Doña Oxford’s concert at Cuatro Sentido sold out and she wowed audiences at surprise jam sessions in two other venues
Dona Oxford at Cuatro Sentido.
Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic. JAL. Princess of Soul and Queen of Boogie-Woogie Doña Oxford came to Ajijic for a quiet vacation and a single concert that turned into a moving music fest with two public jam sessions with local musicians.
Oxford is a world-touring Soul and Blues keyboard player and singer/songwriter who has played with Albert Lee, Keith Richards, Van Morrison, Roger Daltrey, Buddy Guy and many more. She has performed in 25 countries and 48 states, released 4 albums of her own, played on numerous Grammy and Handy-winning albums and movie scores, and is about to start production of her own TV variety show. The trip to Ajijic was her first visit to Mexico and the San Antonio Tlayacapan concert her first and only performance in Mexico.
The concert at Cuatro Sentido, sponsored by Laguna and produced by local promoter and musician Christine Philipson,was Oxford’s only scheduled performance in Mexico. She was joined onstage by Klaus Meyer on saxophone, Javier Villaseñor on guitar, Tony Valle on bass, Iván Ramírez González on drums, and backup singers Andrea Pérez Romero and TzinTzuni Varela. It sold out quickly and a long waiting list quickly developed.
Oxford delivered two sets of big volume rock, blues, boogie, and soul that entertained people in the farthest reaches of the restaurant and beyond. Her high energy tunes like “Rock, Rock, Rock” and “Doe’s Boogie” pulled people out of their seats and onto the dance floor. The event went off smoothly despite the waiting list and last minute arrivals. The music flowed joyfully although Oxford had met her Mexican band only one day earlier and had less than 3 hours of rehearsal – a testament to the skill level of local musicians and Philipson as a producer.
The following night Oxford joined friends at Casa Domenech for dinner and to enjoy Bárbara Sagrey and her band. Of course Oxford was invited to jam with the band and she happily obliged, borrowing the keyboard and getting the entire room singing with her on “Tanqueray” and then moving to the microphone for duets with an ecstatic Sagrey to a cheering audience.
The next night she dropped into El Barco to see her concert guitar player Javier Villaseñor and his blues band play. Oxford accepted the invitation to join in, followed by backup singer TzinTzuni and later, Blue Jay Slim, both of whom were in the audience. Oxford borrowed the keyboard from Christian Jimenez for a couple of songs, and then joined him for four-handed numbers. She sang with vocalist Grizz Piña and then harmonized backup for Piña with TzinTzuni . The rest of the band – Klaus Meyer on sax, Chelo Gonzáles on drums, Sergio Casas on bass, jammed along while the audience danced, sang and cheered.
“I had a blast. I love Ajijic and Lakeside – I will be back”, Oxford told the crowd. We sure hope so.
Thank you all for such a wonderful trip to Mexico.
I loved playing with you and hope to see you again soon.
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