November 21, 2008, Magic begins tonight, By Alice Sperling, Humor and deep musical space, By Glenda Robinson, Holiday concert benefits Santa Julia girls, By Robin Loving,Cervantino comes back to town,By Jim Blakley, Truancy, the harp and the guitar, By Dick Avery, Flamenco destiny, By Dick Avery

Magic begins tonight
By Alice Sperling November 21, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Concerts
Tres Noches de Canto
Fri, Nov 21, 8pm
Teatro Ángela Peralta
Mesones 82
300/150/50 pesos

Sat–Sun, Nov 22–23, 5pm
St. Paul’s Church
Cardo 6
200/150/80 pesos
Reserve: tresnochesdecanto@hotmail.com

If you missed the sold-out March performance of aspiring young singers, now’s your chance to make up for it. Ópera de San Miguel and Pro Musica present the first of three musical evenings, Tres Noches de Canto, moving from Teatro Ángela Peralta tonight to St. Paul’s Church on Saturday and Sunday. The four competition finalists performing are Rodrigo Garciarroyo, tenor; Flor del Carmen Herrera, soprano; Lydia Rendón, mezzo soprano; and Juan-Carlos López, tenor.

Renowned coach and accompanist Professor Mario Alberto Hernández will be the pianist for all the concerts of the mini-festival.

Michael Pearl of Pro Musica advises, “Tres Noches tickets are selling like proverbial hotcakes—buy now while they last! This is your only chance this year to hear top-class, classically trained singers here. Local audiences no longer have to go to Mexico City to hear internationally recognized talent. This weekend the hills around San Miguel will echo to the sound of sweet music.”

“A strange but persistent ‘urban myth’ accompanies opera around the world,” relates Joseph McClain, artistic director of Ópera de San Miguel. “Many people have the idea that attending an opera is comparable to an esoteric study of an ancient codex, and in reality it’s almost exactly the opposite. Opera has always been the art form of the people, an amazing, accessible fusion of theater and music that is designed to grab your mind and heart in the most immediate way possible and never let you forget it!”

Tonight’s program at the Peralta serves up a feast of some of the most popular arias and duets from the canons of international repertoire, including Verdi, Puccini, Rossini and Gounod. It then ventures into the passionate and picturesque world of Spanish zarzuela, a treasure trove of exciting and colorful music which is relatively little known to audiences outside the Spanish-speaking world. The concert concludes with a new ensemble arrangement of a great piece of Mexican music, Júrame, featuring all four singers.

“As far as this fabled world of zarzuela goes,” McClain says, “we in the English-speaking parts of the Americas have simply been deprived! We know virtually nothing of these phenomenal stories and music. For me, living now in México, the discovery is, well, delicious!”

McClain adds, “Placido Domingo’s parents immigrated to Mexico with a leading zarzuela troupe, so he’s committed to acquainting audiences with the magic of zarzuela.”

The weekend’s concerts at St. Paul’s Church provide audiences a unique opportunity to see each artist “up close and personal.” Each evening, two different artists present new programs of international song in this intimate setting. Audiences will hear Ravel, Fauré, the famous Gypsy Songs of Dvořák sung in the original language, the stunning songs of Beethoven’s last years, the heart-wrenching “Ingemisco” from the Verdi Requiem and even songs by Mexico’s most beloved composers.

Last night the festivities kicked off with a sold-out dinner by Kirsten West benefiting the Ópera. We want to thank this wonderful community for its support.

Tickets to tonight’s performance at the Peralta can be purchased directly at the theater box office. Tickets for the St. Paul’s concerts can be purchased at Casa de Papel, Mesones 57; La Conexión, Aldama 3; La Tienda at the Biblioteca and at the church.

Contact Alice Sperling at alicesperling@hotmail.com for more information.

Humor and deep musical space
By Glenda Robinson

Concert
Don Grusin & Oscar Castro-Neves
Opener, Jimmy Dillon
Mon, Dec 1, 8pm
Teatro Ángela Peralta
Mesones 82
350/300/200/100 pesos

One of the most eagerly anticipated events of this year’s Jazz and Blues Festival—by this writer, at least—is the December 1 duo concert with Don Grusin and Oscar Castro-Neves. Both are multiple Grammy winners and they have played together since the seventies. They are fluent in the music of Brazil; in fact, Castro-Neves is one of the creators of bossa nova. And it will just be the two of them up there on the Peralta stage playing sultry, swinging Brazilian jazz, which I happen to love.

