I saw the duo of Javier Infante and Jose Alberto Medina performing last month in Vegueta as a part of Canarian International Jazz Festival. There was a great atmosphere but I would rather see (and hear) them playing in a more chamber setting. Fabrica La Isleta (c/Princesa Guayarmina, 54) provided exactly this. I counted less than 30 people and there was not enough chairs for everybody. That’s what I call a small venue.
I have to say that, once being “invited” (Facebook-wise) to the event, I duly ignored the follow-up messages which looked exactly the same to me. Which was a mistake since, apart from the concert at 20:30, there was a tabla masterclass with Amit Mishra at 18:30, which I think I’d have enjoyed. Not that I often get a chance to practice any kind of drumming.
The performance started (almost on-time) with two themes played by Jose and Javier. Then Amit joined on tabla. His tabla playing brings a whole new dimension to flamenco-tinged chamber jazz music of the duo. I don’t think they had too much time to rehearse, and the result was beautiful in its spontaneity. For an encore, we were treated with Alfonsina y el Mar, with Jose on melodica and Amit providing an unusual vocal line.
We came to the concert unarmed with a camera, which was a shame — I’d love to have a video of a song or two. There were CDs on sale but none of them features this particular line-up. Oh well. There’ve been many great concerts that I’ve missed; I’m happy this one isn’t among them.
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