Live music in Las Palmas, April 2023

This is what I’ve seen in April:

• 1 April: «Tarasca» @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos, Parque Doramas, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  A show by Compañía Pieles, featuring José Félix Álvarez, Laura Álvarez, Fátima Rodríguez (vocals), Juan Antonio Mora (double bass), Itahisa Darias (violin), Jeremías Martín (piano, accordion), Fernanda Alonso (flute), Ventor de la Guardia, Fede Beuster, Jonatan Rodríguez, Carlos Castañeda and Guillermo Molina (percussion).

• 12 April: Coro vocal & Grupo coral @ Palacete Rodríguez Quegles, Calle Benito Pérez Galdós, 4
  The first of three concerts dedicated to the 50^th anniversary of Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. I didn’t know until now that Palacete, bought 50 years ago by the Auyntamiento, was the first home of the Conservatory until, 16 years later, it moved to the bigger building. Featuring voices of Cristina Batista, Kati Brzoska, Gaire Concepción Suárez, Ana Falcón Muñoz, Noemi González, Jennibel Hernández, Joel Hernández Díaz, Paula Herrera Hernández, Teresa de Los Ángeles Rodríguez Vázquez, Daniel Marrero González, Francesco Pisapia, Andrea Quintana and Herminia Sánchez Déniz, accompanied, in turns, by Cristina Díaz Álamo, Diego Rodríguez Ramírez and Ulrika Törnros (piano) and Mireia Santana (guitar). The complete programme of the evening is available here.

  

• 15 April: «Recordando a Nino Bravo» @ Plaza de Santa Ana
  Serafín Zubiri and Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria conducted by Juan Roda, with special guest Cristina Ramos, paid a tribute to Nino Bravo, on occasion of the 50^th anniversary of the singer’s untimely death.
• 19 April: Grupos de cámara @ Palacete Rodríguez Quegles
  The evening of classical chamber music. Featuring talents of Ysaren García, (violin), Ayose Alonso (violin), Celia Santana (cello), Inés Alén González (flute), Adriana Cabrera Almeida (clarinet), Clara Reyes (violin), David Martín (violin), Nuria Hernando (cello), Indara Saavedra (violin), Claudia Ramírez (cello), Marta de J. López Falcón (flute), Paqui Santana Pérez (flute), Fernando Barrio (bandurria), Eleazar Pérez (bandurria), Aarón Díaz (laúd), Marta García (guitar) and Sofía Pérez (guitar). The complete programme is available here.

  

• 22 April: Mayte Martín «Tatuajes» @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos
  A new programme by the Catalan cantaora, accompanied by Nelsa Baró (piano), Guillermo Prats (double bass), and Vicens Soler (drums), covering standards such as Eu sei que vou te amar, La bien pagá, Ne me quitte pas and Procuro olvidarte.

• 26 April: Piano @ Palacete Rodríguez Quegles
  The evening of piano music, with (in the order of appearance): Lidia Tabraue Santiago, Clara Quintana Jiménez, Darío Díaz-Flores Martín, Lía Zimmermann González, Valentina Cabrera Kalinina, Martina Gómez Vázquez, Aaron Grande Castilla, Valentina López Jáuregui, Ariadna Dipierri Romero, Irene Caballero Cerpa, Jorge Vega Saavedra, Noah Mesa Martínez, Luis Rodríguez González, Laura Salazar Sánchez, Orlando Cabrera Martín, Diego Rodríguez Ramírez, Yeling Li Ye, Miguel Raith Corimanya and Miguel Alonso Corimanya. The complete programme is available here.

  

• 27 April: Pedro Martínez @ Teatro Guiniguada, Plaza F. Mesa de León
  A masterclass of South American rhythms and guitar, with focus on samba, festejo, chacarera and polka paraguaya, this latter completely different from polka as we know it.

• 29 April: La Mare @ Espacio Cultural Jesús Arencibia, Avenida 8 de Marzo / Rotonda Cruz del Ovejero
  With La Mare (vocals, Spanish guitar, pandero cuadrado), Pablo López (bass, vocals) and Xerach Peñate (drums, vocals). This is the first time we’ve been to the brand new (opened this February) Centro de Actividades Culturales y Comunitarias Jesús Arencibia in Tamaraceite. The verdict: nice concert venue, with really comfy chairs; accessible by public transport (city and Global buses); not particularly well-advertised so the auditorium was not exactly full. I wouldn’t know about this concert if not for a note on Xerach’s Facebook page.

