Recovering flamencos

Tuesday, January 27, 2009
We are getting over the flu and are back into flamenco action again. Our first venture out was last Saturday when I got a call that the local aficionados were going to gather at the peña for some cante. Having a guitarist around seems to have generated some new energy and we carried on for around 4 hours. Great! Miguel and Negro were there to provide gypsy cante and the rest of the aficionados provided the payo side of things. Some of them are quite good.

Then we got a call that filmmaker Tao Ruspoli was around and was organizing a filming. He had Manuel Molina with him (if you've heard of Loli and Manuel - recording stars from the 80's, it was that Manuel) and they wanted to come by for a visit. So of course we said "yes". They came by and we played and sang for while.

Then we went over to visit with Miguel for a while since he and Manuel have known each other for years.



The next night we went up to a bar in Triana for the actual filming. We expected something on the modest side, but no. The artist list included Manuel Molina, Juan del Gastor, Juana la del Revuelo, her husband Martin, and her son Martin (an awesome guitarist), Angelita Vargas the dancer, Luis Peña, Javier, and several other young gypsies who I don't know.

Here is Manuel Molina accompanying himself as he often does. He is quite the bohemian and sings lots of original verses.


Then this morning I got a call and an invitation to sing at the "Flamenco Oscars", a gala event in which they present awards for best guitar solo, best accompaniment, best singer, etc. Naturally, I'm not in the running for any of these things, but as an Object of Curiosity, I am Number One at the moment and am enjoying every minute of it. That will be in a week - report to follow.... don't be afraid to write.

Christmas with family in Madrid & Sevilla

Friday, January 9, 2009
We are back in Rota again after 2.5 weeks away. We went up to Madrid to see my daughter, Nancy; son-in-law Isaac; and grandchildren Diego and Quique. And of course, we saw Isaac's parents Enrique and Maru and all the related siblings and cousins. In short, a massive gathering of young and old. We mostly gathered at the family's country house outside Madrid since there was more space out there. After a few days, Andi's daughter, Elinore and boyfriend Robin flew in and we got an english-speaking group going. We managed to work in a day trip visit to Segovia.

Here is a small group of us. When everyone was there, it was three times this size.

Then we were invited to a contest of Christmas Carols held in a nearby community, Guadalajara. Now these are not the carols we all know from english - they are regional carols from the Province of Castilla. They are accompanied by a variety of instruments, the most wierd of which is called a Zambomba. This is a sort of crude drum with a smooth stick coming out of the middle of the head. You slide a wet hand up and down the stick and it makes a crude noise that would warm the cockles of a junior high school boy's heart. There was one band that had about 20 zambombas in it and the racket cannot be imagined. But they sing carols to it. You had to be there!
Here is one of the group playing a zambomba.


Then we went with Elinore and Robin down to the house in Sevilla so that we could show them a bunch of our favorite places.

While in Sevilla, we visited the Alcazar, the old moorish palace that has been converted into a home for the Spanish kings when they are in Sevilla. The moorish part of the palace has, IMO, the best preserved examples of moorish architecture and interior decoration. This room is a marvel from any angle.

Unfortunately, there is some kind of death-flu going around Spain and I got it. I spent a few days in bed with a fever of 39.5C (103.1 F) which is just short of delirious. This eventually abated enough for me to join the group for some simple activities, but the flu then turned into a nasty cold that has gone on right up to now. Andi got it, but not with the fever and it seemed like one virus after another just jumped aboard us. With the two of us coughing, it sounds like feeding time at the seal house. Anyway, we came back to Madrid for the big Christmas banquet. Elinore and Robin flew out on the 2nd and we came back to Rota a few days later, just before Madrid got snowed in. Glad to have missed that.