Live music in Santander, September 2018

While I was looking for a new place to live (long story, another time), I did my best to attend most — all but two concerts, to be precise — of this year’s Raqueros del Jazz festival. The programme was excellent. However, I feel that I must say a couple of words about its organisation.

I never bought tickets to Rvbicón events in advance, including all concerts of the last year’s RDJ. On 13 September, when I came to see Amós Lora Quartet, I was told that there were no tickets left. After my enquiry, the lady at the doors helpfully informed me that Carles Benavent concert was also sold out. I found myself on the street pondering what to do next in this new for me situation. The last thing I wanted to do was to walk back home. To my joy, in a minute or so the said lady emerged looking for me. She told me there was a cancellation and she had one ticket available.

Encouraged by this, I thought I should try my luck on Saturday. The only way to get to the concert was to wait from 8 pm onward in a hope of cancellation. I was the first on a “waiting list” — by 9 pm, there were only five “reserved” tickets left, and at 9:15 they were finally on sale. While we (the small group of hopefuls, that is) were waiting, we learned that the tickets for RDJ were on sale one month in advance. Do I have to add that I was not the only customer surprised by that? There never was any info about advance sales. At the same time, there was a constant stream of vaguely familiar-looking people trying to filter inside without tickets, wishing to talk to the boss etc. etc. I am sure that in the end all these Rabbit’s Friends-and-Relations somehow got in, filling this apparently finite space way beyond its capacity.

All the concerts took place in Rvbicón unless indicated otherwise.

• 2 September: Jam session
  The festival kicked off with a lively jam session featuring Cantabrian jazzmen such as Rafael Santana (piano), Toño Gutiérrez (double bass), Rodri Irizábal (drums), Saúl Crespo (piano) and others.
• 4 September: Luis Verde Quartet / Vientos Cruzados
  Modern mainstream jazz featuring Luis Verde (alto saxo), Mark Schilders (drums), Moisés Sánchez (piano) and Reinier Elizarde “El Negrón” (double bass).
• 6 September: Daahoud Salim Quintet
  This international collective formed in Amsterdam features musicians from Spain, Germany and South Corea. Impressive compositions and overall musicianship, but Sun Mi Hong’s drumwork is simply mindblowing. Bruno Calvo (trumpet), Pablo José Martínez Hernández (trombone), Sun Mi Hong (drums), Hendrik Müller (double bass) and Daahoud Salim (piano).
• 8 September: RAMBA with Andrzej Olejniczak, Calle Carlos Salomón
  I knew the work of Andrzej Olejniczak from his time with String Connection; however, by the time I went to see them (as a trio) in Moscow in 1980s, he already left the band. I didn’t know that now he lives in Basque Country! Also, it was a pleasure to see Tana Santana again as a part of RAMBA.
  Andrzej Olejniczak (sax), Marcos Salcines (piano), Tana Santana (double bass), Carla Sevilla (vocal) and Juanma Urriza (drums).
• 12 September: Caminero Quartet
  Inspiring and very original music by Pablo Caminero who strums his bass as if it was a flamenco guitar. Highly recommended.
  Pablo Martín Caminero (double bass), Ariel Bringuez (sax), Moisés Sánchez (piano), Michael Olivera (drums).
• 13 September: Amós Lora Quartet
  I’m happy that in the end I managed to get to this concert. If I had to name just one highlight (of many), it would be the rendition of Paco de Lucía’s Zyryab.
  Amós Lora (guitar), Gito Maletá (piano), Reinier Elizarde (double bass) and Manu Masaedo (percussion).
• 15 September: Carles Benavent Trio
  I saw Benavent last October as a part of a very different trio and again this January, and he never fails to surprise me.
  Carles Benavent (bass), Roger Mas (piano) and Aleix Tobías (drums).
• 16 September: Jazztedigo @ Calle del Sol
  This was the last concert of the festival that I saw. Rubén Bubby Ortiz (guitar), Saúl Crespo (violin) and Germán Caprara (drums) played a great selection of jazz and swing standards.

