Cold Ethyl by Alice Cooper. Video by Timothy Price.
The Day of the Dead
Making love to Cold Ethyl
Was it a nightmare?
El Dia de los Muertos, Cold Ethyl
Category: Concert
Letters from Madrid – Music
In the last Letter From Madrid we were looking for flamenco classes and I had found a great guitar teacher. Today I move to the music scene we encountered in Madrid soon after we got there in 1996. I wrote the first letter I’m sharing on April 18, 1996 after we had been in Madrid about three months — we discovered at that time Madrid had a very active live performance scene, and we had already seen more than a dozen live performances by the middle of April. We were there primarily to study flamenco, and one aspect of studying flamenco was to go to as many performances by different flamenco artists as possible so we could see what was current, and the different styles of flamenco being performed. While flamenco was the majority of shows we saw, we went to every kind of concert from Rock & Roll to jazz to chamber music to classical. I found a spreadsheet that I kept on every concert and artist we saw perform live in 1996. The tally was 83 concerts and 187 individual performers.
The “Music” section will take several posts because the descriptions of many of the performances we saw in the first three months in Madrid are detailed and long.
I discuss LaBanda in this post. They were the first band we saw perform live in Madrid, and after some time we became loyal followers of the band, groupies if you will, and got to know the band members well enough that we would sit around and talk with them between sets. Be sure to check out the Youtube videos at the end of this post. Two of the videos are from a TV series on the arts. The lead guitarist, Leo, talks about the group, and if you don’t understand Spanish, don’t worry, most of the time is spent on them performing live.
18 April 1996
Music
The music scene in Madrid is big and hopping. There are advertisements for concerts all over the place. Green Day is coming as are “The Smashing Pumpkins” as the posters have it written, Sting, Kiss (unplugged), the Sex Pistols (what’s left living I guess), Mark Knoffler and about every other currently popular or once popular group plus a lot of Spanish and European groups we don’t hear about in the states. There are classical guitar concerts, ballets, musicals, plays and orchestras playing almost every night. We went to a really good salsa dance with two bands that played until 5:00 am, and we saw Irakere, Cuba’s most celebrated salsa/jazz group. We have seen five really good flamenco concerts. We went to Jazz Club Populart on Friday nights in March and listened to the bands they have (April’s lineup didn’t look as good, we will have to see what’s on in May). The first band we heard was a Celtic music band named LaBanda and they were excellent. I would like to see them again. The second group was a blues group. They were pretty good. The leader is from New York and gave us his telephone number, and we have talked a few times since. We are planning to get together with him, his wife, and his daughter. We listened to a reggae band there also, but they did not do much for us. We have seen many ads for ballroom dancing but have not made it out to see what it’s like here. There is so much going on that we could spend every day and night of the week going to museums, concerts, plays, symphonies and discos, listening to whatever live music we are in the mood for in bars and night clubs. With that we would not even begin to see or hear a fraction of what’s available.
Celtic Music
The band that plays Celtic music is worth mentioning. The group is called LaBanda, and they were quite good and the music fun. There was a bass player, drummer, keyboard player, guitarist/vocalist, violinist and a guy who played all kinds of flutes, small reed instruments and the bagpipes. The music was a mix of traditional rhythms with a rock under-beat. The tunes went from traditional to rock and roll. A lot of the tonality between the guitar, violin, and keyboard had an early Kansas sound to it. The band was tight, there was good balance on the sound, and they sounded great. They did lose a little of the Celtic quality from the vocal arrangements being sung in Spanish. However, in one song the guitarist/vocalist got the whole crowd to yell “hey”, “hey hey” at a break in the music. It was pretty funny hearing a bunch of Spaniards yell “hey”. The second time around he said we had to sound more English “you’re learning the language now” he said in Spanish, “say it” “heyy”, “heyy heyy” drawling the words into two syllables. This was even funnier. The band was not very loud. For a matter of fact, the band was having a bit of trouble competing with a few groups of Spaniards setting in the front of the bar. The guitarist finally went back and turned up the volume to drown out the Spaniards, which I think they only matched the volume. The evening was lots of fun and very entertaining.
To be continued…
LaBanda Videos
Labanda – Fin de Semana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS5OXn8Dgfo
LABANDA. PROGRAMA ESPECIAL 1 DE 2 (1992) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIQlkrzBuBU
LABANDA. PROGRAMA ESPECIAL 2 DE 2 (1992) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbeLeRWHww8
LaBanda – La Batalla De Somme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wTV3J3WJIs
White Girls
Coheed & Cambria, Between The Buried & Me and Russian Circles played tonight at the Sunshine Theater, and these white mannequins were among the gear in the staging area behind the theater.
Full Moon on Fatter Tuesday
The UNM Brazil Club had their first annual “Fatter Tuesday” A Carnival Extravaganza tonight. I was expecting more costumes, but, there were few. Two organizers were the best dressed for the event, and also the young woman in the last photo who painted her face. They had a band and percussion ensemble so the party was loud, festive, and the dance floor was crowded. The moon was stunning this evening. We had the pleasure of watching it rise on the way home.
Roadies
Roadies waiting out behind the Sunshine Theater. I didn’t have time to check and see what groups were playing tonight.
Christmas Decorations
Since we never got a new set of tiny lights for the bonsai, Laurie made an arrangement with candles and the candy she will be using in cookies for some decoration, lights and color. Tristan thought it looked like an altar to candy. Be that as it may, Laurie has baked some fantastic cookie,s so if her decorations please the gods of confectionary and the spirits of cookies, that makes it all the better.
