Enrique de Allende finishes the Concert in the Park with “You Raise Me Up” while LCS Board President watches from the side.
Patrick O’Heffernan, English Editor. A nearly full house greeted Enrique de Allende and his piano accompanist last Saturday as he strolled onstage, flashed a 1000-watt smile and greeted the audience with a bit of his personal story delivered in the signature smooth golden voice before kicking off over an hour of music.
He gave the audience thirteen songs, mostly golden age covers, but some Spanish songs and Spanish versions of American classics, interspersed with conversations, shout outs to his girlfriend at one of the tables and expressions of gratitude to LCS for allowing him to sing in front of an audience – a treat he has been missing due to Covid.
Beginning with a classical love song in Spanish, his operatic tenor filled the lawn and the gazebo. He wrapped up the concert with the 2001 Secret Garden song “You Raise Me Up” in English and was brought back for an encore, the Spanish “Ver A Mi”. Early in the concert he took off his jacket in a concession to the heat, revealing the muscular body that carried him through an Olympic-level soccer career before he turned to music. The entire performance was livestreamed on the Facebook pages of both Semanario Laguna and Lake Chapala Society.
Some audience embers interviewed by Laguna did not know who he was before LCS promoted the performance, but signed up for the concert because they, like Enrique, craved live music and looked forward to a sunny afternoon with friends and drinks and food from Angelica’s. Audience comments to Laguna afterward were along the lines of “a gorgeous voice from a gorgeous man singing songs we know and love – bring him back!”
Next week LCS is bringing back Kim Kuzma and her band, a frequent visitor to Ajijic. Voted Canada’s Best Independent Artist by fans at canadian-music.com and five-time West Coast Music Award nominee, winning ‘ Best Independent Recording’, Kuzma is an international singing sensation whose music and sassy stage conversations with audience members makes her performances at LCS a golden ticket sellout. Tickets will be limited to 100 seats for each performance, advanced purchase only. No tickets sold at the gate. VIP tickets (50 seats, features prime location with table): $500 MXN General Admission tickets (50 seats arranged in rows) are priced at $350 pesos. There will be 2 performances, 2pm and 4:30 pm.
The Concerts in the Park Series is not only a welcome diversion for Ajijic residents but, given the fall off in membership this year at LCS due to the pandemic and many members not being able to come to Ajijic from Canada, the income is important to LCS.
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Junto con Gilberto Parra y José Vaca Flores, se suma el Síndico a la asociación de compositores.
Miguel Cerna.- Tras casi dos décadas de escribir canciones, finalmente el cantautor y Síndico Municipal, Juan José Ramírez Campos, fue reconocido como un miembro por la Sociedad de Autores y Compositores de México.
A través de sus redes sociales, el intérprete dio a conocer el pasado ocho de septiembre su logro, por lo que agradeció a Dios, a su familia y a las personas que creyeron en él, así como a las agrupaciones y cantantes solistas que han grabado sus temas musicales.
“Con esfuerzo y perseverancia, después de 19 años escribiendo canciones, me es grato compartirles mi ingreso a la SACM, la mayor Sociedad de Autores y Compositores de México”, escribió en la publicación.
Del cantautor jocotepense destacan temas como “Jocotepec Mágico”, “Jalisco Maravilloso” y “El Santo Cristo de la Expiración”, dedicado al Señor del Huaje; todos incluidos en su más reciente disco titulado: “Desde el Corazón de mi Tierra”.
Ramírez Campos se suma a la asociación junto con los grandes compositores que le han dado renombre a la población, como lo fueron Gilberto Parra Paz, compositor de canciones como “Por Un Amor”, “Que te ha dado esa mujer” y “Amor de los dos”; así como José Vaca Flores con “Esclavo y Amo” y “Besos de papel”.
Desde los ocho años, Daryel Romero se inició en la danza folclórica.
Miguel Cerna.- Con la intención de devolver a los jocotepenses la tradición dancística perdida, surgió el proyecto titulado “Tenderete en el petate” del bailarín Daryel Fabián Romero Fuentes, mismo que fue beneficiado con el Programa de Estímulo a la Creación y Desarrollo Artístico (PECDA, 2020) para su puesta en escena.
Debido a que su abuelo Maximino Fuentes -conocido popularmente como “Chimino”- fue un bailarín, la inquietud por conocer, documentar y representar lo que fueron los fandangos en el pueblo y la región se instaló en la mente de Daryel Fabián desde hace 10 años y poco a poco comenzó a consultar a adultos mayores, así como a los diferentes cronistas del municipio, para recrear la forma en la que se bailaba siete décadas atrás.
