{"id":743,"date":"2020-01-03T07:56:20","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T07:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=743"},"modified":"2020-01-03T08:12:01","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T08:12:01","slug":"cuban-music-and-dancers-in-the-aisles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2020\/01\/03\/cuban-music-and-dancers-in-the-aisles\/","title":{"rendered":"CUBAN MUSIC AND DANCERS IN THE AISLES"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Review of concert by SERGIO DE JESUS, Teatro de Tias, <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4five bums at\nthe bar\u00b4 interview after the concert.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since\nemigrating to Lanzarote four years ago we have marvelled at the art works and\nhumanity of the late Cesar Manrique. We have fallen in love, too, with flamenco\nand the fado music from Portugal, and smiled at Spanish folk lore music with\nits trembling timples and the swirling skirts and stately courtship of\ntraditional dance. Jazz concerts, poetry readings and the incredible Nordic\nsoundscapes have all simply blown us away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the what\u00b4s on guide on the Lanzarote Information web site and the contacts I have established through The Department Of Arts And Culture at the Cabildo I feel pretty confident I am aware of most arts and cultural events taking place. The artists I then preview, interview or review here on my own blog, subsequently then help keep me informed of tour dates, gigs and special concerts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However the first thing I knew of one particular recent event was a poster advertising a concert at Teatro De Tias for later that evening, that sounded too good to miss. At nine pm that same evening, Cuban singer writer Sergio De Jesus would be giving a live preview of his forthcoming album, Mientras Tanto. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Grab your coat, woman,\u00b4 I shouted to Dee,\n\u00b4we\u00b4re going out !\u00b4 She was busy in the kitchen preparing a salad cream butty\nfor my tea but, heck, I\u00b4d just have to let that go.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We raced out to the car as fast as our old legs\nwould carry us, and drove twenty miles up to Tias, leaving the sun setting\nbehind us. We somehow arrived at the theatre even before they managed to get\nthe doors open, and although we could faintly hear a sound-check being held\ninside, there was not a soul around to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we\nheaded over to the Arrayate\nUn Millo Restaurant, which we have\nmentioned before on these pages, and in articles for Lanzarote Information, for\nits excellent food and friendly service. Tonight we would only have time for a\nquick drink until the theatre opened. Halfway through my pint, though, I\nglanced up at the list of Tapas specials on the chalk-board, and noticed the\npromise of a chickpea stew for only three euros and fifty cents; chickpea and\nstew and a price of less than a \u00b4fiver\u00b4: what\u00b4s not to like? It was lovely and\nI made a note to self to keep my eyes open for that in future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, it was time to return to the\nticket office, where we soon spotted people we know among the early arrivals.\nDee\u00b4s yoga instructor, Mercedes, was there and Marianne who runs choirs over\nhere, and a white haired German guy, who seems to be at all the events we go\nto, and others we recognised but don\u00b4t yet know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had seen this musician play live on a number\nof previous occasions and, indeed, we already own some of his recordings. The\nadmission price was only 12 euros and by the time the musicians took to the\nstage there was gathered a healthy and enthusiastic audience that included some\nobvious devotees of this genre. Sergio stepped to the front, centre stage, and behind\nhim was a keyboard, a percussion set, a collection of bongo drums and an\nupright bass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Musicians followed Sergio and stepped to their\ninstruments and the lights dimmed. Throughout the entire concert, the keyboards\nplayer, as he moved from tinkling piano riffs to massive organ chords, evoked\nmemories of Garth Hudson of The Band, once labelled \u00b4the most brilliant\norganist in rock.\u00b4 The upright bass player, (and this instrument was a\nmodernistic, slim piece that was so thin and dainty it looked almost like the\nkind of stringed instrument played by nomadic African tribesmen) would create a\nfantastic sound, but so versatile was this musician that he alternated easily\nfrom this upright bass to a more recognisable bass guitar. There were two\npercussionists; one behind the kind of high hat drum kit we associate with rock\nbands and the other with upright drums, bongos, shakers and tambourines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sergio de Jesus and musicians
a band that enjoyed working together<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sergio fronted them with an acoustic guitar\nwhich he occasionally exchanged for an amplified electric version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the first note of the evening was struck,\nhowever, I was nevertheless wondering how this somewhat unconventional line up\nmight create sinewy Cuban rhythms, but I need have had no concerns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The band performed, in both rhythm and\nsyncopation, with guest contributions from fantastic brass players and\ntrumpeters who wandered on and off stage in a carefree manner, dropping little\nbombs of music notes that were still exploding even as they stepped back behind\nthe curtain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sergio\u00b4s voice is quite light and airy but it\nsat comfortably above the orchestrations of the group. The songs were\ncontemporary and the Cuban sound was clear to hear, but there was something\nelse, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One beautifully played opening riff on the\nacoustic guitar was redolent of Sunday In Memphis, recorded a few years ago by\nBig House, one of the last great country music groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there was the guest female vocalist Sergio\nintroduced, who took to the stage from her seat in the audience!! