Playing in the Parian

Last night, Saturday? Gee, I lose track of what day it is. Yes, yesterday was Saturday. A very busy day in Tlaquepaque. Shoppers and tourists flock into town and the party goes late into the night.

We got to the Parian late-ish, and found a corner where a mariachi group was already playing for a large table of patrons. We are starting to learn which of these little nooks of the Parian are better, and this one was not so good. It is called El Gato Negro if anyone wants to know. My drink was very weak, no one gave us any peanuts and Jon said the bathroom and kitchen were pretty disgusting. But we sat there anyway for a while and by and by our friends from the other night showed up, and after they played a couple tunes for the table next to us, Isaiah started looking longingly at my violin, and then asked: how much? We had previously discussed how much I had paid, so I was sort of confused by this question. It occured to me today that maybe he actually wanted to buy my violin! Anyway, that opened up the possibility for a conversation and we managed to negotiate for a couple of songs, with me playing.

We started with Jesusita en Chihuaha which I had learned just as we left Pasadena, and hadn't played with Raul's band at the Fiesta Mexicana. It was a big hit, with the guys in the band as well as with surrounding patrons. A crowd had gathered as we played and started chanting "otra! otra!" the Mexican equivalent of "encore!" So we played- and sang- Son de La Negra. It was SO fun to sing and play with these guys. I just was beside myself, but kept my head and played pretty well (thanks, Raul!).

After we finished that song, they had to move on. It was time for the stage show in the gazebo and all the mariachis hang it up, literally, for that show time.

After we sat for a while more and watched the folklorico again, we left. As we rounded the corner we saw Isaiah standing at the curb. We asked him where he was going and he said his group had to go play at a party. (This was 11:00 at night! It's a different world!) We talked a while about his life. He learned music- trumpet- first from his dad. Hs hero is Arturo Sandoval. Then he switched to violin, studied music in school, including college, took private lessons and now makes his living completely from music. He also said he has some students. His students study classical music with him.

He graciously posed for the picture at the top of this post and we said "hasta manana". I think he also said something about how nice my violin is and how easily it plays. I think that he wants me to sell it to him. Really. Guess I could give him Tom Metzler's web address...