“En esta obra se trata de rescatar la mayoría de la tradición de Jocotepec en este ámbito dancístico y musical, así como de costumbres y tradiciones del pueblo. Todo esto con base a lo que me han contado puros ancianitos; he entrevistado muchísimos y hasta a una persona de 106 años de Huejotitán”, comentó el bailarín vía telefónica.
Romero Fuentes es un bailarín jocotepense, de 33 años, e integrante del Grupo Folklórico Ciudad de Guadalajara. Inició su trayectoria con tan solo ocho años en el Grupo Folclórico Jocotepec en 1995; posteriormente, dirigió este mismo ballet de 2007 hasta 2010, cuando emigró a Guadalajara para continuar con su formación.
“Tenderete en el petate” es un obra dividida en cinco partes que busca representar y revivir los fandangos más importantes que se realizaban en Jocotepec, en los siglos XIX y XX: La Fiesta del Señor del Monte, El Fandango de la Plazuela, El Carnaval, El Sarao en la Hacienda de Huejotitán y Jalisco Ribereño Contemporáneo.
Además de los pasos de bailes -es decir, la forma en la que bailaban las personas en aquel entonces y que está muy alejada de las técnicas de la danza folclórica-, la investigación también pretende rescatar la música al estilo de mariachi con tambora y cántaro, que era muy popular en la región, así como la danza de la conquista del barrio de Nextipac.
“Lo más importante de este proyecto, es que yo siempre he considerado que Joco ha perdido muchas costumbres y muchas tradiciones al paso del tiempo por la indiferencia, modernidad y muchas cosas. Han dejado que se pierda mucho de nuestra historia, cosa que no pasa en otras regiones; para mí lo más importante es regresarle al pueblo lo que es del pueblo”, agregó.
Gracias al estímulo que permitirá llevar la investigación a escena con un elenco de casi 50 personas, se espera que “Tenderete en el petate” sea estrenada en el marco de las celebraciones de las fiestas de enero en honor al Señor del Monte, además de que se trabaja en otras cuatro funciones en la Zona Metropolitana de Guadalajara y hasta podría llegar al Auditorio de la Ribera en Ajijic.
Más que ver el cuadro dancístico/musical en un escenario, para Daryel Romero lo verdaderamente valioso del trabajo es revivir una tradición extinta, pues a través de talleres se buscará enseñar a chicos y grandes a bailar como en “denantes”, en los auténticos fandangos que ahora solo viven en la memoria de pocos adultos mayores del municipio y de la región.
A los 14 años, nació el amor de Francois por la música mexicana.
Miguel Cerna.- El pasado seis de junio, a los 77 años, Francois Gouygou -mejor conocido como Pancho “El Charro Francés”- falleció en las aguas del Lago de Chapala; ahora entona su falsete en el coro celestial.
La fascinación de este europeo por la música de mariachi nació a los 14 años, cuando su padre le regaló dos discos de Miguel Aceves Mejía “El Rey del Falsete”, luego de un viaje por México. Sin duda, ese regalo cambió su vida y finalmente fue sepultado en la tierra que tanto amó…
BUSCA LA NOTA COMPLETA EN NUESTRA EDICIÓN IMPRESA, SEMANARIO LAGUNA 428, DE VENTA EN TIENDAS Y SUPERMERCADOS DE LA RIBERA.
Photo: Nancy Robbins with hers and Michaels instruments.
Patrick O’Heffernan (Ajijic).- Nancy Robbins settled back into a leather couch in her apartment cluttered with vinyl albums, music awards, a big screen computer and indigenous art to talk about her late husband, the American-born, Northern Indian musician beloved in Lakeside, Michael Robbins. The conversation was ebullient, like Nancy, full of smiles, laughter, and funny stories.
“He led such a fascinating, dynamic life and taught and helped so many people ‘I have to celebrate him’”, Nancy said, “he always lived the highest values in morals, in art, in intellect, and in athletics, so of course I celebrate him”.
