Galicia (and Scotland)

Well once again I am weeks late in posting... Maybe I should just resign myself to only getting one post up a month... Or maybe I'll get into the habit eventually and become more reliable! In any case, I am writing this update from one of my favorite cities in the world: Edinburgh, Scotland. I have quite a soft spot for this town, with its wonderful music scene, amazing atmosphere, fascinating architecture and brilliant scenery, not to mention the great friends I made a few years ago when studying at the University of Edinburgh for a semester. I am close to the end of a 2 week return to Scotland that I have added on the end of an amazing trip to Galicia, Spain, organized by the inimitable Alfonso Franco.

I met Alfonso and a number of other amazing Galician musicians when when they taught at the Sierra Fiddle Camp in June 2011, a fiddle camp run by Alasdair Fraser in the Sierra Foothills of northern California and where I've taught piano for the last couple years. Alfonso is an influential fiddler in the Galician traditional music scene who is working to bring the fiddling tradition into greater recognition and popularity there. Galicia is the northwest corner of Spain, just north of Portugal, and they have a strong celtic element to their traditional music and cultural heritage. The music is a fascinating mix of these celtic influences with other influences more commonly expected of Spanish music--Arab, Latin American, etc. The landscape is similarly a beautiful mix of lush green rolling hills and forests with rocky coastlines very reminiscent of Scotland.

Alfonso had organized a day full of workshops with a concert and party which I was to give along with the incredible Scottish fiddler Bruce MacGregor (founder of the seminal group Blazin Fiddles). Later in the week, after Bruce left, I was to give some piano classes and record some guest tracks on Alfonso's upcoming CD of Galician fiddling. Bruce, his girlfriend Yvonne and I arrived on a rainy Friday night in Santiago de Compostela after a harrowing and exhausting travel day that began in Glasgow, Scotland. Among other trials and tribulations I had gone to the wrong airport in Glasgow at first and the Barcelona security had forced Bruce to throw out a bottle of whisky he had bought for Alfonso. Needless to say we were glad to have arrived in spite of the rain. After a brief tour of downtown Santiago, Alfonso took us to a restaurant for some traditional Galician fare and threw us right in the deep end with one of their national dishes: boiled octopus! It was actually delicious and I ended up having it at least twice more over the course of the week and a half that I stayed there.

Boiled Octopus and Potato with salt and paprika

After a sampling of Galician fare we went to a club/bar where a traditional music band was performing and a bunch of people were dancing traditional dances, then we drove the 40 minutes south to the small rural town of Xustans where Alfonso's house is and got some much needed rest. 

The next day was Saturday, the day of workshops and concert. A bunch of great Galician musicians came out and we had a great time working with them. Bruce, Yvonne and I had to get used to the Galician lifestyle in which they eat at least 4 meals a day and are very laid back--something that fits my metabolism and outlook on life very well! After the workshops and our first dinner Bruce and I played our concert (which was incredibly fun) and then the Galician jam session started (during which we ate our 2nd dinner)! Lots of amazing Galician music, dancing and singing, with the occasional Scottish or Irish tune thrown in. The music went well into the wee hours.  

That night was the first night I had both the chance to sleep in and the chance to have a real bed so I slept quite late on Sunday. But once I was up (and, of course, fed) there was a treat in store for us: we had happened to visit Galicia on the weekend of a traditional music and dance festival in Vigo (the other major city in the region). Needless to say, we spent the evening walking around Vigo and taking in the sights, sounds and culture. There were stands selling all manner of food--including loaves of bread that were twice as tall as a regular loaf, circular and a foot in diameter and must have weighed 10 lbs. There were pipers and dancers all over the place--we even saw a group of pipers and drummers playing in the middle of a pub!

Piping in the middle of a pub

That night we went to an outdoor pub full of music. Lots of tambourine players were there--it's one of the most important instruments in the Galician tradition. At one point there were so many of them that you couldn't hear the pipes! After that we found a quiet pub and played some tunes of our own before heading back up to Xustans. 

After the weekend was over, Bruce and Yvonne headed home to Scotland. I spent the first part of the week hanging out with Alfonso, when he wasn't teaching. One night Alfonso organized a party in a restaurant/pub in Vigo which was full of amazing traditional musicians. Another night we went back up to Santiago to sit in with the resident band in a bar there. I also visited the school of traditional music that Alfonso and his colleagues teach at. It is an amazing government funded institute for the study of traditional song, music and dance. They even have a traditional music orchestra full of fiddles, pipes, harps,  hurdy-gurdies, singers and more: 

 The next weekend we worked in Alfonso's studio, laying down my piano tracks for their CD. The musicians are Alfonso Franco and Alfonso Merino on fiddles and Xose Liz on bouzouki and guitar. 

Alfonso Franco and Xose Liz in the studio

Aside from the teaching and recording I had a lot of time to experience Galicia and really enjoyed it. Alfonso took me to the coast and on a long walk through the hills and forest by his house. I also was able to explore Vigo a bit with a number of my Galician friends as well as the historic Pontevedra. The day before I flew to Scotland I stayed with Alfonso's mother in Santiago and she showed me around the town and around the world famous cathedral. With all these amazing sights I have too many pictures to put up here but I will try to give a sampling. After the trip was done I came to Scotland and have been bouncing around Edinburgh and nearby regions trying to catch up with many of my friends from the last time I was here. I have a few more days here and then I'm back home to see the family and relax!

Alfonso's dog, Roque

Vigo across the water

Pontevedra

Pontevedra

Pontevedra

Cathedral of Santiago

Cathedral of Santiago