Kat sang in the choir this morning, and asked me to photograph her in the choir robe. She looked great in the robe and the colors are very appropriate for the season.
Jerri made almost 100 copies of the recording of Handel’s Messiah performed on December 9th by the Chancel Choir with the NM Philharmonic Orchestra. I designed labels for the CDs and inserts for the jewel cases, and spent yesterday afternoon printing labels, stamping them on CDs, cutting inserts and stuffing the whole lot into jewel cases so Jerri could give them to the Chancel Choir before Christmas. Laurie and I listened to the recording this afternoon while cooking and working on photos, and it’s fantastic. The recording is raw, exactly as it was performed with no post-production editing, and it is really well balanced. the choir, soloists and orchestra sound animated and full of life. This was the first time Laurie had heard the choir outside of singing in it, and she was quite surprised, and thought the recording sounded better than the “professional” version we currently have (I had been telling her how good they sounded for weeks before the performance, and she just thought I was being nice. Me be nice? Like right!). After listening to the CDs I was really happy I took the time to put them together yesterday so the choir members could have this wonderful gift of music for Christmas, especially after all the hours and work they put in preparing for the performances. The quality of the performance also speaks for what a great director Jerri is. She takes anyone who wants to sing in the choir and gets amazing results out them.
Stella Nuova
We went to fabulous performance of Stella Nuova by Música Antigua de Albuquerque tonight.
On Spot
We were working out the lighting for the Christmas Eve services, and while I was practicing following people walking down the aisle, I photographed Jerri with camera in one hand while tracking her and manipulating the spotlight with the other hand. I guess all those “drive-by-photos” have honed my skills at taking photos while doing other things.
On Christmas Eve there will be three services at Central United Methodist Church with music and drama in the 8:00pm and 11:00 pm services — I’ll be manning one of the spotlights at those two service. I’m playing guitar for the first service at 1:00 pm, and the fact that I only have two arms that are each a little less than a yard in length, playing guitar at one end of the sanctuary and operating a spotlight from the balcony at the opposite end of the sanctuary stretches way beyond my ability to multitask, so whoever shows up for the 1:00 pm service with only get the added drama of listening to me improvise while the congregation lights their candles, then I’ll play accompaniment for “Silent Night,” which, by the way, was written for guitar.
A clarinet and xylophone duet played for St. Martin’s Hospitality Center’s Holiday Breakfast as part of the NM Philharmonic Orchestra’s gift of music for the homeless and disadvantaged members of the community. I was invited to drop by photograph them playing for the breakfast. The music was excellent, and the place was packed and swarming with activity. I managed to put together a panorama of the activity, but it was one of the most difficult panoramas I photographed and successfully stitched together because of the constant activity, the room configurations, and the extreme differences in lighting from on side of the building to the other. But I think the resulting photo show the activity and how many people St Martin’s was feeding this morning. St. Martin’s is just one of a handful of shelters and churches that feed and clothe the homeless and other people who need help in the Albuquerque area.
The Second Coming
The second coming of the Messiah was as wonderful as the first. The soloists were fantastic, the orchestra was superb and the Chancel Choir was marvelous. Janet, one of the Choir members and soon to be minister, and I were talking about how many great musicians and artists we have in New Mexico, especially given a population of only 2 million. I was telling her that it’s the “enchantment factor” — the beautiful environment and great climate that draw people to New Mexico — we are truly blessed to have so many exceptional performers to share their talents with us and truly enrich our lives.
The Messiah Has Come
If you missed Handel’s Messiah tonight, performed by the Central United Methodist Church’s Chancel Choir with the NM Philharmonic Orchestra, David Felberg, Conductor, and soloists Cammy Cook, Soprano, Jacqueline Zander-Wal, Mezzo-soprano, Javier Gonzalez, Tenor and Ivan Conrad, Bass — not to worry, there is a second coming of the Messiah tomorrow afternoon, Sunday, December 9th, 3:00 pm at Central United Methodist Church, 201 University NE. If you live in the Albuquerque area, you really shouldn’t miss it — there will be tickets available at the door.
Before the concert began, members of the Albuquerque Girl’s Choir were singing in the hallway as people came in. Most of the girls were very young, and they didn’t have a director. They were all very cute, but as they tried to sing, especially with recorded music, they were so rhythmically challenged that they were difficult to listen to. After the Chancel Choir had warmed up, Jerrilyn Foster, the director of the Chancel Choir, came out and started directing the girls choir, which completely transformed them — they all of a sudden sounded good and were “in compás”. I think Jerri has a magic touch, because she takes all comers into the Chancel Choir and gets the best out of all the singers. She is really amazing.
Tonight’s performance was wonderful. Even though I’ve been listening to the choir practice every Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon, and to Laurie sing with her CD daily for months; and even though I sat through the rehearsal with the soloists Wednesday night and the dress rehearsal with the orchestra and soloists last night, tonight’s performance still sent chills up and down my spine and brought tears to my eyes — it also brought back memories of listening to the Messiah in a 15th Century Cathedral in Madrid, Spain in 1996. The cathedral was packed and we had to stand through the whole concert, but the sound and the atmosphere was so beautiful and mesmerizing, you felt like you where in the 18th century, and there wasn’t a dry eye in that old cathedral when the Hallelujah Chorus was sung. I had much of the same feeling listening to the Messiah this evening and I believe, like Handel, that we see Heaven before us and “the great God Himself” when we listen to great performances of the Messiah.
Off Center & Not Even 