Castro-Neves was born in Rio de Janeiro, but how was Grusin able to develop such a feel for this music? I’ve concluded that Grusin is a brilliant chameleon who can do just about anything and play in any musical idiom. He’s a composer, producer, arranger and keyboardist with over 100 albums to his credit. He just won a New Age Grammy for Paul Winter’s Crestone, even though New Age isn’t really his thing. At 67, he’s still touring the globe to collaborate with musicians—last year he was in Australia, Switzerland, England, Brazil and Indonesia. He once taught a year-long course in economics at UNAM in Guadalajara—in Spanish—with only one month of Berlitz under his belt. ¡Hijole!

He is the younger brother of keyboardist and film scorer Dave Grusin, co-founder of GRP records, the hugely influential label that jump-started the use of digital technology in music production and gave birth to the genre of adult contemporary jazz in the early eighties.

Glenda Robinson: Don, how is it that a person as musical as you became an economist?

Don Grusin: I grew up playing piano—a requirement in my household—but at a certain point I decided that one keyboardist per family was enough. My bachelor’s degree is in sociology, but I switched my master’s to economics. I have always been interested in working with underdeveloped countries—and it seemed to me that economics just asks better questions than sociology.

GR: How did you come to teach at UNAM in Guadalajara, as a Fulbright professor, without knowing a word of Spanish?

DG: (chuckles) Well, I lied to the Fulbright committee with the aplomb of a 26-year-old. They asked me if I spoke Spanish and I simply said sí. I went to Guadalajara one month early and took a crash Berlitz course. The first day of class I stood in front of my students and told them in my best Spanish that we had a little problem—my command of the language. Hands shot up all over the class, with each student saying in one way or another “we will help you.” By the end of the course I was fluent.

GR: Mexico…is this a great country or what?

DG: Yes it is. While I was teaching there my dad got really ill. I wanted to go back to Colorado to be with him, but he told me to stay in Mexico because he felt I was doing such important work. He died shortly after our conversation. A few weeks later I broke down in front of my class and that night there was a line of students stretching around the block in front of my house, each one bringing a postre or pan dulce to comfort me.

GR: So how did you re-enter the world of music?

DG: When I was 35 the Big Accident happened. I was back in the US, still teaching, and I had started the band Azteca, thinking I could do both academics and music. One day [legendary producer] Quincy Jones approached me and said, “Okay, Don, what are you gonna do with the rest of your life? You have to make a choice.” He invited me to tour Japan with his super group for one month. It was so exhilarating to play with people of his caliber that as soon as I got back to the States, I gave notice.

GR: You are coming to San Miguel with Oscar Castro-Neves. Tell me about what it’s like to work with him.

DG: I have nothing but praise for Oscar as a musician, producer, composer and conductor. Our 35-year collaboration has always been full of humor and deep musical space. Oscar, maybe like me, has an 18-year-old spiritual age, no matter how much hair we’ve both been losing! I think this youthful spirit sustains us and makes us ignore real chronology. When he does “Waters of March”—which I know he’ll do—you’ll witness the depth of his understanding of both lyrics and the guitar. [Note: Of Castro-Neves, famed jazz critic Leonard Feather once wrote: “The crystalline beauty of his arrangements is matched only by the rare delicacy with which they are interpreted. Castro-Neves is incapable of creating a dull moment.… He is only capable of generating rhythmic, harmonic and melodic joy.”]

GR: You’ve won two Grammys. Which one was the most meaningful?

DG: Well, both meant a lot, but in different ways. I got my 1985 Grammy for producing an Ernie Watts project. It was great validation that I could do an entire album. The most recent one was kind of a fluke; I wrote a song that made its way onto a Paul Winter album that won. I was nominated in 2005 for a DVD/CD project I put together called The Hang—it featured 18 musical giants, including Alex Acuña, Harvey Mason, Patti Austin and Lee Ritenour. I didn’t think the NARAS voters would be able to ignore that roster. But we were nosed out by Bill Frisell.