  

And that was it for April.

Live music in Las Palmas, October 2020

In October, things perked up here. (Postponed from August) TEMUDAS fest, MASDANZA, concerts rescheduled from spring — some days we were really spoiled for choice. And the tickets were flying!

• 16 October: Flor de Canela @ Alameda de Colón, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

  By now, we’ve got used to cancellations: festivals, concerts, anything really. So imagine my surprise to discover that the second edition of the Rock & Books festival, organised by Biblioteca Insular de Gran Canaria was taking place bang in the heart of the city, from 15 to 25 of October! And for free entrance and even without customary pre-inscription — how cool is that?

  So I couldn’t miss the chance to see my favourite Canarian band, this time with the artist Miss Mensi (Laura Castilla) who was painting “live” while Flor de Canela were playing. The programme was familiar — I watched streaming of their concert in Edificio Miller on 26 September — but you cannot compare that with live music. I liked their new(er), harder, funkier sound even more.

  

• 22 October: «Tributo al maestro: Paco de Lucía» @ Teatro Guiniguada, Plaza F. Mesa de León

  Gautama del Campo (saxophones), Ezequiel Reina (guitar and vocal) and our very own Germán López (timple), with bailaora Rocío Pozo, paid their musical tribute to Paco de Lucía. Fantastic rendition of such themes as Canción de Amor, Zyryab, Gitanos Andaluces (bulerías), Río Ancho, Buana Buana King Kong and, of course, Entre dos aguas; plus Camaron’s La Leyenda del Tiempo — wish you were there.

  

• 24 October: Hirahi Afonso «Memento» @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos, Parque Doramas

  The new Musicando season was opened by Hirahi Afonso (timple) presenting his debut album Memento, with the band featuring Pau Figueres (guitars), Arnau Figueres (percussion), Darío Barroso (guitars), Ismael Alcina (bass) and Rita Payés (voice, trombone), plus guest musicians Belén Álvarez Doreste aka LAJALADA (voice), Claudio Marrero (sax) and Iván Quintana (voice).

  

With more events coming in November, it’s a shame that I won’t see them. I’m off from Las Palmas for a couple of months to the gloomy mainland.

Yesterday

a film by Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis

Imagine a parallel universe where The Beatles, Oasis and Coke do not exist but, paradoxically, The Stones, Coldplay and Pepsi do. And why not. Stranger things happen in my own universe. For example, last Friday Tamara mentioned that Riga had been brought to a standstill by Ed Sheeran’s concert. Ed who? The name rang a distant bell. Edward Christopher Sheeran, MBE, that’s who, says Wikipedia. Whatever he did to earn his MBE passed unnoticed by me so far. There’s a ketchup known as “Heinz Edchup”, I learned. Well, I never.

Just five days later, that is, yesterday, I went to see Yesterday in Cines Babel. And there he was, Ed flippin’ Sheeran, quite deliberately making a complete ass of himself playing himself. Not so bad, I have to admit, but the movie would have been great even without him. (Richard Curtis said that his first choice for this role was that of Coldplay’s Chris Martin.) Himesh Patel shines in his debut role, as do most of the cast. Now, who wrote that soundtrack? It’s fantastic.

Live music in Santander and Las Palmas, December 2018

Good old acquaintances and new discoveries during the last month of 2018...

• 5 December: Vinnie Sperrazza @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4, Santander
  New York-based drummer Vinnie Sperrazza with Kike Arza (double bass) and Alejandro Mingot (guitar).
  

• 8 December: Retrópica by Mari Paula @ Café de Las Artes Teatro, Calle García Morato 4
  You may think that cooking and then eating tortilla de patatas while dancing is not such a good idea. I might have thought that too until I saw the Brazilian dancer Mari Paula doing exactly that, and more.

• 12 December: Juan de Diego Trio @ Rvbicón
  Juan de Diego (trumpet) returns to Rvbicón with his new trio featuring Alejandro Mingot (guitar) and Santi Colomer (drums).
  

• 14 December: Los Mambo Jambo @ El Centro Botín
  I can’t think of a better way of saying goodbye to Santander than spending my last night there listening and dancing to this band’s music. Los Mambo Jambo are Dani Nel·lo (saxophones), Dani Baraldés (guitar), Ivan Kovacevic (double bass) and Anton Jarl (drums).
  

