Tag Archives: music

Oaxaca Matria Therapeutic Art Garden: Cultural Center for Music and More

Matria Jardin Arterapeutico is the manifestation of artist Maurico Cervantes’ imagination.  With the help of many, many others plus foundation funding, a decayed, roofless 17th century colonial building in Oaxaca’s historic center has become a cultural mecca.  It is at once a moveable art installation, organic garden, educational teaching center, music and arts venue, and inspiration for innovation — a fine example of what to do with aging space with great bones.

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Despite a late Sunday afternoon rainstorm (much needed, I might say), Matria hosts Sandmann and The Voodoo Cat, a three-person cabaret-style ensemble for our listening pleasure.  Tucked inside the only area with shelter from the sky, Kati Sandmann (vocals, guitar), Dabeat Morales (percussion), and Ricardo Chavez (guitar) perform as if the 40 of us is a sold-out audience of hundreds at Carnegie Hall.

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Their range goes from blues to folk to swing to rock with a hint of jazz. Kati’s voice sounds like Edith Piaf or Lotte Lenya, extending from alto to alto soprano.  She sings multi-lingual in German, French, Spanish and English. It is at times atonal, dissonant and altogether appealing.  I hear Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht, Bob Dylan, Jacques Brel, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, and Ray Charles.

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Not too long into the concert the skies opened and out came the umbrellas. The band played on — unflappable.  We stayed, enraptured with the sound, and the rain coming through the porous roof.  At this moment, church bells sound calling people to Sunday evening mass.  The bells blend perfectly with the music. Two standing ovations brought two more songs before the concert ended. When in Oaxaca during the summer, the best advice is to carry a paragua when going out.

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The concert ended.  The skies cleared. I returned to the courtyard, rain reflected on organic food, in mirrors, in the bathtub lily pond encased in an old bed frame.

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Lots of ideas here for gardening and imagining and meditating.

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Matria Jardin Arteterapeutico, Murguia #103, between Macedonio Alcala and 5 de Mayo.  Check out their Facebook page for upcoming events.

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Modest Organ with Big Sound: San Jeronimo Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca

San Jeronimo Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca is an agricultural town.  Farmers grow organic crops throughout the seasons: corn, squash, runner beans, garlic, garbanzos, flowers, and alfalfa.  Mostly, Tlacochahuaya is renowned for its 1678 Baroque organ housed on the balcony above the 16th century gilded Dominican church sanctuary.  It is a historic treasure.

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It is eleven o’clock Sunday morning and mass does not begin here until eight o’clock tonight. The circuit priest, who is based here and lives in the cloister, makes his rounds to serve nine villages in the Tlacolula Valley, serving mass at various times during the day.

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Moises Garcia Guzman and organist Soledad Hernandez Mendez invited us to see and hear this beautiful instrument.   To get there, we climb a narrow, steep-stepped, stone stairway that winds from first floor to second.  I remember similar in Rome and Paris, dark, damp and eerie.  The steps spiral from the interior wall like an accordion.

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He describes the instrument as a modest organ with a big sound.  Moises, born and raised in Tlacochahuaya (say..T-Lah-Koh-Chah-Why-Ya), lives in Los Angeles and works in the high-tech industry.  A speaker of Zapotec, Spanish and English, he has dreams to return home to teach.  He loves this place, and I see why.

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Moises explains the church and organ history as we stand under the dome in the center of the space.  The organ sounds echo, reverberate from walls and ceiling, penetrate through me as if I am a porous receptacle, wrap me in comfort.   The space is filled with so much sound that I cannot hear the words others are speaking just a few feet away from me.  It is ethereal and meditative.  I am reminded of Bach and Pachelbel.  Soledad makes the ivory keys dance.

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Known as an Organo Iberico, the organ was built in Oaxaca with Puebla influences.  It has carderitas — big hips that flare, says Moises.  It was constructed this way to contain the bellows.  First built as a portable organ, the bellow controls were later moved from the side to the front when it was given its permanent place here.  The organ was fully restored in 1995.  The painting is exquisite.

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The church is undergoing continuous restoration.  We are surrounded by frescoes, most of which have been renewed.  Yet back in the cloister and in some corners of the church, I see originals, shadows of their once prominent beauty faded, yet still glorious in design and remnants of color.

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We sit on the adobe half-wall of the cloister.   One priest still lives here.  Once, this was the center of Dominican Catholicism for the entire valley.  Though the town is smaller than many that surround it today, Tlacochahuaya retains its prominence as the the regional parish.  After the conquest, it was the center of Spanish priestly and aristocratic life.  Crumbling haciendas and a coat of arms given to Tlacochahuaya by the Spanish attest to the glory days.

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Moises and linguist Brook Lillehaugen talk about the influence of Fray Juan de Cordoba, who lived here in the cloister, translated Zapotec to Spanish, and created a dictionary.  There were many priests who translated and made dictionaries, she says, but none compare to the one by Fray Juan de Cordova.

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As we complete the church visit and before we walk to lunch, we stop to look at the edifice of stone construction.  See the metate embedded into the wall.  See the Danzante carved stone there, too.  The church was built from stones taken from the Zapotec temple at Dainzu.

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Yet, the original Zapotec religion survived, was adapted, hidden in the iconography of the crucifixion and the new religion.  Moises points to the figure of Jesus on the Cross (above left).  Do you see the face of corn goddess there on his chest? he asks. How his ribs look like ears of corn?  The figure was sculpted by locals and worshipped by the faithful.  They say the priests never knew.

