Sunday, December 31, 2006

happy new year!

another busy week...

...recordings with la national film chamber orchestra at canal 7 on tuesday, guitar lessons on wednesday, rehearsal with francisco on thursday, 2 shows with la national film chamber orchestra at malba on friday and a "happy new year" dinner at edelweiss with moni, charly, maria eva and matias; 6 hous of recordings at canal 7 with la national film chamber orchestra and a show with bochaton at teatro santa maria on saturday (wonderful venue...hot show)...packed my suitcases this morning...

exhausted

happy new year!!!!!!!

Sunday, December 24, 2006

happy

happy christmas!

Saturday, December 23, 2006

saturday again

the show with bochaton last saturday was so hot. unbearable. my fender twin sounded terrible and had problems with the reverb system. I suffered. someone from the audience demanded the return of los peligrosos gorriones' original guitarist. I don't know him and never heard his playing, I do not wish to try to play like him. if he played with francisco he must have been good. actually I never heard a single recording by los peligrosos gorriones.

on sunday we drove to rosario with the girls to visit my mother.

this week I visited charly and we listened together to the master of his new cd. it's stunning. powerful, new, rocking, musical. congratulations charly!!!!!!! we also listened to beatles' love.

my accomodation in tokyo and kyoto has been arranged this week, also my meeting with my telecaster in tokyo. thanks hajime!

roxana amed gave me a copy of entremundos. I'm glad to be part of it and having had the chance to work with her and pedro aznar.

today christmas shopping on santa fe avenue and a visit to samalea, who is recovering well from surgery.

yesterday I played with futura bold, always a pleasure to share music with jorge and sr phelps. photo courtesy of futura bold, I believe it was taken by karina vargas.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

saturday

last 3 weeks I have been very busy, with 24 shows with la national film chamber orchestra at malba and cinema schools + tv shows recordings at canal 7 (filmoteca is currectly airing sundays at 17:00 at public tv canal 7 argentina) also with la nfco + shows with flopa + shows with bochaton + organization for my upcoming japanese tour + guitar lessons + emails + loads of personal stuff

last sunday I went to see miranda! concert with my nephew. I enjoyed it.

the energy of the christmas season is apparent to me and I welcome it

I rarely find "positive" things in the newspapers, but today I found an interview to mr golijov (a remarkable composer) and an article by jon pareles at new york times

I have been invited to participate with my music in 3 movies projects in one week. only one of them I saw images of so far and they were excellent. so is the script. in a couple of hours I will be presented images of the second and I look forwards to the third one.

filmoteca, the tv program at canal 7 that features la national film chamber orchestra, will continue on and will air monday to fridays (!). lots of work coming up.

last night I played with flopa at el nacional. an acoustic show (I played my acoustic gtrs and matias played piano)

tonight I will play with bochaton at festival buen dia (in palermo) and I later hope to visit charly for a private audition of the completed cd (it has been completed and mastered last week in new york by andrew oldham)

here's a fragment from an interview from pagina 12 (www.pagina12.com.ar) published last week:

“La música no debe ser rara para ser distinta”


Por Roque Casciero

Fernando Kabusacki no puede estar mucho tiempo sin una guitarra en las manos. No es que se le note la ansiedad, ni nada de eso: su estampa alta y sonriente irradia una calma poco frecuente entre los músicos, especialmente cuando está cerca de su hija Uma, de dos años. Pero no hay más que leer el blog que mantiene como una especie de diario personal (“para desmitificar un poco la figura del músico”) para notar que no pasa un día sin que el ex Gauchos Alemanes participe de alguna grabación, zapada o concierto, tanto propio como de alguno de sus amigos. Una rápida mirada al presente de Kabusacki: acaba de publicar un disco doble, The Flower + The Radio (uno de ambient y otro más “rockero”, pero grabados en la misma época); le pone música en vivo a películas mudas al frente de la National Film Chamber Orchestra; gira por Europa y Japón, donde toca seguido con miembros de los ruidosos Boredoms, y participa de conciertos de Charly García, Flopa y Francisco Bochatón. “Hay gente que sale a cenar a la casa de uno o va al cumpleaños de otro, pero yo no hago eso”, explica el guitarrista. “Lo que hago es tocar todo el tiempo: mi contacto con la gente es ése. No soy una persona muy social, salvo con la gente con la que toco. No es algo que haya buscado, pero me di cuenta de que es así. Es que siento que muchas veces puedo comunicarme mejor a través de la música que con las palabras. Sobre todo si uno toca con músicos genuinos, no de yeites o muletillas. Es verdad que en la música no hay fronteras, por más que suene a cliché. Un día puedo haber tocado con Liliana Herrero y al siguiente con Vernon Reid, porque para la música es una sola. Para mí Bartok es rock and roll, mucho más rock and roll que Callejeros. Me interesa la esencia de la música.”

