Live music and stuff in Santander and beyond, December 2021

This month was a bit hectic. I could have seen more — then again, I could have seen less. Now I read on the Rvbicón page that from 26^th of December they had to suspend all the cultural activities until further notice. Damn.

• 5 December: Jazz Jam @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4
  The first of only two events of the seventh Raqueros del Jazz (postponed from ther last year) that I was able to attend. All familiar faces, with the base group featuring Chisco Villanueva (tenor sax), Rafa Santana (piano), Manuel Cavero (double bass) and Rodri Irizábal (drums) and guest musicians Manuel San Emeterio (guitar), Tom Ranby (alto sax) and others.

  

• 7 December: Marco Mezquida Dreams Trio @ Rvbicón
  With Marco Mezquida (piano), Martín Meléndez (cello) and Aleix Tobías (drums, percussion).
• 11 December: «Siri, ¿Tú qué piensas?» @ Café de Las Artes Teatro, Calle García Morato 4
  By Cía. Dunatacà (Valencia), featuring Mónika Vázquez and Andrea Torres; also, two random people from the audience taken to the stage, with yours truly just happening to be one of them.

• 18 December: «Good Sex Maritxu» @ Centro Municipal de Otxarkoaga, Casals Pau Hiribidea 19, Bilbao
  A play by Yolanda García Serrano, performed by Teatro Ttipia featuring Gurutze Beitia, Itxaso Kintana and Susana Soleto. Directed by Jose Cruz Gurrutxaga.

Back to Las Palmas: thanks to almost non-existent publicity, I almost missed the mercadillo musical (CDs, vinyls and merchadise of Canarian musicians) and its showcase programme DiscoBolo in the patio of Palacete Rodríguez Quegles. This week, we went to see some of the free concerts there — with no pre-registration, no COVID passports and, I am sorry to say, with very low attendance.

• 28 December: Sanches @ Palacete Rodríguez Quegles, calle Benito Pérez Galdós, 4
  A singer-songwriter in need of a proper singer.
• 29 December: Luis Merino @ Palacete Rodríguez Quegles
  Luis Merino (guitar) with José Carlos Cejudo (electric bass) performing compositions from Pelula and Blacky.
• 30 December: Augusto Báez and Germán López @ Palacete Rodríguez Quegles
  Augusto Báez (piano) played a few compositions from his latest album Piano Solo Vol. II; later, he was joined by Germán López (timple).

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was 2021.

El verano de su vida

by Thomas von Steinaecker and Barbara Yelin
translated by Itziar Hernández Rodilla

Weightlessness. The speed of light. Multiple worlds.

With chapter names like these, you’d expect El verano de su vida (original title Der Sommer ihres Lebens) to be some sort of sci-fi comic. It isn’t though. As her Earth life comes to an end, Gerda mentally travels in time, to that summer of her life (note The Dark Side of the Moon poster on p. 41) and beyond.

All your life You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Did she miss her moment?

Susana y el sexo

a film by César Vallejo

La libertad sexual para una mujer pasa por no renunciar al placer, y por tener experiencias sexuales más seguras y libres, sin discriminación ni violencia. Porque no puede existir la verdadera libertad sin libertad sexual.

Susana Estrada

So says Susana Estrada (Gijón, 1950), the protagonist of an illuminating RTVE Play documentary, which I watched quite by chance, thanks to an article in elDiario.es. Until now, I had no clue who Estrada was and, luckily, still is. Who? The first Spanish actress to perform nude onstage; sex columninst in Play-Lady; the singer famous for songs such as ¡Quítate el sosten!, Voy desnuda and ¡Gózame ya! aka ¡Fóllame ya!; probably the first Spanish woman to employ bodyguards — well, everything that one should expect from the self-proclaimed “mujer icono e ‘icoño’ de la Transición”, and more.

Directed by César Vallejo. Screenplay by Valeria Vegas, Ángela Gallardo and César Vallejo. With participation of Celia Blanco, Fernando Castedo, María Ángeles Durán, Gracia Trujillo and others.

Live music and stuff in Santander and Valencia, November 2021

A lot of stuff was going on this month; or, rather, I was going to a lot of stuff this month.

• 4 November: Nico Casal @ Teatro CASYC, calle Tantín 25, Santander
  Another fantastic concert from the cycle Excéntricos 2021. Nico Casal (piano) was accompanied by Pablo Serrano (synthesisers, electric guitar).

  

• 7 November: Jam session @ Pub Escándalo, Calle Río de la Pila 19
  Apparently, every Sunday now, from 8 pm till late!
• 10 November: César Latorre Trio @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4
  Finally, jazz in Rvbicón — and I learn about this concert a day before. I saw César Latorre with trio in 2015 (trio) and with Perla Batalla in 2017. This time, it was a different trio featuring Arturo Valero (double bass) and Félix Morales (drums).

  

• 13 November: Suspensión @ Paraninfo de Las Llamas de la Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (UIMP), Avenida de los Castros, 42
  Suspensión by La Compañía Nueveuno (Madrid). The show was a part of the 10^th International Circus Festival En la Cuerda Floja.

