Cause and Effect.

Autumn Art Graffiti captured by the Guss.

 As the temperature drops here in the center of the Iberian peninsula several changes take place, as in the rest of the Northern Hemisphere.  The autumn clothes make their debut and the scarfs seem to accent the spanish eyes quite perfectly.  Hazel-blues and Grey-greens stand out strongly against overcast sunsets. Botellons (large gathering of young drinking revelers) are harder to find and the crowds move indoors toward smoky dim lit bars and lounges.  Film festivals replace the outdoor music variety.

We here at  El Gran Salon have also shifted gears to find some more cultural related activities (besides eating chorizo and indulging in Mahou).

Jam Session at the lounge "El Plaza"

The latest: Jazz. Throw on your best M. Davis album and come inside, speak easy.  The Jazz scene here in Madrid is much like any other big international city I.E.: Chicago, New York...... but not the Utah variety.  A couple different Jazz fests have filled our auditory palettes with such jazz varieties as Lounge with accompanying Sax and Trumpet, Piano Jazz with added jazz flute (a la Ron Burgandy), and Latin Jazz infused with the rhythmic bongo drums (my favorite).

THE David Guss, El Ingeniero, Angeloco, and Wombat... taking in a night of Jazz.

It is peculiar and even refreshing to see the Spaniards, usually so entrenched in their own particular culture that one could only think of them as Spanish, take in something that is so unrelated and different.  The jazz singers melodic voice, although in English, traverses language and culture giving all listeners a sway that seems inherent in the human genome.  Smoke fills the small, intimate setting.  Whispers fills in the ambient noise, vibrato smooths and fades out mental chatter, and one can only sit back, slouch slightly in the lounge chair provided, and relax.  

Happy Birthday to Alex, tonight is another gathering of linked souls to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the crazy German's birth.  Bring on the Green Fairy...
-Angelo A. Austin


"Don't play what's there, play whats not there"
-Miles Davis