GR: Damn that pesky Frisell! Recently you have returned to academia, for what you describe as the “dream teaching job of my life.” Tell me about it.

DG: A few months back I approached the University of Colorado with an idea for a multidisciplinary course and they let me run with it. It’s called World Music Video as a Catalyst for Social Change. I’m working with brilliant students from the fields of economics, music, film and video studies, journalism and marketing—and we’re making music videos that can be used as tools to spark greater global social awareness and action.

GR: Don, I’m so glad you will be able to speak with our audiences in Spanish.

DG: Me, too! However, today when I try to use the modismo guys turn to me and say, “Hey, how old are you, man?” I’m gonna have to update my slang in San Miguel.

GR: ¡Ándale pues, carnal!

The 14th year of the International Jazz and Blues Festival begins November 28, with a free concert in the Jardín and runs until December 4. Six nights of two-act concerts in Teatro Ángela Peralta feature award winners Marcia Ball, Don Grusin, Antonio Sánchez, Betsy Pecanins, Iraida Noriega and the Northern Illinois University Jazz Lab Band. You can also enjoy three free concerts, three free performer workshops and two special meet-the-artist events at Vista Antigua. We are deeply indebted to Coates/Dolan, Vista Antigua developers, for their lead sponsorship of this year’s festival. Without their support we would not have been able to bring such high-caliber talent to San Miguel. For more information on festival concerts and workshops go to www.sanmigueljazz.com. For more information on our special meet-the-artist parties go to www.vistaantigua.com/jazz.

Tickets for the six Peralta concerts are on sale at the theater box office. Tickets for the two Vista Antigua events only, not concerts, are on sale at the Vista Antigua office, Independencia 21,and at all La Conexión locations (Aldama 3, Libramiento San Miguel a Dolores 11, Plaza Real del Conde).

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

International Jazz and Blues Festival, 2008

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 Performer Workshops (bilingual), noon
Auditorio Miguel Malo, Bellas Artes, Hernández Macías 75

Mon, Dec 1 Jimmy Dillon, “Playing and Singing the Blues”

Tue, Dec 2 Randy Vincent, “The Magic of Improvisation on Jazz Guitar”

Wed, Dec 3 Iraida Noriega, “Singing Jazz Vocals”

Special Events at Vista Antigua office, Independencia 21

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

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

Free performer workshops

This year’s festival offers you the chance to listen up close and personal to three of our stars, hear them talk about how they do what they do and ask them questions.

Usually these sessions are called “clinics” but that sounds so…clinical. In Spanish they are talleres.

I love to go to these events when I am at other jazz festivals. Not because I play the drums or blues guitar, but because I really enjoy hearing great musicians talk about their creative process and then demonstrating it right in front of me.

All three of our workshops are one-hour long, free and bilingual.

Mon, Dec 1– Jimmy Dillon: “Playing and Singing the Blues”

Jimmy talks about the rhythm, chords and song structure that characterize this most fundamental strain of American music. He’ll also demonstrate how to write and sing about walkin’, fixin’ to die and what happened after you woke up this mornin’.

Tues, Dec 2–Randy Vincent: “The Magic of Improvisation on Jazz Guitar”

What are the different forms of jazz guitar—bebop, fusion, Latin—and what are their hallmarks? Randy and a small trio will demonstrate the scales and modes that characterize each one—and then talk about how to improvise a solo while staying within the form.

Wed, Dec 3–Iraida Noriega: “Singing Jazz Vocals”

What do all great jazz singers have in common? It’s been said that they have to swing, improvise and have a rock-solid sense of time. Iraida has all three of these characteristics in spades, and she is a songwriter and arranger of great skill.

Holiday concert benefits Santa Julia girls
By Robin Loving

Concert
Sibyl Lee English &
Jorge Estrada Avendano
Sat, Dec 6, 7–9pm
Sun, Dec 7, 5–7pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
300 pesos

A new holiday tradition is being born this December. Internationally acclaimed jazz and soul vocalist Sibyl Lee English presents an intimate holiday concert to support the girls of Casa Hogar Santa Julia, a home for girls who cannot live with their families due to circumstances beyond their control.

