Live music in Santander and beyond, October—November 2018

...where “beyond” includes Burgos and Barcelona.

• 17 October: Leo Minax & German Kucich @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4, Santander
  Brazilian-born, Madrid-based singer-songwriter Leonardo De Deus Gil aka Leo Minax accompanied by German Kucich on piano. An unexpected gem of a concert in a family atmosphere.
  

• 24 October: Rachel Therrien trio @ Rvbicón
  An international trio featuring Canadian trumpeter Rachel Therrien, Spanish bassist Darío Guibert Montaña and German drummer Mareike Wiening. Fantastic original repertoire, but it was their version of ¿Por qué me pega? that made my evening.
  

• 30 October: Inés Saavedra @ Canela Bar, Plaza de Cañadio
  This was the only concert of VII Encuentro Internacional de Canción de Autor, organised by Paolo Latrónica, that I attended. And a good thing, too.
  

• 31 October: Hermes Quintet Latin Jazz @ Rvbicón
  This is Halloween — and no less than three concerts that I would like to see, but in the end I chose the nearest (to my place) and, incidentally,the cheapest of the three. Featuring Hermes de la Torre (piano), Miguel Angel Martín (trumpet), Daniel Jablonski (sax), Dani Peña (percussion) and Julián Fernández (percussion).
  

• 3 November: Pheromone Blue @ Museo de la Evolución Humana, Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos
  As I happened to be in Burgos that night, I went to see this Madrid-based electronic music trio playing in the Human Evolution Museum (MEH) and, while at that, to see the museum itself. General admission is €6 but, as I discovered, teachers can enter for free. I did not have any ID or paper saying that I am a teacher on me but the ticket lady was satisfied with the proof of salary shown on my mobile phone. Which was nice because MEH itself turned out to be a bit “meh”. The museum is huge and rather underused. I mean, there are bones from Atapuerca, such as the early Neanderthal skull nicknamed Miguelón, the human pelvis called Elvis or the Pleistocene bear’s skull named Isidro, but there is only so much a collection of funny-named bones can do for you.
  Back to Pheromone Blue — it consists of Mario Ramos Jr (vocals, guitar, synthesizers), Iker Ramos (keyboards) and Fernando Delgado (drums). Although all their songs sounded like variations on the same theme, I enjoyed the music more than expected. I wish Mario played guitar more because he really can.
• 7 November: Adam Giles Levy @ Rvbicón
  An English singer-songwriter, singing-playing kind of acoustic guitar-blues-rock, on Spanish leg of Peninsula tour. I know, this may not sound particularly exciting; I had my doubts too but in the end I went to see him and do not regret it. In the middle of the second number he broke a string, excused himself, replaced the string and finished the song.
  

• 14 November: Ton Risco & Jacobo de Miguel @ Rvbicón
  Jacobo de Miguel (piano) and Ton Risco (vibraphone, percussion) play beautiful, somewhat ECM-esque music.
  

• 17 November: Jairo León @ La Vorágine, Calle Cisneros 15
  This lecture-concert entitled ¿Cómo entiende un gitano el flamenco? consisted of Jairo León mostly talking and sometimes playing. I would prefer the other way round, but here you are. To be precise, he played three compositions, so the evening went marginally better than that ghastly Vogon poetry event.
• 21 November: DHD Trio @ Rvbicón
  The Rotterdam-based international trio featuring pianist Humberto Ríos (Cuba), bassist Damien Roussos (Cyprus) and drummer Daan Arets (The Netherlands) plays high-energy Cuban-flavoured jazz.

• 24 November: Amparanoia @ Sala BARTS, Av. del Paraŀlel, 62, Barcelona
  I travelled to Barcelona over the weekend to see the last concert party fiesta of Amparanoia’s Machín World Tour 2018, as a part of the Festival Mil·lenni. The band’s current line-up is Carmen Niño (bass), Angie Lófer (keys), Willy Fuego (guitar), Vesko Kountchev (violin and viola), José Alberto Varona (trumpet), Micky Martínez (drums), Flor Inza (percussion) and, naturally, Amparo Sánchez (voice and guitar), with surprise guests Joan Garriga (Hacer dinero), Dani Macaco (El coro de mi gente), Aziza Brahim (¡Ay, moreno!) and Pau Lobo (Ella Baila Bembe).

• 28 November: David Cid Trio @ Rvbicón
  Another fabulous trio composed of David Cid (piano), Xurxo Estévez (double bass) and Rakel Arbeloa (drums) playing energetic pre-bebop-style jazz.

And so, autumn is over...

The White Album

by The Beatles

The White Album was the first collection of the Beatles music that I remember, as an album, from the early 1970s, even though I didn’t hear it in full until (a decade or so) later. Nor did I know how it was called. My cousin had an incomplete recording of it on the A-side of a magnetic tape reel. On the box it was simply written “Double album”. The other side contained some unrelated material which was apparently not worth mentioning. For this reason, the “real” White Album for me finishes with Sexy Sadie, while the rest of it still sounds superfluous.

I was long wondering who was playing the guitar intro of The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill which, back in the 1970s, appeared to be a pinnacle of guitar virtuosity and a masterpiece in its own right. To my disappointment, I learned from Wikipedia that it

opens with a flamenco guitar phrase, played from a standard Mellotron bank of pre-recorded rhythms and phrases by studio engineer Chris Thomas. It is unknown how the sample was chosen.

To be honest, I am not ready to pay £125 for the seven-disc 50^th anniversary box set. I am quite happy with my not-exactly-remastered edition, thank you very much.

As far as I know, there were no Melodiya singles with the original White Album material (quite unlike the case of Abbey Road). However, I vividly remember the single with the cover of Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da sung in English by Весёлые ребята (the A-side had «Старенький автомобиль», a Russian-language rendition of Drive My Car).

Perhaps my favourite cover version of a White Album song is Dear Prudence by Morgan James and Haley Reinhart.

Happy Birthday, White Album.

Mark Roman’s Sci-Fi Shorts

by Mark Roman and Corben Duke

The dynamic duo (who, according to the blurb, “collaborate entirely by the exchange of e-mails and insults”) return with a much shorter and, dare I say, better book than The Worst Man on Mars. And no, I didn’t buy this book either: it was a freebie, so I don’t (and shouldn’t) feel shortchanged.

Thirteen humorous sci-fi stories telling of the man who saved the world (kind of), and the man who didn’t, the laptop that discovered it is self-aware, the weird message from Outer Space, and the spur-of-the-moment decision that doomed Mankind.

Well those thirteen do contain The Rovers Return which is really a chapter of TWMOM (it was shortlisted in the Short Story Category of the Yeovil Literary Prize 2014 and, indeed, works as a standalone short) and five very short shorts. None of which fall short of the Mark or Corben. All readable just in one short beach afternoon.

My, there’s no shortage of “short” in this text.

Mark Roman’s Sci-Fi Shorts The Man Who Saved the World (Kind Of) The Rovers Return Bad Call We’re Back! I, Laptop Farther Christmas Changes Short Shorts: 100-word Stories Dragon Slayer A Nice New Home Recognition The Magic Sword And Then There Were... The Visitor

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