Tuesday, July 10, 2007
July 10, 2007 San Antonio, Texas
Jazz Comparison
Jazz music can sound the same to people no matter where they go,
but I beg to differ. I’ve compared El Junco Jazz Club in Madrid, Spain to
Carmen’s de la Calle Café in San Antonio, Texas and I found substantial
differences.
El Junco is an underground jazz club that looks like something you’d
see in a movie. As you walk inside, you first spot a dark, mid-sized room
glowing stage off to the right. The bar has dim lights so that the stage will
stand out more. The doors open at 11:30 p.m. but the club starts swarming
around midnight with people in their 20s and 30s. That’s when the fun
begins. The fun does not stop until six in the morning when the club closes.
If you go in early, you’ll see that the club has places for people to sit,
but once the music plays, no one is sitting down. Everyone is standing up
as if they were at a concert. They’re dancing and enjoying the music;
everyone is having a great time. My only criticism is that the majority of
people smoke. Because the club is underground, there is no ventilation, so
the smoke is at a still stand. I am not a big fan of smoke, but I promise you
if I return to Madrid, you will most likely find me at El Junco. It is a place
where you can interact with others and listen to some great jazz.
“It’s fun working, if you love jazz,” said Alicia Rodriguez, 30, of
Madrid, a waitress/bartender/manager.
So many people play at El Junco, both beginners and professionals.
Norman Fredrick Hogoe, 42, of Queens, New York, slide trombone/baritone
sax/trumpet, has played with Latin legends, such as Hector Levo, Celia
Cruz, and other known Latin artists. I had an interesting conversation with
David Munoz, 28, of Gijon, Spain, a singer/harmonica player who loves
jazz. As he was drinking a wine cooler with limon, Munoz said, “I have been
traveling and playing music all over Spain, but I am waiting for an offer
from the States.”
Carmen’s de la Calle Café has been open for six in a half years.
Carmen’s is located on Mistletoe Street in a residential neighborhood that
is not too far from downtown. The café has white Christmas lights with
tables inside and out. As you walk into the gates, it’s a $5 cover charge,
and if you choose to smoke, you need to smoke outside. You’ll see people
smoking out on the patio. Walking indoors, the jazz band is on the right
side and you will find the bar to the left. The lights inside are semi-dim, and
it has the vibe of going to relax and enjoy some coffee. You’ll see small
round tables with candles gleaming in the middle around the stage.
Carmen’s is a good size place; the audience is mainly an older crowd
in their 40s and above. It is laid back; people are sitting down while the
band plays old school jazz. I asked one of the band members for his
recommendations. Rene Saenz, 50, of Chicago, Illinois, sax/flute player
said, “Listen to the greats from the ‘30s to now. Go as far back as possible:
Miles Davis, Art Tatum, Etc.”
You will also find Carmen’s serving food that is similar to food
in Spain. I had the queso con chorizo with chips on the side.
“It’s an awesome place to come to. I am new to the city, and I have
not seen anything else like it,” said Priscila Castillo, 23, of Huntington
Beach, California, a waitress/bartender.
The doors open at six in the evening but the band starts playing at 8
p.m. Depending on what day of the week it is, they might close either at 10
p.m. or midnight.
At both places, you will find good customer service, good music and a
bar. What else do you need? In my eyes, I loved El Junco Jazz Club because
they played more up beat jazz, and I felt like I fit in perfectly because it was
a young crowd and you don’t really see that in the States. I wish I could
find a place in San Antonio that has really good jazz music and a young
crowd.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
June 21, 2007 Ganada/Torremolinos, Spain
In my eyes it did have modern architecture but more medieval. It is still being worked on, it looks like a castle that you would see in a snowglobe. I think Gaudi breaks with many traditions in Spain and he does an incrediable job with his work.
This church of Gaudi is what the Effle Tower is to Paris, France, of course, this is the church for Barcelona, Spain.The color glass for the windows, the picutres you have with the tile, the stature of clay he has on top, outside of the church.
All of Gaudi's work you will see the he's an expressionist; he shows details in his work. In Spain you can find his work that is absoulutly outstanding and to know how long it took to carve something or how long it took from begining to end, it's just remarkable.
Gaudi's work is known all around the world to be in Barcelona, Spain and he broke in tradition in order to propose a new way of understanding architecture in terms of the the application of geometry.
