Seattle Winterfest: On Nerves and Wide-Open Spaces

Hooray! The Seattle Winterfest has . . . um . . . fested! For those of you just tuning in, this last Sunday was my second show with the Peña. And it was my first show anyplace as wide-open and "public" as the Seattle Center. For all you non-Seattleites: the "Center" is Seattle's cultural-artsy, fun-parky sort gathering ground. Built for the World's Fair in 1962, it is home to the Experience Music Project (think blob-shaped building), the Science Center (think arches), the Space Needle (think, eh . . . never mind), and any number of perennial ethno-smorbasbord and hippified gatherings. The Center House is, well, at the center of all this.

This is, or course, where nerves come in. Having a background in blues, I'm no stranger to the stage--and I'm not particularly afraid about getting up in front of people. But my nervous system gets weirded out by public appearances. Tragically, this is what connects my brain to my hands. For this show, at least, "the claw" (Markus's moniker for an oh-so worthless set of panic-frozen fingers) didn't keep me from getting the job done--most of my job was chording, really. In any case it's a condition I wouldn't at all mind getting over. Marcos Carmona couldn't resist the "Hey Andy--you're doing a solo, right?" jab. Hey everybody--here's three minutes of me doing ghastly violence to an Em7 chord (yes, that's the one that requires but one finger).

But enough chatter--the Peña has been YouTube-d! (Er. . . thanks to yours truly. . .) Here's the first dance number, what we're calling the "Sevillanas de Perrito":

We had actually started the set off with one of the show's several vocal numbers (perhaps I'll post some of these later). In any case, I think as a first video post, the dance arrangements are a bit more "spectacular."

With that in mind, here's another one, the closing one, in fact: our Bulerías--paradoxically titled "Alegría, alegría":

For those of you following along at home, yes, that's a bulería in "mi" (what would be "E" without the capo--which is on 5 here). The range of bulería never ceases to amaze me. Just when I thought I could count on this particular palo for something dark and moody--or phrygean at least--here we are in a major key.

Will wonders never cease? No, surely not.

A.

Pending Shows and Musical Catharsis

First of all: Happy Thanksgiving! (Okay, it's not truly yet the national day of gluttony, but it is after midnight, so you get my holiday wishes whether you like it or not.)

Next: the update du jour: we (we being La Peña Flamenca de Seattle) have a show this Sunday--that is, three days from now. This will be my second show with the Peña, the first being the most recent (and my first) semi-annual Peña show at Ethnic Cultural Theater in Seattle's University District. This show--the Sunday show--will be part of the Winterfest production at the Seattle Center. A much bigger venue, to be sure. But then that's in itself no guarantee of the kind (and, more precisely, the number) of people that will be there. I'll keep you posted.

Personally, I'm feeling fairly well prepared. We're doing seven numbers, none of which demand monstrously technical feats on my part. Theoretically, I think I should be able pull it off with everything in time and in key. If this is hoping for too much, at least I'll have Marcus to sonically hide behind. He casts a long shadow and for the moment that's fine with me.

Otherwise, peña practices have been focusing on the upcoming winter show (December 15th and 16th, if you're in the Seattle area). The two new "big" dances are a Garrotín (saucy!--I'll explain later) and a Bamberas. The Bamberas is still "under construction," which means that the choreography hasn't yet been fully set. . . .

Wait! Anecdote break: As Markus, Steve (the percussionist) and I were noodling around with Bamberas lines after practice, however, Rubina came over and started dancing through the way she saw the rest of the piece going in her head. For those of you who have never played for a strong dancer before, take my word for it: it's not an experience that quickly fades. Rubina literally took the song and ran with it. I won't speak for the other musicians, but I know I kept playing just to see where she would go next. You get some of this when you see Rubina perform on stage, but to be linked directly to that energy and expressive authority is musically cathartic.

This, of course, (if I may digress for a moment--and I may, this being my blog and all) is part of the incredible benefit of playing with musicians and dancers who are much better than you. If you can find someone willing to take you under their wing (they're out there--these people were once someone's protégé too), don't pass up the opportunity. But this kind of thing, of course, isn't a one way street. Reflecting on those few seconds of musical gestalt after the fact, I'm reminded of how important it is that I keep growing as a musician. If I can keep my mentors interested--or at least curious about what I'm learning now or next--I think I've got a pretty good chance of one of them twitching an ear in my direction. If I do something that makes them want to join in, all the better.

Humbling times, are these. But good, good times as well.

Now go practice!

A.

"Ravenna Flamenco" Launch!

This beastie of an idea has been simmering in my brain for some time now--and here it is: Ravenna Flamenco is online. I could go on for megabytes telling you what this thing is and what I have in store for it--but shouldn't you really just go to the site and check it out? . . . .

This particular blog (Toque), as you also may have noticed, is starting in a "middle-ish" sort of way (in media res, say the nerds). The idea to record my experience as a North American learning flamenco is one I've had for quite a while--as such I have "posts" (bona fide "post-its," some of them) from my humblest beginnings (that is, versus my present humble middlings). To fill in some of the gaps, over the next month or two I'll cull some of the most relevant of notes and re-post them to this blog.

Your comments, by the way, are crucial to the whole concept of keeping a blog--don't fear the pencil!

A.