September 2018--Fall and Winter Season in Puerto Vallarta
Diego Mateo and Santiago Martin Babel Bar Summer 2018
(Photo by Roberto Zepeda for Babel Bar) |
Nacho Flores and Magali Uribe Wonderful Duo!
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Summer season in Puerto Vallarta is wrapping up and venues are gearing up for the fall/winter season. Babel Bar on the Rio Cuale has presented some great music in its outdoor garden area next to the river for the last several months. Spanish guitarist Diego Mateo and Nacho Flores a maestro on many wonderful string instruments, both composing the talented group Moruno, along with Santiago Martin Spanish vocalist and guitarist and Dani Choy on percussion have brightened up many Saturday afternoons. Eduardo Leon and Zoe Wood have joined them with gypsy guitar, voice and original compositions. The weather seems to have held out for them and everyone has had a great time.
Just down the island at the Insurgentes bridge, the restaurant/bar/theater Incanto has offered a very nice summer program, just finishing up with Lady Zen, The Greater Tuna, Gypsy Rumba—great shows in the theater, and musical presentations by Zoe Wood, Eduardo Leon, Santiago Martin and his group, Red Suitcases, Joby Hernandez at Open Mic and of course Pearl’s Bingo afternoons and Denis Crow’s late night sing alongs in the Piano Bar continue. They have kept us all entertained and cool in the heat with their air conditioning and dry and out of the rain on stormy nights.
Cuates y Cuetes down by the pier in the Zona Romantica featured Moruno Sunday and Tuesday evenings and the sought after flamenco group Tatewari on Wednesday evenings all summer long along with daytime performances by Esaú Galván flamenco guitarist on Saturday at brunch time and Nacho Flores and Magali Uribe on Wednesday and Thursdays. Moruno also played on Fridays for lunch. All great talents and wonderful shows.
Our hardworking empresarios are busy now lining up the wonderful shows we will enjoy this winter. I know for certain we can expect some great entertainment from the fiery flamenco group Tatewari. Incanto will present the release of the groups new cd 12.4 (4th cd in 12 years playing together) in December with a wonderful show including new music (all original compositions), guest artists, flamenco dancer and accompaniments. In their home town of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle they also have 5 tremendous concerts lined up for the season.
Los Bambinos return to their restaurant/bar in October with great food and fun music that entertains loads of regular and new fans all season long.
The extremely popular guitar group Media Luna will be back from San Miguel de Allende at Incanto for the season starting in December! They have many new sounds in store for us as well as the pieces we loved last year. They are excited to return!
Cuates y Cuetes will fill out their calendar including our very favorites like Tatewari and Moruno and new groups as well. We will keep you informed.
River Cafe will continue to feature Raul Simental with Oscar Terrazas, Bob Tansen and other guests.
I personally am very much hoping to see Gato Negro, an incredible group from Leon, Guanajuato here in December. They are extremely talented and play an innovative jazz manouche (French gypsy inspired jazz) that will thrill us all. They keep very busy in Leon but Osmar Esquivel on violin, guitar and accordion, who you may remember from a few years ago with Moruno, misses Puerto Vallarta and would love to see his old friends again as well as introduce the group and the new music of their cd Ciudad de Arcilla including a beautiful piece, El Muelle, which he composed right next to the pier when he lived here. (See page for Gato Negro on this website.)
The fall/winter season begins in October and builds up as the months progress. October, November and December are great times to visit as the full onslaught of winter visitors has not yet arrived and one has cooler weather and a somewhat quieter period to enjoy the tranquil and yet exciting Banderas Bay area.
Just down the island at the Insurgentes bridge, the restaurant/bar/theater Incanto has offered a very nice summer program, just finishing up with Lady Zen, The Greater Tuna, Gypsy Rumba—great shows in the theater, and musical presentations by Zoe Wood, Eduardo Leon, Santiago Martin and his group, Red Suitcases, Joby Hernandez at Open Mic and of course Pearl’s Bingo afternoons and Denis Crow’s late night sing alongs in the Piano Bar continue. They have kept us all entertained and cool in the heat with their air conditioning and dry and out of the rain on stormy nights.
Cuates y Cuetes down by the pier in the Zona Romantica featured Moruno Sunday and Tuesday evenings and the sought after flamenco group Tatewari on Wednesday evenings all summer long along with daytime performances by Esaú Galván flamenco guitarist on Saturday at brunch time and Nacho Flores and Magali Uribe on Wednesday and Thursdays. Moruno also played on Fridays for lunch. All great talents and wonderful shows.
Our hardworking empresarios are busy now lining up the wonderful shows we will enjoy this winter. I know for certain we can expect some great entertainment from the fiery flamenco group Tatewari. Incanto will present the release of the groups new cd 12.4 (4th cd in 12 years playing together) in December with a wonderful show including new music (all original compositions), guest artists, flamenco dancer and accompaniments. In their home town of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle they also have 5 tremendous concerts lined up for the season.
Los Bambinos return to their restaurant/bar in October with great food and fun music that entertains loads of regular and new fans all season long.