Michael and Nancy Robbins have been fixtures in Ajijic and the Lakeside music scene for decades, training other musicians, running a popular Indian restaurant on the Ajijic Plaza, organizing performances and just plain helping people. They started coming to lakeside in 1992, and were married in Chapala. But Michael’s story starts 60 years earlier in Los Angeles where he was born in LA, the son of a movie theater manager. “Of course Michael went to the moves for free, but it was gymnastics that captured his heart”, Nancy explains. His father, who was his inspiration, died when he was thirteen and he felt he had to do something to live up to his father’s expectations. That something was gymnastics.
“Michael had a decision to make: he would come from the Boy Scouts, put on his band uniform and play, and then change into spots clothes for gymnastics – he had to choose one so he chose gymnastics”, Nancy said, almost as if she was there. It was a good choice; he was All City Champion and then went on to win a national championship and a full scholarship to UC Berkeley, where he met his first wife, Mary Lawrence, who left him after a year of marriage.
“They parted ways because they were quite different. He was an athlete; he didn’t drank or smoke or hang out and party. So after they parted he came down to Mexico in 1961,” Nancy said, describing the beginning of his love affair with Mexico. “He became a painter and a professor at Lake College in Mexico City. I met him 13 years later when I was babysitting for his ex-wife in San Francisco”.
While she was babysitting, a friend of Michael’s brought some tapes of his music back from India and Nancy listened to them over and over. When Michael returned, she peppered him with questions about the music. “I had all kinds of questions and what is more attractive to a man than a women interested in his subject, whether it is cars, football or Indian music? And I can cook,” she said with a laugh, “I was 24 and he was 37, but how many times in a lifetime do you get a chance to be with someone of that caliber, so I grabbed hold of the guy and would not let go!.” They were together for 45 years.
Michael Robbins went to India to study classical Northern Indian music, an artistic tradition that goes back over 2500 years. Originally music of the royal courts, instruction in tablas, sarod, harmonium, sitar and the music they played was passed down from father to son or nephew by a few elite teachers who allowed no deviation from tradition. (women now play the sarod and the tablas). Michael learned from some of the most famous, and most strict of the teachers, becoming a disciple of Pandit Radhika Mohan Moitra in the Sarod, and Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh in Tabla. Nancy explained he started in Calcutta with a teacher who was too busy for him, but noticed he could play real music and gave him a break.
Michael would play the classical recorder while others played the tabla or sitar and his teacher said “You can actually play something – these other guys are just playing scales – come on, I will take you to a teacher”, and took him to Radhika Mohan Moitra, who took him. He went on to become not only a student, but a force that help reinvigorate the music.
After returning from India, Michael founded the Sarodya Society in the 90’s to promote the awareness of sarod and tabla and train other musicians. He continued that tradition in Lakeside training many Mexican and gringo musicians in Hindustani classical music. His students include some of Lakeside’s most popular and talented musicians like Juan Castañón Acasia, Angel Madrigal, Alvaro Rubio, Alvaro Rubio and others.
But the move to Lakeside was slow and careful –process that began in 1992 and ended in 2000 when they finally moved everything to lakeside and became residents. Once in Lakeside, the quickly developed a strong music community, not only through teaching but through the Indian restaurant they opened on the Ajijic Plaza, that served as a venue and gathering place.
“I had learned Indian cooking we wanted a venue here, so when I saw the For Rent sign on the Plaza and said to Michael I wonder how much they want for that, he said go for it,” and I did. They ran the restaurant for almost seven years. “It was fun and I met so many nice people. The restaurant was a way for people to come to use, instead of us going to them. I thoroughly enjoyed it,” she says.
During their time in lakeside, Nancy cooked and played music, ran the restaurant and “all the other things wives do”, while Michael played and taught, creating a community and training so many of the musicians that entertain Lakeside residents today.
Michael died last week of congestive heart failure brought on by a 50-year old liver problem. But even in talking about his death, Nancy was upbeat. “We didn’t go to the Plaza for about 4 months and then eventually he was in bed for the last two days. I held his hand and he asked me to roll him over and I did and propped him up and that was the way I found him. I thought he was sleeping until the dog jumped on the bed and licked his foot and he didn’t complain, so I knew he was dead.”
El artista estelar que cerrará las Fiestas Patronales 2020 será “El Fantasma” con banda sinaloense, el próximo lunes 20 de enero.
Redacción.- La música de banda regional mexicana se apoderará de la escena con tres bailes en el Lienzo Charro de Jocotepec, que conforman la oferta para las Fiestas Patronales en Honor al Señor del Monte.