• 15 November: Eva Ryjlen @ Cines Groucho, Calle Cardenal Cisneros, 4
  As a part of the cycle Cajas de música 2021, Eva Ryjlen (voice, guitar, keyboards) and Jave Ryjlen (guitar, keyboards) presented Eva’s new album Onírica.
• 17 November: Rafael Santana Trio @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4
  With Rafael Santana (piano), Toño Gutiérrez (double bass) and Rodri Irizábal (drums).

  

• 20 November: DistanS @ Paraninfo de Las Llamas
  Another show from En la Cuerda Floja: DistanS by Vol’e Temps (Granada), featuring Sara Ortiz (Narbonne, France) and Albert Moncunill (Igualada, Spain).

• 22 November: Segaremos ortigas con los tacones @ Espai Cultural, Albalat dels Sorells
  By Teatro del Contrahecho (Valencia), directed by Idoya Rossi and Marcos Luis Hernando. With Laura Sanchís, Pilu Fontán, Isabel Martí and Alberto Baño.

• 28 November: Valencia busca un torero @ Plaza de Toros de Valencia, Carrer de Xàtiva, Valencia
  I’ve never been to any bullring before, so seeing this one open to the public for free on occasion of some practical torero classes. After ten minutes or so, upon hearing that the violent part is coming, I had my curiosity satisfied.
• From 9 October: Ahir, hui, sempre @ Palau de la Generalitat, Plaza de Manises, Valencia
  To celebrate the 600^th anniversary of (the beginning of) its construction, Palau de la Generalitat opens its doors to the public. An exhibition of Valencian street artists creatively reinterpreting the murals of the Sala Nova and Sala de Corts is a good fun.

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And once again, it’s almost Christmas time.

Live music and stuff in Santander, October 2021

Both La extraña desaparición de las luciérnagas and all the concerts in Rvbicón this month (as well as that of La Otra in September) were part of the Sol de Otoño cycle organised by the association Sol Cultural. The plays at Paraninfo de Las Llamas were part of the 11^th Festival de Teatro Amateur organised by Federación de Grupos de Teatro Aficionado de Cantabria (FETEACAN).

• 2 October: «La extraña desaparición de las luciérnagas» @ Espacio Espiral, calle Menéndez Pelayo 8, Santander
  A play by Abraham Salomón interpreted by Trilobite Teatro (Oaxaca, Mexico). Featuring Rocío Tisnado and Rodrigo del Mar, accompanied by Raisa Robles (guitar) and Javier Jarquín (percussion).

• 3 October: Guiu Cortés (El niño de la hipoteca) @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4
  Continuing with Sol de Otoño cycle. I never heard El niño de la hipoteca before and lived quite happily. Just like it was the case with La Otra, both sets were “sold out” (if you can say that about free events); once again, I got in thanks to the last-minute cancellation. I quite enjoyed the concert although I wish Mr Cortés sang more and talked less. It could have been even better if not for a few annoying fans who happened to know the lyrics and sang along, almost louder than the author himself. I would ban these people from Rvbicón forever.
• 6 October: Pedro Martínez @ Rvbicón
  The veteran singer-songwriter accompanied by Iván Velasco (guitar) and Sara García (piano, vocals).

• 13 October: Eva Sierra @ Rvbicón
  I liked all the concerts of the cycle but this one was perhaps the best.

• 17 October: «Cow Jazz Club» @ Paraninfo de Las Llamas de la Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (UIMP), Avenida de los Castros, 42
  A very modern adaptation of Chekhov’s Душечка (The Darling) by Athenea Teatro (Valladolid), directed by Xiqui Rodríguez, with Nuria García and Sheila Gómez Andrés.
• 20 October: Paula Bilá @ Rvbicón
  A charming acoustic set mostly of her own songs.

  

• 23 October: «Romeo e Giulietta» @ Paraninfo de Las Llamas
  Platea Teatro (Tomelloso, Castilla La Mancha) presented this reworking of Shakespeare’s tragedy as Commedia dell’arte by Alberto Palacios and Julia Olmedo. I liked the idea more than the actual performance.

  

• 24 October: «Mitad y mitad» @ Paraninfo de Las Llamas
  A side-splittingly hilarious black comedy by Jordi Sánchez and Pep Antón Gómez interpreted by La Capacha (Asturias), with Ángel Héctor Sánchez as Juan and Alberto Ortiz San Martín as Carlos. Directed by Jesús Prieto and José Luis Fernández.
• 28 October — 21 November: «De Polo a Polo» @ Plaza Porticada
  Open-air exhibition of fifty-two large-format images from the National Geographic archive, including the work of Frans Lanting, Paul Nicklen, Michael Nichols and Tim Laman.
• 30 October: «Mi abuela es inmortal (ensayo de un funeral)» @ Café de Las Artes Teatro, Calle García Morato 4
  A rehearsal of the funeral of Gisela’s granny, Teresa, who is now 101 and very much alive. Between touching and disconcerting: most of the time I was thinking that I really shouldn’t be there. By Cía. de creació Kunstant (Catalonia), featuring Francesc Saló (piano), Ferran Saló (violin, viola) and Gisela Saló (voice, guitar, piano).