–¿Por qué se conoce más su trabajo fuera de la Argentina que aquí?

–Es coherente, de alguna manera, porque afuera hay una apertura a ciertas músicas que encuentro muy poco en la Argentina. Además tengo mucha afinidad con músicas de afuera, cosa que no me pasa con músicos ni con públicos argentinos. Cuando salgo de la Argentina siento que estaba en una burbuja y que me estaba perdiendo montones de cosas. Hay todo un mundo que en la Argentina no conoce más que un número limitado de gente. Y en la burbuja cerrada que es la Argentina no me encuentro, en general, por eso es coherente que pasen más cosas afuera que acá. Acá todo está muy fragmentado: está el rock, la vanguardia, la electrónica... Pero la música, así, en general, no está... Y a mí me gusta moverme por la música: ése es mi territorio.

–Pero usted se considera un guitarrista de rock.

–Sí. Es que a mí me gustan los Who... No soy un músico experimental, por más que haga cosas raras o distintas. Pero no me siento cómodo con los músicos experimentales argentinos ni creo que la música tenga que ser rara para ser distinta. Sólo tiene que tener algo de novedoso, de original. Y en general me siento más cómodo con el rock. La mayoría de los músicos argentinos con los que toco son de rock: Flopa, Bochatón, Charly... Y afuera también: Yamamoto y Yoshimi (Boredoms), con quienes voy a tocar en Japón, hicieron giras con Nirvana.

–Igual, por más que toque con bandas de rock, jamás hace un riff o un solo de pentatónica.

–Es que no me salen... (risas) O sea, sé hacerlo, busco un sonido distorsionado y puedo tocarlo, pero no es lo mío. No me siento cómodo. Charly lo sabe: cuando hay que hacer un solo, lo hace Kiuje (Hayashida), que es un campeón en eso.

–Su complicidad con Charly García es altamente impensada.

–Sí, pero también es sumamente coherente. Charly es “la” amplitud, tiene una cabeza sumamente abierta. Y el respeto que le tengo es infinito. A veces me aterra que, con respecto a él, sea tan condenable la desprolijidad en el rock y no sea más condenable la insipidez. Todo el rock que hay ahora, con el que no pasa nada, está totalmente muerto, y nadie condena eso en los medios. Pero sale Charly haciendo bardo en un concierto de rock y dicen que está loco, desprolijo.

–¿Tan insípido le parece el rock argentino?

–No encuentro nada que me parezca real, verdadero.

–Pero toca con algunos rockeros argentinos.

–Sí, sí. Para mí, Flopa y Bochatón son de las cosas más importantes que están pasando en el rock argentino. Tampoco es que salgo todas las noches ni que investigo, pero cada vez que voy a ver algo, incluso cuando me lo recomiendan, nunca me mueven.

–¿Cómo surgió el contacto con García?

–A través de María Gabriela (Epumer). Charly es principalmente un amigo. Qué sé yo, a Charly nunca voy a mentirle, nunca voy a hacer algo con él por dinero... Y tal vez él lo valore. Además, tenemos muchas coincidencias musicales: a ambos nos gustan los Who, entre otras bandas. Y algo que él siempre dice es que tenemos muy buena química. Para este disco interminable hemos hecho sesiones los dos solos y nos prendíamos fuego. Pensaba: “Nunca en mi vida toqué esto”. Era una combustión, pasaba algo: es química.

–Incluso en los temas en los que él participa en The Radio, están en una confluencia: usted más encendido y él más ordenado.