• 21 December: Fiesta de Navidad @ Centro Cívico Suárez Naranjo, Calle Pamochamoso 34, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  After a ten-months break, I joined my friends from the African Percussion Workshop to play two songs to close the Christmas concert at the Centro Cívico Suárez Naranjo.
• 29 December: Link Floyd @ Centro Cultural CICCA, Alameda de Colón 1, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  In what appears to be a traditional pre-New Year concert, Link Floyd played entire Meddle plus a great selection of other tasties such as What Shall We Do Now?/Young Lust and High Hopes — all in all, more than two hours of pure Floydian pleasure. My only complain is that, as I already mentioned a year ago, CICCA is not as good sound-wise as Guiniguada, and this year’s concert has proved it once again. The line-up was Besay Brehcist (guitars, lap steel, vocals), Felipe García (bass), Miguel Izquierdo (keyboards, vocals), Fran Navarro (drums) and Kenneth Suárez (guitars, keyboards, harmonica, vocals), with José Pulido (cello) joining on the closing number, Comfortably Numb.
  

• 30 December: Gabriela Suárez trio @ Clipper La Puntilla, Calle Caleta
  In the last Isleta Sunset concert of 2018, young (really, really young) jazz singer Gabriela Suárez was accompanied by Jose Alberto Medina Quintana (piano) and Tana Santana (double bass).

Happy New Year!

Bohemian Rhapsody

a film by Bryan Singer and Dexter Fletcher

Is this the real life or is this just Battersea?

Robert Rankin, Armageddon: The Musical

This Christmas day, Timur and I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody (in English) in Monopol. It turned out to be neither that good nor, and especially nor, that bad as I heard or read.

Of course, it would be naïve to expect a biopic to be 100% accurate. It is not the film’s historical inaccuracies per se, and even the fact that they were rather knowingly (as both Brian May and Roger Taylor were involved in the making) introduced for extra drama or something. Not that the story of the Queen-size band needs any extra drama. Neither it is that the film focuses almost exclusively on Freddie Mercury, as if the other band’s members did not have lives offstage, in spite of the mantra of “the family”. And it is not the happy, of the sorts, ending where “Mr. Bad Guy” finally gets his dad’s approval along the “good thoughts, good words, good deeds” lines. All this is forgivable but, unfortunately, also forgettable. And that is, in my humble opinion, unforgivable. I am not sure if Sacha Baron Cohen would make better Freddie (than Rami Malek’s), but I am quite sure he would make the whole affair funnier, more alive and outrageous and, as such, more truthful to the spirit of the band as flamboyant as Their Majesties.

On the bright side: Malek’s performance is brilliant, the other band members are not bad either, and the music is, well, by Queen.

Queen Symphony in Las Palmas

I hever heard about Tolga Kashif’s magnum opus, Queen Symphony (2002), until the concert of GCWO earlier this year. And there you go, two months later they’re back to Auditorio Alfredo Kraus together with the Choir and the Children’s Choir of Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria. Timur and I went to see the show. (Tamara excused herself saying that “It won’t be real Queen anyway”.)

As symphonies go, this is on a longer side, about one hour. It is as epic as one would expect, to the degree that at times I wished it was less so. Who Wants To Live Forever appears in three movements. The first time, in the third movement, as a beautiful interplay of violin (Preslav Ganev) and cello (Marisa Roda). It comes back in the fifth movement and lasts, well, forever (or so I thought). Then, when you’d think you’ll never want to hear it again, it is reprised in the final movement.

Perfect Strangers and Link Floyd live

Deep Purple or Pink Floyd? When I were a lad, this question would really upset me: I grew up with these bands. Thankfully, this time around I didn’t have to choose between the two, thanks to our own Canarian tribute acts, Perfect Strangers and Link Floyd, playing their end-of-the-year concerts in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Timur, I and Harold attended both shows. In fact, we would never came to the second gig (Link Floyd at Teatro Guiniguada) if Emilio Sánchez, the vocalist of Perfect Strangers, hadn’t told us about it during their show in CICCA! That’s advertising Canarian-style for you.