They changed the clocks back to standard (i.e. winter) time today. Looking forward to more live events in the dark.

Madres paralelas

a film by Pedro Almodóvar

Pedro Almodóvar set such a high standard of filmmaking that now and then his own creations fall short of it. This is certainly the case with his latest offering: an improvement over Dolor y gloria, not quite at the level of The Human Voice, and longer than both of these films. Milena Smit shines as Ana while Penélope Cruz’s character, Janis, is not particularly convincing. And it’s always a joy to see Rossy de Palma.

The two storylines, viz. that of “parallel mothers” and the mass grave excavations, could have been connected in a more subtle manner. The latter one seems to be added as an afterthought, and not a very well thought-through one. Which is a shame: it’s admirable that Almodóvar at last confronts Spain’s not-so-distant past. But that story is worthy of a film on its own. As it is, Madres paralelas is both disjointed and predictable, with too many bits scattered in Stanislavski’s “I don’t believe it” territory.

Live music in Santander, September 2021

I don’t get to Facebook much lately. Yet, without it I’d probably miss all the live events I’ve been to this month.

• 9 September: Queralt Lahoz @ Teatro CASYC, calle Tantín 25, Santander
  Some time ago, a friend of mine shared with me a video which I liked very much. I went to the artist’s Facebook page and saw this poster:

  

  A couple of weeks later I decided to feature the aforementioned video on my other blog and did a bit of research, only to discover that Queralt is playing in Santander as a part of the cycle Excéntricos 2021. That was one of the “to be announced” dates of the poster. In a company of Pau García (keyboards), Marc Soto (drums) and Fede Jahzzmvn (DJ), Queralt was presenting her debut LP, Pureza, that mixes flamenco, hip-hop and electronica in a fresh and unexpected manner. Well worth the €5 I paid for the ticket.
• 23 September: La Otra @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4
  Finally, live music in Rvbicón — and I learn about it from La Otra’s Facebook page a day before the event, by which time all the (free) tickets for both 19:00 and 21:00 sets are long gone. And so, Thursday after work, while I was thinking whether it’s worth it to try my luck and wait for the last-minute cancellations, should I go home first etc. etc., my feet brought me to calle del Sol... Not-so-long story short, I found myself inside, at my favourite seat next to the scene, enjoying the show. On this occasion, La Otra was accompanied by Pablo Levin on percussion.

  

• 24 September: Chebú @ Escenario Santander, Avenida de la Constitución 39 (Parque de las Llamas)
  I only learned about this concert celebrating the tenth anniversary of Chebú’s debut album thanks to the personal invitation by the band (via Facebook); otherwise, the publicity for the event was non-existent. A magnificent performance by Zhenya Popova (vocals), Nahúm Cobo (piano, guitar), Iván Velasco (guitar), Dani Simons (bass), Miguel San Emeterio (cello) and “Charly” Pérez (drums), with a special guest Phil Grijuela (guitar, vocals).

  

• 25 September: Flaca and the Beat @ Escenario Santander
  Were it not for Chebú, I wouldn’t return to ES the following evening to see Flaca and the Beat, and still live happily. The line-up is Miriam Manzanares (vocals, guitar), Matt Green (drums) and Tomás Monago (bass), all ex-Havana Moon, plus Jaime C. Montes (sax) and Pablo Alvear (guitar). It’s not that they were bad, but rather underwhelming, and played way too long. Still, it’s a shame that so few people turned up for a free Saturday night rock’n’roll.

Looking forward to more live music in October.

Meridiana

by Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino

I learned about this fantastic album — and the band that created it — from the Songlines review. Co-produced by Justin Adams, who also plays guitar on a couple of tracks, Meridiana (“sundial” in Italian) is supposed to be a concept album about (different aspects of) time. But you don’t need to understand Italian to thoroughly enjoy the music; the order of the songs is not particularly important either. Collaborations include Pizzica bhangra with Red Baraat and Tic e tac with Enzo Avitabile (of Enzo Avitabile & Bottari, another band I first heard about, many years ago, thanks to Songlines.) If I had to name three favourites, they’d probably be the opening track Balla Nina; no less goosebump-inducing Lu sittaturu that somehow makes me think of an Ukrainian folk song; and wonderful Vulía.

You can listen to the full album on YouTube, complete with contributions of a number of Italian scientists and philosophers and quotes from Lewis Carroll, Marcel Proust, Friedrich Nietzsche and, surprise surprise, Carlo Rovelli.

