelligence and thoughtful music-making.”

Sánchez will headline the first of six Jazz and Blues Festival concerts on November 29.

A Mexico City native, he started playing drums at five. He attained a degree in piano from Mexico City’s prestigious Conservatorio Nacional de Música (also the alma mater of festival director Antonio Lozoya). Sánchez then moved to Boston, where he graduated with honors from the Berklee College of Music and went on to obtain a master’s degree in jazz improvisation on scholarship at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Today, Sánchez is one of the most highly regarded drummers in the world. He is the first drummer in history (along with Christian McBride) to anchor both the Pat Metheny Group and the Pat Metheny Trio. His new CD, Migration, was released last year to critical acclaim and features some of the biggest names in jazz, including Chick Corea, Michael Brecker and Charlie Haden. He has won three Grammys, two for his work with Metheny and one for his work with Michael Brecker.

Sánchez was in Manhattan, taking a breather from his whirlwind travel schedule, when I spoke with him.

Glenda Robinson: Antonio, you were born in Mexico City. Do you come back to Mexico often?

Antonio Sánchez: Yes, three or four times a year. My whole family still lives in DF. I also perform in Mexico City about once a year, to the same group of DF jazz fans. Every time I come I feel I have to do something new and surprising, so I can keep them interested.

GR: And have you ever been to San Miguel?

AS: Yes, several times. In fact, I played in the Ángela Peralta as a teenager in 1986, before I moved to the States. I was part of a New Age fusion band called Chivas and I remember going to San Miguel with my mom and girlfriend for our concert. I was struck by how beautiful it was. I am really looking forward to being there again.

GR: You started playing drums at the age of five. That’s pretty young. How did that come about?

AS: As a toddler I was always banging on pots and pans to the music that I heard around me. One day my uncle was babysitting me, and he took me to the house of his girlfriend, whose brother was a drummer. I walked into that house, my eyes locked on his drum kit, and I was simply compelled to play it.

GR: Your first degree was in piano at the National Conservatory in Mexico City. Did you abandon the drums for a while?

AS: No. I studied piano because I wanted to understand more about how music works. But I never left the drums. In fact, my piano teachers were always upset that I never took the piano as seriously.

GR: What was it like to audition for—and get hired by—Pat Metheny seven years ago?

AS: At the time I was playing a lot with Danilo Pérez, Paquito D’Rivera and David Sánchez. Pat heard me when I was doing a concert with Danilo in Italy and asked me to come to his studio in upstate New York to play.

First it was just the two of us, then Steve Rodby joined us, and finally Lyle Mayes dropped in so we could run through some of Pat’s tunes. When he offered me the job, I was beside myself. Pat is an icon in the jazz world—including in Mexico—and he was my childhood idol. As a kid I used to watch his videos, hanging on every note.

GR: Now you have your own band, in addition to your work with Pat. For you, what is the difference between being a bandleader and a band member?

AS: As a sideman, I try to be objective and support what the bandleader is trying to do. It is different when you are “in charge,” although that is really too strong a word. I view myself as more of a coordinator who makes it possible for the band members to be spontaneous, play interactively and venture into the unknown. And in that moment, we are all equal.

GR: And what was is like to work with Chick Corea, Michael Brecker and Charlie Haden when you were making Migration?

AS: It was surprisingly easy. I had had a lot of experience in the studio as a sideman. And I knew what I wanted. I didn’t want people to view this as a drummer’s album. I wanted it to be something that could be from any instrumentalist. I wanted the music to be very melodic and accessible, with a lot of really good interplay. I picked those guys because I knew they could deliver it. So I basically just put the music in front of them and let them go free.

GR: The trio you are bringing to San Miguel is a little unconventional in that it doesn’t have a chord instrument like a piano or a guitar. You’re only featuring David Sánchez on saxophone, Orlando LeFleming on bass and yourself on drums. What is it like to play with that kind of instrumentation?

AS: It isn’t better or worse than playing with a chord instrument—it is just different. There is more space, which allows the players to be more active and interactive without cluttering up the music. David and Orlando are so good that you never feel that there are gaps in the melodic story. The harmonies are still there—they are just not as obvious. You have to listen a little harder to hear them.

GR: I think you will love playing in San Miguel. Our audiences are very warm and appreciative. They will probably be standing up, cheering and maybe even throwing flowers at the stage….

AS: (Laughing) I look forward to it!

The 14th International Jazz and Blues Festival is brought to you by lead sponsor Coates/Dolan, the developer of Vista Antigua and other San Miguel communities. Tickets go on sale at the Teatro Ángela Peralta box office mid-November. Visit www.sanmigueljazz.com to learn more about the festival lineup.

