Saturday, April 13th at 7 pm: Jazz across the Americas. Jazz singer Ulrike Flores, brings 5 of our town’s best musicians to Shelter for one night only! Sharing Latin musical styles from tango, blues, bolero, bossa nova and Afrosamba, she will take you on a grand tour of the continent with what one critic calls “nuanced interpretations and enormous depth.” Join us for an unforgettable evening of Latin romance and jazz!
Jazz across the Americas
A musical tour from north to south
San Miguel de Allende, American Capital of Culture - Bridge between the Americas
With the program "Jazz across the Americas" the German Jazz singer Ulrike Flores, accompanied by excellent musicians of San Miguel de Allende (Rubén García - flute, Rodrigo Velázquez - Tenorsax, Francisco Hermosilla - guitar, Sonny Boyardee – bass, Israel Chávez - percussion) - gives an overview of several emblematic musical styles of the American continent – starting from the Argentine Tango, the Blues and the Bolero, going through the Bossa Nova and the Afrosamba, and finishing with the Nueva Canción. All of them are examples of a fruitful fusion of very different cultural influences - indigenous, European, African ... And she presents everything from her jazz perspective. Seeking a new and personal fusion in the interpretation of the pieces, she will reveal to the audience the multiple relationships and influences that have always existed and continue to exist in American popular music.
"To Contribute to a better understanding among the peoples of the American continent, respecting their national and regional diversity, highlighting at the same time the common cultural heritage" - with this objective, the American Capital of Culture was founded in 1998. And in 2019 San Miguel de Allende was elected the American Capital of Culture. In this charming city, the people of San Miguel live with Mexicans from all over the Republic and with a large number of Americans and Canadians who chose to spend their winters or the rest of their lives here. Here are people open to culture, art and intercultural encounters. For this reason, the birthplace of Allende can now be considered a bridge par excellence between the two great North American countries and Latin America - in times, in which some want to build high walls to protect themselves from supposedly bad and dangerous influences of other peoples, and cultures...
Hasn’t the history of the American continent been from the beginning a history of constant migration, and with that, the mixture of cultures, traditions, peoples?
Already the first settlers of the continent were 'migrants' who arrived from East Asia and for thousands of years they spread throughout the continent to the Southern Cone, founding highly developed civilizations.
The arrival of the European colonizers from the 16th century was characterized, on the one hand, by violence, exploitation and, in some regions, even the near extermination of indigenous peoples.
On the other hand, it was the beginning of an extremely fruitful cultural encounter between European and autochthonous influences.
The sad history of the enslavement of thousands and thousands of Africans in the Americas is undoubtedly one of much suffering, discrimination and injustice. But let's not forget that the traces of African traditions are alive in many aspects of what today are American cultures!
And not so long ago, during the 19th and 20th centuries, an infinity of migrants arrived from the European continent, fleeing from poverty, wars, political persecution - as indeed a certain Friedrich Trump, who without perspective in his German homeland, went to New York as a minor in search of a better life. They also contributed to the great cultural richness we have today in the Americas
And where is the cultural richness that comes from that particular mixture in the American continent better reflected than in the music? Music is a universal language that everyone understands, lends itself to fusion, reaches the hearts of people, helps express emotions, criticizes and overcomes difficult situations, comforts, encourages, and builds bridges between traditions, cultures and everything between human beings. To illustrate this, think no further than a piece like, "Cuando vuelva a tu lado," one of the most famous Mexican boleros. In the United States it became a Jazz Standard in the English version of "What A Difference A Day Makes".
Here we see a perfect example of how music and the meeting of cultures can form solid bridges instead of building walls!