The only concert I saw in September that was not a part of RDJ was this one:

• 23 September: Mabel Sierra & Soul Band @ La Viga, Carretera de la Arnia, 1, Soto de la Marina
  I just can’t have enough Mabel Sierra! Great program, shame about the venue: far cry from Rvbicón, the customers of La Viga did not seem to respect neither music nor the musicians. Soul Band are: Iván Velasco (guitar), Miguel Sánchez (bass) and Natxo Miralles (drums).

Live music in Santander and beyond, August 2018

The summer’s over... And here’s the end-of-summery summary.

• 4 August: Jairo & Sesi @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol, 4, Santander
  
  It promised to be an informal musical encuentro between Jairo León (piano) and Sergio Mier (guitar). However, after Jairo playing two solo numbers, it morphed into an almost private party with a multitude of guests reading their mostly awful amateur Vogon poetry in honour of somebody who appeared to be as embarrassed as the musicians and the rest of the audience. One of the versifiers was a spitting image of Lord “I shall kill everyone by giving them syphilis” Byron from Blackadder. It would have been funny were it not so long, and the two protagonists of the show (I mean Jairo and Sesi) had no chance to play a single song together. The photo below sums it all up. Thank goodness we didn’t have to pay for this entertainment.
  

• 8 August: Albert Vila Trio @ Rvbicón
  The latest project of Spanish guitarist and composer Albert Vila, featuring French bassist Alex Gilson and Dutch drummer Daniel Jonkers. Highly recommended.
  

• 11 August: Mabel Sierra Trio @ Bluemoon, Savieja, 9, Loredo, Cantabria
  A charming mix of boleros, soul and bossa nova. On this occasion, Mabel Sierra was accompanied by Quiu Herrero (guitar) and Yanil Macagüero (bass).
• 15 August: Free Mode @ Rvbicón
  A band from Majadahonda (Community of Madrid) playing feel-good, mostly Anglophone mix of reggae, funk and swing.
  

• 17 August: Aba Taano @ Festival de las Naciones, Sardinero
  Gospel, songs by Miriam Makeba, and even ABBA medley brilliantly performed by the Ugandan a cappella group featuring Harriett Nabbaale, Joshua Kimeze, Morris Kamogga, Louis Mayanja and Derrick Ssenteza.
• 18 August: James Room & Weird Antiqua @ Kursaal, Avda. de Zurriola, 1, Donostia / San Sebastián
  A great live act featuring James Room (vocals, guitars), Indigo L. Agudo (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Aitor Zorriketa (guitars, backing vocals) and Gabriel León (double bass, electric bass). Somehow mislabelled in the program of this year’s Semana Grande of San Sebastián as folk-jazz, this band plays Americana-inspired yet original music. A kind of country-rock number that I heard upon arrival did not appeal to me that much and I was about to leave when the band started playing Tom-Waits-esque Jailed Lion. I got hooked and stayed.
• 18 August: Yasmin Shah Trio @ Altxerri Jazz Bar, Calle Reina Regente, 2, Donostia
  Later that same night, Yasmin Shah (vocal, piano) played in Altxerri Jazz Bar with Nicolas Chelly (bass) and Olivier Verneres (drums). I have to say that I was more impressed with Yasmin’s piano playing than with her singing. The trio made a break at 22:45 to allow the audience to get out of the bar and watch the fireworks.
• 19 August: Extraño Veneno @ Rvbicón
  The only reason to see the duo of Pablo Díaz and Julián Suárez that Sunday evening was it being a free event, or, rather, “Pay after show” event. As the name suggests, this scheme means that it’s entirely up to you how much to pay to the buskers. Provided that you stay till the end of the show, which I didn’t.
• 22 August: Rachel Reyes & The Fireballs @ Rvbicón
  Rachel Reyes (vocals) with Víctor Sánchez (guitar), Moisés Pindado (bass) and Adrián Carrera (drums). Yet another band from Madrid playing a way too familiar set of rhythm and blues, soul and funk standards. Good enough to eliminate the aftertaste of the “strange poison” but instantly forgettable.
  

