Mateo, Miguelito and Ginette. November 10, 2007 9:25pm (photo by Gina)

We had a lot of friends in the audience who cheered us on. But even the people we didn't know contributed significantly to the applause which is a good thing. Why? If we decide to use some of the video footage of the performance for promotional purposes, it's good to have the sound of an enthusiastic audience responding to our show.

And besides, the interplay of the audience is important in flamenco. Every now and then when it seems appropriate, I teach the audience the word Olé. For your average American, it's unusual to shout words in the middle of a show. So I have to "give them permission" by teaching them jaleos like Olé. Y'know what I mean?

Mateo playing cajón. November 10, 2007 9:26pm (photo by Gina)

Hector about to sing a letra of bulerías. November 10, 2007 9:29pm (photo by Gina)

We've been performing here at Tapeo just about every week for a year and half now. Between the audience, the great food and staff and owners that treat us well, and the many friends that come and support us we have a great time every week. But recently we've been incorporating live cante into our shows--the way flamenco really should be done anyway.

Claudia, one of our regular dancers, usually sings in our show: everything from alegrías to soleá to bulerías. Also for the past few weeks, I've been inviting my good friend Hector Márquez to join us onstage to sing a few letras por bulerías to end our show. Having live cante raises the quality of the performance to another higher level.

Yeah, it's a no-brainer. Of course cante makes it better. But here in DC we don't have that many singers. Some might argue that aside from Manolo Leiva we don't have any real flamenco singers here in the DC area--just local flamenco aficionados who are willing to give cante a try and who have more aire than technique. Still whenever we do have cante of any level, it's something very special--as it should be!

Hector and Ginette. November 10, 2007 9:29pm (photo by Gina)

OK, it's a little after 7:00am now and I should get myself to bed. I'm starting to feel tired now, if you can believe that!

So last night (Saturday) after my gig at Tapeo, a friend and I went to a private house party for like two minutes. We walked in and made one quick round and departed. Although we were invited by a friend of a friend, I didn't see a single familiar face there which is fine--the idea of making new friends is exciting. But we were kinda hoping there would be food: the substantial kind--not just chips and dip.

My other friends, that we were supposed to meet up with, called and said they were arriving later, but we were hungry so we took a detour in search of a nearby eatery, got frustrated with parking (Adams-Morgan where parking is always a b!tch), went our separate ways and I ended up getting a late night dinner in Adams-Morgan and on the way home I ran into another friend (Actually it was one of my fans. He said, "Hey you're that guitarist from Citron, right? Love your music. Come hang out with us.") who got me into this club in Dupont called Andalú. It's been a few years since I last checked this place out...you'd think that someone like me who has performed in the Dupont Circle neighborhood for more than ten years would have visited every club in the vicinity by now (I used to perform at Cafe Japone and Escándalo ).

Actually I think I've come close to visiting all the clubs at least once, but it's not like I go to all of them regularly. Anywayz, I couldn't see any connection between ambience of Andalú and the culture of Southern Spain. Cool place though. It was packed with people having a good time--mostly standing around drinking though. But just thought I'd mention that Andalú has nothing to do with Spain (at least as far as I could tell in the short time I was there--it was already 1:30am when I got there.) And yeah, people have asked me if there is a flamenco show there and the answer is No.

Speaking of clubs, I just got word that Cafe Citron will be closed this Monday November 12th in observance of Veterans Day. So no flamenco at Citron this Monday. Duende Camarón might be at Ozio but call ahead to confirm.

Seriously I need to get some rest. I have a private gig tonight (Sunday) playing solo guitar. I actually prefer doing shows with dancers as you well know, but this solo guitar gig pays well. So I'll do it. Maybe I'll meet some prospective clients afterwards.

Good night...um I mean good morning!