Meridiana Balla nina Orfeo Pizzica bhangra (feat. Red Baraat) Lu sittaturu Ninnarella Stornello alla memoria Vulía Quannu camini tie Tic e tac (feat. Enzo Avitabile) Ntunucciu Ronda Meridiana

Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino Mauro Durante: frame drums, violin, vocals Giulio Bianco: recorders, whistles, clarinet, harmonica, zampogna Emanuele Licci: vocals, bouzouki, guitar, battente guitar; tamburello (11) Massimiliano Morabito: diatonic accordion Giancarlo Paglialunga: vocals, tamburello, calebas Alessia Tondo: vocals, castanets; tamburello (11) Silvia Perrone: dance

Featuring Red Baraat (3) Sunny Jain: dhol, effects Lynn Ligammari: soprano saxophone Sonny Singh: trumpet John Altieri: sousaphone Enzo Avitabile: voice and pentarpa (9)

Guests Justin Adams: electric guitar (4, 9) Giacomo Greco: synth, sound design; additional production (1, 3, 4, 5) Valerio “Combass” Bruno: electric bass (1 Antonio “Dema” De Marianis: additional percussions (9)

Contributions Maura Gancitano and Andrea Colamedici, philosophers and communicators Gianfranco Salvatore, anthropologist and ethnomusicologist Massimiliano Morabito, musician and ethnomusicologist Francesca Corbo, Amnesty International Italia Roberto Vacca, engineer, mathematician and science communicator Domenico Licchelli, astrophysicist

Produced by Justin Adams & Mauro Durante Mixed by Francesco Aiello at Boombox Recording Studio Mastered by Tim Oliver at Top Cat Studios Executive production by Titti Santini

Live music in Las Palmas, July 2021

I was hoping to hear more live music this July but, with this and that, I couldn’t. The only outdoor concert was the Música en el Parque one on 25 July and, to my annoyance, they still insisted on everybody wearing face masks.

• 15 July: Benavent/di Geraldo/Pardo: Flamenco Leaks @ Teatro Guiniguada, Plaza F. Mesa de León, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  This was the only concert of the 30^th edition of Canarias Jazz & Más festival that we’ve attended. But what a concert! Featuring, of course, Carles Benavent (bass), Tino di Geraldo (drums, tabla) and Jorge Pardo (tenor sax, flute).

  

• 21 July: The Planets @ Edificio Miller, Parque Santa Catalina
  Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, conducted by Daniel Abad Casanova, interpreted the famous suite by Gustav Holst. I wish the conductor (or somebody else, why not) said at least a few words. I couldn’t identify the mambo-style piece they played as an encore.

  

• 25 July: Elida Almeida @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos
  An electrifying performance by a Cape Verdean singer accompanied by Dodas (guitar), Kalu Ferreira (keyboards), Mayo (bass) and Kau Paris (drums).

So long, Las Palmas. I’m off to Santander, shall be back by the end of the year.

El orden del tiempo

by Carlo Rovelli
translated by Francisco J. Ramos Mena

I remember how excited I was, when I first read A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, to learn about light cones. Then I forgot almost all about them, apart from that there is a place outside of a light cone called “elsewhere”. Now, reading this book, I had a happy reencounter with light cones. This time, what surprised me most was the illustration showing that the orientation of the cones could even be like this:

The Order of Time is a bit longer than Seven Brief Lessons but still quite short and almost as easy to read. I cannot say I’m convinced by everything Rovelli says, but that’s the reality — and, for me, the beauty — of science. The way he explains some of his ideas, like the one that the world is not a collection of things but of events, is sheer poetry.

La differenza fra cose e eventi è che le cose permangono nel tempo. Gli eventi hanno durata limitata. Un prototipo di una «cosa» è un sasso: possiamo chiederci dove sarà domani. Mentre un bacio è un «evento». Non ha senso chiedersi dove sia andato il bacio domani. Il mondo è fatto di reti di baci, non di sassi.

⧖ ⧗ ⧖

La diferencia entre cosas y eventos es que las cosas permanecen en el tiempo. Los eventos, en cambio, tienen una duración limitada. Un prototipo de «cosa» es una piedra: podemos preguntarnos dónde estará mañana. Mientras que un beso es un «evento»: no tiene sentido preguntarse adónde habrá ido el beso mañana. El mundo está hecho de redes de besos, no de piedras.

(Translated by Francisco J. Ramos Mena)

⧗ ⧖ ⧗

The difference between things and events is that things persist in time; events have a limited duration. A stone is a prototypical “thing”: we can ask ourselves where it will be tomorrow. Conversely, a kiss is an “event”. It makes no sense to ask where the kiss will be tomorrow. The world is made up of networks of kisses, not of stones.

(Translated by Erica Segre and Simon Carnell)

⧖ ⧗ ⧖

The book is written to intrigue you. Or, at least, this seems to be its main purpose. I’d say The Order of Time is more concerned with history and philosophy of time rather than (hard) physics or math of time. For more in-depth (but still accessible) treatment of physical aspects of time, you’ll need to look, er, elsewhere. I recommend The Arrow of Time by Coveney and Highfield as well as the aforementioned Hawking’s classic.

For those who prefer listening, there is an audiobook read by the man who played Hawking in Hawking, the one Benedict Cumberbatch.

