August 01, 2008, Extraordinary ensemble to perform benefit concert, By Carmen Rioja; translation by Kathleen Bohné, The magic of the piano trio, By Doug Robinson, Songs from the heart, By Sue Beere, Gypsy guitar concert, By Sofia Rodriguez Mcgoffin, Son Sabrosón to celebrate anniversary

Extraordinary ensemble to perform benefit concert
By Carmen Rioja; translation by Kathleen Bohné
August 1, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Benefit Concert
Sconek-T Ensemble
Fri, Aug 8, 8:30pm
Hotel Real de Minas Bullring
150-peso donation
Benefits Cotton-Gastón collection

In a joint effort of the sanmiguelense community, the great string and percussion ensemble, The Sconek-T, are performing a single concert on August 8 in San Miguel.

This event is to be held to raise funds for the rescue of the pre-Hispanic ceramic collection known as “Cotton-Gastón,” which was restored to Mexican cultural heritage by a foreigner in San Miguel. Since the majority of these pieces are of the Chupícuaro tradition of the region, INAH has allowed them to remain under the custody and care of the inhabitants of this city, with the promise that we restore, protect and share them, raising the necessary funds to do this. Thus was created the Institute of Cultural Conservation, A.C. (Instituto de Conservación de la Cultura, A.C.), whose purpose is to make this dream come true. Thanks to the work coordinated among different parts of civil society, authorities and the altruistic support of our patrons and the Hotel Real de Minas, this concert is offered 100 percent in benefit of this great cause, and also promises to delight the ears and the spirit.

Rarely in San Miguel do we have the chance to enjoy a band of such high quality. The Sconek-T was formed in January 2007 by four young graduates from the Escuela Superior de Música of the National Center of Arts in México City. In spite of The Sconek-T’s short career as a band, they’ve performed in many venues from public squares and shopping malls, to T.V. and radio programs, to concert halls in Mexico City and others.

The concept of the band is the fusion and mix of classical music expertise with other styles like rock, alternative, Mexican and latin american music, movie soundtracks, media, electro-acoustic and visual effects, etc. The result is the performance of arrangements with an original and modern touch, for all kinds of audiences.

“The repertoire of our concerts is very wide and varied. People of all generations and musical preferences are satisfied by the band’s sound. In this way, we bring music to many more people than by playing only one style...” The Sconek-T members have received training from many famous string quartets and musicians such as Paul Pestka, Turtle Island, Emerson, Fine Arts, Ying, Corigliano, St. Petersburg, Casals, Latinoamericano, Amazonia, in several festivals in Mexico, the US, South America and Europe.

In their first year, the ensemble won the National Politechnic Institute Rock Band competition and they were winners of the National Youth Institute award scholarship.

They have recently been considered for a performance in the Latin American Film Festival in Vancouver, and the Spanish magazine Indy Rocks put The Sconek-T’s music on their website as one of their recommended sounds. You may listen to them at www.myspace.com/thesconektnsamble.

The concert takes place on August 8 at 8:30pm at the Hotel Real de Minas in the bullring, although we are prepared with a great inside venue in case of rain. The donation is of 150 pesos, 100 percent of which will go towards restoring San Miguel’s archaeological cultural heritage. Tickets are available at reception in the Hotel Real de Minas, and by calling (415) 152-2626. Support this event and bring your family and friends to enjoy a great concert.

I can remember the first time I was aware of listening to a piano trio. I was eight years old, and my father came home from stocking the jukebox in the bar he owned in downtown San Diego, put on 45rpm of Ahmad Jamal doing his bouncy but sophisticated version of “Poinciana” which had already been popular for a few years.

And I pretty much hated it. It sounded like cocktail music. Where were the guitars? I actually didn’t mind that it was pretty—I’d always enjoyed romantic harmonies. But it just sounded so…tasteful. I didn’t get the point of leaving all that empty space between notes, when he could have easily filled it in with vocals, or organ, or saxophone. I missed hearing the frenetic passion of “I Saw Her Standing There,” or the fast licks of flashy players like Dick Dale and the Ventures.