Perfect Strangers played the vintage DP, with all the major Mark II and III hits: Child in Time, Speed King, Highway Star, Lazy, Woman from Tokyo, Mistreated, Soldier of Fortune, Knocking at Your Back Door, not to mention the very Perfect Strangers and that obligatory one about some stupid with a flare gun... There were surprises too, very much in Purple spirit, such as the Stormbringer quote within Burn, the Mark I first hit Hush, and one hell (or high water) of a drum solo in Space Truckin’.

Perfect Strangers Dave O’Connor: guitar Mathias Klatte: keyboards Javier Negrín: drums Emilio Sánchez: vocals Aaron Santana: bass

One week later, Link Floyd took us on an epic journey from Astronomy Domine and Echoes to (and through) The Wall. Man they can do it: like the entire darker second side of The Dark Side of the Moon, Pigs, Dogs... and the first five songs of The Wall plus Run Like Hell for an encore, how’s that? The band were so superbly faithful to the original that at times I wished they were, um, not and improvised more, or played the guitar solo on the sax or vice versa, or something. Anyway, it was magnificent. (Also, the sound at Guiniguada was much better than that at CICCA.) How I wish you were here.

Link Floyd Besay Brehcist: lead guitar, vocals Sergio Casquero: guitar, vocals Javier Guerra: bass Fran Navarro: drums Rafael Santana: keyboards Kenneth Suárez: guitars, keyboards, vocals Ángel Fernández Bordón: saxophones Patty Brichis: backing vocals Virna Ceballos: backing vocals Violeta Millares: backing vocals

Live music in Santander and beyond, November 2017

And now, dear reader, the promised last.

• 1 November: Albericola @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4, Santander
  A brain-child of Cuban-born Ledian Mola (double bass), this innovative ensemble features Lucas Tauzin (vibraphone), Victor Vega (trumpet), Eolo Andino (sax), Nico Alfaro (guitar), Franco Cavalleri (piano) and Nasim López (drums).
  

• 5 November: Mr. Kilombo @ Haddock Bar, Calle Valliciergo 6
  Just a man with a guitar in a tiny bar... A half of the audience (those who were to the right) turned out to be surprisingly familiar with his songs and were singing along all the way. A quarter of the audience were chatting by the bar (on the left). The remaining part were trying to listen, at the same time (unsuccessfully) shushing the others.
• 7 November: Jazztedigo @ Bar Canela, Plaza Cañadío 5
  A trio featuring Rubén Bubby Ortiz (guitar), Saúl Crespo (violin) and Germán Caprara (drums) offers a fascinating journey through the 20^th-century history of jazz.
• 8 November: El Cuarteto de Ningún Lugar @ Rvbicón
  A prog-rock band featuring Vicent Huma (guitar), Martín Léiton (bass guitar), Pablo Martin Jones Johnston (percussion) and Borja Barrueta (drums). They played one composition that lasted a bit over one hour and another one (encore?) of about 15 minutes. After the concert, I had a chat with the musician only to establish that this was their first, and probably the last ever, performance. I had it recorded on my mobile phone and thus own their complete discography so far.
  

• 11 November: Canteca de Macao @ Palacio de Vistalegre, Madrid
  A mindblowing farewell concert from my favourite Spanish (ex-)band.
• 14 November: Perla Batalla @ Rvbicón
  Perla Batalla was accompanied by César Latorre (piano) in her moving tribute to Leonard Cohen. She even made the normally silent Rubiconian audience sing Dance Me to the End of Love and Hallelujah.
  

• 15 November: The Way Out @ Rvbicón
  An avant-garde quartet from Copenhagen, Denmark featuring TS Høeg (alto saxo), Mads Egetoft (tenor sax), Jonathan Aardestrup (double bass) and Jens Lopes (drums). Free jazz is not my glass of øl as I normally get bored quickly. This was not the case with The Way Out, thanks to their virtuosity, quirky sense of humour and overall brilliance.
  

• 16 November: Osaka Monaurail @ El Almacén de Little Bobby, Calle del Sol 20
  Another world-famous band that I never heard (about) before they came to shake Santander (among other places on their European tour). “The kings of Asian funk”, Osaka Monaurail are Ryo Nakata (vocals, dance, keyboards and percussion), Kentaro Yamagata (trumpet), Taihei Awaji (trumpet), Shimon Mukai (tenor sax), Tsuyoshi Ouchi (trombone), Dan Hayami (guitar), Yuichi Ikeda (guitar), Dai Nakamura (bass) and Soki Kimura (drums).
  