El Ángelus

by Josep Homs and Frank Giroud
translated by Manel Domínguez

This gorgeous book (“nueva edición ampliada”) combines the two parts previously published as separate volumes. I loved the illustrations; less so the plot. The original French title is Secrets: L’Angélus. What secrets? The complicated family history of Clovis is a secret only to Clovis himself; the rest of the town seem to be well informed. The miraculous appearance of an unaccounted for relative is as believable as a Bollywood movie. And then there is this annoying symmetry between the parts (volumes) where (a) Clovis leaves home as his wife Isabelle is convinced that he is cheating on her and (b) Isabelle asks Clovis to move back in, knowing that he is not cheating on her. (On both occasions, she is mistaken.) The painting of the title (the one by Millet, followed by a few more by Salvador Dalí) turns out to be, indeed, a far-fetched pretext for Clovis to see Evelyne — just as the latter suspected from the start.

Now Evelyne, a free-spirited art teacher, kind of modern-day Pippi Longstocking, is much more interesting. Why don’t we get to know her story?

Frances Ha

a film by Noah Baumbach

Frances: Do I look old to you?
Benji: No. Yes. How old?
Frances: Older than I am. Older than twenty-seven.
Benji: No. Twenty-seven is old, though.

Is it? Is it? The year I turned 27, I left my home country and moved to Italy. (Now I am twice that age, so I was leaving abroad, so to speak, for the most of my life. Whatever the words “home” and “abroad” mean.) Maybe it was not the happiest year of my life, but, when I think about it, surely the most strange, amazing, difficult, promising, frustrating and ultimately rewarding one. I didn’t feel old. Or wise. Well. Maybe a little wiser than when I was 26.

Frances: What do you do?
Andy: Eh?
Frances: What do you do? It’s such a stupid question, I thought I’d ask it.
Andy: Oh, no. I’m a lawyer. What do you do?
Frances:That’s such a stupid question! Just kidding. Um, it’s kind of hard to explain.
Andy: Because what you do is complicated?
Frances: Um, because I don’t really do it.

Greta Gerwig shines in this charming and unexpectedly subtle comedy. To quote its heroine, it’s kind of hard to explain what it is about and why it is a comedy. Watch it, and you’ll see.

Ah, to be 27 again.

Kusama: Infinity

a film by Heather Lenz

Another documentary thanks to Filmoteca Canaria, about amazing life and work of yet another world-famous — and now, thankfully, top-selling — artist I never heard about before: Yayoi Kusama. Highly recommended.

Fireball

by Deep Purple

According to Wikipedia, Fireball was released in the States 50 years ago today. So my 25^th Anniversary Edition is 25 already!

Then again, the US version had Strange Kind of Woman instead of Demon’s Eye as it was in on the UK edition. That’s not right. It means, the proper 50^th Anniversary of Fireball has to wait till September.

I discovered Fireball later than the other Mark II classics, and it is the only Purple album with whose lyrics I’d got acquained before I actually heard it. It so happened that one of my brother’s bandmates brought him the songbook that, in turn, somebody else lent him for several days. The book looked like this:

At the time (that is, the late 1970s) we had no access to photocopier, so we copied the book by hand, or rather, by two hands: my brother did the scores, I did the texts, which included the lyrics and also the band’s bio. My knowledge of English back then was below elementary. Of course, I remembered some words even though I was not sure how to pronounce them. The album itself remained elusive for a couple of years after that, until the day I listened to an unmarked magnetic tape reel of rather dodgy quality and by-now forgotten origin. I heard a country-style song which I liked and suddenly realised that I recognise some of these words. Farmer’s daughter? Judge’s daughter? Could it be...? I unearthed my handwritten book. Yes, here it was: Anyone’s Daughter. And the rest? I rewound the tape to the beginning and listened to the end. Bingo: complete Fireball, starting with, well, Fireball!

Purple’s last prog-rock effort, Fireball remains one of my favourite albums. The band is at the peak of their powers, the songs are diverse and well-crafted, the title track is speedier than Speed King, and even Ritchie Blackmore finally plays in tune.

The sound quality of the aforementioned 25^th Anniversary Edition CD is great. If you don’t care about bonus tracks, just stop after No One Came, because that’s where the the original album ends. For those who prefers the American LP version, Strange Kind of Woman is also here, followed by I’m Alone, another great song hitherto only available on The Deep Purple Singles A’s & B’s.

Patria

by Toni Fejzula
based on a novel by Fernando Aramburu

I haven’t read the best-selling novel by Fernando Aramburu, and so far did not have any intention to do it. Nor did I watch its TV adaptation. But when I saw this book in the library, I fell in love with the drawings and thought, I’ll give it a chance.

Ola de crímenes

a film by Gracia Querejeta

Almodóvaresque in the beginning, the second half firmly in Tarantino territory, this black comedy starring Maribel Verdú (Y tu mamá también, El laberinto del fauno) provided a welcome relief after two rather boring quarter-final games on the telly. Lazy Saturday.

Free live music in Las Palmas, June 2021

Every June, our city celebrates the anniversary of its foundation in 1478. The programme of Fiestas fundacionales this year was very impressive and we were lucky to attend many cultural events. Unfortunately, there were no fireworks in Las Canteras on San Juan Night; that’ll have to wait till 2022.