• 24 August: Katia and Marielle Labèque @ Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria, Calle de Gamazo
  The first part of the penultimate concert of the Festival Internacional de Santander consisted of works by Philip Glass: The Chase (Orphée and the Princess), Stoke’s Duet, The Poet Acts (Katia Labèque solo), Étude No. 5 (Marielle Labèque solo) and Four Movements for Two Pianos. For the second part, Bernstein’s West Side Story arranged for two pianos and percussion by Irwin Kostal, the Labèque sisters were joined by Raphaël Séguinier (drums) and Gonzalo Grau (percussion).
  

• 29 August: Blue Ribbon Healers @ Rvbicón
  Since I saw them the first time almost four years ago, the band have further perfected their “sonic gumbo” although not their spoken Spanish. But who cares when the music speaks for itself! Blue Ribbon Healers are: Rob Pate (guitar, vocals), Cindy Rose (mandolin, vocals) and Scott Stobbe (guitar).
  

Now, bring on September...

Live music in Santander and beyond, June—July 2018

It’s summer, and I’m back to Santander!

• 13 June: Edu Andérez Trio @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4, Santander
  Edu Andérez (guitars), Antonio Romero (bass guitar) and Luis Escalada de Cabo (drums) play music of, or influenced by, Charlie Haden, Pat Metheny, Ralph Towner, David Cullen, Alex de Grassi and Terje Rypdal.
  

• 20 June: The Boogies & The Bugas @ Rvbicón
  A sextet formed in 2017 in Santander featuring Oriana Carreña (vocal), Tatiana Ramírez (vocal), Patu Campos (vocal), Rafael Santana (piano), Toño Gutiérrez (double bass) and Rodri Irizábal (drums). They play a charming mix of boogie woogie and swing, with repertoire ranging from I Got Rhythm to I Will Survive.
  

• San Juan Night, 23 to 24 June: Freedonia @ Leioa (Lejona), Basque Country
  This is the third time I see Freedonia and they just get better and better.
  

• 7 July: Corcoré Trio @ Bluemoon, Savieja 9, Loredo, Cantabria
  My first time ever in Bluemoon Loredo and no disappointment. Felipe Borja ‘Popín’ (piano), Antonio Romero (bass) and Rubén Pérez (percussion) treated us to some fine flamenco jazz fusion.
  

• 18 July: Juan Sebastián Trio @ Rvbicón
  Juan Sebastián returns to Rvbicón (last time I saw him here last September) accompanied by Rubén Carlés (bass) and Dani Dominguez (drums). The trio plays the themes from the forthcoming album — I am looking forward to it!
  

• 22 July: Música para un espacio de Renzo Piano @ Centro Botín
  The sitting area was “by invitation only” (I’ve never learned how to procure those invitations for free events at Centro Botín), but I and other free music lovers found place on the stairs and balconies of the building designed by the very Renzo Piano.
  
  Ensemble del Encuentro Música y Academia, directed by Fabián Panisello, opened the concert with Schönberg’s Kammersymphonie. It was followed by Domaines for solo clarinet by Pierre Boulez, performed by Ferran Arbona. Ensemble del Encuentro returned to play Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs for mezzo-soprano (Beatriz Oleaga) and seven instruments. I enjoyed this last part the most; the audience, apparently, too. Oleaga and the band played the Azerbaijan Love Song as an encore.
  

Yuri’s 21st

Here are seven analogue-era, “made in Britain” photos taken in different years by Tamara.

Toddler

Drawing

Cromer, 1998

Yuri and Timur, Saffron Walden, 2000

Autumn in Cardiff

Halloween

Peak District, 2006

And this video I found on my old netbook before taking it to Cash Converters.