June 25, 2007 Madrid, Spain
The last five days in Madrid was crazy because they had heald the biggest gay fest in Europe, it was like nothing I've seen before. The gay fest lasted for a good week, a small group of us decided to see the gay fest start. We got the and people were sitting on the floor, they were drinking and they were even smoking weed/crack right behind us like nothing. The music began as two drag queens announcing a group that is supposeably known in Madrid. The group came out in white space suits and began singing rock to their techno music. People dance like they were doing a work out video, one guy behind Shanelle was dancing like he was about to fight. I thought it was cool so i asked if I could dance with him and I did; after five minutes I was already running out of breath.
Days later the same group decided to head out to the Gay Fest Parade; it was nothing like the one here in San Antonio, Texas. We were in the streets and at first they had a little march but towards the end busses, 18 wheelers, motorcycles, and the smart cars were driving by with music. One of the busses had water gushing out at the crowed soaking us, we were yelling out "Wet t-shirt contest!!!" It was funny.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
June 22, 2007 Torremolinos, Spain
It was one of my best times when being in Spain because I did so much and I enjoyed every moment. We were there for two nights.
The first night because we did not like our dinner, we ended up not eating, but we did go out. Walking down this crazy hill we ran into Chris, Paul, and some girl (I didn't know her) and they told us of a good place to go to. So we went; it's called MAMBOS. It was my favorite place in Spain to go chill, I had my first mintjito(?), oh it was good! We met us with Chris and Carlos at Mambos and decided to go cub hopping. The first club Shanelle, Mari, Victoria, Carlos, Chris, and I saw Richardo (our bus driver) come out of. The club was playing the same music over and over and we decided to leave to find another club. After two moe the third was pretty sweet, I enjoyed the music, although I wish I could of dance. I couldn't because some people were drunk and being rude and I got a bad vibe off of them, they ruined my night!!! So to the people who messed up my night, grow up!!!!
Day two my mom, Liz, Shanelle, Chris, and I went to get a bite to eat and headed out to the beach, it was a blast! It was more then what I expected. We rented out unbrillas for the day and fell asleep, after a while Chris and I went into the beach, no it wasn't cold....it was freezing! So then Richard met up with us and he wanted to go parasailing and I joined him. It was amazing, you feel peaceful, calm, and a little frighten at first, I was at least. The man that hooked Richard and I up to the harnest said that their were sharks at the bottom, but for me it was now or never. I said, "what the heck" because I knew I would never get the chance to go parasailing in the Meditarrean again. Once done with that Steve, Shanelle, Richard, and I got on the bananna boat. It was one heck of a ride, we got flipped over twice in freezing water. The first time we flipped I hit my right arm on the boat and I thought it broke, luckly it didn't. All of us got back on the boat only to find out we were getting flipped over again; with my arm in a lot of pain and having to get on the boat which it was hard to do, I don't know why I wanted to get on the boat in the first place.
The first night because we did not like our dinner, we ended up not eating, but we did go out. Walking down this crazy hill we ran into Chris, Paul, and some girl (I didn't know her) and they told us of a good place to go to. So we went; it's called MAMBOS. It was my favorite place in Spain to go chill, I had my first mintjito(?), oh it was good! We met us with Chris and Carlos at Mambos and decided to go cub hopping. The first club Shanelle, Mari, Victoria, Carlos, Chris, and I saw Richardo (our bus driver) come out of. The club was playing the same music over and over and we decided to leave to find another club. After two moe the third was pretty sweet, I enjoyed the music, although I wish I could of dance. I couldn't because some people were drunk and being rude and I got a bad vibe off of them, they ruined my night!!! So to the people who messed up my night, grow up!!!!
Day two my mom, Liz, Shanelle, Chris, and I went to get a bite to eat and headed out to the beach, it was a blast! It was more then what I expected. We rented out unbrillas for the day and fell asleep, after a while Chris and I went into the beach, no it wasn't cold....it was freezing! So then Richard met up with us and he wanted to go parasailing and I joined him. It was amazing, you feel peaceful, calm, and a little frighten at first, I was at least. The man that hooked Richard and I up to the harnest said that their were sharks at the bottom, but for me it was now or never. I said, "what the heck" because I knew I would never get the chance to go parasailing in the Meditarrean again. Once done with that Steve, Shanelle, Richard, and I got on the bananna boat. It was one heck of a ride, we got flipped over twice in freezing water. The first time we flipped I hit my right arm on the boat and I thought it broke, luckly it didn't. All of us got back on the boat only to find out we were getting flipped over again; with my arm in a lot of pain and having to get on the boat which it was hard to do, I don't know why I wanted to get on the boat in the first place.
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