In My Mind’s Zen Garden

“In Spain I did love and adore you
The nights filled with joy were our yesterday’s
and tomorrow will bring you near me”
—from Spain, by Chick Corea

It seems that my latest focus has been with Spanish culture and influences.

Why? I don’t really know, but I’ve always loved the culture, and The Philippines has undoubtedly been influenced by Spain as its colony for more than 200 years.

“Different cultures have settled in the area of modern Spain, such as the Celts, Iberians, Romans, Visigoths, and Moors. For just over five centuries, during the Middle Ages, large areas were under the control of Islamic rulers, a fragment of which survived as late as 1492, when the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragón completed the 770 years long process of driving the Moors out. That same year, Christopher Columbus reached the New World, leading to the creation of the world-wide Spanish Empire. Spain became the most powerful country in Europe, but continued wars and other problems gradually reduced Spain to a diminished status. The 20th century was dominated in the middle years by the Franco dictatorship; with the dawn of a stable democracy in 1978, and having joined what is now known as the European Union in 1986, Spain has enjoyed an economic and cultural renaissance.” —from Wikipedia, on Spain

Anyway, things in my life seem to be guiding me toward Spain and its culture.

For one, I recently joined a Flamenco group called “Flamenco Nova”. We’ve been playing in hotels and restaurants that either serve Spanish-influenced cooking, like La Estancia La Jolla and Le Papagayo in Leucadia. So, getting into the feel of Flamenco music has been on my mind.

I’ve been performing with Jordano Stoyanoff, a Bulgarian-born flamenco guitarist who’s been playing since childhood, and is a very accomplished flamenco guitarist. I’ve always had a deep respect for flamenco guitarists and their ability to play melody, harmony and rhythm in such a way as to sound like 2 or 3 guitarist performing at the same time.

So, I’m really digging this new journey into another musical genre, apart from my usual big band, latin and top40 gigs. Playing in the whole flamenco style is something rather new to me, yet intriguing and I see the musical potential to fuse latin and other musical forms with flamenco.

Once, I did a gig (on keyboards) at The Mirage in Las Vegas, with the Flamenco dance troupe from Cafe Sevilla. It was an amazing experience, and wish I could do that again playing drums.

And I’ve been listening to Chick Corea’s “Spain” on my iPod, to and from gigs. Jordano and Flamenco Nova performs the original version, “Concierto de Aranjuez” by Joaquín Rodrigo.

Also, a big influence on me as a child was the opera Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet. My Dad would play this a lot and I just remember many of the arias… and The March of the Toreador.

“Set in 1940s Spain against the postwar repression of Franco’s Spain, a fairy tale that centers on Ofelia, a lonely and dreamy child living with her mother and adoptive father, who is a military officer tasked with ‘ridding the area’ of rebels. In her loneliness, Ofelia creates a world filled with fantastical creatures and secret destinies. With Fascism at its height, Ofelia must come to terms with her world through a fable of her own creation.” —from MatchFlick.com

The sudden interest in all things Spanish has been somewhat subtle as well. Even with regard to movies, I recently watched “Pan’s Labyrinth”, a foreign film from Spain that has a haunting melody and stunning visuals, as well as Spanish actors who give very memorable performances.

On the Rice Bowl Journals forums, at least two or three RBJ members have either been to Spain recently, or is currently there now touring the countryside. I believe Suki is still there vacationing.

I recently downloaded one of my favorite songs, “Recuerdos de la Alhambra”, peformed by world class flamenco and classical guitarist Pepe Romero.

Now I’m feeling sad that I hadn’t visited Spain a couple of years ago when the family went Europe. But, I will definitely visit Spain on our second trip to Europe, someday….. until then, it’ll be gigs and Flamenco music that will keep reminding me of a land far away….