Aarhus (back then Århus), 2009

Cheese time

On Friday 18 May we went to the XXV Concurso Oficial de Quesos de Gran Canaria (25^th Official Gran Canaria Cheese Competition) where, I am told, for the first time the public could both taste, buy, and vote for cheese. To do that, one had to travel to atrociously-named INFECAR (La Institución Ferial de Canarias) located in one of the more horrid parts of the city. Nevertheless, we successfully navigated there (and back) by public transport. The place itself is not so bad but seems underused. The cheese tasting took place in a spacious foyer of the Palacio de Congresos. Next to the entrance, there was a little stall with cheese for sale.

While the experts were going around the tables where the cheeses were piled (it looked like they were given one latex glove each, so they used their gloved hands to hold iPads and poke the cheeses barehandedly), we also had a look around.

According to the catalogue that I took from one of the tables, there are about 80 queserías artesanales (artisanal cheesemakers) in Gran Canaria. Here, 31 cheesemakers presented 65 cheese varieties competing in 13 categories. Most of the cheeses were made with unpasteurised milk.

We limited ourselves to sampling and eventually purchasing three wedges of cheese, leaving voting to others. (The full list of winners can be found here.) All three cheeses were classified as semicurado (variously translated as semi-cured, semi-hard, semi-soft, take your pick).

1. Cortijo de Daniela Semicurado/Tuno Indio by Airam Rivero Bethencourt and Esmeralda Santana Falcón (Lomo del Pilón, Espartero, Teror)
   This sheep’s milk cheese got our attention mostly because of the spectacular purple colour given to its rind by the fruit of cactus Opuntia dillenii, known in Canarias as tuno indio, penca, penco, pencón, topete or tunera. We loved the taste of freshly cut cheese. Rather disappointingly, after spending just a couple days in the fridge it was not as nice anymore. So, a word of advice, if I may: don’t buy if you don’t mean to eat it the same day.
2. El Cortijo El Montañon by Flora María Gil Mendoza y Domingo Moreno Moreno (Pico del Montañon, Caideros, Gáldar)
   Very tasty, crumbly sheep’s and goat’s milk cheese.
3. El Buen Pastor by Juan Andrés Vizcaíno Guedes (Casa Pastores, Santa Lucía de Tirajana)
   This sheep’s and goat’s milk affair is similar to the above but a bit softer (in more than one sense).

More photos of cheese @ Shutterstock.

Live music in Las Palmas, May 2018

The summer is upon us, and suddenly, suddenly we are spoiled for choice. Here’s mine:

• 20 May: La Hormiga Contra La Abeja @ Fabrica La Isleta, Calle Princesa Guayarmina, 54
  It’s been a while — almost three years! — since the last time I’ve been to a jam session at Fabrica La Isleta. (Come to think of it, that was my first and last time.) The price went up from €2 to €3, which is still cheap, although I find it a bit cheeky to charge (a potential performer) for a jam session. Not that I was up to jamming recently. Timur and I went to see La Hormiga Contra La Abeja (“The Ant vs. The Bee”), the project of bassist and composer Tana Santana. And it was great. My favourite compositions were La Hormiga Contra La Abeja and El baile del vivo. The band played for about three quarters of an hour, then the guests started to join for a jam. We stayed for two standards, ’Round Midnight and Lullaby of Birdland, before heading home (Timur still had classes on Monday). Judging by number of guests with musical instruments, the jam went for at least one hour more.

  La Hormiga Contra La Abeja Tanausú “Tana” Santana Garrido: double bass, voice, composer Xerach Peñate Santana: drums Chago Miranda: electric guitar José Ángel Vera: sax

  

• 26 May: Perinké Big Band @ Teatro CICCA, Alameda de Colón, 1
  Timur and I went to see Perinké Big Band with guests, presenting their new album, Canary Islands Standards for Big Band. The themes were composed and/or arranged for big band by Rayko León. As Rayko explained himself, the goal was to fuse Canarian folklore with 20th century styles, not only those of “classical” big band but also of Latin jazz, dixieland and funk. I cannot honestly say it was a seamless fusion. For example, I was not exactly convinced with songs such as Maspalomas y tú and Mi tierra guanche (those who grew listening to Широка страна моя родная would understand). The numbers I enjoyed the most were Afro-Cuban flavoured La Aldea (with great support of La Parranda de Teror) and Polka majorera. I loved the vintage sound of the orchestra. The musician I was impressed the most was the violinist Raúl Bermúdez.