• 5 June: Rocío Pozo Compañía Flamenca: «#Lorca. Federico García» @ Plaza de Santa Ana, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  Spectacular dance, excellent guitarist, quite satisfactory singing and incredibly annoying MC — I wish she stayed home and let the dancers and musicians do their thing.

• 12 June: Las Migas @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos, Parque Doramas
  The last concert of Musicando this spring season — and it couldn’t have been better! Alicia Grillo (guitar), Carolina Fernández ‘La Chispa’ (lead vocals, dance), Roser Loscos (violin) and Marta Robles (guitar), with Oriol Riart (double bass) and a surprise guest appearance of “our own” Hirahi Afonso (timple).

• 17 June: Rycardo Moreno @ Teatro Guiniguada, Plaza F. Mesa de León
  The last Mousikê masterclass till Autumn. It’s been ages since I held a guitar in my hands so maybe not immediately useful but I found Rycardo’s classification of guitar chords according to emotion (e.g. “feliz como un niño” or “triste, pero no tan terrible”) rather poetic.

• 17 June: Miriam Fleitas & D’Local Groove @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos
  The funky side of La Local Jazz Band: Miriam Fleitas (vocals) with Miqui Delgado (piano), Samantha de León (electric bass), Luis Merino (guitar), Ernesto Montenegro (trumpet), Miguel Ramírez (sax) and Suso Vega (drums).

• 19 June: Freedonia @ Parque Santa Catalina
  The line-up has changed dramatically since I saw them last time — three years ago already! Still, it was a pleasure to see Freedonia (a)live and kicking with Deborah Ayo (vocals), Israel Checa (drums), Álvaro Galera (guitar), Toni García (trumpet), Jorge Moreno (trombone), Dani Niño (tenor sax), Chavi Ontoria (keyboards), Fran Panadero (bass) and David Pérez (baritone sax).

  

• 20 June: Djazia Satour @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos
  Fantastic show of Djazia Satour (vocals, guitar) with Benoit Richou (guitar, vocals), Rémi D’Aversa (drums, keyboards, vocals) and Quentin Langlois Andréoulis (banjo, violin, percussion).

• 22 June: The Bootleg Beatles @ Parque Santa Catalina
  What an evening! Two hours of unadulterated Beatles fun, from It Won’t Be Long to Let It Be, courtesy of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band consisting of, naturally, John (Tyson Kelly), Paul (Steve White), George (Stephen Hill) and Ringo (Gordon Elsmore), plus Mr. Tambourine-and-keyboard Man (Max Langley).

• 24 June: Sofiel del Pino and Pablo Milanés @ Parque Santa Catalina
  Pablo Milanés is kind of an institution in the Hispanic world; I was not about to miss his performance in Las Palmas. Accompanied by Cary Rosa Varona (cello) and Miguelito Núñez (piano) and only occasionally playing guitar, he revisited his vast repertoire, including Años, Días de Gloria and Yolanda. The supporting act, featuring Sofiel del Pino (vocals, guitar), Totó Noriega (percussion, vocals) and Yuniel Rascón Falcón (guitar, tres), was as great as expected and provided me with a glimpse of «Ya nadie toca como Matamoros», the only Musicando show that I couldn’t attend in April.

  

• 26 June: Sergio Alonso Quintet: «Tributo a Dave Brubeck» @ Edificio Miller, Parque Santa Catalina
  Sergio A. Alonso (piano), Neftalí Robaina (sax), Javier Montero (drums), Carlos Meneses (double bass) and Santiago “Chago” Miranda (guitar). The programme included such Brubeck classics as Blue Rondo à la Turk, Bluette, Bossa Nova U.S.A., In Your Own Sweet Way, It’s a Raggy Waltz, Kathy’s Waltz, Unsquare Dance and, of course, Paul Desmond’s Take Five.

  

Starting 26^th June, the face mask is not obligatory outdoors any longer, provided the safety distance, etc. etc. Looking forward to open-air concerts next month!

High Maintenance / דני קרוון

a film by Barak Heymann

Until today, I had no clue who was Dani Karavan (1930—2021), although I must have been inside his creation, Straße der Menschenrechte (the Way of Human Rights) in Nuremberg. Now that I know about Passatges in Catalonia, I’d love to see it too.

This film follows Mr. Karavan on a journey to revisit his works in Israel and Europe. And man, he gets angry. The concept of wabi-sabi is clearly lost on Dani: in his view, all his masterpieces should last till the end of times. (Also, people must remember him forever, or at least that’s what he tells Wim Wenders, of all people.) But how could it be if their state of maintenance is, according to Dani, simply appalling?

Funny, touching, inspiring, a joy to watch and the first documentary in years that is not too long.

Tchindas

a film by Pablo García Pérez de Lara and Marc Serena

I really wanted to like this film. So I went to the screening and a colloquium organised by Filmoteca Canaria and featuring the very Tchinda Andrade, whose name became an affectionate word to refer to queer people on São Vicente. Perhaps I was expecting too much. I didn’t stay for colloquium though.

