Free live music in Las Palmas, February 2019

This February I was still on a (zero) budget. But I’ve got to see all the Musicandos!

• 9 February: Con-versos with Yeray Rodríguez and Omar Santiago Fuentes @ Parque Doramas
  Academia Canaria de La Lengua defines the word verseador as “persona que improvisa versos”. The 2019 Musicando season continued with brilliant Con-versos, a programme featuring our own Gran Canarian verseador Yeray Rodríguez and Puerto Rican trovador (i.e. troubadour) Omar Santiago Fuentes. The best part, in my view, was the guest appearance of three young verseadoras who managed to outclass their older colleagues and to show that the tradition of versear is alive and kicking!

• 14 February: Pepe Bao @ Teatro Guiniguada, Plaza F. Mesa de León, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  Another masterclass organised by Mousikê La Laguna.

  “Pepe, indisputably one of the greatest bass players in Spain,” — even if he says so himself says so himself — “defines himself as pirate by vocation, self-taught by training, eclectic by conviction, funny by nature, professional by dedication, and musician ‘to the deepest of his soul’”

  — no, I was not about to miss him! As much a stand-up comedian (in spite of the fact he was sitting on a stool most of the time) as a versatile bassist with formidable technique, Pepe delivered two hours of pure low-frequency slapping-tapping bliss. I wish his voice was amplified though: the class this time was not in the foyer but in the proper auditorium.

• 16 February: Olga Cerpa & Mestisay with Joana Amendoeira @ Parque Doramas
  Joana Amendoeira (vocal) and Pedro Amendoeira (Portuguese guitar) joined Olga Cerpa and Mestisay for an evening of bolero, fado and some indescribably magical bolero-fado fusion — shall we call it falero?

• 23 February: Vivi Pozzebón “Fuego de Tambor” @ Parque Doramas
  After spending two of the three Musicando events without a seat, on Tamara’s suggestion, I took a cushion with me. Also, I came 20 minutes to nine and, to my surprise, was able to find a free chair! (Most probably, this was thanks to carnaval events in Vegeta that day. Don’t worry, the cushion went behind my back.) And so, I enjoyed this show even more than expected. The trio of Vivi Pozzebón (vocal, percussion), Helena Récalde (double bass, electric bass) and Damien Accordémon (accordion), plus guest Totó Noriega (percussion), plus women’s choir, plus batucada... About 10 pm, as revellers were returning from Vegueta (I think), the park started to fill up. The final number, Sérgio Mendes’ Magalenha, with all the guests on stage, made everybody dance.