Jazz.com says of Sibyl that she is “totally professional, consistently extra-high quality, upbeat and funny. Sibyl has an engaging and unique quality of getting the entire audience involved in her performance, so everyone enthusiastically applauds and cheers throughout the whole show. A powerful performance!”

A strong advocate for women and children, Sibyl is visiting San Miguel for the second time and recently learned about Santa Julia. “I am blown away by all that has been done with so little and yet how much more there is to do for these dear ones,” she said.

Proceeds from this annual holiday show go to the Support-A-Girl program, taking care of at least one girl for a year. The program provides donors a framed certificate with a photo of the girl of the donor’s choice and monthly updates in exchange for US$100/month, which covers basic needs and is tax-deductible.

“The spirit of Christmas has always been about helping the disadvantaged,” said Sibyl. “With this holiday benefit, I hope to use my voice to raise more than funding for the children. I’d like to draw an even greater awareness about the girls of Santa Julia and their year-round needs,” she concluded.

Accompanying Sibyl will be Maestro Jorge Estrada Avendano, a pianist, composer and arranger who has worked with some of the finest artists in the music industry, performing in jazz festivals in Mexico, South America, Canada and the US.

Two shows are scheduled, but only 80 seats will be available each evening. Tickets are available from 10am–7pm at the theater.

For more information, contact Robin Loving Rowland at 152-3709 here or (925) 418-8003 in the US, email info@SantaJulia.org and see www.everysongisawoman.com.

Cervantino comes back to town
By Jim Blakley

Concert
Eva Zöllner
Sat, Nov 22, 8pm
El Viejo Topo Café-Teatro
Stirling Dickinson 28
150 pesos

Last month, German musicians Eva Zöllner and Verena Wüsthoff treated San Miguel to a concert. After other concerts in Mexico City, Querétaro, Merida and Morelia, Zöllner is back for one last solo Mexican concert before returning to Europe. We are lucky because she is taking a two-week Spanish course here.

Her solo concert features contemporary music (I would call it avant-garde) by Mexican and European composers who use the accordion to produce more sound, texture and patterns than one expects in “normal” music.

I saw her featured concert last year at the Cervantino International Festival in Guanajuato and was both shocked and mesmerized by this challenging, fascinating, strange, interesting and new (for me) type of music. Don’t bring your grandmother to the concert because this is not her kind of accordion music (unless your grandmother is hipper than you are).

Zöllner has performed as a soloist in most European countries and in the US, Canada Japan and Mexico. She has played with leading contemporary music ensembles (e.g., Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen and musikFabrik) and symphony orchestras such as Beethoven Orchester Bonn.

She has premiered more than 50 new works for accordion during the last few years. With unusual, creative and multidisciplinary projects, Zöllner aims to intrigue her audiences and to familiarize a widespread public with contemporary music. For more, visit her website at www.eva-zoellner.de.

The world-class, avant-garde music is followed by an after-party with dancing.

Truancy, the harp and the guitar
By Dick Avery

Concert
Sergio Basurto
Folklore harp and flamenco guitar
Mon, Nov 24, 7:30pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
150 pesos, limited seating

Sergio Basurto comes from a musical family in Mexico City who sing or play a variety of instruments, and his great-grandfather was an orchestra conductor.

As a child, he fell in love with Paraguaian harp and traditional Incan quena flute music. He began with the flute, he recalls, “Because it was easier to carry around and I couldn’t afford a harp.”

Many of his friends were playing Latin American folk music in school and invited him to join them. “I never went to classes; I just went to play [music] with them,” he admits. Now the San Miguel resident is equally at home on the guitar and the Irish harp (smaller than the large harp played in symphony orchestras).

Flamenco destiny
By Dick Avery

Concert
Javier “Gitano” Estrada
Gypsy guitar and voice
Fri, Nov 28, 7pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
100 pesos

San Miguel native Javier Estrada is from the ancient gypsy family of Montoya, originally from Cordova, Spain. By the time he was nine years old, he had heard many great gypsy flamenco guitar players and knew he was destined to follow in their footsteps. He implored his grandmother for a guitar, so she took him to a local pawnshop, bought one for him, and he never looked back.