January 18, 2008 8:44pm

So yesterday, I had a wedding gig. Big deal, just another gig, right? Nope. This was a wedding by a close friend of mine. I'm not going to bore you with all the details, I'll just say that a few months ago when she asked me if I'd like to provide the music for the whole ceremony, I felt very privileged and said yes!

She and her now-husband both love flamenco (and in fact I first met both of them, on separate occasions at my gig at Cafe Citron!) so while I do have a classical repertoire to draw from, they were both open to using flamenco for the ceremony itself, yay! At first she left it up to me to decide on the music myself, but I insisted that she listen to some recordings at her own leisure and get back to me with some pieces that best represented the mood she was going for. Thing is that while I might have my own ideas of what works well in a ceremony, it would be more meaningful to me as a friend if she picked the music herself. And OK, she does like flamenco, so in my book, automatically she already has great musical taste. :-)

A month before the wedding, we met at her office to discuss the details of the ceremony and as far as selecting pieces, we used YouTube to help narrow down the list. Yes there are a lot of flamenco guitar videos on there! In a matter of minutes, she chose three pieces (two flamenco and one classical Spanish). And from that day until the wedding, I had my work cut out for me. The assignment: learn those songs!

January 18, 2008 8:44pm

The day of the wedding, I got up around 9am, practiced a little, chatted online with a friend, got dressed and was out the door by 10:30am, got on the metro and arrived 11:00am-ish. The ceremony was scheduled for 12:30pm, but I wanted to get there early enough to setup my sound system and warm up.

So I enter the ballroom with guitar and sound system in tow and saw that the DJ setup his gear where I was supposed to setup. Ugh. This is typical at most weddings that I've been to: a competition for prime location between the DJ and the musicians. It's OK, though, I'm a pro which means I move on and make the best of the situation--just made a mental note to inquire about the arrival time of the DJ the next time I do a wedding gig. :-) I setup my system in the adjacent alcove. So far so good, right?

Well, when I was about the enter another room to hide away my luggage cart and equipment cases, I turned the fancy brass door handle not knowing it had a really strong spring and when I released it, the handle snapped back and chipped my thumb nail. Ugh. Was I annoyed? Yes! But I wasn't panicking though. I could file away the rough edges and still play just fine. But it's just so much better when I have the nail at the perfect length.Thank God, I've had past experience with this kind of situation. Long story short, I made do with whatever nail repair supplies I could find in my guitar case and patched together a new thumb nail with 20 minutes to spare before the ceremony! Whew!

January 18, 2008 8:46pm

There was no rehearsal for this wedding. Just a very detailed information sheet with rundown of the ceremony. I would be getting my cues from someone else which definitely took a load of stress off my back!

First cue: play Vicente Amigo's Tres Notas para Decir Te Quiero while the groom and entourage awaited at the altar. I played it much slower than on the recording. Kind of like a more romantic version. And yeah, I used a digital loop machine and recorded the accompaniment live: laid back arpeggios instead of rasgueados to better suit the ambience while I played Vicente's beautiful catchy melody on top.

A little info about the location: the building was constructed in 1901 and "has retained much of its original architectural detail, including a sweeping circular staircase, finely crafted wall friezes, intricate crown and ceiling molding, carved oak doors, marble fireplace mantles, and the original brass hardware." The ballroom has a very light and airy feel with all-white walls and tall windows bathing the room in natural light. It was an intimate ceremony with only about 40 guests--many from other parts of the globe and as far away as India!

Next cue: wait for the main double doors to open as my friend, the bride, made her entrance. The music: Asturias by Isaac Albéniz. I was only supposed to play the arpeggiated section of this very famous piece which by the way, was originally written for piano. Again I slowed it down to suit the mood of the moment. My friend, who is very beautiful already, looked even more so in her strapless wedding gown. Wow! I almost lost the beat when I first saw her, seriously! And while I was supposed to play this for several minutes (according to the detailed ceremony program), in actuality, I only played it for 30 seconds. Just long enough for her to make the procession from the doors, down the aisle and unite with her soon-to-be-husband at the altar.

The minister caught my eye as if to say, "Good job musician dude, you can stop now. Seriously now would be a good time!" So I continued the melody until I could find a place to end the piece in musically appropriate place.

The minister made the traditional opening remarks, followed by readings of literary works that have a special meaning for the bride and groom. Next came the exchange of vows and rings and finally, the best part where the minister says, "I now pronounce you husband and wife."

The last cue was when he presented the newlyweds. The music: La Barrosa by Paco de Lucía. For those of you who don't know, it's an alegrías which means "happiness." Very appropriate!

I was very happy for my friend of course. Never thought I'd actually see the day she'd be walking down the aisle. I can still remember the day we celebrated Un-Valentine's Day several years ago. Well, everything changes eventually as we all know and she'll be celebrating her first Valentine's with her new husband!

OK, it's noon and I already spent way too much time in front of the computer today. Need some fresh air and I'm in the mood to go see a movie this afternoon. I'll be at Cafe Citron tonight doing what I love: playing flamenco with a dancer and a singer. Hope to see you there!

Other news flashes: SIMOF, the flamenco world's biggest fashion event, starts this week and the legal debate goes on about whether or not sangria should be illegal in Virginia.