–Sí. Sin ponerme esotérico, hay una química importante con él. Y a él también le pasa, me lo ha dicho. En muchas sesiones del disco nuevo de Charly él grabó un montón de sesiones de teclados conmigo tocando, porque decía que así se arengaba. Eso, más allá que hay dos millones de guitarras mías que desaparecieron (risas). Pero para él estaba bueno tocar conmigo. Y eso es inexplicable.

–Desde su época en Los Gauchos Alemanes, su imagen quedó muy ligada a la de Robert Fripp, que había sido maestro de los tres. Sin embargo, su presente es muy diferente.

–Sí, sí. Para mí Fripp fue y es muy importante en mi vida, aprendí muchísimo de él y logré cosas con la guitarra que no habría logrado sin él. Pero me llevó muchos años despegarme musicalmente. Antes sentía que tenía que imitarlo tanto en su forma de tocar como en la de hacer las cosas, hasta que encontré mi propia voz. Para mucha gente soy el Fripp argentino o algo así. Es gracioso, porque hace un par de años estábamos en el Luna Park y me presentó a Joe Satriani, y en chiste le dijo: “Yo soy el Kabusacki inglés” (risas).

–Con Los Gauchos Alemanes hasta se vestían parecido a Fripp.

–Claro, yo tenía una identificación total. Fripp era mi “ejemplo”, de quien aprendía. Además, estaba mucho con él, así que era natural que eso sucediera. De todos modos, hay un aspecto de Fripp que mucha gente no conoce y que sigue siendo ejemplar para mí: él tocaba con los Damned, con Blondie, con los Talking Heads, tocó en G3, con las Roches. No era King Crimson y chau. En ese aspecto sigue siendo un ejemplo de apertura, de amplitud, de no ser un guitarrista de música de vanguardia o de jazz o de rock, sino un guitarrista de música.

–Usted estudió en los seminarios Guitar Craft de Fripp en Inglaterra. ¿Por qué se fue para allá?

–Porque en Rosario, donde vivía, me sentía un marciano y porque necesitaba encontrarme con la gente que venía escuchando. Entre otras cosas, Fripp, Phil Manzanera (guitarrista de Roxy Music), Brian Eno... Pensé: “Tengo que ir a conocer a esta gente, no puedo quedarme en Rosario pegando posters en mi pieza de estos tipos si lo que quiero es tocar con ellos”. Y en 1988 me fui a buscarlos. Incluso probé si podía hacer algo en Buenos Aires y no tenía por dónde entrar. Entonces decidí irme a Inglaterra, a conocerlos directamente a ellos. A los cinco días tenía una carta de Fripp que decía que se había enterado de que estaba buscándolo, y a la semana me había hecho amigo de Phil Manzanera. El me prestó una guitarra para que pudiera tocar y me invitó a tocar con él en un disco. Me sabía todos los solos de Manzanera y él no lo podía creer. Y resulta que el hermano de Manzanera es tucumano...

–¿Cómo fue que le pasó todo eso tan rápido?

–Fui de caradura total. Copié la dirección de los sellos de los discos, fui y toqué el timbre. En EG Records dije: “Miren, llegué ayer de la Argentina, vine a buscar a Robert Fripp”. ¿Qué podía perder? En Rosario no tenía nada para hacer, en Buenos Aires eran todos pop stars... Por eso me fui a buscar a los tipos y me di cuenta de que ellos no eran así. O sea, son más rock stars que cualquiera, pero no tienen la pose. Con Manzanera fue así: tocaba en un show chiquito, en Londres, y con mi astucia argentina fui al camarín, preguntando por Phil como si fuera amigo (risas). Y cuando pude hablar con él me invitó a su estudio, donde agarré la viola y le tocaba todos los temas de él. Para mí el tipo es una gloria, sus discos solistas son alucinantes.

–¿Cuánto tiempo estuvo en Inglaterra?

–Volví recién en el ’92, porque me enganché con los cursos de Fripp. La atracción que sentía por esa música era más allá de lo normal, por eso tenía que ir a conocerlos. Fui sin un mango, así que no tenía para comprar discos. Escuchaba el programa de John Peel: ahí descubrí a PJ Harvey y a Björk, no lo podía creer. Estaba ilegal, viviendo con unos brasileños en un cuartucho. A la mañana repartía diarios, después hacía las camas y limpiaba en un hotel, y a la noche era mozo en Pizza Hut.