I mean, it’s not bad. It’s just during these 94 minutes not much happens. During the run-up to Carnival, Elvis Tolentino is busy designing and making the dresses. Tchinda Andrade sells her homemade street food, coxinhas de Tchinda. The third protagonist, Edinha Pitanga, does nothing apart from smoking, chatting, and dancing samba in the end. There’s no plot, no development, no drama. Also, for a change, no misery and no violence. Is this enough for a documentary? I’m not sure. For all I know, it could have been a promo commissioned by Cape Verdean tourist board to position São Vicente as LGBTQ+ friendly destination. Which, again, is not a bad thing. And you can’t go wrong with the music of Cesária Évora.

La Última Cena

a film by María Sánchez Torregrosa and Toni Agustí

I can’t pretend I understood everything in this film — in the best Spanish tradition, “todos hablan a la vez”. And I mean, todos y todas. So not a fiction then. A group of friends (at least, some of them appear to be friends) come together in an apartment to have a dinner. Just a dinner. Well aware that they are filmed — the cameramen are walking among them — but acting as if they were not. So not a documentary either. What is it?

It is an experiment. The actors were given some minimal description of their characters. No script and full freedom to improvise. It could have gone worse or better, more or less funny, more or less believable. (The awkward silence at the beginning of the third part, La Fiesta, seems to be genuine.) What’s important, it can’t be repeated. Ever.

Watching La Última Cena, you become acutely aware that it couldn’t have been filmed now. In the end it is revealed that the film was shot in December 2019, just three months before the lockdown started. And, while I personally don’t miss all these hello-goodbye kisses, I do appreciate the movie’s (probably unintentional at the time of making) nostalgic vibe.

Siete Breves Lecciones de Fisica

by Carlo Rovelli
translated by Francisco J. Ramos Mena

It’s the story of my life. I first saw this book in the library, at the new books stand by the entrance. Even browsed through it, thinking that I might fancy to read it. Then went to another floor briefly. Sure enough, when I came back, it was gone.

I never saw it again at the new books stand (well, that was a couple of years ago, so it’s not new anymore) and I forgot the name of the author. So, one day I waded into the physics section and... found it. Now that I know the name, I can tell you: it was next to other books by Rovelli.

I could have swallowed it in one evening but I somehow managed to prolong the pleasure for almost a week. Even if you hated physics in school — especially if you hated physics in school — I promise, you’ll enjoy this book. And if you are still in school: the same. Till now, I had no clue who Rovelli the scientist is — one of the founders of loop quantum gravity theory, of which he talks in Grains of space, that’s who, but this fact is almost tangential to the way Rovelli tells the story. To write about complex stuff in such an easy language is a gift, and the author is not afraid to use it. According to Wikipedia, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics was translated into 42 languages, which makes it the most translated Italian book after Pinocchio. I read it in Spanish. I suppose the original is as a joy to read.

La teoría más hermosa (The most beautiful of theories) Los cuantos (The quanta) La arquitectura del cosmos (The architecture of the cosmos) Partículas (Particles) Granos de espacio (Grains of space) La probabilidad, el tiempo y el calor de los agujeros negros (Probability, time and the heat of black holes) Nosotros (Ourselves)

Leonard Bernstein en Gran Canaria

a film by Pedro Schlueter

There is precious little material on the subject that one can actually show. No footage. Some photographs. Old newspapers. Some anecodotes told by Justus Frantz. Still, thanks to this film produced by Espacio Digital — it’s a bit of a stretch to call it a documentary — I learned a few things. Why, I didn’t even know that Bernstein visited Gran Canaria. But apparently, starting mid-1970s, he lived here for extended periods and even was considering buying a house in the south of the island. Now if he did, we would see much more than drone photography of the hills.

Jon Lord’s 80th

by Timur Kulikov

Happy belated 80^th birthday, Jon Lord.

Video Blues

a film by Emma Tusell

Filmoteca Canaria kicks off the new cycle of films that, um, won something at the Rizoma festival — we’ll see what it’s all about. I was not particularly impressed with the opening feature. I mean, there is a limit how much bad quality home video and equally bad sound one could (let alone should) endure. To misquote a quote misattributed to one Bill Gates, ten minutes ought to be enough for anybody. Instead, we have 74 minutes of poorly edited footage that might, or might not, be of sentimental value for the director’s family. For the rest of humankind, it’s not funny, not touching, and not so interesting.

Bezimena

by Nina Bunjevac
translated by Montse Meneses Vilar

Exquisitely illustrated, dark and pretty disturbing tale, found by chance in our public library. It’s said to be a modern take on the myth of Artemis and Siproites, although it appears to be fused with that of Artemis and Actaeon. I found the frame story featuring the titular Bezimena (“nameless” in Serbian) superfluous and, consequently, the graphic novel as a whole lacking a closure. Well worth reading and maybe re-reading nonetheless; just don’t give it as a gift without reading it yourself first.

The afterword relates the author’s own experience of attempted sexual assault and, in part, explains why the book was created.