The extremely popular guitar group Media Luna will be back from San Miguel de Allende at Incanto for the season starting in December! They have many new sounds in store for us as well as the pieces we loved last year. They are excited to return!
Cuates y Cuetes will fill out their calendar including our very favorites like Tatewari and Moruno and new groups as well. We will keep you informed.
River Cafe will continue to feature Raul Simental with Oscar Terrazas, Bob Tansen and other guests.
I personally am very much hoping to see Gato Negro, an incredible group from Leon, Guanajuato here in December. They are extremely talented and play an innovative jazz manouche (French gypsy inspired jazz) that will thrill us all. They keep very busy in Leon but Osmar Esquivel on violin, guitar and accordion, who you may remember from a few years ago with Moruno, misses Puerto Vallarta and would love to see his old friends again as well as introduce the group and the new music of their cd Ciudad de Arcilla including a beautiful piece, El Muelle, which he composed right next to the pier when he lived here. (See page for Gato Negro on this website.)
The fall/winter season begins in October and builds up as the months progress. October, November and December are great times to visit as the full onslaught of winter visitors has not yet arrived and one has cooler weather and a somewhat quieter period to enjoy the tranquil and yet exciting Banderas Bay area.
...Yo canto su elegancia con palabras que gimen y recuerdo una brisa triste por los olivos.
Federico Garcia Lorca
de Llanto por La Muerte de Ignacio Sánchez Mejía
Introducing a new website: www.esaugalvan.com
May 2018--Flamenco and Gypsy Guitar, an evolution
En Español En Français
Are you confused about the distinction between gypsy jazz and flamenco? Well you are not alone. With the proliferation of groups playing music defined as gypsy jazz, gypsy rumba, flamenco, which we love listening to, we may be scratching our heads wondering what the difference is if any. I recently read a very informative and well researched analysis of this question by Ronald Lee, a Canadian expert on the subject which I will try to paraphrase here. Lee is a Rumani translator, author and educator. (http://kopachi.com/?s=roma+flamenco).
My question was “what is the difference between Gypsy music and Flamenco. Mr. Lee, in his essay Roma and Flamenco, Myth and Reality, tells us that the myth that Flamenco derived directly from Roma music is somewhat misleading. First of all, during the Moorish rule of what is now Spain ending in 1492, Cordoba was an important center for music and the music from many areas of the Near East, Africa and India was brought to the area by music students from all over the world. This musical input was probably integrated into what was then the folk music of the area. The Roma people are not seen in Spain until the very end of the Moorish period at the earliest.
Over the years, the Romas had moved from India, through Eastern Europe and eventually into Spain. According to Lee, the instruments used during these periods as well as the rhythms were quite similar and the integration of influences gathered along the journey produced the music brought by the Roma people into Spain when they arrived in the late 15th century. They brought with them their music which merged into the local folk music at the time and became what is today known as Flamenco.
Early on Roma people lived freely in various parts of Spain but due to an edict by King Ferdinand V and Isabela I, requiring conversion to Christianity and cessation of nomadic practices which was eventually strongly enforced by Carlos I in 1593, those Romas who survived and remained were concentrated in gitanerías in Andalusia, specifically in the caves of Sacromonte. By the way, the term Flamenco seems to have derived from the fact that the many Romas participated in the wars against the Moors as well as the Flemish wars of that earlier period. Those who returned from the wars were sometimes referred to as Flamencos and the music took on the name. Lee asks the question if Flamenco music would have existed if the Romas had not come to Spain. His answer is that it would have been very different.
Lee describes the evolution of Flamenco as we know it today in its more sophisticated form.
“Like the blues in America or rembetiko music in Greece, it began as the esoteric music of the ghetto, slums or gitanerías, then travelled to the local honky-tonk frequented by its marginalized sub-culture of outcast creators, then to the cafés of the aficionados or fans who had suddenly discovered it, and finally to the concert stage. There it was stripped of its raw folk origin when adopted by the genteel sophisticates, stylised and made more acceptable to those who had never known the pain of rejection, jails, hunger and persecution.”
The Flamenco music that we hear in concert halls today often follows this pattern. However, many modern interpreters have travelled and studied with Gypsies in Spain, specifically Sacromonte, and with those in Southern France (think Gypsy Kings) and from this exposure comes a more authentic Flamenco puro.
Flamenco music often has a very melancholic, tragic feeling, somewhat like the Portuguese Fado. This was especially true in its early form when canto (voice) and then dance were placed higher in importance than the guitar which was considered an accompaniment. The 20th century brought the rise of the importance of the guitarist as virtuoso and popularity of the more spirited sound of Rumba, the music having traveled from Spain to Cuba and back resulting in a more festive rhythm. Django Reinhardt and others played a big role in popularizing the music in Europe, followed by the Gypsy Kings of the current period.
Hopefully some of this information helps to clarify our confusion regarding definitions. However, it is not necessary to understand all of the history to enjoy the marvelous sounds being produced right here in Vallarta following the Flamenco tradition. Happy listening!