Free live music in Las Palmas, January 2019

This January I spent precisely €0.00 on entrance tickets, and extracted quite a value from my modest investment.

• 17 January: Javier Sánchez @ Teatro Guiniguada, Plaza F. Mesa de León, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  From 5 to 7 pm, Javi Sánchez gave a free masterclass of jazz guitar organised by Mousikê La Laguna. Without knowing much what to expect from it, I brought guitar with me (as did a few other attendees). It turned out that we have different ideas what a “masterclass” should be. OK, we had a master and we had a class. To me, it was a two-hour lecture, with a lot of examples played, on jazz guitar rhythm, harmony and improvisation, with practically zero interaction and, obviously, no students strumming their axes (so one could be better off watching this kind of class on YouTube). Saying that, I really enjoyed Javi’s playing. I have to admit that guitar scales never sounded as fascinating before.



• 20 January: Marinah @ Parque Doramas
  Unbelievably, the very first concert I attended this year was that of Marinah performing in broad daylight (from 12 to 14 and yes, it was sunny for a change) as a part of the Música en el Parque series. (In December, it was Dobet Gnahoré!) Featuring Marina Abad (lead vocal), Regis Molina (sax and flute), Miguel “Muchacho” Serviole (flamenco guitar), Jose “Montaña” (percussion), Diego Coppinger (electric bass) and Justin Miranda (drums).

  

  Marinah

  

  More photos of Marinah @ Shutterstock

• 26 January: Gran Canaria Big Band @ Parque Doramas
  The Gran Canaria Big Band opened the 2019 Musicando season with the show Esencia latina, featuring the voices of Beatriz Alonso Hernández, Rebeca Mora and Virginia Guantanamera. Argentine, Brazilian, Cuban and Mexican standards and even one song in Valenciano!

  

• 27 January: Marta dell’Anno and Andrea Marchesino @ Clipper La Puntilla, Calle Caleta
  The duo of Marta dell’Anno (vocal, viola) and Andrea Marchesino (guitar) played the first Isleta Sunset concert of 2019, their versatile repertoire ranging from traditional Italian songs to gypsy swing.
• 31 January: Roland Satterwhite and North Sea String Quartet @ Paraninfo de La Universidad de Las Palmas, Calle Juan de Quesada, 30
  Roland Satterwhite is an American singer-songwriter-violist-violinist living in Berlin; NSSQ is Rotterdam-based ensemble consisting of Karin van Kooten (violin), Pablo Rodríguez (violin), Yanna Pelser (viola) and Thomas van Geelen (cello). I first heard about Roland+NSSQ just after Marta dell’Anno and Andrea Marchesino on Sunday (see above): they were about to jam at Fabrica La Isleta the very same night. I did not go there. Instead, Timur and I went to see them at the Auditorium of the ULPGC (the same venue where I saw Ariadna Castellanos Trio almost five years ago). It was magical. I’ve never heard or seen this kind of string quartet before. The variety of techniques they use and styles they play is mind-blowing, and yet they have their own (and beautiful) distinctive sound. Roland Satterwhite is all right singer but it is his particular way of bluesy pizzicato viola playing that impressed me the most.
  There was a group of kids with violins and/or bows sitting in the auditorium who turned out to be the members of Barrios Orquestados. In the end of the concert, they all came on stage and played: first Billie Jean on their own, then C Jam Blues and Take Five with NSSQ, and finally, one more song, Autobiography with Roland and NSSQ. Apparently, the guests were practising these songs with children from 4 pm. What a wonderful way to end the month.