Have you Heard?
By Doug Robinson
October 3, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Jazz festival 2008 lineup more exciting than ever

Jazz Festival “Fun-Raiser”
Sun, Oct 5, 5pm
Villas Xichú
Camino a Xichú 9, Valle del Maíz
Minimum donation: 500 pesos
http://www.villa-xichu.com 

Putting on a jazz festival is hard work. First, you’ve got to arrive at artistic agreement with your producers, directors, volunteers and sponsors—trust me, no one puts on a musical festival alone. Once you’ve got a team of like-minded partners, you need to secure your venue and pinpoint dates when you have the least amount of entertainment competition (often harder than you might imagine in our little town).

And then it’s time to start dreaming about the great artists you’d like to present. This is actually the first “fun” part, but once you begin to make your inquiries, it’s something of a wake-up call: one artist at the top of her game might ask for six figures (yes, that really did happen), another equally talented player might owe you a favor and agree to perform for a fraction of his usual fee, and a handful of fun-loving (or independently wealthy) others agree to do it for the free housing and airfare. Mostly, though, the best artists do hope to be paid well for their appearances. I called one major artist on his cell phone to pitch him the virtues of exotic central Mexico, explaining that even though we offered less money than other festivals we made up for it by hosting them in our beautiful environment. He paused and said, “Do you know where you’re calling me right now? I’m in Florence. Tomorrow I leave for a festival in Greece. The truth is, I do ‘exotic’ all the time. How about an extra couple of hundr
ed bucks?”

This year, our travel budget is more than double what it was in 2007, based on ticket prices, which are based on fuel costs, which are based on … well, you know. Of course, the artists in highest demand are usually the ones who insist on bringing their pet poodle or shipping a half-ton of special instruments, so you’re immediately jumping through hoops to accommodate them. Whatever you have left over, after securing your biggest stars, really determines what kind of festival you can afford to present aside from one or two star-studded concerts. Typically, a small festival such as ours wouldn’t have much left after booking one of the big names in jazz. 

And I guess that’s what has me so excited about the 2008 festival (November 28–December 4). We are still raising vital funds to cover what we know will be a terrific week of music and education, but thanks in large part to a new sponsorship agreement with international developers Coates/Dolan (builders of Vista Antigua and Candelaria), the 2008 Festival Internacional de Jazz y Blues has locked in the most prestigious and exciting lineup in its nearly 14-year history. We were able to land some major headliners without completely breaking the bank, so each and every night will feature what I’d consider a premium-quality concert that offers something original and even daring. I know I’m biased, but I hope the fact that I, as a fan, have actually stood in line to buy tickets for many of these performers in the past 10 years suggests that I’m shooting straight. 

If you were to connect the dots between all the various permutations of jazz and blues we’re presenting in a single week, you’d have something that resembles the L.A. freeway system. Pat Metheny’s drummer, Antonio Sanchez, is bringing an all-star trio to play energetic contemporary jazz; bassist Steve Bailey (from the Rippingtons) will bravely perform a set accompanied only by a percussionist; Texas blues diva Marcia Ball will rock the house; local force of nature Gabriel Hernández will assemble a band of Cuban players for some high-octane Latin jazz and vocalists Iraida Noriega and Betsy Pecanins will put their individual spins on their bilingual flights of fancy. 

Singer/songwriter Jimmy Dillon (who runs a San Francisco blues camp every summer with the help of players such as Bonnie Raitt and Boz Scaggs) will definitely rock the Ángela Peralta one night, aided by studio ace and recent transplant Rick Schlosser on drums; Ken Bichel will perform a new solo piano set. Grammy winners Don Grusin and Oscar Castro-Neves will present Brazilian gems in the form of piano/guitar duos.

Returning “friends of the festival” Peter Welker and Randy Vincent will perform some straight-ahead jazz with a lineup of locals and out-of-town guests and the all-star Beatles tribute finale will be—well, I can’t say for sure because I’m still writing the arrangements, but so far it is at least as exciting to me as last year’s Ray Charles tribute. We’ll be featuring some terrific new vocalists such as Sibyl Lee English and Jennifer Grais as well as Abe “Mr. Soul” Zimmerman and Bobby Kaplan. Several outstanding instrumentalists will get the chance to strut their stuff as well.