Glenda Robinson is a co-producer of the Jazz and Blues Festival.

A certain raunchy exuberance
By Isaac Toporek

Concert
Del Rey and Steve James
Essence of the Blues
Fri, Nov 21, 9pm
El Viejo Topo Café-Teatro
Stirling Dickinson 28
200 pesos

James: The kind of music I like is made by cranky old fellas pounding out the rhythm on beat-up Stellas...

Rey: ...or a little old lady in a floral print dress with a loud guitar.

If the names Tampa Red, Mance Lipscomb, Scrapper Blackwell and Sister Rosetta Tharpe get your heart thumping, you’ll likely want to catch Del Rey and Steve James. If you don’t know those late greats, then you’re in for a musical education on the roots of American popular song.

As James says in the above fragment from the tune “The Real Guitar Rag” off their Tonight CD, the duo favors the old bluesmen and women like Charley Patton, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Big Bill Broonzy, “born in Mississippi, the son of a slave, played fiddle at parties that farmers gave, but he got him a guitar when he moved to Chicago.” James and Rey’s passion for these seminal performers translates into genuine folk blues, served up with dazzling technique and a sense of the showmanship that made their long-gone heroes so popular.

This blues outfit uses no amplifiers. Their metal-bodied instruments were built to project in the pre-electric era. As if engaged in a musical conversation, the two trade guitar licks and off-color lines like an old roadhouse act and the effect of their interactive skills is breathtaking.

Aside from possessing extraordinary chops on vintage acoustic instruments, Rey and James share an enduring passion for North America’s vernacular musical styles. Drenched in Mississippi Delta blues, their playing also embraces the hillbilly tradition of pickers like Merle Travis, Sam McGee, Sylvester Weaver and “Mother” Maybelle Carter.

But if Rey and James are “purists,” that doesn’t mean they slavishly reproduce the sounds of someone’s musty record collection. Rather, they’re dedicated to the essence of the country blues, a certain raunchy exuberance that bubbles over in their performances. “As far as Steve and I are concerned, rock ‘n’ roll was invented in 1918 in Memphis by people like Dan Sane and Frank Stokes,” comments Rey—not by Chuck Berry as is popularly believed, whose “Nadine,” dating from 1959, is the newest tune they cover.

Both performers had well-established solo careers before joining forces.

With her wing-framed spectacles and vintage outfits, Rey may look more like an Appalachian schoolteacher than a hard-core blues enthusiast, but her uncanny skills on the metal resonator guitar and ukulele drop jaws whenever she takes the stage.

Described as “a cross between Bo Carter and the Andrews Sisters” and “more Memphis Minnie than Memphis Minnie,” the Seattle-based musician has been playing the blues since her teens, when she first encountered bluesman Sam Chatmon who inspired her to hurtle headlong into the Mississippi mud.

She’s an established solo artist on the Pacific Northwest club circuit and recorded six discs on the Hobohemian label. Her most recent release, Blue Uke, celebrates the diminutive Hawaiian instrument that’s usually associated with novelty acts but in Rey’s deft hands swings as hard as its bigger siblings. When Maria Muldaur recorded a tribute to Memphis Minnie, Sweet Lovin’ Ol’ Soul, she invited Rey to join the sessions.

James, her frequent musical partner, also elicits delighted gasps from listeners. Blues aficionados particularly revere his mastery of bottleneck slide playing. A New York native transplanted to the fertile musical landscape of south Texas in 1975, he plays mandolin, banjo and vintage guitars, strolling through numbers by Bumble Bee Slim, Big Bill Broonzy and Tampa Red as if he has a direct line to those iconic performers. You can hear the stylistic influence of Furry Lewis, one of the “cranky old fellas” who provided James’s musical education. He also infuses his original tunes with the spirit of the early blues.

Road warrior James made a name for himself over the past two decades through almost constant touring and he’s shared the stage with everyone from Bill Monroe to Buddy Guy. He has played the blues on the National Public Radio program A Prairie Home Companion and recorded six solo CDs on the Antone’s and Burnside labels. His most recent disc, the self-produced Short Blue Stories, features blues, ballads and breakdowns composed by James, who plays the exceedingly rare slide mandolin on some of the tracks.

Rey and James first met in Santa Cruz in 1992, and with their shared musical interests inevitably crossed paths in subsequent years, sometimes playing at the same venues. In 2001, they finally merged their collective talents and took them on the road.

Their two CDs as a duo, Twins and Tonight, document that collaboration; Rey and James also play on each other’s new solo discs.

