(The death of) live music in Las Palmas, August 2020

Ah, people, people. Remember I asked you not to screw it up? Remember? But you won’t listen, would you. Look what you’ve done! That our “new normality” every day looks more and more like lockdown 2.0, you’ve only got yourself to blame. I blame you anyway.

• 5 August: «La noche cubana» de Totó Noriega @ Edificio Miller, Parque Santa Catalina, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

  This was the first time that I went to the Edificio Miller, a huge hangar newly refurbished and reinvented as a concert venue. Unfortunately, just days before the concert, the new rules concerning the obligatory use of face masks in all closed public spaces kicked in. I think it came as a surprise to the musicians as well: the previous weeks, the concerts in the same building allowed you to breathe normally as long as you keep the safe distance and don’t move from your seat. Not this time.

  Saying that, Tamara and I have thoroughly enjoyed «La noche cubana» by the band of Totó Noriega (congas, vocals) featuring Edulman Aragon Gonzalez and Sofiel del Pino (vocals), Yoriell Carmona (tres cubano), Yuniel Rascón Falcón (guitar), Osvaldo Hernández (timbales), Carlos Martín Brito (bass), Armiche Jonay Moreno Suárez (percussion), Daniel Amat (piano) and Arístides Sosa Benítez (trumpet). The show was as great as the last year’s one in Parque Doramas; I’d enjoy it even more if I didn’t need to wear mascarilla all the time.

• 15 August: La Local Jazz Band @ Plaza de Santa Ana
  Luckily, some open-air options still remained. Among them, the XXIX^th edition of the Canarian International Jazz Festival (31 July — 15 August 2020). 39 concerts on seven islands — not bad, not just “under the circumstances”, but not bad full stop. The biggest success of the festival, however, was that it went ahead at all.
  

  The concerts on Plaza de Santa Ana, normally free of charge, this year were not so, but €2 per person per evening is practically free, especially provided that the “evening” consisted of three sets. So I bought the tickets for Timur and myself. Well. Even less fortunately, the new(er) rules were published that very week obliging everybody to wear the blasted masks in all public spaces, closed or not. You can imagine how overjoyed I was.

  Anyway, we went to Santa Ana. The first set that night was La Local Jazz Band, a group formed in 2010 by Miguel Ramírez (director of the Canarian International Jazz Festival) and Miqui Delgado. The current line-up consists of Miqui Delgado (piano), Miriam Fleitas (vocals), Samantha de León (double bass), Ernesto Montenegro (trumpet), Miguel Ramírez (sax) and Suso Vega (drums).

  

  The programme was a delightful mix of mainstream jazz standards and more experimental originals. It finished after 10 pm and we stayed to hear the beginning of the next set, that of Antonio Lizana Quintet. Which was fine but... my butt went numb from all this sitting and it was getting rather chilly. And the thought of enduring three more hours of muzzle — so, Antonio Lizana and Steffen Morrison will have to wait till the next time... When? Who knows.

• August October 2020: TEMUDAS fest @ different locations, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

  

  When I thought it can’t get any worse, it just did. The 24^th edition of TEMUDAS festival was postponed from August to October.

  

What can I say? The cultural events that I’ve attended here during the last three months were well-organised and safe — way safer than your daily trip to supermarket. But, as usual, culture suffers first.

Rant over.

Ajo y agua: La antiguía de la mujer perfecta

by Emmanuelle Martinez
translated by Marta Suárez Bravo

Not a graphic novel but rather a collection of assorted vignettes à la Problemas del primer mundo. Fleur, the protagonist, made me think of Volátil, albeit slightly more mature and definitely sin pelos en la lengua.

Cosas Nuestras

by Ilu Ros

La Piquer tenía mucho carácter.
¿Sí?
¿Esa? Cuando era joven se desnudó y to para unas fotos que le hicieron en las Américas. Justo lo vi yo en un programa de la tele hace poco.
¡¡¡¡Wuooa!!!! Pero ¿desnuda del todo?
No, mujer, con un mantón por encima. Si en realidad no se le veía na. Ahora cada dos por tres sacan a mujeres en tetas por la tele, pero antes no. Una mujer tenía que ser decente. Pero La Piquer hacía un poco lo que quería.

