Guest Post From pmac

Today we have our first guest post from pmac, who has written a wonderful piece about the Jazz scene, in Seville, Spain.

Back in 2020, when my wife and I made the decision to move from New Orleans to Seville, we did so on the mutual promise that we would attempt to fully immerse ourselves in Spanish/Sevillian culture. We both had an introduction to the Iberian ways when we had vacationed there a year before, and while we had enjoyed our lives in the US, in general, and New Orleans, specifically, we did not want to undertake such a “continental drift” with one foot still tethered to the land that we were leaving.  While we envisioned this entailing us giving up some of the very things that had come to define our lives in New Orleans (weekly visits to local jazz clubs), we felt that there would be more than a fair trade off with the sights and sounds that awaited us in our new locale (flamenco anyone?!?).

So, since we arrived in the middle of the pandemic shutdown (timing was never my strong suit), we began to explore the city of Seville masked, on foot, and in absolute silence, seeking out places that we would want to enter once our seclusion was lifted.  At that point we came to realize that there was a couple of jazz clubs that if the corona closures were survived we might get the proverbial best of both worlds at our fingertips.

Fast forward four plus years later. We now have, at our want, not less than 6 venues which offer live jazz, prompting numerous nightly dilemmas when we must choose between several gigs that all look to be worthwhile.  Here’s a rundown on some of the musicians and bands that have made our new lives, as Sevillanos, that much more enriching.

First, a bit of history. During the Franco era, jazz was outlawed, since the General saw it as an unwanted debasement of Spanish culture. Only after the US government pressured him into allowing it near military bases that the US had in Spain, was this prohibition lifted, but only as to allow 40s era big band shows, ala Miller, Goodman et. al. While modern jazz existed to a small extent in underground clubs, it wasn’t until Franco’s passing that the genre was able to flourish. As a result, the bebop era that defined a good portion of the jazz scene in the UK and the USA, was experienced much later in Spain and still flourishes today, together with a mix of NO style trad jazz (yep, its here in Seville and other parts of Spain), manouche/gypsy jazz and Arabesque influenced music.  For a great overview of this, I highly recommend a recent documentary made by a dear friend who is mainly responsible for our fast assimilation into Spanish culture, Manuel Calleja. You can view it for free, with English subtitles here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro5kYuUo78k

As mentioned above, bebop is alive and well in Seville.  There’s a great group of ypung horn players performing throughout the city, who are getting a somewhat formalized music education through two universities here that have degreed jazz studies programs (University of Seville and Loyola University), plus there’s an out post of the vaunted Berklee College of Music located somewhat close by in Valencia.  Two of the better horn players/composers in Seville, who are also recent grads of the U of Seville program are saxman Bernardo Parrilla and trumpeter, Nacho Loring. Check out the two of them featured in a recent concert, promoting the album release of original compositions by Loring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgqjgYxdD1k

The pianist featured in the Loring clip, is Dane, Oscar Rifbjerg, a 20 plus year resident of Seville. Oscar also composes his own music, and has a new album that incorporate flamenco flourishes with Monk style piano riffs.  Here’s an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGaGvMBx96A

Once we started to get out to various jazz venues here, people kept insisting that we needed to meet Paula Padilla and listen to her main recording project, O’ Sister!. We met finally did so, and now are fortunate to have Paula as a close friend. Paula is quite simply a dynamo – she is a leading figure in several feminist movements, choreographs modern dance/swing shows, and composes music steeped in NO style trad jazz and Brazilian genres.  O’Sister is headed by her and two family members, brother Marcos Padilla, and cousin Matias Comino.  In the beginning of their 15 year run, O’ Sister! was known as a Boswell Sisters homage group, but over their 7 album run, they have morphed into a more modern jazz ensemble, performing their own compositions.  Last year they accomplished the equivalent of an American musician performing at Carnegie Hall, when they played to a sold out house at the Maestranza in Seville, in support of their recent album, 'Brand New Day' (which recording has won numerous awards in Spain and throughout the EU). Here’s a clip from that magical evening:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl9h446OHQM

Finally, my next door neighbor is originally a kiwi (New Zealand), but has been in Seville for over 15 years. He also is an award winning composer and trumpet/pianist player, who regularly performs fronting a trio composed of himself and 2 native Sevilianos (Javi Orti on saxophone and Nacho Megina on drums), Com Trio.  Trevor has inventive takes on widely known melodies (he has incorporated passages from such diverse sources as Tchaikowsky, Beethoven and Brubeck in his compositions) and his sound is rooted in a post- modern bop genre.  Trevor also has a great parlor trick whereby he plays the trumpet and piano simultaneously.  I asked him to sing at the same time, but he politely declined.  Here’s Com Trio performing a track from their most recent release, PolyCycles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak_MwrS5LIU

So, if you’re still with me, in the posts below, tell us about an unexpected musical event for you. Maybe discovering a genre of music in an unexpected place (like what happened to us), an act that turned out to not be what you anticipated, or any other musical surprise. The reward will be O’Sisters! 'Brand New Day' lp.