Sunday, December 6, 2009

Great Jazz, Contemplative Art, and, maybe, a Terrorist Hangout?


So, when Dave and I showed up at the terrace of Central Cultural Recoleta to chip away at stone sculpture, we found a huge stage, and great jazz music going on!   The Jazz Festival lasts 5 days, has musicians from all over, and most all the venues are free!   The hard part has been deciding what to go to, with at least 4 different locations each night....



That first night, at Central Cultural Recoleta terrace, we got to see Fats  Fernandez on trumpet with Paublo Raposo on piano.  They had knocked our socks off several years ago at Club Lounge on Reconquista.  We then raced back to San Telmo and La Trastienda Club to see a performance of a commissioned program by composer Fernando Torres Noneto, Tributo a Astor Piazzolla, and a free concert with the tab picked up by the city and corporate sponsers.   The Buenos Aires city government is taking a lot of heat lately, but my hat is off to them for all the support they give to artists and culture (opps... down here Culture is with a capital C).  We went back to La Trastienda Saturday night for a late night (yes!  I stayed awake past midnight!) jam session of changing preformers from many of the groups that was the best yet... the festival goes on through Tuesday night.... try to catch some of it!
 
Earlier this week, I went to see the In the Time of Art exhibit in the newly renovated PROA academy in La Boca.   Pieces from  the 16th century were along side contemporary work, grouped by themes, "allowing for reflections on the major concepts afflicting man: power, quotidian, body, mind, life,death, love, and hate."  


For me, the strongest juxtaposition  was in the "Body" section, with a potrait of a dying anoerxic teen next to a 16th century representation of voluptuous beauty.

And low and behold, in the mind section, I found another strange hanging sculpture by a Brazilian artist that I had appreciated in the past... maybe you can tell that she uses panty hose filled with different spices and grains....


After a late night at La Trastienda, we found this FANTASTIC Armenian and Middle Eastern restaurant three blocks from our house... and yes, thats a small orchestra playing in the back!  The prices were low too... the only disconcerting thing were all these huge guys in black suits and sunglasses, standing around the pereferie with their hands behind their backs... I figured it was maybe a rehab place for ex-terrorists to give them something to do while they were in hiding in Argentina?  (remember, it was very late at night for me).

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi my name is Lucy. I want to let you know about a blogging contest I am having where you can win 2 tickets to a tango show of your choosing. Since you guys are in Buenos Aires, I thought you might be interested: http://tangotix.com/blog/i-can-haz-tango-show/