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She accompanied him on a Spanish language song,\nsinging \u00b4below\u00b4 his voice in subtle harmony. Sergio then played a lovely\nacoustic work as she sang, in English, Farewell River. I wasn\u00b4t familiar with\nthe song but it sounded perfectly radio-friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On other pieces the guy with the bongos shook\nand rattled and rolled all manner of hand held instruments, one of which looked\nlike a glorified shillelagh. The swell and fall of the keyboards added real\nlight and shade and the player on the drum set switched rhythms effortlessly,\nalways keeping perfect time. The trumpeters seemed almost to play mariachi\nmusic at some points and the bass player, who seemed almost transported in his\ndelight of playing, knitted it all together. So infectious were these rhythms\nthat very soon there were a dozen ladies spontaneously dancing in the aisles,\nall sway and shimmy and shuffle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The playlist included the tracks on the new\nalbum and I made a note to look for copies on sale in the foyer as we left.\nSadly this was not to be the case, as the album is first available only via Spotify.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sergio de Jesus
now a part of my cd collection<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sergio\u00b4s back-catalogue recordings were\navailable, though, so I bought one I didn\u00b4t already have, and suddenly the man\nappeared at my side to sign it ! I took the opportunity to ask about the\ncountry music references I felt I had heard in the music, and Sergio reminded\nme just how close Cuba is to America and told me he grew up listening to\nAmerican Rock And Roll and Country music on his radio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Sergio was willing, there might be a quick\nchance here to conduct one of our \u00b4five bums at the bar\u00b4 interview and see what\nmore we could learn about this excellent artist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4WHO<\/strong> do you think you\nare?\u00b4 I asked, smiling to temper any implied rudeness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4I am Sergio De Jesus Padron, who is a\nsinger-songwriter,\u00b4 he replied. \u00b4I am a member of Artemisa, The National School\nOf Art Instructors and it all started, I guess, perhaps in 1993.\u00b4  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4I won first place in a prestigious Composition\nFestival, In Province Havana, in memoriam of Dolphin Fleitas. Later in 1999, my\nsongs, Because December and Take Me were finalists in the OTI Festival. All\nthat set me off on journeys that have taken me on performing tours of Spain, in\nplaces like Marbella, and the Lebanon, parts of Argentina including Beunos\nAires, as well as Greece and Italy.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHAT<\/strong> is it about Cuban\nmusic that makes it so acceptable to such culturally different places, I\nwonder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Cuban\nMusic, El Son, was born in the East of the Island, derived from the Changui,\nwhich in turn is a fusion of African and Spanish Music,\u00b4 Sergio replied. \u00b4It is\na syncopated and rhythmic rhythm that invites you to move.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked\nSergio WHEN<\/strong> Cuban music first made\nitself known to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4It began\ngradually with the emigration of great Cuban musicians to the United States and\nto Mexico and Latin America, to the Caribbean and finally to Europe,\u00b4 he\nconsidered. \u00b4That has been the way in which our world and our music has become\nknown to the rest of the world.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is\ndefinitely a conversation I would like to have with Sergio about Ry Cooder and\nThe Buena Vista Social Club, who first made me aware of Cuban music, but that\ncan wait until we meet again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the\nmeantime, the fourth bum at the bar, who calls himself Mr. Where, interrupted\nand asked Sergio WHERE<\/strong> his music\ntakes him, mentally and \/ or physically. Having already identified various\npoints on the atlas at which he has given performances, Sergio gave a more elliptical\nresponse this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4My music\nis a mix of the Cuban Son that was influenced by my Father, and the Spanish\nMusic of my Mother, as well as my own discoveries in fields such as the pop and\njazz of the United States, and reggae and The New Cuban Trova, \u00b4 he tells us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our final question\nis WHY<\/strong> does the kind of line-up of\nmusicians we describe in the review so suit Cuban music and WHY<\/strong> is the fusion of music\nimportant to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4I believe that\nhaving an open mind towards other influences of World music is essential,\u00b4\nstates Sergio. \u00b4It helps me in my training as a musician and singer-writer.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the\nconversation came to an end but I was left with no doubt Sergio will follow\nthis road as far as it will take him, sharing his love of Cuban music of all\nkinds with everyone he meets along the way. In return he will reveal some of\nthe intricacies of that music to other players and singers and writers and\ntheir fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We look forward to\nhearing more of Sergio\u00b4s albums and to attending more wonderful gigs like this\none somewhere down the line. and to submitting revised reports to the Lanzarote\nInformation web site and to complement the news, previews, interviews and\nreviews carried here on our across the arts blog pages as we continue to follow\nthe the signals and signposts that point us down the sidetracks and detours\nthat so often lead us to the gold at the rainbow\u00b4s end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Review of concert by SERGIO DE JESUS, Teatro de Tias, \u00b4five bums at the bar\u00b4 interview after the concert. Since emigrating to Lanzarote four years ago we have marvelled at the art works and humanity of the late Cesar Manrique. We have fallen in love, too, with flamenco and the fado music from Portugal, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}