• 18 November: Freedonia @ Escenario Santander, Avenida de la Constitución 39 (Parque de las Llamas)
  I saw them this August in Bilbao and they were awesome. Now I saw them a bit closer and... they were as, or more, awesome.
  

• 19 November: Shanna Waterstown @ El Almacén de Little Bobby
  One more discovery: a blues, soul and funk singer born and raised in Florida, USA, now residing in Paris, France. Shanna Waterstown was accompanied by Jay Gogan (guitar), Gianpaolo Feola (drums) and Jal Hohy (bass). The band played a mix of classics and original themes from Shanna’s new album; alas, this was the last concert of her Spanish tour and the CDs were sold out before the Santander gig. It happened to be the last live music event I had been to before moving south.
  

Goodbye, Santander. It was fun. I’ll miss the music and Dougall’s beer.

Live music in Santander and beyond, October 2017

Three years ago, on Halloween, I published my first report of this kind. I’m happy to tell you that it’s not the last — I leave Santander at the end of November.

• 4 October: Klezmer Clarinete Band @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4, Santander
  For the last time, you don’t have to be Jewish or anywhere from Eastern Europe to play klezmer already. This lovely local project (all players live in Cantabria) features Héctor Abella (bass clarinet), Katia Aboli (clarinet), Antonio Gutiérrez (clarinet), Manuela Pozo (clarinet) and Víctor Aja (percussion).
  

• 7 October: Benavent/di Geraldo/Pardo @ Teatro Campos Elíseos, Calle de Bertendona 3 bis, Bilbao
  Carles Benavent (bass), Tino di Geraldo (drums) and Jorge Pardo (sax and flute). It was a pleasure to see one-third of the Paco de Lucía sextet (CB and JP) some 21 years since I last saw them. Coming to Teatro Campos Elíseos straight after the Barinatxe beach was probably a mistake.
• 11 October: Pau & Hamer @ Jimmy Glass Jazz Bar, Calle Baja 28, Valencia
  An unusual combination of French horn and electric guitar (Pau Moltó and Manuel Hamerlink, repectively) proved to be unexpectedly suitable for charming jazz ballads.
• 13 October: Berklee Showcase VII @ Amstel Art, Veles e vents, Valencia
  Six up-and-coming bands made up of students of Berklee Valencia: Emma Sundvik and All Cats (jazz), Precious Perez (pop/R&B), Dan Caton & The Ladies in Waiting (American folk), giantQUEEN (neo-soul), Oro Velvet (Mediterranean folk) and Stereo Pocket (funk fusion).
• 18 October: Rotem Sivan Trio @ Rvbicón
  On his European tour, the New York-based guitarist Rotem Sivan was accompanied by Rubén Carles (double bass) and Alessandro D’Anna (drums).
  

• 21 October: Dani Nel·lo @ Kafe Antzokia, Calle San Vicente 2, Bilbao
  Dani Nel·lo (tenor sax) presents his new project, Los saxofonistas salvajes, featuring Pere Miró (baritone sax), Dani Baraldés (guitar), Hector Martín (guitar), Matías Míguez (bass), Anton Jarl (drums) and Albert Sabater (percussion). If you ever wondered if anyone still plays rock’n’roll as if 1960s never happened, here’s the answer. And a damn good one at that. The support band, Ghost Number & His Tipsy Gypsies, were not bad either.

• 22 October: Homenaje Tom Petty @ Rvbicón
  I have to admit that I don’t know much of Tom Petty’s music beyond Traveling Wilburys, so for me this tribute by local musicians who came to play one, two or three songs each was not only emotional but also educational. Unfortunately, I don’t know (and didn’t make any note of) the participants apart from Yenia Popova of Chebú, whose performance was simply breathtaking.
• 25 October: Ales Trío @ Rvbicón
  Saúl Crespo (violin), Antonio Romero (double bass) and Joansa Maravilla (oud, guitar and percussion): fusion of Spanish, Middle Eastern and Balkan music with jazz. Original compositions and themes such as Anouar Brahem’s Astrakan Café and Kroke’s Sun.
  

• 29 October: The Hillbilly Moon Explosion @ Escenario Santander, Avenida de la Constitución 39 (Parque de las Llamas)
  Oliver Baroni (slap bass, vocals), Emanuela Hutter (vocals, guitar), Duncan James (guitar, vocals) and Sylvain Petite (drums) played their idiosyncratic mix of rockabilly, rock’n’roll, surf and swing. Fantastic show, shame about the venue (dark and far from anywhere) and (lack of) publicity: I learned about this concert just a couple hours before, and that was only because I went for a lunch in Taberna Santoña (Calle Peña Herbosa, 18) and saw there this poster.
  