“Los Ex de la Banda” serán los encargados de abrir la cartelera este domingo 5 de enero, quienes se presentarán con la compañía de la Banda Patrones de Jalisco y un espectáculo de toros de la ganadería de los “Indestructibles de H3H”. El costo de entrada del baile -que iniciará a las 16:30 horas- en preventa será de 150 pesos, en taquilla un poco más.
Luego, el domingo 12 de enero se presentará la “Banda Los Recoditos”, con la participación de Samuel Rosales y su Banda Sierra Gorda, la agrupación Lujo Norteño y espectáculo de toros de Betillo Arellano montados por los jinetes de la Selección Jalisco. El costo para este baile será de 280 pesos en preventa e iniciará a las 16:00 horas.
Finalmente, el artista estelar que cerrará las Fiestas Patronales 2020 será “El Fantasma” con banda sinaloense, el próximo lunes 20 de enero, en compañía de la “Banda Agua de la Llave”, “Banda Loma Santa” y “Banda lo Yulitos”. El costo de entrada en preventa será de 300 pesos.
La venta de boletos en la cabecera municipal será en el Súper “Los osos”, Licorería Comercial Olmedo, carnitas “El Profe” y tortas ahogadas “Las Tortugas”. En Zapotitán con Mario Lomelí y “Licorería Chuy”; así como en la tienda de la plaza de San Cristóbal Zapotitlán.
Miguel Cerna.- Con un concierto de fin de año en la Casa de Cultura de Jocotepec, los estudiantes de música del Núcleo ECOS de Zapotitán de Hidalgo deleitaron a los jocotepenses con un variado repertorio.
Pese a que la escuela sufrió un cierre temporal en mayo pasado -por daños estructurales en el inmueble en el que reciben las clases- y aunque sí afectó el aprendizaje de los niños, niñas y adolescentes, su director Pedro Flores Corona consideró que lograron desempeñarse con éxito en el recital que se ofreció el pasado 9 de diciembre.
“Yo creo que la actitud de los chicos se impuso sobre las situaciones que hubo, que tuvieron su riesgo en su momento y se pudieron solucionar. Si afectó, costó sacar el concierto, pero su actitud se impuso ante todas estas situaciones y al final yo creo que el resultado fue satisfactorio para nosotros como personal de ECOS y para el auditorio”, comentó en entrevista.
Por poco más de una hora y media, los 20 estudiantes de las modalidades de coro, guitarra y flauta de pico, así como ensambles, presentaron cerca de 20 piezas musicales, en idiomas como japonés, italiano e inglés.
Así también, se interpretaron canciones mexicanas que estaban en el olvido, como “El Andariego” de Álvaro Carrillo y “El Pobre Cisne” de Abelardo Pulido; además de que se contó con la participación del coro de la Secundaria Benito Juárez de dicha localidad.
Aunque el Núcleo ECOS tiene como finalidad el aprendizaje formal de la música, Pedro Flores aseguró que también se desarrollan otras habilidades -como las cognitivas, psicomotoras, emotivas-, por lo que aprovechó para invitar a todos los niños, niñas y adolescentes de entre los 6 y los 16 años a integrarse.
La velada que se extendió pasadas las 20:00 horas culminó con una ovacionada reacción de parte de los cerca de 50 asistentes con la interpretación de canción identitaria del municipio: “Mi Jocotepec” de José Vaca Flores.
Este fue el segundo concierto de la escuela de música instalada en la delegación en mayo de 2018.
Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic (JAL).- Yanin Saavedra formally released her much-anticipated debut album, Búsqueda, at a CD party in Guadalajara’s Creaturas Anónimas venue Thursday night. Reviews of the album are ecstatic, predicting that Saavedra will continue her ascent as singer-songwriter. The album was previously previewed at a private event in Ajijic and some of the songs have been available online for weeks.
The major American music website IndiePulseMusic reviewed a preview copy of the 12-song CD, calling it “a stunning debut album that shimmers with promise.” The California-based Music Junkie Press said “the album Búsqueda stands on its own as a work of musical artistry but promises much more to come”. In the United Kingdom, the music platform Artist Echoes said Saavedra’s Búsqueda” is a debut album that capitalizes on her outlier voice and shimmers with wonder.” In international music site Vents wrote that when you listen to Búsqueda “your ears are in the presence of a unique and exquisite talent.”