Four years later, I joined my first jazz band. It wasn’t because I loved jazz—in fact, I still had a bad taste in my mouth from that early listening experience. But I was offered $5 to fill in for a drummer with the flu, and at 12 years old the opportunity to get paid for playing the drums was too tempting to pass up, especially since our neighbors were in the habit of calling the police once a week to stop me from practicing. I figured I’d become a big star and show them.

The afternoon of that first jazz band rehearsal opened my eyes to a whole new range of emotions that could be expressed through music. The piano player, Carl Evans Jr., was a 200-pound black kid with a huge afro and a full beard who looked like he could be an NFL linebacker even though he was only 13. But when he laid his enormous hands on the keys, the sweetest chord voicings came out. I was dumbstruck—I could hear instantly that his playing had been influenced by Ahmad Jamal and for some reason I loved it. As a group, we talked about playing not only the notes, but also the spaces between the notes, an elusive concept that has intrigued me to this day. Sadly, 50 percent of that group is no longer alive, Carl included. But we played together for many years and that was the beginning of my love affair with the piano as a jazz instrument.

The piano trio is one of the sacred constellations of jazz. Ahmad Jamal was not the first to explore this setup, but his stylistic influence gained wider reach when a young Miles Davis publicly praised the pianist’s use of space and dynamics, and then rumors circulated that he told Wynton Kelly to “play it like Ahmad would” during the recording of the classic track “Freddie Freeloader” from Kind of Blue.

The next two discoveries I made were the trios of two other pianists: Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson. These players had radically different approaches to the piano trio, and often fans were polarized—you either loved Evans’ introspective block chords or you were a fan of Peterson’s blazing single note runs.

I fell for both of them and happily discovered that each was far more diverse than I initially thought. I can still see how the lushness of Evans’ playing could sound ‘too pretty’ to the untrained ear, but if you step back and listen to the interactive qualities of the trio itself, there was no mistaking that dynamic for background music. It was a revolving conversation, with one instrument starting a phrase and the others spontaneously completing it.

And frankly, that is the main reason I truly love good piano trios today. The interaction between players is right there, easy for all to see. Adding additional players can increase sonic variety, but it also complicates the process of spontaneous interplay almost exponentially. This has been on my mind a lot as I’m doing some performances around town with a new piano trio, featuring Bobby Kaplan on drums and Hopalong on bass. It’s a little like working without a net—give me a guitarist and I can always just lay out for a chorus and relax. But strip it down to three essential instruments and suddenly there is no place to hide. The trick today is the same one I learned 40 years ago: to be unafraid of the space between the notes.

For the first time, instead of recommending a CD or two, I’m going to suggest checking out video clips of some of the most important jazz piano trios on youtube.com. You won’t see the full range of any artist by watching a single performance, but I’ve picked video clips that show the various trios in their most well-known phases. And each one will shed a little light on the power of three musicians doing their thing.

Here is Bill Evans doing his composition “Waltz for Debby.” Notice how the tempo ramps up, then settles down and the other players track him like they share the same brain. http://youtube.com/watch?v=dH3GSrCmzC8 (Warning: don’t bother reading the comments posted by viewers unless you have a sense of a humor and a taste for crude language—as you can see, some people still take their favorite artists very seriously!)

Here is the great Oscar Peterson, doing his “Tribute to Bach.” Notice how the bass and drums are much more in a supporting role than in the Bill Evans Trio, where they are constantly throwing ideas back and forth with the leader:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zYLvSoyol70

Ahmad Jamal, doing “Darn That Dream.” By now, you’re getting my point about the vastly different personalities that three-man groups can manifest:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_Qc3VaXtW5M

Here is my current main inspiration, the Brad Mehldau Trio, doing a cover of Radiohead’s “Exit Music (For a Film).” A bit more rock-oriented. Notice how active his left hand is, playing an almost contrapuntal line that fits between his right hand and the bassist. It’s almost like having a fourth player!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wUnVSoi_plI&feature=related

And then there is Chick Corea, an important influence for a lot of us living pianists. Like many contemporary trios, Chick’s rhythm sections are expected to make creative statements on their own instruments as well as supporting the leader.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yJ8mb9_gyRo

Finally, I hope you understand that I’ve only scratched the surface. Groups like The Bad Plus and E.S.T. are pioneering new recording techniques and rock-oriented attitudes about music making, while Alan Pasqua’s trio with the late Dave Carpenter on bass and Peter Erskine on drums has a spacious and elegant feeling to everything it does.