Seems like a lot of entertainment to pack into seven nights, doesn’t it? And I didn’t even mention one of our biggest coups: the award-winning Northern Illinois University Band, a hard-swinging, 20-piece ensemble that is sure to bring down the house. For me, a jazz festival without at least one world-class big band is incomplete. We could never bring a band like this without the help of Villas Xichú and our other sponsors, and for that I want to make certain that we thank them early and often.

And speaking of Villas Xichú, don’t miss our special “Fun-Raiser” concert at their amazing compound of vacation villas. Vocalist and festival headliner Iraida Noriega and her group are making a special trip to San Miguel just to play for you, and there will be fresh paella and a lot of other great food as well as a silent auction for cool stuff and chances to win free tickets to festival events. Yes, we’re off to a good start in terms of funding, thanks to Coates/Dolan, Bancomer, Turismo and our other fine sponsors, but this fun evening of songs and surprises will really put us where we need to be. Your donation not only gets you into the Fun-Raiser concert, but also enters you into drawings for CDs and free tickets to the festival, so please come and bring your music-loving friends.

It’s all in good fun, you know. We’re still striving to keep ticket prices low enough to accommodate everyone, from locals to visiting jazz fans. The Jazz Festival offers free clinics and concerts throughout the first week of December, and with your help they will be bigger and better than ever.

Doug Robinson is a local composer and musician who enjoys long walks on the beach, the smell of a wet basset hound and great jazz festivals.

Accordion–recorder duo from Germany 
By Jim Blakley

Concert
Windspiel 
Sat, Oct 11, 7 pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
100 / 60 pesos

You can see featured artists from the Festival Internacional Cervantino 2008 right here in San Miguel. You will hear contemporary music by composers from Mexico, Japan and the US for the unusual combination of classical accordion, different recorders and electroacoustic sounds.

The young German accordionist Eva Zöllner has regularly performed in Mexico and has played a major role in establishing her instrument in the country’s contemporary musical life. After her successful solo recital at last year’s Cervantino, she is now returning to the area with her colleague, flutist Verena Wüsthoff. Together they present an unusual and fascinating sound universe that reflects the musical language of our time.

The pieces in the show are new works by young composers written especially for the duo. Windspiel—certainly the only ensemble of its kind in the world—was founded in 2000 and is dedicated to the performance of new music and multimedia projects. Their music is colorful, energetic and full of unexpected sounds.

The night’s program shows the variety of their repertoire: hints of traditional Japanese sounds, soft and sensitive tunes, creative outbursts of young Mexican composers and electroacoustic approaches that explore new soundscapes by adding computer sounds to the instruments.

Akiko Yasuda, a Japanese artist living in San Miguel, has created an installation to complement the performance. She presents works in the concert space inspired by the Windspiel music. She envisioned their music as wind, and created works reminiscent of the sound of wind and with the plants of autumn and the golden cocoons of silkworms.

Tickets cost 100 pesos (60 for students) and are on sale at the theater box office (reservations at 152-7305). The presentation is kindly supported by Teatro Santa Ana and Hotel Quinta Loreto. Visit the websites www.eva-zoellner.de and www.verena-wuesthoff.de to learn more about the duo.

Jim Blakley is an appreciator of both art and music in San Miguel.

“New Caribbean phenom” visits San Miguel
By Isaac Toporek

Jazz Concert
Ivan Renta quartet 
Fri, Oct 10, 9pm
El Viejo Topo
Stirling Dickinson 28
154-8701

Tenor and soprano sax player Ivan Renta performs just one night in San Miguel with Cuban jazz pianist Gabriel Hernández, drummer Giovani Figuero and Luri Molina on bass. Renta is in Mexico, invited by San Miguel resident Hernández, to perform a series of concerts in several cities. They will present compositions by Renta as well as music from the most recent Hernández production recorded in Mexico with Bob Sheppar, Jason Palmer and Francisco Mela.