Mr. FeedBack live @ The Paper Club

As I’ve mentioned before, I hardly ever see tribute bands in action. To miss this tribute to Led Zeppelin, however, would be unforgivable. Timur and I went to see them last night to The Paper Club. This was the conclusion of “St.George’s Week”, and I thought the €12 ticket for both the movie (Quadrophenia) and the concert (including a drink!) was a good value. But wait. I was hoping for it to be good but the show exceeded my expectations.

Hailing from Bergamo, the band is surprisingly tight and playful at the same time. Not only are they passionate about the music they perform, they also make Zeppelin’s songs their own. Even though almost two hours of non-stop rock/blues/rock’n’roll call for “highlighting”, it’s not an easy task when there’s not a dull moment in the show. But if I must... For me, the melodic basswork of Nicola Mazzucconi’s stood out while Mr Brevi’s singing went, dare I say, beyond whatever Robert Plant himself did “in the days of his youth”. Apart of, I guess, obligatory Black Dog, Rock and Roll, Whole Lotta Love and Stairway to Heaven (all brilliant), they pleased the audience with some not-so-obvious material. I was happy to hear a few of my personal favourites, such as Immigrant Song and Ramble On, and got a serious goosebumps overdose from Babe I’m Gonna Leave You and No Quarter. Highly recommended.

Mr. FeedBack are:

• Francesco Bertini: drums
• Andy Brevi: vocals
• Nicola Mazzucconi: bass
• Simone Trevisàn: guitar

Live music in La Línea, October 2016

I spent September and October teaching English in La Línea de la Concepción. I was told that the town is famous for its flamenco singers. Why, Camarón de la Isla himself lived there for many years. Shame I did not hear or see any flamenco in La Línea, except an impromptu performance from one of our students one Friday afternoon. Apparently, there was a flamenco concert in Eden, a bar on Plaza Cruz Herrera which I visited couple of times because there were free dance lessons (salsa, kizomba etc.) on Fridays. Somehow I missed that show. Luckily, I discovered a great place for live music: Molly Bloom’s, an Irish pub at the very same plaza as Eden. Molly has great atmosphere but drinks are pricey, as one would expect.

• 7 October: Malaka Youth @ Molly Bloom’s, Plaza Cruz Herrera, La Línea
  An energetic reggae band from Málaga, featuring Nacho Meliveo (vocal), Edu Fernández (drums), Carlos Fernández (keyboards), Camilo Lagreca (guitar) and Antonio Rueda (bass). Sure enough they covered a couple of Bob Marley songs but mostly performed their own material. To my surprise, many punters knew the lyrics.
• 8 October: Jam Session @ Cortijo El Cartero, El Palmar beach, Vejer de la Frontera
  I did a bit of couchsurfing during these two months and, thanks to my wonderful CS hosts, was able to visit some amazing places not readily accessible by public transport. That Saturday, on El Palmar beach, I went for a sunset swim and then sat down at El Cartero to enjoy a drink and a jam session!
• 9 October: Edna Brezinska @ Iguana Bar & Restaurant, Vejer de la Frontera
  Edna, a singer-songwriter with fantastic voice and crazy hairdo, was accompanied by Fran Mangas and Jon Ayuga. Jazz, soul, blues, funk... even a song by Nina Hagen! Also, the food at Iguana was delicious (even though slow to arrive).

• 15 October: Winter Blues Fest @ Cortijo El Cartero
  Exactly one week later, I found myself in the same place at the 4^th edition of Winter Blues Fest. Here’s the programme:
  • 15:00, Smoking Alligators (Cádiz)
  • 18:00, Los Hermanos Roncha (Sevilla)
  • 21:00, Los Deltonos (Cantabria)
  I stayed there almost till the end, using the break for a swim (but of course). IMHO, the first act was the best.