  Perinké Big Band Ximo Martínez: music director Rayko León: piano Eduardo Naranjo: alto sax Héctor Guerra: alto sax Echedey Angulo: tenor sax Eliseo Bordón: tenor sax Candy González: baritone sax Marcos Pulido: trumpet Juan Antonio Guerrero: trumpet Silvia Jiménez: trumpet Antonio Ojeda “Tonono”: trumpet Luis Hernández: trumpet Orlando González: trombone Javier Herrera: trombone Franklin Cárdenes: trombone Antonio Peña “Ñito”: trombone Samantha de León: double bass, electric bass Samuel Medina: drums Amelia Gutiérrez: percussion Guests Juan Manuel Alemán: clarinet Raúl Bermúdez Cárdenas: violin Moneiba Hidalgo: vocal Lorena Román: vocal Mari Carmen Segura: vocal La Parranda de Teror

• 27 May: The Josés & Cristina James @ Clipper La Puntilla, Calle Caleta
  I don’t know if this is the time and place to bring it up; I’ll do it anyway. I’ve heard quite a few Spanish bands playing what they call “standards”, “soul standards” or “R&B standards” (whatever “R&B” stands for). And here’s what really pains me: astonishing level of musicianship meeting poorly, carelessly selected repertoire. There are thousands of great songs, why oh why they keep playing the same tunes ad nauseam? Is Summertime obligatory? Can we give Stevie Wonder some rest? What Michael Jackson is even doing here? Ah well. The rant is over. The band playing this Isleta Sunset was solid and inventive, the singer has soul and definitely can sing the blues.

  The Josés & Cristina James José Alberto Medina: piano José Carlos Cejudo: electric bass José Víctor González: drums Cristina James: vocal

• 29 May: Efecto Pasillo @ Plaza de Santa Ana
  I heard of Efecto Pasillo before, not so much their actual music though, and had absolutely no idea that they are hailing from our beautiful island. And, would you believe it, I learned that they were to perform on the eve of the Día de Canarias, hours before the show started, thanks to Tamara. And what a show! What wonderful and positive music — just what I needed. The band administered their medicine of “buenrollismo con la precisión casi farmacológica” from 22:40 till about ten past midnight, followed by a firework display.

  Efecto Pasillo Nau Barreto: guitars Javier Moreno: drums Arturo Sosa: bass Iván Torres: vocals, guitar

Hasta luego, Las Palmas. I’ll be back before Christmas.

Galotia Manifest

I’d never heard of this drink until a couple of weeks ago when Tamara and I visited La Feria Ecológica y de Sostenibilidad organised by Cabildo de Gran Canaria. It was a pleasant Sunday morning becoming a no less pleasant Sunday afternoon; a jazz trio was playing; at long last, it felt like real summer.

And there it was, between stalls of organic produce: Galotia Brewery, based in Vecindario, proudly presenting its friendly reptile-themed craft beer. (The brewery is named after Gallotia, the genus of lizards endemic to Canary Islands.) Cervecita! Exactly what we needed.

There were several kinds of beer; we sampled the “hoppy table beer” Manifest which was served in a paper cup — probably the worst type of tableware to taste this beverage from, not to mention its, ahem, environmental impact. (Something to think about for the next edition of Eco-fair, guys.) Atrocious container notwithstanding, it turned out to be hoppity-hop delicious. So we made sure not to leave without a Manifest.

Low alcohol content (3.7%) and high (by Canarian standards) price (€2.10/33 cl bottle) ensure that you won’t get drunk too fast. It’s also virtually gluten-free (<10 ppm), in case you were worrying.

More photos of beer @ Shutterstock.