Una Habitación Propia con WiFi

by Raquel Riba Rossy

The first and the last time I’ve been to the Gran Canaria Espacio Digital was 12 March 2020, to see Mujeres al alba. Immediately after that I received the message that all activities in this centre were suspended until... well, much later than they (and everybody else) expected. The nationwide state of alarm was declared on 14 March. So no Lola Vendetta workshop for us, and no Amparo Sánchez talk either.

One year later, RRR published one more Lola Vendetta comic. To my joy, Lola dumps the cuddly boy acquired in the previous book and adopts a dog instead. Which, we know by now, is a wise move in times of pandemic. Oh, right: in between these events, pandemic starts and goes on; Lola moves to the titular own room (a nod to that essay by Virginia Woolf) and leaves her katana behind... Surprisingly, the new, katana-less Lola continues to be cool. To the degree that God finally engages in conversation with her (confessing that the internet connection is not that good up there). For me, Lola’s witty and touching chats with Death (a woman) are the best.

Free live music in Las Palmas, May 2021

There are twelve months in all the year, As I hear many men say, But the merriest month in all the year Is the merry month of May.

Folk ballad

The state of alarm ended on 9^th of May, and with it many annoying restrictions, such as the nighttime curfew. We went to see live music every single weekend!

• 1 May: La Local Jazz Band + Tributo Chick Corea @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos, Parque Doramas, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  What I have misinterpreted, at the moment of ordering the tickets, as Tribute to Chick Corea by La Local Jazz Band, turned out to be a fabulous double bill:
  1. La Local Jazz Band presenting their new album Paisajes sonoros: Miqui Delgado (piano), Samantha de León (double bass), Ernesto Montenegro (trumpet), Miguel Ramírez (sax) and Suso Vega (drums).
  2. Jaume Vilaseca Trio with Jaume Vilaseca (keyboards), Ramón Díaz (drums) and Dick Them (bass) presenting their tribute to Chick Corea.
  Altogether the two concerts lasted for almost three hours.

• 2 May: Joven Borondón Big Band feat. Joan Chamorro and Elia Bastida @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos
  The concert started with Trio featuring Èlia Bastida (violin), Joan Chamorro (double bass) and José Alberto Medina (piano), the continued with Joven Borondón Big Band. Joan Chamorro was directing a few songs and then joining on sax. (You can watch the complete performance here, here, here, and here.) This concert concluded the LPA International Jazz Day, a four-day-long celebration of the International Jazz Day in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

  

• 8 May: Bohemia Lanzarote «Inmarcesible» @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos
  A 12-strong band led by Juanma Padrón presented a mix of folk songs and Latin and Spanish standards such as Gracias a la Vida, Orgullecida, Mediterráneo, Candela, Ojalá que llueva café...

• 13 May: Trinidad Jiménez @ Teatro Guiniguada, Plaza F. Mesa de León
  Another masterclass organised by Mousikê La Laguna. I don’t know how it is for the teachers who normally perform the same evening but for the attendees 4:30 pm is not the best time. I have to confess that I even briefly fell asleep during the class. Sorry, Trinidad!

• 15 May: Fabiola Trujillo «La flor de la canela» @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos
  In her new programme, Ms Trujillo, accompanied by Daniel García, Juan Carlos Sierra, Luis Montesdeoca and Ivanoff Rodríguez, revisited the repertoire of the great María Dolores Pradera, with songs like La flor de la canela, Milonga Sentimental, Ojalá que te vaya bonito, María la Portuguesa and, quite unexpectedly, very much Canarian Palmero, Sube a La Palma.

• 22 May: Cantadores @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos
  Like Bohemia Lanzarote, Tenerife-based Cantadores (formed in 2008 as Jóvenes Cantadores, obviously not as young now) presented a mixed bag of folk and Latin standards of which, in my opinion, the best were cumbias: La Piragua by José Barros, A Dios le Pido and La Gota Fría.

• 26 May: Concierto Extraordinario Día de Canarias @ Edificio Miller, Parque Santa Catalina
  Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, conducted by Daniel Abad Casanova, with special guest Germán López (timple). The programme included:

  Alvamar Overture Nuevos Tiempos * Malagueña Embrujada * Muelle Viejo † Chipude * Arizona Nana Para Jar † De Isla a Isla * A Punto de Nieve * Folías † Nunca Me Iré de Aquí — with Ana Gil (vocal) Isa del Parralito * — with Javier Montero (cajón) Los Cuatro Gigantes * * Soloist: Germán López (timple) † Duet Germán López (timple) and Augusto Báez (piano)

• 29 May: Toñín Corujo Quartet «Raíz» @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos, Parque Doramas
  What was advertised as “Toñín Corujo Quartet” turned out to be a 11-piece band featuring Toñín Corujo (timple), Carlos Pérez (sax, flute, keyboards), Yarel Hernández (bass), Israel Curbelo (keyboards, cajón), Tony Cantero (guitar), Alex Jiménez (drums), Sergey Saprychev (percussion), Domingo Corujo (lapas, timple, guitar), Almudena Hernández, Ciro Corujo and Rubén Fariñas (vocals).

Bring on June!