Livestreaming VS. Freezing Outdoors!!

Yep, so I’m definitely learning new things every day in this new Covid Era. I’m learning how to deal with freezing cold temperatures doing outdoors gigs, and trying to find a way to do them indoors as the Winter settles in. One way might be with livestream concerts. (If anybody has some tips in this area, please email me!!) This way you and I can both be warm and cozy in the comfort of our homes and still share special moments like the one we had last night at Terraza 7.

It was Halloween and I think it’s the first time I’ve even performed in a Halloween costume. Maybe that’s because my son is kind of old now for trick-or-treating, so I don’t mind working!

All I know is that I kept dancing whenever possible because it was the only way to stay warm!!

But I had a great night with the guys: Adrian Alvarado, Edward Perez and Jeremy Smith. Those guys are so damn talented! And I just love Freddy Castiblanco and Terraza 7, they have been such a pillar for working jazz musicians in NYC and I also love their support in the community and representation.

Anyway, so in the spirit of keeping the music performances going in a way that works for everybody, an old friend and I are hosting a home concert. “A Haircut & A Concert with Espîritu Gitano” on Sunday, November 15 from 6-7pm. It will be open to anyone and everyone, but it will be made available for free to my Patreon fans and for a suggested donation of $10 for all others.

By the way, Patreon is a way to join your favorite creator's community and pay them for making the stuff you love. I’m learning more about this whole system these days. I’m going to give it a try and see if it works for us. Right now I have my memberships set at $5/month and, as of today, I have my first 4 Patreon fans! (And they already know they are the crème de la crème in my book! Literally)

My plan is to give him a long overdue haircut while I let him grace you with his anecdotes from around the world, taking little breaks for us to sing and play for you in duet. We have written many songs together over the years, and we love putting our spin on songs from Spain, Brazil, Argentina and anywhere else where music has reached her velvety paw. Join us! This should be lots of fun!

You can find some videos of Espíritu and me here:
www.youtube.com/barbaritamaria

I’m super happy to be offering this livestream concert! And I hope I can get some rhythm rolling and offer something comparable at least once a month with the various different musician friends that I have made in my lifetime :)

(Oh and you can always access a livestream of any concert on my Patreon Page!)

City Winery Flamenco Wine!

We had a blast playing at The Loft at City Winery for a brunch concert on Sunday. Thanks to Cristian Puig, who is from Argentina, I was inspired to try singing a chacarera for the first time. I was also vibing from my Argentinean roots on my mother's side....Chacareras have a vibrant rhythm that makes you want to clap and dance, just like flamenco! And it turns out that Guillermo Barrón, who played percussion with us, is quite a fountain of knowledge as far as LATIN American rhythms go in the extraordinary web of variants.

The more I studied this particular chacarera, which is called La Oncena (written by Eduardo Lagos & Juan Goñi), the more I came to appreciate the gorgeous poem within. My favorite verse is this one:

No me importa que no escuchen,

si no quieren escucharme;

mi cantar lo aprende el viento:

alguien habrá de heredarme.

(I don't mind that they don't listen, 

if don't want to listen to me;

my song will be studied by the wind:

someone must inherit me.)  

Another highlight of this show was the wine bottle with my name on it! Yes, they actually put a label with a photo that I love, taken by Darrin Reed during a performance with Sol y Sombra Flamenco Dance Company in Long Island. 

I'm still working on finding out whether we can keep offering this bottle to people interested. I would love to save the proceeds for a worthy cause involving music and young people in inner cities. 

I tried the wine just yesterday and it was EXQUISITE. I am verrry picky with my wines, and I do normally go for Malbec these days pretty much exclusively, but this was a Californian Syrah with a deep velvety characterful flavor, and I was genuinely impressed. 

So I will keep you posted about availability of the bottle but you must remember to save it and put a nice long stem rose in there every once in while :)