Thursday 30 November 2017

Live music in Santander and beyond, November 2017

And now, dear reader, the promised last.

  • 1 November: Albericola @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4, Santander
      A brain-child of Cuban-born Ledian Mola (double bass), this innovative ensemble features Lucas Tauzin (vibraphone), Victor Vega (trumpet), Eolo Andino (sax), Nico Alfaro (guitar), Franco Cavalleri (piano) and Nasim López (drums).

  • 5 November: Mr. Kilombo @ Haddock Bar, Calle Valliciergo 6
      Just a man with a guitar in a tiny bar... A half of the audience (those who were to the right) turned out to be surprisingly familiar with his songs and were singing along all the way. A quarter of the audience were chatting by the bar (on the left). The remaining part were trying to listen, at the same time (unsuccessfully) shushing the others.
  • 7 November: Jazztedigo @ Bar Canela, Plaza Cañadío 5
      A trio featuring Rubén Bubby Ortiz (guitar), Saúl Crespo (violin) and Germán Caprara (drums) offers a fascinating journey through the 20th-century history of jazz.
  • 8 November: El Cuarteto de Ningún Lugar @ Rvbicón
      A prog-rock band featuring Vicent Huma (guitar), Martín Léiton (bass guitar), Pablo Martin Jones Johnston (percussion) and Borja Barrueta (drums). They played one composition that lasted a bit over one hour and another one (encore?) of about 15 minutes. After the concert, I had a chat with the musician only to establish that this was their first, and probably the last ever, performance. I had it recorded on my mobile phone and thus own their complete discography so far.

  • 11 November: Canteca de Macao @ Palacio de Vistalegre, Madrid
  • 14 November: Perla Batalla @ Rvbicón
      Perla Batalla was accompanied by César Latorre (piano) in her moving tribute to Leonard Cohen. She even made the normally silent Rubiconian audience sing Dance Me to the End of Love and Hallelujah.

  • 15 November: The Way Out @ Rvbicón
      An avant-garde quartet from Copenhagen, Denmark featuring TS Høeg (alto saxo), Mads Egetoft (tenor sax), Jonathan Aardestrup (double bass) and Jens Lopes (drums). Free jazz is not my glass of øl as I normally get bored quickly. This was not the case with The Way Out, thanks to their virtuosity, quirky sense of humour and overall brilliance.

  • 16 November: Osaka Monaurail @ El Almacén de Little Bobby, Calle del Sol 20
      Another world-famous band that I never heard (about) before they came to shake Santander (among other places on their European tour). “The kings of Asian funk”, Osaka Monaurail are Ryo Nakata (vocals, dance, keyboards and percussion), Kentaro Yamagata (trumpet), Taihei Awaji (trumpet), Shimon Mukai (tenor sax), Tsuyoshi Ouchi (trombone), Dan Hayami (guitar), Yuichi Ikeda (guitar), Dai Nakamura (bass) and Soki Kimura (drums).

  • 18 November: Freedonia @ Escenario Santander, Avenida de la Constitución 39 (Parque de las Llamas)
      I saw them this August in Bilbao and they were awesome. Now I saw them a bit closer and... they were as, or more, awesome.

  • 19 November: Shanna Waterstown @ El Almacén de Little Bobby
      One more discovery: a blues, soul and funk singer born and raised in Florida, USA, now residing in Paris, France. Shanna Waterstown was accompanied by Jay Gogan (guitar), Gianpaolo Feola (drums) and Jal Hohy (bass). The band played a mix of classics and original themes from Shanna’s new album; alas, this was the last concert of her Spanish tour and the CDs were sold out before the Santander gig. It happened to be the last live music event I had been to before moving south.

Goodbye, Santander. It was fun. I’ll miss the music and Dougall’s beer.

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