Yella was sitting in with the jazz band at Amigos again but with a twist.
Another female vocalist has arrived in town. She would do 3 songs before Yella. As it turns out, she has a good voice.
In rehearsal, the band struggled to work up 3 numbers with her because she didn't have any music. Bands at this level prefer music because they all are trained musicians and can read music. This did cause a few musical mis-steps with the band.
She had been in town for 2 weeks only and was not familiar with Boquete audiences. She got a surprise.
Amigos was ready and waiting when the band started...packed, hot and sweaty, a little drunk. More people squeezing in as the band played a couple of songs without a vocalist.
The band was doing well with fast, jazz style, triplet rhythms. When I hear this type of music, I always think of my friend in KCMO who loves this rhythm...he would have been in 7th heaven last night.
Then the new girl started.
After her first phrase--that's right, first phrase--the place erupted in applause. I bet that hasn't happened to her before. These audiences are simply the best. They get excited about almost anything.
Her songs were laid back, well sung and worked pretty well. The audience gave her a big response. Not bad for her first time with this band.
Then Yella took over for a few songs. She was in the zone and brought the house down. Yella's stage presence plus her voice give her a huge impact on the crowd.
She got a standing ovation.
We migrated over to The Bistro, which is closing for a few months for renovation. Always a dangerous thing to do because construction in Panama is so difficult.
Who knows when they will open again...
A major renovation party was in progress. The tables were removed to make a dance floor and the dance was on. The owner, Lauretta, was slinging drinks behind the bar at an incredible pace, and dancing to boot.
As I watched the dance floor, I thought I could make a movie called "Gringos Gone Wild." It was pretty insane out there.
After about a hour, I called it quits. I got tired of my friend screaming in my ear to be heard. Not my cup of tea but Yella had fun. And we got to see many friends.
2 comments:
Hey Tom, we used to wait to see who You were going to 'skewer' next (or who would 'skewer' You!)when You were building the house, true, but we are still happy and following Your blogs with great delight. to rejuvenate attention, try some brief nudity, coupled with promises of spiritual liberation.... (Darshan method of success!). Love You.
Ha ha ha ha ha! Very funny!
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