• 16 October: La Reina: tribute to Queen @ Molly Bloom’s
  Strange but true: I’ve never been to any tribute band concerts. Until now, that is. In spite of the show being very late on Sunday night, the pub was packed. La Reina started with Tie Your Mother Down and stayed on the heavier, less obvious side of Queen for the most of the first half. And closer to the end, just for the hell of it, they played Highway Star. I can’t say the singer was quite up to the task but the rest of the band cooked it perfectly. (I think every decent tribute band, irrespectively of who they are tribute to, must know how to play Highway Star. It’s a benchmark.) For the encore, of course, they did Bohemian Rhapsody, which was fine. It would have been cooler though if they had opted for something else. By the way, I never learned where La Reina are from but I found them very andalú.
• 23 October: The Jungle @ Molly Bloom’s
  Another band from Málaga, playing a healthy mix of R&B, soul and hip-hop covers. With Julia Martín (vocals), Alejandro Berenguer (keys), Eric Pozzo (bass and vocals), Raúl Ranea (guitar) and Daniel Guzmán (drums). Uplifting!

Hasta pronto, Andalucía.

Gonzalo Rubalcaba Quartet @ Teatro Pérez Galdós

After almost two years of walking past it on a daily basis, Timur and I finally made it to Teatro Pérez Galdós. Thanks to Gonzalo Rubalcaba, we know at last where the entrance is.

I wanted to see the Cuban pianist playing live since I heard his album Diz some twenty years ago. And now the chance presented itself. Tonight, Gonzalo Rubalcaba Quartet featuring bassist Matt Brewer, saxophonist Will Vinson and drummer Jeff Ballard presented a tribute to the great late Charlie Haden, Rubalcaba’s long-time friend and collaborator.

Inside the modern cuboid of a building, we found a rather traditional wedding-cake type of theatre, complete with stalls, balconies and boxes as well as classically-inspired frescoes by Néstor. We were sitting in “the gods”, as those were the cheapest seats on offer (and €20 is quite expensive by Canarian standards). In spite of relatively recent refurbishment, there was not enough legroom. This could have made the experience uncomfortably similar to a Ryanair flight. However, the theatre was far from being packed, which was a shame really. Whether it was competition with Hallowe’en parties (I did not realise until now just how popular Hallowe’en became in Spain) or typically Canarian poor publicity, I can’t tell you.

As I was perching on my seat, I couldn’t help thinking how incongruous was the music with this environment. Jazz is egalitarian and playful. Jazz ignores, bends and breaks the boundaries. It is a complete antithesis to the rigidly stratified microcosm of the opera house. The music tonight was thoughtful, at times sombre, with great chunks of silence. Far cry from bebop nuevo of Diz era but as (or even more) engaging. It should have been played in a more chamber settings, if only for the sake of interaction with the audience. Besides, the smaller sold-out venue is always better than a bigger and half-empty one.

After the show, Timur confessed that this is not his favourite sub-genre of jazz, as he put it. He prefers big bands. Fair enough. I think know where we’re going to watch next time.

Live music in Santander, October 2014

A great thing about Santander is that every night, and I mean every night, there is live music somewhere, and lot of it is free. For my first three weeks here, I did not have internet connection at home and there was not that much time to write about every gig I attended. So here’s a monthly digest, if you will. I learned about many of the gigs listed here from La Guía Go! (which also exists as a little booklet published every month).