–Todo un ejemplo de determinación.

–Sí, creo que hay que ir para adelante con las cosas. Supongo que ahora debe estar más difícil, pero cuando uno ve algo claro, hay que hacerlo.

–En su página web figuran todos los músicos con los que trabajó. Y al lado de Charly García y Fripp figura... ¡Pablo Granados!

–A los 18 años, cuando vivía en Rosario, tocaba en una banda pop llamada Hola y el tecladista era Pablo Granados. Después fui violero suyo cuando salió como solista. En una época éramos amigos. Incluso llegó a ofrecerme hacer un programa juntos. Quería hacer un programa de cachadas a la gente. Le dije que no porque no tengo cara para eso, pero él era un caradura que iba al frente. El tenía una onda medio Fito, porque era muy fan de Fito y Charly. Estaba bueno lo que hacía. No sé si tengo grabaciones, pero fotos sí: él cantando y yo tocando la guitarra... ¡al re palo!

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

no breaks

day to day... photos and stories to be posted soon...

monday: la national film chamber orchestra resorded at canal 7

recordings with charly in the evening in a very nice studio: santito. I played several guitars on lennon's watching the wheels and stuff for the end of the record. back home at 5:30am.

tuesday: kabusacki improv gig at correo central, with matias on keyboards.

wednesday: la national film chamber orchestra at IUNA, we played 2 buster keaton films

thursday: la national film chamber orchestra at malba: tod browning films

friday: la national film chamber orchestra at malba. tod browning films in the evening and the ghost of the opera in the evening. back home at 3:00 am

saturday: charly garcia & the prostitution in cordoba. we rocked, but charly was hit and his ribs got hurt.


















sunday: travelling day

monday: la national film chamber orchestra recorded at canal 7

more soon

Saturday, November 18, 2006

new order

thursday: rehearsal with flopa in the evening. an emergencly substitute bass player in the band: mr fosforo

friday: reheasal with francisco in the morning, one show with la national film chamber orchestra at malba and a very good show with flopa at plasma. we rocked. my hat helped.

today I played with la nfco at malba (2 shows) and now I'm off to see new order

tomorrow is my day off, with recordings with charly in the evening

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

busy tuesday



happy to see alejandro's photos from our tour in japan last july

woke up at 8:00

dropped baby at grandmoher's

good rehearsal with vertigo colectivo for our upcoming show at paseo la plaza. then coffee and light yoghurt at el banderin.

visit to maria eva albistur, ideas for joint ventures

interview at canal 9 for especiales pop

picked up baby from grandmother's

visited charly in the evening, recorded more guitars and watched part of the producers. cordoba is on.

back home at 1:20

Monday, November 13, 2006

codigo pais

last thursday I played with flopa a cozy duo set at codigo pais, a design/arts/music festival in buenos aires.

after us played bicicletas (a band I had some expectations on) and then lucas marti (wonderful show).

after lucas, i played with francisco bochaton, a hot show, generous audience. I wish my guitar sounded louder.
















weekend off with the family at the beach. we saw a horrible car accident on the highway on our way back.

back home safe

at home a message from ch. and the prostitution. here's the bold head with headphones accompanying charly in pinamar earlier this year. photo courtesy of www.fotolog.com/tatinsnm

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

bs as mendoza bs as



on friday night I played with flopa at plasma, with ariel minimal as guest. a very good sounding venue. flopa & the band sounded good. c-bass was in the audience. dinner with him at pippo afterwards.

