[Dixielandjazz] Madrid update

[Jim Kashishian]

I often get the following question from visitors to Spain:  "How are things
going for Spain now?".  The answer can easily be seen in our gig schedule.
Before 2008 & the economic crash, we would normally play a large concert (in
a 1000 to 1500 seat auditorium or in a large park with one of those monster
stages & monster sound) on average of one a month somewhere within Spain.
Or, we would have company dinners or weddings.  Now, if we get two or three
in a year we feel lucky.
 
However, we still can feel lucky as nightlife is still a happening in
Madrid.  So, we travel less, play more (but make less) than before.  That is
the economic state of the country at the moment.  They say the country is
prospering again, but the "little person" hasn't felt it.  
 
This week we have 5 nights in a local club.  After that, my wife & I will be
away for 6 nights in Yerevan, Armenia.  We've been invited to join my son's
company on a visit to Armenia (Ernst & Young...Armenian related employees).
This will be a first for me.  My son has been twice before & says it is an
amazing country.  We will be on the road quite a bit, visiting old churches,
etc.  It is 100 yrs since the 1915 massacres.  My grandmother was in the
first massacres in 1905 before she fled (at age 15) to marry my grandfather
(by family contract) who had already gone to the U.S.  The same story can be
told by countless refugees even today.  Unfortunately, nothing changes, just
the people.  We have to fly to Moscow, and then back down to Yerevan.
Almost 8 hours total flight!
 
After that trip, we have 7 nights in one club followed by another 4 nites in
another nearby club...one night off, and a restaurant gig.  Then, we're back
in the second club for another 3 nites followed by one nite at an even
different club & then back to the restaurant.
That makes 16 nites in the month of July, so we are still very fortunate to
be able to rely on the local clubs even though the big concerts have
disappeared.  
 
Jim