Renta began playing alto sax at age 13 in his hometown of Coamo, Puerto Rico. By 15, he was performing with local bands. As a teenager he studied with local saxman José “Cheguito” Encarnación, who introduced him to jazz harmony and improvization.

In 1998, Renta moved to New York to attend the New School Jazz and Contemporary Music Program. While in college, he began performing with artists such as Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, William Cepeda and Bobby Sanabria. In February 2000, he contributed on the album Masterpiece, winner of multiple Grammy awards.

Renta has kept quite busy performing in the New York jazz scene. His collaborations with artists such as Willie Colón, Wynton Marsalis, Arturo Sandoval, The Temptations and Oscar Hernández have taken him to the world’s biggest venues. Now in his mid-twenties, Renta performs with Lincoln Center’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and is working on his debut solo album. His career has just began and lots will be heard from “the new Caribbean phenom,” as legendary pianist Eddie Palmieri refers to him.

Find more about what wonders you may miss if you don’t attend this special jazz night:

http://www.myspace.com/ivanrenta 

or http://www.ivanrenta.com. 

Poets make their own style
By Andrés Suárez P.

Concert
The Poet’s Society
Fri, Oct 10, 7pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
50 pesos

The Poet’s Society is a band that makes its own style from a little bit of blues, some bossa nova and more than a little folk. Formed in San Miguel, The Poet’s Society is Xavier Olazábal on drums and Andrés Súarez on guitar, harmonica and voice.

“I remember when I saw Andrés one day on the street with his guitar in hand,” recalls drummer Xavier. “He didn’t seem like he was from around here. I asked him what music he played and he answered some Beatles and Neil Young covers, but mostly he played his own songs. That’s what sparked my interest. We went to my house that same afternoon and played some of his songs. Straight away I knew I’d found something that I’d been looking for, for a long time.”

A year after that first meeting, The Poet’s Society recorded their first CD: Under the Moon. The album has 10 original tracks written by Suárez. It was recorded in Cabras, a small town just outside San Miguel, in a beautiful house that sits on the outskirts of the mountains. The music feels unique; you can immediately hear that it comes straight from the heart.

For me, the music that left a big impression on us as children comes out in our songs today. That music planted a seed and it has flowered into the poetry that is our music. It is this poetry that we create that unifies and identifies us.

The Poets Society performs at the Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato on October 8. For true lovers of music and lovers of true music, CDs will be available at the Santa Ana show.

Latin rhythms with heart
By Ann Jaymes

Concert
Folklore harp and flamenco guitar
Sergio Basurto
Thu, Oct 9, 7:30pm 
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50 A
150 pesos, limited seating

I first met Sergio Basurto three years ago when I was sitting in a cafe at the Jardín and looked up to see a man walking by holding a folklore harp. Since I play the harp, too, I ran after him and excitedly engaged him in conversation. He invited me to one of his concerts and I was hooked.

He has extensive knowledge of Latin American rhythms—Brazilian bossa novas, Paraguayan polkas and Argentine tangos and milongas. These he expertly interprets on the harp, with the full range of emotions appropriate to each one. Then he picks up his guitar and plays the haunting and passionate rhythms of flamenco. His dexterity is amazing and what makes this all the more surprising is that he is virtually self-taught. The harp is difficult enough to play, but flamenco guitar even more so, and for this he has my unending admiration, not to mention envy.

Gypsies and destiny
By Dick Avery

Concert 
Javier “Gitano” Estrada
Gypsy guitar and voice 
Fri, Oct 10, 7pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
100 pesos

A tall, aristocratic man with shoulder-length salt-and-pepper hair, a face right out of central casting of a Spanish grandee, dressed entirely in black except the blood-red boots, strides silently out to a chair bearing a Spanish guitar. Without a word, he sits. Without breaking the solemn expression, his fingers begin to fly over the strings, his boots urgently tapping out the tempo. 

He is Javier Estrada, a San Miguel native from the ancient Montoya gypsy family, originally from Cordova, Spain. By the time he was nine years old, Estrada had heard many great gypsy flamenco guitar players and knew he was destined to follow in their footsteps.