Together on stage they celebrate the great innovators of American music, even if those bygone stars remain virtually unknown today. Says Rey, “We give people a taste of American roots music from the twenties and thirties that they may not have heard before, but is the underpinning of all the music that comes after.”

Between tours of the US Southwest and Australia, Rey and James are detouring to Mexico, one of their favorite destinations. This is their third Mexican tour in four years. Prior to their El Viejo Topo show, they appear at the Ruta 61 blues club ( www.ruta61.com.mx ) in Mexico City, November 14–15. and at Querétaro’s Museo de la Ciudad on Wednesday, November 19.

Eastern Europe meets Latin America

Benefit Concert
Klezmerson
Fri, Nov 14, 7:30pm
Teatro Ángela Peralta
Mesones 82
80/100 pesos

Imagine Klezmer sounds played with Latin-American musical instruments. Imagine an outstanding mix of rhythms and melodies from the Eastern-European Jewish tradition along with Arabic percussion instruments such as the darbuka and the daoulli, along with the Greek bouzouki and the Cuban batá, rhythms used in santería rituals.

Try to hear Gypsy and Latin-American rhythms played with the Bolivian charango, the Mexican guapango guitar and the jarana from Veracruz, and then gather those sounds and introduce different harmonies from several musical genres such as rock, jazz and classical, all played using a rock guitar, viola, violin and flute and based on the melancholy but joyful klezmer tradition. That’s what Klezmerson does.

The result is a great musical energy that either will make you dance, jump or shout euphorically or will make you listen carefully, surprised by the arrangements and the improvisations, because every musician from Klezmerson is a virtuoso.

The name of this impressive band is a compound of the words klezmer and son (traditional Mexican folk music). The seven musicians who make up the band, which started in 2003, were gathered by violinist and composer Benjamin Shwartz, its director, and come from totally different musical backgrounds: Rodrigo Santoyo, composer and percussionist; Cuban cha-cha-cha and danzón violinist Rolando Morejón; bassist and guitarist Guido Laris; María Emilia Martínez (flute); Juan Ernesto Díaz (guitar); and percussionist Erick Urbina.

The concert is one of the events associated with the Sustainable San Miguel Forum and benefits the preservation of archeological artifacts at the Cañada de la Virgen site on the outskirts of San Miguel. The concert is coordinated by municipal authorities and the nonprofit organization Instituto de Conservación de la Cultura, A.C.

Tickets are available in advance at Café Teatro Viejo Topo in Plaza Pueblito or call 154-8701 or 044-415-114-0316 or email conservacion.ac@gmail.com.

Benefit for Víctor Monterrubio

Concert
Gabriel Hernández and Friends
Wed, Nov 26, 9pm
El Viejo Topo Café-Teatro
Stirling Dickinson 28
150 pesos

Cuban pianist Gabriel Hernández and El Viejo Topo owner Isaac Toporek have organized a concert to help their friend, musician Víctor Monterrubio, in his recovery from a broken leg. All cover income is dedicated to Víctor’s early recuperation.

Hernández has invited all his friends, San Miguel musicians, to share their time and talent on the stage to assure Víctor he is not alone, now that he is under medical treatment and unable to go on playing. Joining Hernández in the concert are Robert Kaplan, Antonio Lozoya, Tyler Mitchel and Kimani Carranza. They will play music composed by Hernández for musical genres such as guajira, bolero, ballad, swing and combinations.

You play who you are
By Dick Avery

Concert
Javier “Gitano” Estrada
Gypsy guitar and voice
Fri, Nov 21, 7pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
100 pesos

Javier Estrada sees his music as an expression of the emotions that affect him as he experiences events moving through life. Gypsy flamenco music is tied to and woven into his personal experience: “I was concerned with the lives of people and how to put music to the different people I met.” This approach still didn’t satisfy his desire for improvement, so it was back to studying the basics of chord construction, scales and music fundamentals. All without a maestro, all on his own. “In gypsy music, there are no copies; you play who you are. There are no schools for the song of the gypsies. You learn from listening and from being there.”

Folklore and flamenco

Concert
Sergio Basurto
Folklore harp and flamenco guitar
Thu, Nov 20, 7:30pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
150 pesos, limited seating

Sergio Basurto’s folklore rhythms transport us on a magical tour around Latin America—Paraguayan polka, Venezuelan joropo, Cuban habaneras and sones jarochos from the Mexican state of Veracruz.

All these rhythms interpreted on the folklore harp will be elaborated on the guitar with the original rhythms of Spanish flamenco from which they derive.