Paella at Andalucía. April 26, 2007 8:24pm

It's 11:10pm on Sunday as I type these words. Been a busy but fun-filled week so I'm just gonna catch up here with a couple of quick blog entries. Thursday night I did my usual gig at the Andalucía. (Note: they'll be closed this Monday through Thursday for remodeling, so no flamenco this week.) Did you know that this year marks the 10th that I've been performing here at the Andalucía? That's the longest job I've ever had at any one place! Hehe.

This anniversary is probably no big deal to most of you out there. That's cool with me, but it's my blog, so I'll reminisce if I want! While the flamenco show here has been going on longer than any other in the other area, it also happens to be in a very remote location so it hasn't been frequented as much as other venues in more accessible areas. At first the show was established by dancer teacher Ena Camargo in 1997 and featured many of her students including Micaela Moreno, Guadalupe Cerritos, Reena, Carolina López, Renata...the list goes on and on. At the time, Ena's dance studio was just a few blocks away.

The past couple of years, I've been using this venue as a place to give student dancers and guitarists some of their first performance experiences. Even Edwin Aparicio danced here once when he was still a beginning student. Guitarist Richard Marlow made his tablao debut here. As you already know, they've both made quite a name for themselves over the years since then--just goes to show that you never know who the future stars will be especialy when they're just getting started. Most recently, among the younger generation, Behzad Habibzai got his start here in 2003, Ginette Perea made her tablao debut here in 2004, Julia Cristina in 2005, and last year Sarah Hart got her first start here too.

I've gotten to know the employees here quite well over the years. I've seen manager Monica Serrano working as a hostess when she was still a high school student. I went to her college graduation and now she's applying for graduate school. How time flies! They feel like family to me and have treated me very well over the years. I've never left the Andalucía hungry ever. They always given me free food. Hehe.

Just want to express a heartfelt thank you to the Serrano family, the many wonderful performers I've had the pleasure of working with, the many friends (new and old) who supported the show etc for a fabulous ten years here at the Andalucía. Here are a few more pics.