You have probably already fallen in love with this season of the Camerata Gordon Campbell. Both Daniela Liberman on piano and Mozart and his Women were terrific. This Sunday, January 18, will be the first Camerata event this year in Casa Haas. The noon performance of “The Virtuoso Trumpet” is already sold out, but there are still tickets available for the 6 pm event.
Héctor Tomás Jiménez, a Mije Indian who grew up learning to play in Oaxaca on a horn donated by US Americans, is one of Mexico’s premier concert trumpeters. The serendipity, that Maestro Gordon Campbell, Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes, encouraged a woman to gather instruments for a Oaxaqueñan band that needed them, and, years later, that a musician who learned on one of those donated instruments is playing under Gordon’s baton, is beautiful.
Below is a Behind the Chamber clip about this Sunday’s concert, from an interview Greg and I recently conducted with Maestro Gordon Campbell and his wife and collaborator, Guianeya Román.
Buy your tickets at the Angela Peralta box office or online.
Are you ready?!!! Some last-minute details have been released, in order to build anticipation for this major event, Carnavál Internacional de Mazatlán 2014, Litoralia!
Belinda, yes the Belinda who duets with Pitbull, is confirmed to be on the Pacífico float in Carnavál this year. The Burning of Bad Humor this year will be Lucerito, the actress who infamously went hunting with her partner for endangered animals, despite the huge outcry to burn Predial for its billing fiasco.
While the light parade and fireworks on the malecón that traditionally take place Monday night appeared in early CULTURA announcements, it seems that they indeed will not take place this year. In some places it has been announced they will take place in Olas Altas (party zone). My guess is that the change is due to the addition of the Banda El Recodo and Los Recoditos concerts on Monday and Fat Tuesday, respectively. Both concerts are scheduled to start at 10:00 pm. This means much more music than ever this year!
This year we lost our beloved Carnavál-meister, Maestro Rigo Lewis. Maestro Jorge González Neri has made a sculpture of Rigo, and it will appear in the parade ahead of the Queen of Carnaval’s royal float, in the same position that Maestro Rigo walked every year.
As I’ve mentioned previously, we will have a Japanese float and comparsa/two dance troupes this year, with over 120 dancers! They will dance Japanese festival style, to a mashup of Japanese traditional and salsa music, to celebrate 400 years of Japan-Mexico diplomatic relations. Banzai!
The main parade begins on Sunday at 5:30 pm from the Fisherman’s Monument and heads north to Valentino’s/Rafael Buelna. Chairs, tables, and bleachers are already lining the malecón. Lorena I, Queen of Carnavál and her entourage—including princesses Siu Ying Audelo, Daniela García and Harriet Vázquez, will be decked out in homage to Rio’s Mardi Gras. The Floral Games contingent, headed by Queen Marcela I and including the princesses Harriet Carreón and Pamela de la Vega,will pay tribute to the Carnavál of Venice. Adolfo Blanco, the King of Joy, will head up a group of floats and dancers celebrating the Carnavál of La Habana. In total the parade will include 34 floats, 23 dance and musical groups, involving 2000 people, 300 of whom will ride on the floats. Here is our video compilation from last year’s (2013) Carnavál parade:
Be sure to turn out early for either of the two parades, Sunday or Tuesday, as it’s great for photographs and video. The second parade starts at the Aquarium at 4:00 pm on March 4th, heading south to Olas Altas. Our video compilation of pre-parade from two years ago, below:
Over 30,000 people filled Olas Altas party zone Thursday night for the Chuy Lizárraga and Las Horóscopos de Durango concert, according to the Noroeste, and it is predicted 80,000 will attend the El Recodo concert on Monday night. I can personally attest that Thursday was wall-to-wall crowded. I can not imagine how 80,000 people will fit in Olas Altas. Be careful and stay calm and happy, everyone!
According to Mazatlán Interactivo, groups scheduled to perform in Olas Altas party zone this year, all beginning at 10:00 pm, include:
Stage by the Escudo/Seal of Sinaloa: Banda los Porteños
Stage on Sixto Osuna: Banda Crucero
Stage between Sixto Osuna and Constitución: Fussion Teens, Notas Latinas
Stage on Constitución: Banda Legal, Banda Dorada
Stage on Mariano Escobedo: Grupo Ritmo Playa, Grupo Once Rios
Stage by the Deer Statue: La Rezaka, Hermanos Romero
Stage by the Mazatlecan Woman: Banda Patty, Los Navegantes
Stage below the Mirador: Grupo Nueva Estrella, Sentido Contrario
Stage at the Cliff Divers (Sánchez Taboada): Banda La Conquistadora, Grupo Zen Evolución Musical
Last night, immediately after the big Mayweather-Canelo fight, we headed over to the Banda MS concert in Salón Bacanora. The band was celebrating its tenth anniversary, and we were ready to have a good time!
There were several opening acts leading up to the main event, including Proyecto 5, Banda Legal, and Horacio Placencia.
Banda MS came on stage at exactly midnight, as planned. We were shocked! They looked incredibly sharp in their Independence Day garb. I don’t think I’ve ever before seen colored flies on men’s slacks! You can click on any photo below to enlarge it or scroll through all the photos.
Fireworks over the stage
Pan of the crowd
The entrance with screens for the fight
Last night’s was not the most polished performance we’ve ever seen. Despite being their tenth anniversary, playing en casa/at home, and amongst their friends and families, the band didn’t exactly seem into it, as you can tell from the clips below.
The audience was huge, but very calm. There wasn’t a lot of shouting or singing aloud as we usually experience at a banda concert. There were many couples, and way more groups of women than is usual at such an event. We saw some wonderful pointed tribal-esque boots and rhinestone-bedecked belts, and dancing that made me feel I am never going to get the right banda moves.