A wonderful, touching, thoroughly uncategorisable picture book weaved of dialogues of Ilu Ros herself with her granny Resure who was born, by strange coincidence, on this day in 1930; stories of Resure’s long life; and, of course, the soundtrack of the era, from Concha Piquer, Juanita Reina and Federico García Lorca (assassinated on this day in 1936) to Rosalía and Nathy Peluso. A pleasure to hold in hands, a pleasure to read and explore further the times, the poetry and the music.

One more charming detail: the pages are not numbered.

Cosas Nuestras — Play list

• Manuel Machado: La copla
• Valverde, León & Quiroga: María de la O
• Caro, Landeyra & Novacasa: Se dice — performed by Conchita Piquer
• Quintero, León & Quiroga: Romance de la otra — performed by Conchita Piquer
• Juanito Valderrama: El emigrante
• Rosalía: Pienso en tu mirá
• Manolo Caracol: La niña de Fuego — performed by Manolo Caracol and Lola Flores, although the author says she first heard the version by Pony Bravo
• Nathy Peluso: Corashe
• Manuel Alejandro & Ana Magdalena: Amores a Solas — performed by Rocío Jurado
• Quintero, León & Quiroga: Ojos verdes — performed by Conchita Piquer
• Antonio Machado: El crimen fue en Granada
• Ramón Perelló & Juan Mostazo: La Bien Pagá — performed by Miguel de Molina
• León & Quiroga: A la lima y al limón — performed by Conchita Piquer
• Los Planetas: Señora de Las Alturas
• Quintero, León & Quiroga: Y sin embargo te quiero — performed by Conchita Piquer

El Castillo

by David Zane Mairowitz and Jaromír 99
based on a novel by Franz Kafka
translated by Carlos Mayor

Aquí todos nacéis con un gran respeto por la autoridad. Os lo inculcan durante toda la vida por todas partes, pero también hacéis lo posible para que el proceso siga avanzando. De ese modo, favorecéis vuestro estado de confusión.

If this sounds pretty Kafkaesque, it is because the source of the quote is a graphic novel adaptation of The Castle, the book that I never read and still have no plans to. The striking black, white and (just one shade of) grey illustrations by Czech artist Jaromír 99 bring Kafka’s unfinished work to life, if you can call it that. The misadventures of the agrimensor (land surveyor) K. could fill anyone with despair. Even love scenes are depressing like hell.

— ¿Cuándo llegará la primavera?
— La primavera y el verano acaban por llegar. Duran unos días, pero incluso entonces sigue nevando.

No, hell must be less depressing.

Kafka both started and gave up on his novel almost a century ago, in 1922. In the meantime, the titular edifice grew to symbolise absurd state bureaucracy. So, where are we now? I’ve met — and keep hearing from — many bright young people whose top ambition is to become civil servants. And then, to work in The Castle till retirement. Now that is depressing.

Piel color miel

by Jung

A few weeks after seeing the film of the same name, I discovered the book on which it is based in our public library. This Spanish edition includes the first and second books that were originally published in French as separate volumes.

I enjoyed the animation but I liked the book’s black-and-white pencil drawings more. In any case, these are two completely different works of art. For example, the period of Jung’s stay with Father Pierre is developed much more in the movie compared with the book. On the other hand, the story of relationship with his pen-pal Sylvie is absent from the film altogether.

When the Wind Blows

a film by Jimmy T. Murakami
based on the book by Raymond Briggs

Strangely enough, I never heard about this film until a few weeks ago when I saw the DVD in our library. What, score by Roger Waters? A song by David Bowie? I had to borrow it.

Surviving it till the end turned out more difficult that I expected. I remember watching Grave of the Fireflies years ago with the kids. Yes, a powerful movie that, and no, we never got back to it. Same here. Definitely worth seeing it once, but I won’t do it again.