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In 1926, Southern Baptist missionaries came to Tlacochahuaya to establish a foothold in the region and built a now decaying adobe sanctuary.  Today, religious beliefs are diverse and many Christians of various denominations live side-by-side with the predominantly Catholic population in towns throughout the valley.

Lila Downs Dazzles at Latin Grammy Awards

She is ours — Oaxaca’s goddess of song and lyrics. Lila Downs went on stage to perform at the 13th Latin Grammy Awards on November 15, again recognized for what she has contributed to the music world.  The Examiner article says it all. Accolades, too, to Paul Cohen, Lila’s husband, producer and collaborator.

Here are two photos I’ve taken of Lila in recent years.  Enjoy.

Above: At her Day of the Dead concert in 2011 at the Guelaguetza Auditorium in Oaxaca.

Below: At Las Cuevitas chapel, January 2 in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. The poncho was woven by Erasto “Tito” Mendoza in the Saltillo style.

Oaxaca Lending Library “On The Rocks” Concert Shakes ‘Em Up

What do expats, snowbirds, Norteños and extranjeros do for fun in Oaxaca [besides learning Spanish]?  The Sunday afternoon concerts hosted by Jane Robison at Casa Colonial are one way to get together, shake-shake-shake to 60’s and 70’s classic rock, drink Margaritas, swill some Victoria, slurp an agua de jamaica and support the good work of the Oaxaca Lending Library.  Admission: 60 pesos.  Contact the Oaxaca Lending Library for schedule!

  

Mick Jagger could learn a few things from Kimberly Reyes [on vocals and percussion].  Her trained voice is clear with great range and she can really move, inspiring the crowd to get up and dance.  And, we did!

On The Rocks organizer Kurt Hackbarth on keyboards is a playwright and author who has a work in production in the city.  He also teaches playwriting in Spanish to local aspiring writers. Electric bassist Bill Stair hails from the U.K., Oaxaqueño Luis Santos is on drums, and electric guitarist is Rafael Gonzålez Lumbreras is from Mexico City.  The band definitely represents the multiculturalism that makes Oaxaca so great.

 

On Saturday mornings the Oaxaca Lending Library is a hub of activity.  Children gather around tables to learn English using hands-on coloring tools, coached by volunteers and parents.  Adults are in dyads to talk back-and-forth in English and Spanish, locals teaching visitors and vice versa.

 

The Library is also an extraordinary resource for jobs, volunteer opportunities, things for sale or wanted to buy.  Workshops, trips and event posters cover the bulletin boards.  A complete library of books, videos and CDs in Spanish and English are available, too.  Along the edge of the room, young mothers hold newborn infants close to them, swaddled tightly.

 

Education is central to the OLL mission and extranjeros seem to enjoy supporting this while having a good time, too.

Resources:

Oaxaca Lending Library, Piño Suarez near Llano Park.

On The Rocks, classic rock band for hire, contact Kurt at (951) 203-2749 or Kimberly at (951) 513-5574.

Casa Colonial, Miguel Negrete #105 at the corner of Division Oriente (extension of Morelos), house with the purple door.  This is a magnificent hacienda on incredible grounds covered with old growth bougainvillea, agave, cactus and shade trees, filled with original Oaxaca art by some of the now deceased folk masters, and a comfy living room with a complete library in English and Spanish.  The Swiss mining engineer who built the adobe hacienda long ago framed the fireplace with mineral rocks. Owner Jane Robison opens the Casa to support community endeavors.

 

Oaxaca Weaver-Musician Keeps the Traditions

Secundino Bazan Mendoza began weaving at age 13, his daughter Ester Bazan Contreras recalls. It could have been earlier, but Ester is certain he learned from his uncle who took him in at age 6 when his mother died. Secundino is now almost 85 years old. For the past 53 years he has served the Church of the Precious Blood in Teotitlan del Valle, playing the traditional Zapotec flute and drum (tambor) and leading processions held during festival days. Until last year, that is, when he fell and broke both his arm and hip.

Blanket woven by Secundino Bazan Mendoza

What Secundino weaves is unique — the traditional Zapotec blanket or serape, lighter in weight and softer than the sturdier floor rugs (tapetes) that most of the village weavers produce today. Soon after the Spanish arrived in Oaxaca in 1521, they introduced the European floor loom and churro sheep, then taught the men how to weave with wool. The Spaniards needed horse blankets and wool clothing for warmth.

The blanket that Secundino wove (shown above) is one of only two that he is able weave each year. Family and friends feared that after his hip break he wouldn’t be able to weave again. The floor loom requires standing 6 hours a day.

The blanket is actually two pieces of cloth, mirror images, that are sewn together in the old style before looms were built to weave a wider single piece of cloth. It could have been a horse blanket or serape. The wool is all natural [Ester says natural wool never fades in the sun] and comes from sheep raised in the village of Teotitlan del Valle. It is softer, finer and lighter than the wool from sheep raised in the higher altitudes — perfect as a bed, rather than floor, covering. Secundino cleans and spins the wool himself, all by hand. He beats the wool against rocks in the river to make it even softer.

Here is a video made by Annie Burns, who captured Secundino during his recovery. A group of friends from the U.S. made contributions to help buy the wheelchair. The video shows the rug pictured still on the loom, along with Secundino’s family and the instruments he plays.

Come to Teotitlan del Valle for a weaving workshop this spring to learn this technique.