We in Mazatlán have experienced SUCH a long drought without banda concerts (other than the annual Coronation of the King of Joy during Carnavál), that even last night’s lackluster performance was still very welcome.
What a treat we had on Thursday night! 43 of Mazatlán’s best musicians played a Tribute to Maná, in a gorgeously loving effort to raise money for Gaby López, who is battling cancer.
Gaby sat at a center table, in her headscarf, surrounded by about twelve of her girlfriends. It was wonderful to watch all the hugs and well wishes extended to her throughout the evening. How could she not help but feel healed? The event took place at Spectaculare. I always love the lighting there, and Thursday night was no exception.
For a 120 peso entrance fee, we each got two drinks, comfy seats, excellent service and wonderful company at our table, for a show that was very well orchestrated. Band members and singers rotated for pretty much every song, so that by the end of the evening we felt as if we’d experienced dozens of different combinations. Below are some photos of the performers; click on any of them for a larger view.
In between sets, the organizers had slideshows of Gaby, her life, family and friends, as well as video clips containing well wishes from musicians and friends around the country. It was very touching. And especially cool when two members of the real Maná extended their encouragement via video.
It seemed there were several hundred people attending. There were also 300 peso/all-you-could-drink seats down front, but those were sparsely used, unfortunately. I put together a one-minute clip with a taste of some of the performances. You can view it at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!
Gaby, we don’t know you, but we hope you will recover soon: healthy and strong. Thank you for letting us share in this beautiful evening with you. Friends of Gaby: bless you. What a terrific event to orchestrate for a friend!
Day of the Music is among our favorite annual events here in Mazatlán. The city sets up stages at various locations downtown, all within a few blocks of each other. The twenty performers rotate on the hour most of the night, beginning at 7:00 pm, and each stage has a theme. There is also always a visual and street arts corner, which was in a new location this year but just as much fun. In 2011 we made our first video about Day of the Music, and below is a video of this year. I hope you’ll enjoy it! Please let me know what you think.
Saturday was a gorgeous evening, as usual. Starting in daylight and quickly moving into and past sunset, the moon hung hugely over this year’s festivities. Weather was warm and comfy with a wonderful ocean breeze. There was a huge variety of music, and we met at least 30 friends as we walked and danced around. It’s such a joy to be able to see people from all walks of life, coming out with their families to enjoy this community event each year. Mouse over any photo to view the caption, click on it to enlarge or view a slideshow.
The moon kept watch all night long
Dixieland jazz
Casa Machado
Moon over the Casa Machado
Better to walk than to try and drive
Current favorites and retro favorites: Enrique Aguilar from the 60s-era Stukas joins la Falsa Orquesta Cubana
Love the portable stage-in-a-trailer they always set up
Large happy crowds at each stage
Not the music we imagined when we read “strings”
Selling aguas frescas and snacks in the plaza facing the art museum
Gotta get popcorn…
Just chillin’ in Olas Altas
Banda
Looking out to the ocean
Love walking around Centro Histórico at night
Great turnout
Gorgeous venues
Our beloved venadito
Street artists were invited from around the country
Lots of live painting
Live painting
Visual arts space at A La Vuelta de Venus
Plazuela vendors set up along the street
This year the themes and performers on the five stages were:
Escenario Machado (in the Plazuela)
Guillermo Sarabia Chorus
B. Smith’s Hot Jazz (Dixieland, from Culiacán)
Camerata Mazatlán and the Folkloric Ballet
Ikloo (60s classic rock)
Continentalísimo Mariachi Show
Escenario Fusión (Calle Venus between Sixto Osuna and Constitución)
Jazz Plasma
Honest Jon and the Truth
Daniel San Project
Lori Davidson and Rob Lamonica
Banda y Tropical (on the malecón at the end of Calle Constitución)
Percussion Ensemble
Banda La Mazatleca (played for two hours; we are the birthplace of banda, after all!)
La Falsa Orquesta Cubana (my personal favorite)
Escenario del Recuerdo (in front of the Art Museum)
Trova Cardio
Malamecha, Boleros and Cantantes (Municipal School of the Arts group)
Grupo con Cuerdas (strings playing popular music)
Angela Peralta Chorus (non-professional community chorus)
Rock y Tendencias (Calle Niños Heroes and Constitución)
Haiku (from Escuinapa)
Los Insane
Lady Munster (from Los Mochis)
The Oaths
LIVE VISUAL ART: A La Vuelta de Venus
Dhear
Beo Hake (from Monterrey)
Yurex Omazkin (from Mexico City)
Watchavato (from Culiacán)
Smithe (from Mexico City)
Bacse
Tony Delfino
Buque
Wank
AskoAbsurdo
Cusehr
Thank you, Mazatlán and CULTURA! This is a terrific event, so very pleasurable, a true gift for all Mazatlecos and those who are visiting!
A couple of things we noticed this year, that might make a difference going forward. The first is to ensure that the stages themselves don’t block the walking access between venues. If they must, please put up signage that directs people to the correct walking route. Many elderly attend this event, and to see them having to retrace their steps or go around, some in wheel chairs and scooters, was sad. Secondly, this year it seemed the theme of a couple of the stages changed more than in years past. Perhaps this was purposeful, to help ensure that people would move around? If so it definitely accomplished that purpose, creating more movement than is customary, as people who love classical would hightail it out of the vicinity as jazz came on, or people who love popular music became disappointed as a chorus took the stage. A bit more consistency of style on each stage seems to us to make for a cozier and more enjoyable evening. But, these are both incredibly minor, considering the overall quality and pleasure of this terrific event.
¡VidaMaz! 