• 3 October: Guitar Lightnin’ Lee and His Thunder Band @ El Almacén de Little Bobby, Calle del Sol 20
  I wrote about that one because it was so damn good.
• 4 October: Tasty Grooves @ Black Bird Club, Calle Vista Alegre 13
  The reggae band from Madrid presented the Studio One tribute. The club was packed and everybody was dancing. I should say that beer in Black Bird is rather expensive by Spanish standards, which would be OK if it was a free concert (it wasn’t).
• 11 October: Los Ruidos @ Black Bird Club
Veteran rockers from Asturias, of Si te gustan los toros mata a los toreros fame, gave an electrifying performance for a cheering audience of, um, about a dozen. I honestly don’t know why there weren’t more people.
• 14 October: Mabel Sierra Quartet @ Canela Bar, Plaza de Cañadio
  An evening of boleros and jazz standards such as Lágrimas negras, My Baby Just Cares for Me, Nature Boy, Si te contara and Silencio. Featuring Mabel Sierra (vocals), Luis Escalada (drums), Fernando Serrano (piano) and Dani Simons (double bass). Magnificent.
• 17 October: Alan Broadbent (piano) & Harvie S (bass) @ Salón de actos de la Fundación Botín, Pedrueca 1
  The first of the planned three concerts in series Jazz y otras músicas organised by Fundación Botín. I loved the duo’s take on jazz standards such as Body and Soul, Solar and How Deep Is the Ocean. But — sometimes I think musicians should talk less. This was one of these times.
• 18 October: Chucho Manoucho @ Desafinado Wine & Jazz, Barrio Las Mazas 15, Liencres
  Not just Minor Swing but also La Foule, Две гитары and Очи чёрные, gypsy swing style. I was worried that I won’t be able to out of Liencres (the show started 10 pm and finished about midnight) but there actually is a night bus stopping just outside the bar. Even so, I was offered (and accepted) a lift to Santander by one of the musicians. Which was nice.
• 22 October: El Turbión @ Rubicón, Calle del Sol 4
  Tango, milonga and waltz, straight from Buenos Aires. Santanderinos are very reserved people (I guess I am mentioning this not for the last time). Certainly nobody was attempting to dance tango, in spite of the singer Germán Pintos’s invitation. But I loved how he made the audience to sing (at first, reluctantly) Volver and Por una cabeza with him. They knew the words!
• 23 October: Leslie Helpert Quartet @ Rubicón
  A Billie Holiday tribute presented by Leslie Helpert accompanied by Albert Vila (guitar), Pere Loewe (bass) and Caspar St. Charles (drums). I could swear a saw Billie herself there.
• 29 October: Carlos Pizarro Cuarteto @ Rubicón
  Another fantastic band from Asturias, featuring Carlos Pizarro (guitar), Jacobo de Miguel (piano), José Ramón Feito (bass) and Fernando Arias (drums). If I were writing for a music magazine, I’d entitle my review “ECM-esque jazz at its minimalist best”, or “How a simple theme played by one hand on the piano can give goosebumps to anybody”.
• 30 October: Jam session @ Restaurante Bodegas Mazón, Calle Hernán Cortés 57
  Yes, every Thursday, between 21:00 and 23:00 there is a jazz jam session. I learned that from Chucho Manoucho’s bassist. The musicians sound like they know what they are playing; in other words, too advanced for me. Besides, all my instruments are in Las Palmas. But, who knows, one day I may have a go.

Now that I wrote everything down, it looks like a lot! Luckily, most of these events (apart the one in Liencres) were about 10—15 minutes walking distance from my apartment.

The last day of October also happened to be the last day of veroño, at least here in Santander. Now it is cold and miserable outside. I am looking forward to more music in November.

Frank Sinatra Tribute and Straight Ahead

by Gran Canaria Big Band

We spent Christmas in Agaete, a cute and mostly quiet village near Gran Canaria. I say “mostly quiet” because two (of five) nights were not quiet. I don’t remember Nochebuena being celebrated so loudly in Corralejo. In fact, I don’t remember it being celebrated in Corralejo at all. But here, there was music and fireworks until 3 am. And then, on Saturday, there was a band playing just a few meters from the house we were staying. At some point, Yuri went out to see them. A bit later, I joined him.

This happened to be Gran Canaria Big Band and Fasur Rodríguez presenting “Frank Sinatra Tribute”. To be honest, I never understood what was so great about Frank Sinatra. I find his manner of singing out of tune (not even slightly out of tune) rather irritating, and lyrics of many “Sinatra classics” far too cheesy for my liking. Fasur has a great voice but I wish he didn’t copy the said out-of-tuneness so much. On the other hand, the band was simply perfect. It was a while since I heard the big band sounding exactly the way the big band should sound.

After the show, I went to chat with the musicians. As it happens, the band is all-male except the drummer, Xerach Peñate. Even that was an accident: she told me she was replacing the “official” drummer who got ill. And I bought the CD — but not before asking them if they have one for sale!

As could be guessed from the name, Straight Ahead is a tribute to Count Basie. Five songs feature vocals by Laura Simó. No Sinatra nonsense here, except maybe The Lady is a Tramp. My favorite tracks, however, are the instrumentals, Calles Vacías by the band’s pianist Rayco León and Gentle piece by Kenny Wheeler.

Dub Side of the Moon

by Easy Star All-Stars

Bold concept, brilliant implementation. Released 30 years after the Pink Floyd’s classic, this respectful tribute album by now should also be considered a classic in its own right. And, just like the original, has to be listened to in its entirety. Ignore the bonus tracks though.