[Dixielandjazz] FW: dancing in Madrid

[Jim Kashishian]

Marek wrote:
>But Spain, apparently, is something else again.

The Spanish do not entertain friends in their homes....they meet out for
drinks or dinner, or both.  They are a gregarious people who like to get
dressed up & parade.  Everyday, between 5 & 7pm is time to "pasear"...go for
a stroll.  This involves, normally, stopping for a drink somewhere, which
will be anything from coffee to wine or beer, or cocktails.  All streets,
everywhere, are jammed at this hour.  You will see elderly ladies (90 yr
olds!) in their finest, just back from the hairdresser, having a beer with
their lady friends at sidewalk bars.  Elderly gents will play dominoes or
cards in bars, along with a glass of wine.  (Yep!  Traditionally, wine is
for the men, a small glass of beer for the ladies!) A free snack usually is
served with the drink, as no one drinks without at least snacking a bit. 

No one stays at home! It's a very healthy scene...getting out is good for
you!  And, we have the right weather for it.

Dinner, which is normally light as they eat their large meal at lunchtime
(3pm!)is at 10pm, therefore, anything like clubs or dancing is later.
Nightclubs don't even open their doors until after 1am, and no decent
clubber would bother showing up before 2am.  This is every night of the
week, folks, but the weekends (Thurs/Fri/Sat) nights are amazing. They close
at 7am! 

When we leave the jazz club about 1:00am (we play 2 sets beginning at
10:30pm) on a weekend, it is difficult, first, to get to the door to get
out.  (I often am followed through the club with a wave of loud aplause on
my way out, which is very nice!)  Then, it is difficult to flow onto the
pedestrian area as the crowds are so densly flowing by it looks more like a
tsanami than a crowd!
Other nites there are less people on the streets, but the club we are mostly
at is packed with no standing room even available, seven nites a week.

All of this, combined with a very compact city (people live in apartments,
which are mostly owned, not rented), is very good for live music, and keeps
us very busy...to which I am humbly pleased!

Although this video doesn't show the actual size of the audience, you can
hear their appreciation after solos & get an idea of the full house.  Here
we have our sub on trumpet, a young Russian.  Be sure to watch until the
end, as there is some fun "play" between the 2 horns at the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTyoC3JAqgs&feature=channel

Jim