I will be away from keyboard for a few hours, so I want to leave you with with yet another superb video of my absolutely favorite Argentinian jazz guitarist who here plays a medley of traditional Argentinian zambas (not to be confused with Brazilian sambas). IMHO this guys is a virtuoso and a pure musical genius. Each time I listen to him play this music my nostalgia for the “old Argentina” of my childhood brings tears of nostalgia to my eyes :-) I hope that you will enjoy this and “see you” later today.
Andrei
Wonderful guitar playing – love the right hand technique!
Yeah, it always puzzles me when people pay with their thumb, but Mark Knopfler does that too.
I am a pick (plectrum) guy, so I watch those thumb users in total awe :-)
Hola Andrei!
I am from Buenos Aires, where were you living when a child?
Sadly, Larreta Mayor is also destroying any semblance of that beautiful and picturesque city of Buenos Aires of old. Old european style houses giving way to big and soulless apartments buildings.
Saludos!
I lived in barrio San Andres, which is on the Retiro-Mitre train line, right after San Martin and before Villa Ballester.
I don’t think anybody would call this poor neighborhood “picturesque”, but I LOVED IT :-)
I also loved the old “brown” trains (before the yellow Japanese ones) going to Retiro, and I loved the collectivo (I think it was the 78) taking me downtown, with the crazy drivers, crazy decorations and crazy music. This was living “living in Piazzolla world” :-)
I also remember the araña pollito we had in our (rather modest) house, which were both exotic and quite scary to me as a kid (one night I even slept with one in my blanket which I found out when we made my bed in the morning).
As for the rioplatense language, I STILL love it, ditto for lumfardo.
The funny result is this: I speak rioplatense with the grammar of a kid (since I learned it as a kid), with a Russian accent, and with bad spelling and bad grammar since I never had to write anything in Spanish (you would laugh if you heard me speak!).
And yet,
Les Luthiers still make me laugh, even though I know all their shows and records.
When I listen sambas like Balderrama, or a good chamamé like, say, El Cosechero, I get tears of nostalgia in my eyes. My last visit to Argentina was at the time of Alfonsin!
Part of me is, and will forever remain, Argentinian in my heart :-)
And the Malvinas are ours, no matter what the world says :-P
And, of course, I am a total fan of Charly Garcia and Sui Generis.
I don’t sing, but I can play all that music on my guitar, which I often do when I need a break from the modern world.
“el rubio”(that’s what my wonderful working class neighbors called me) aka Andresito aka Andrei aka The Saker
Childhood is the better place in the world, my friend! LOL. Unbelievable, Andrés! You living in the Gran Buenos Aires listening to Charly García, Sui Generis and zambas too! Les Luthiers!
I have my own adventures with colectivos and their drivers, too. Very argentinian thing. Argentina is not a boring place, at least!
I left Buenos Aires city some years ago. Too big and too noisy for my taste. Things have changed a lot since you and I were children. Now I am 56 years old and living in Córdoba province, at the feet of the Sierras Grandes, beautiful place.
If you happen to visit Argentina and give some kind of talk, I am pretty sure you will have an eager audience!
Malvinas argentinas, for sure!
Un gran abrazo, estimado “Andresito”! Hope to meet you one day!
Hola Fernarndo
I actually have a cousin who lives in Cordoba, but I have never visited so far (been to Mar del Plata and Rosario though, and we had a TINY little cabin in Villa Gesell – have you ever been there?)
My other cousin tells me that crime in BA is through the roof and that the BA we knew is now long gone, which saddens me.
By the way, I am 57, so we are almost the same age!
And when I need my “pachamama fix” I listen to Salinas, Perdo Aznar or, in a different style, Eduardo Falu :-)
Or I get a spoon with Gandara ducle de leche.
I even drink mate (Nobleza Gaucha)!
Give me love to the mountains, the plains and the puerto.
Abrazos,
Andresito
we are all almost the same age – los tres
I went there for the first time about 6 years ago (when I lived in the transgender zombyland of San Francisco, although in probably the best part – Russian Hill) – and I absolutely loved Buenos Aires, the people, old buildings (some are falling apart but still look very stylish and beautiful), the mentality, friendships etc..
Portenos are great friends – they really remind me of Serbia (where I am from and where I have just happily returned alive after 30 years spent in Anglsheeplesphere of ziosnakes).
Belgrade is like a much smaller version of Buenos Aires – Vracar is a bit like Recoleta, that old part behind Austrian Embassy is like San Telmo and the rest is like a smaller Palermo. Serbs even look similar to Portenos but are much taller. Lots of kids playing freely and happily outside, unattended even after dark both in BG and BsAs
I can’t wait to go back to there
Although I may have to sail there next time
There is a pretty large Serbian community in BA, I hope that you met them!
How recently were you in Argentina?
I ask this because I hear that crime is through the roof and that it is SO bad that traveling to BA is outright dangerous.
I really hope that 1) this is not true or 2) if it is, that this will come back to normal.
But knowing Argentinian politicians, I am rather not very hopeful.
Any comments?
Cheers
Andrei
beautiful non corporate music
exactly!
Jazz and popular music are not as corrupted as other styles and traditions.
Money does really corrupt everything :-(
Honor to Argentina–hope to visit someday
–Peace to the Saker and its readers