| Partners in Rhyme |
beautifulyoo.com  |
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Well,
they most certainly can play and they most certainly can sing, despite
the tongue-in-cheek claim to the contrary in a song written specially
for beautifulyoo.com and performed for us one most enjoyable afternoon
in May at the very aptly named Los
Amigos Bar in Yunquera, way up in the beautiful Sierra de las
Nieves. Clearly made for each other, Les and Jill, who apparently swore blind they would never run a bar, have made their bar a comfortable home from home for their guests and friends to pop in for a bit of relaxation and socialising. Les, a builder by trade, who is currently building his own house, when he gets time off of course from working in the bar, used to be in a band called the Ad Libs. Ably partnered now by singer songwriter Ray, the man in a hat who likes to chat about this and that, he provides the backbone for live music sessions in the afternoons, uniquely designed to capture the moment, incorporate the guests into the proceedings and generally have some fun. As Les fiddled about with the set up, to the point where I threatened to demand my money back, Ray described how things worked. “We write songs about all kinds of things,” he said, “take that table for example. I could write a song about everything on it, from the wine glasses and ashtrays to those bowls of peanuts and snacks. You name it, I’ll put words to it and Les provides the music to go with it. We once wrote down a list of the first names of all the people in the bar and then wrote a song about them.” Far fetched? Boring? Not a bit of it, as we were to find out. While Les continued to fiddle with the set up, the man with a hat outlined his latest idea. A local artist had provided a collection of paintings which had been hung up on the wall and Ray explained that as Les played his guitar (once the set up was right, of course) he was going to sing a story, moving through the paintings one by one. At last Les was ready and after Ray had fiddled about with the microphone, the performance started. Working from the left and going down through the paintings in columns, the story began in a church, with a journey through icy mountain peaks to a garden with red roses, peace in a comfortable house, then more icy, cold and turbulent waters, Ray expressing, in a sometimes melodic harmony and sometimes passionate and gutsy ferocity, a desire to find somewhere greener and warmer, but finding instead more rock battering times. As he neared the last painting in his song, having found a locked gate to a secret garden, accessible only to a cat asleep on a wall, the music began to wind down. But then, as proof that the words were being composed off-the-cuff as they were being sung, Jill suddenly held up another painting and the song went on, live, innovative music at its very best, providing great enjoyment for musicians and audience alike. And then the song for beautifulyoo.com which quite honestly tickled me crimson: |
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Beautiful people from beautifulyoo.com here they come 4 an afternoon of fun (except, we have to say!) We
cain’t play ‘n’ we cain’t sing Beautiful ‘n’ .com people ‘r’ always welcome in this bar because you ‘r’ the stars ‘n’ make the day have another drink, sit and stay (you might need 2 pray) (Cos)
We cain’t play ‘n’ we cain’t sing Hey,
we know you’ve had a long drive |
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| Pues,
por cierto saben tocar y por cierto saben cantar, a pesar de las palabras,
hechas como una broma, en una canción escrita especialment
para beautifulyoo.com y representada para nosotros una tarde lo más
agradable en mayo a Los
Amigos Bar en Yunquera, muy alta en la Sierra de las Nieves. Obviamente hechos uno para otro, Les y Jill, han hecho su bar un segundo hogar para sus visitas y amigos donde pueden relajar y hacer vida social. Les, quién es constructor por negocio y ahora está construyendo su casa propia, cuando le sobra tiempo despues de trabajar en el bar, solía estar en un grupo que se llamaba The Ad Libs. Hábilmente acompañado por cantante y escritor de canciónes Ray, el hombre con sombrero que le gusta a hablar sobre esto y eso, es la parte principal de sesiónes musicales por las tardes, diseñado para capturar el momento y incorporar las visitas en los actos y generalmente disfutar alguna diversión. Mientras Les jugeató con el equipo, al punto donde yo estaba para pedir la vuelta de mi dinero, Ray describió como las cosas irían. “Escribimos canciónes sobre cualquier tema,” dijo, “ por ejemplo, podría una canción sobre las cosas en esa mesa, como vasos, ceniceros o tapas. Una vez escribimos las nombres de todas las visitas en el bar y hicimos una canción sobre ellos. ¿Inverosímil? ¿Aburrido? ¡Claro que no! Mientras Les siguió jugeatando con el equipo, el hombre con sombrero explicó su última idea. Una artista local había puesto unas pinturas en la pared y Ray dijo que mientras Les tocara él iba a cantar una historia, moviendo por las pinturas. Por fin Les estaba listo y despues de jugeatar con el micro Ray y él empezaron. Al principío, había una iglesia con un viaje por las montañas heladas a un jardin con rosas rojas, Ray explicando que estaba buscando un lugar más verde, pero encontrando en cambio más tiempos muy duros. Al llegar a la última pintura, la musica bajó cuando Ray había llegado un jardín secreto, con una puerta cerrada por la que solo un gato podría entrar, pero como prueba que la canción estaba escrito al momento, de repente Jill sostenó otra pintura y la historia continuó. Era música vivienda, lo mejor que posible para los músicos y el público a lo mismo tiempo. |
May
2006