Saavedra is well-known in Lakeside where she teaches music in schools and plays in local venues like La Mezcaleria and in her hometown, Guadalajara. She has toured Mexico and Europe, playing festivals and clubs and even streets across the Continent. Influenced by traditional sound from around the world and contemporary Latin music she writes original songs with an up-to-the-minute Latin flavor and a global mixture of traditional rhythms and sensibilities.
The album is available for download or streaming on Bandcamp at https://yanin.bandcamp.com/album/b-squeda
Patrick O’Heffernan (Ajijic, Jal.) A full house of friends, family and music industry representatives occupied Ajijic singer-songwriter Yanin Saavedra’s home last week for the preview of her debut album, Busqeda. Yanin and her partner, bass player Gilberto Rios, turned their house in West Ajijic into an welcoming venue with a bar on the lawn, a buffet of delicious meats, cheeses, fruits and breads, and a living room packed with chairs for the crowd. Several photographers and a cameraman were on hand to record the event.
The living room glittered with candles and a projection of the album cover on one wall as the crowd mingled in clusters around the pool, sipping wine and mescal. Yanin moved from group to group, hugging friends, enchanting visitors with her 1000-watt smile, and trying her best to contain her excitement.
Saavedra is well-known in Lakeside where she teaches music in local schools and plays in local venues, so the whole community was looking forward to the party and to the album. She has toured Mexico and Europe, playing festivals and clubs and even streets across the Continent. She has been influenced by traditional music from around the world and contemporary Latin music. This gives her original songs an up-to-the-minute Latin flavor with a global mixture of traditional rhythms and sensibilities. She blends the many influences from her travel with her glorious voice and impressive guitar skills to create a unique style often tagged in the «world music» genre, but which is actually much broader.
Despite her extensive touring and live performances, Busqueda is her first album. She has released singles on Bandcamp and a live video on YouTube, but this will be her first foray into a global audience. As careful and precise as she is creative, Yanin decided to preview the album, rather than release it — part of a strategy to introduce herself to the world and to insure that her rights are protected – a step many musicians skip in their rush to market.
The band was set up in a corner of the spacious living room, backed by a sunlit window into the garden. Yanin stood in the center surrounded by the musicians – Gilberto Rios on bass, Vinent Houdré on accordion , Angel Madrigal on drums and Luis Almaguer on guitar – and thanked her many supporters before launching into the first songs on the album. About halfway through, she took a break so the audience could refresh their drinks, graze at the buffet table. The second half of the concert ramped up the tempo earning clapping and dancing from the audience. Altogether a good start for what is sure to be a huge success.
Yanin has not yet set a arelease date for Busqeda but singles can be heard on Yanin’s Bandcamp page. Follow her on Facebook for an announcement of the album release.
Juan Castañón is a musician’s musician who constantly expands the boundaries of his art and the world of jazz.
Patrick O’Heffernan (Ajijic) .- Celebrated Ajijic jazz guitarist Juan Castañón will be featured on jaliscotv.com next week after a taping of his performance at Guadalajara’s Chango Vudú Club. Sara Valenzuela of JaliscoRadio.com interviewed Castañón and his band members live at the club’s bar before the performance. A packed house was on hand for the interviews and the music with patrons serving as a live audience for the cameras and the radio interview.
Castañón is well-known to residents of Ajijic and Chapala for his jazz band Acasia, but he played the Chango Vudú Wednesday night with the experimental jazz trio D/zazter. The same band played the next night in Ajijic at the La Mezcalaria bar on Colon near the Malecon. JaliscoTV.com brought in a full three-camera crew with a mobile editing bay to tape both the music and the interview with Sara Valenzuela. The tape will be edited into a program for broadcast next week (check jaliscotv.com for time and date). He will also appear this Friday on the Ajijic-based radio program Music Sin Fronteras.
Juan Castañón is a musician’s musician who constantly expands the boundaries of his art and the world of jazz. A superb guitarist, he also plays the sarod, has studied at the Monterrey School of Music, the Universitá della Musica di Roma Italy and participated in numerous courses and workshops on improvisation with prominent artists such as Michael Godard, Reggie Workman, and Stomu Takeishi, among others. His list of collaborations in Mexico and Italy is long and varied and ranges from free jazz to traditional Jarocho (music from Veracruz), to experimental and electronic music. His projects include guitar and percussion improvisation in DEMUSE, Radical Freejazz with Classical Music of North India, and electronic and circuit-bending sound art and the Electricity Noise Experiment. D/zazter is an experimental project with Itzam Cano and Gabriel Lauber.
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