We just got back to Rota from our adventure in Sevilla. We came back because we had been invited to play at a fiesta in Chipiona, a seaside town just up the coast. We went with Miguel, el gitanillo de bronce, and Angél, his nephew.
Here are Miguel and his wife, Pilar. After seeing him, I wished that I'd have dressed a little nicer. But what a great fiesta. There were just a few of us, which kept the distractions down to a minimum. With the exception for a little food break, they sang and kept me playing for about 5 hours. And what cante!! Angél would be great if he weren't in the company of Miguel. Miguel is just so great that everything else pales in comparison with him. They got pretty excited and for a while were singing mano a mano - as fast as one finished a verse, the other would jump in. I never even got to play a falseta (riff) - just one cante after another. But with that kind of cante, who cares if there is a falseta? There can't be 20 singers left on Planet Earth who can sing like Miguel. And last night, he didn't hold anything back. What fun! For me, this is the culmination of a dream - actually I never thought that I would actually ever get to participate at this level of fiesta - playing 5 hours straight. 
Here we all are in Manolo's kitchen. My cante will never be a level with these guys, but getting to accompany them all night is plenty for me. They like the fact that I know cante so well that I always know the chord that is needed. And, they are more and more asking Andi to dance now that they know that she can fit into fiesta dancing so well. In the fiesta, you don't get to dance very long, but if you raise the energy level, then you have contributed to the fiesta and will be welcome. At one point, even Miguel danced - and, having spent plenty of time in tablaos, he dances very well. A few years ago, he decided to hang up professional singing and came home to Rota from Madrid. Now, he hardly works at all. But apparently he is content with the choice. But, he has a lot of pent-up flamenco that comes out in the fiesta. He is very knowledgeable about cante and it is evident that he continues to learn new things. He has tons of great stories about his adventures on tour.
On the way home from the fiesta, we were stopped by the Guardia Civíl at a roadblock where, as the driver, they made me blow into a drunk tester. That was very scary!!!! Because I had been drinking all night, although fortunately had been eating too. And, because I was playing the guitar, I didn't get to drink as much as the others. It saved my butt because I blew a test that didn't get me arrested. They let us go. Whew!!! Knowing that this can happen, I'm going to be more careful in the future. You should have seen 3 gypsies, the two of us, and a guitar in the little car! Packed is an understatement - but it worked.
I recently saw an announcement on the bulletin board at the peña, telling about a concurso de cante (singing contest)in Alcalá. They had a special interest in the soleá of Alcalá, which just happens to be my best cante and one which I could probably sing for 2 hours without repeating a verse. So I wrote them and they have invited me to participate. I'll be up there on November 7. 
And under the heading of "Cheap Thrills", here is a poster that went out to every Peña in Spain with the name of your author on it. Well, I was thrilled anyway.
Thanks to those of you who have written. We enjoy hearing from you. Keep using Sailmail if you know the address because we still don't have internet on the boat.
Here is a video from the fiesta. It's funny; in the old days the Americans did all the recording of the gypsies. Now the gypsies are doing the recording. They gave me this video. The sound goes out of sync at the end and starts looping - don't ask me why, but the video gives the feeling of the fiesta better than any words....no matter what its technical limitations.
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