I hope you enjoy some of the music!

Doug Robinson is a composer and pianist who will be bringing his own trio and a notebook of new compositions to El Viejo Topo Café on Friday, August 15.

Songs from the heart
By Sue Beere

Concert
Rafael de la Rocha
Mon, Aug 4, 7:30pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj50A
100 pesos

The nightclub singer and recording artist Rafael de la Rocha, a longtime favorite in Mexico City and San Miguel, presents a program of songs and guitar pieces from Latin American folklore, the Mexican classic repertoire and some of his own compositions.

The program includes pieces by Antonio Carlos Jobim, the Brazilian composer and musician who helped popularize bossa nova; Juan Manuel Serrat, the singer and songwriter from the Catalan region of Spain; and Celso Machado, a Brazilian guitarist.

De la Rocha´s six recordings include La Canción del Trovador (The Song of the Troubador) produced here at Sound Track Studio. One of his songs, the prize-winning “San Miguel Allende,” will be part of the program.

“De la Rocha is a stunningly gifted guitarist and vocalist who sings from the heart. He plays with flash and depth, technique and soul,” said one music critic.

Since first performing publicly at age seven, de la Rocha has played and sung widely throughout Mexico, including a series of TV and nightclub appearances in Mexico City.

A popular entertainer in San Miguel for more than two decades, he has appeared at Casa de Sierra Nevada and Hotel Posada la Ermita and for the last four years at Rancho Hotel el Atascadero.

After receiving a degree in agricultural science, de la Rocha chose to seek a career in music and studied voice at the Universidad Juarez in Durango and guitar harmony at the School of Music in Tijuana.

Tickets will be available outside Teatro Santa Ana before the performance.

Gypsy guitar concert
By Sofia Rodriguez Mcgoffin

Concert
Javier “Gitano” Estrada
Fri, Aug 8, 7pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
100 pesos

After last week’s success, Javier the Gypsy once again will play his guitar for the people of San Miguel. His message is the life story of the exotic nomadic people of the world—the gypsies. Their marginalized existence and their wild reputation have influenced Javier’s rhythmic style to the core, giving him the passion and dedication for which he has taken the name “Gitano.” A true Gitano is one who has traveled, guitar in hand, to places all over the world with the sole purpose of spreading the music to those who wish to learn the story of the gypsies. As unpredictable as this genre of music may be, one thing is certain: it’s something you don’t want to miss.

Son Sabrosón to celebrate anniversary

Anniversary Celebration
Fri, Aug 1, 6–8pm
Son Sabrosón
Radio San Miguel
Sollano 4

On August 1, Son Sabrosón, the popular radio program with the most light and flavor, produced by Guadalupe Meza and directed by Adolfo Rubio, celebrates its eleventh anniversary.

Through 11 years of life, Son Sabrosón has been awarded with the State Award of Cultural Journalism in Guanajuato (2005) and at a national level, with the Golden Microphone (2007), in addition to several local recognitions.

Son Sabrosón has been transmitting since August 1, 1997, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 7pm to 8pm, in 1280 AM or by Internet, www.sqsanmiguel.com.

Its musical programs are mostly produced by traditional Cuban artists such as Compay Segundo, Ibrahím Ferrer, César Portillo de la Luz, Oscar de León and Omara Portuondo, among others; however, the program has also presented, through records, interviews, or recorded concerts, jazz stars such as Denise Perrier and Brenda Boykin, both Americans, among others.

The party to celebrate this eleventh anniversary will be held in the yard of Radio San Miguel, with a special two hours program with live music, from 6pm to 8pm, on Friday, August 1.

Javier Gibler, Grupo Los Garambullos, Sonora Cumarebo, Tuna Sanmiguelense and of course the surprises of Son Sabrosón will be present in a night that promise to be ¡bien sabrosa!