I took the airplane to mendoza at 6:40hs in the morning, so I had to be at ezeiza airport at 5:40, so I left home in a taxi at 5:00hs ao I woke up at 5:00hs. since I got to bed after packing at 3:30hs I slept just over 1 hour. tough.

bochaton & band visited a wonderful park in the afternoon. the roaring of a football stadium was the soundtrack of this visit.




in mendoza I played with francisco bochaton at sumistica. full house. hot audience. the band was on.

on sunday I visited the schwutkes. wonderful to see them!!!!!!! coffe with delicious cookies. francisco & band took the bus at 19:30. at 21:00 a bullet hit one of the windows of the bus. an attempt of robbery. luckily nobody got injured. the bus went on to a gas station further down the highway, where the police came and the window was covered with carboard and tape. dinner on the road. some sleep on the bus. back home at 11hs for breakfast with the girls.

on monday night I played with vertigo colectivo at pipo lernoud's birthday party. after us a stunnning blues trio: skay, alejandro medina and rodolfo garcia. a master blues guitar lesson by skay!!! back home late.


on tuesday I played at nada sucede 2 veces, an improvised concert at a nice small auditorium, with matias, fer isella, gomez and maxi demo. something was very good about this performance but I can't say exactly what it was.



Thursday, November 02, 2006

rehearsal, studio and lessons



tuesday rehearsal with bochaton in the morning (reviewed new songs and prepared for our upcoming show in mendoza), lunch with the band at the parrilla next door, interview at fm la tribu with ezequiel abalos and luis aranovsky, drove back home with little baby, then drove charly to the recording studio. he is working with andrew on the new cd, recording and mixing.

this photo by www.demoliendohoteles.com.ar (taken at teatro gran rex last week during a wonderful duet: play with fire)

guitar lessons and calls to travel agent re. tickets for japan.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006















On Saturday I played with Flopa at a festival in Palermo (photo courtesy of...), Gabo played before us and Minimal after us. Very nice to see kids in the audience. Moni and little baby were there, also Claudio Lafalce. It began to rain at the end of Minimal's show.

Friday: interview with Roque Casciero for Pagina 12 and a phone interview. Traffic was terrible.

Last weekend I played with La National Film Chamber Orchestra at Malba, music for Terge Vigen, a sweedish silent movie which I liked very much, a discovery.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

charly & the prostitution at gran rex




kabusacki

rehearsals, little rest and some time with the family during the weekend

monday: soundcheck at teatro gran rex at 18hs, showtime at 23hs. full house. despite his flu and fever, charly was prepared for a very good show and so was the band, but technical problems were strong...the headphones monitoring and radio transmission was bad so the show became unplayable at some points. there were very good moments of intense rock among the chaos, charly was on, a superb version of tony bennett's song and a great duet with andrew loog oldham and charly willing to go forward against all the odds. monitoring was feeble. deb was very good, doing all she could to support charly with backing vocals, which without good reference must have been hard...charly smashed guitars and amps at the end of the show. hot end! a huge marshall double stack fell on top of an unlucky fireman that was hiding there...in the dressing room charly was in great mood and did not allow anyone in, only the band and andrew. this upsetted many of his friends.

this wonderful photo was taken by matias chiarena, at www.fotolog.com/saynomore

back home around 4am, carrying gear, tired but in good mood. ate some fruit in the kitchen without making noise, then quietly to bed

the negativity of the press was huge, so was the enthusiasm of the audience and the heat of the show.

tuesday: walk with little baby, visited los chilenos at the hotel, charly is working with andrew loog oldham at home, g3 at luna park, a master class in guitar playing!!! a very enjoyable show.

great to see joe, mick and jeff. backstage I was introduced to mr eric johnson, whose playing I admire greatly. toast with jack daniels. walk back home on corrientes avenue. cool night.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

little sleep

played with bochaton at la trastienda (oct 15), full house. the band was on, my setup: washburn electric > rat > big muff > line 6 pod live xt > boss giga delay > marshall jcm 900, the first gig with this configuration. sounded great (particularly the buddah preset and the tremolo)

mother visited for the weekend

tuesday: sooner than I expected...rehearsals with charly began today. the band: kiuge, carlos, tonio and myself, with deborah on backing vocals. back home at 8:00am

wednesday: played with flopa at radio nacional, very enjoyable, although flopa was not very happy with her singing. I loved flopa playing electric! reharsal with charly afterwards, back home at 10:00am

thursday: recovery day. rehearsal with charly at night. back home at 10:00am




friday: learned perro andaluz in the afternoon, la congreso world templation at templum, then rehearsal with charly until 6:00am

ouch! I must save energy

today...rest in the afternoon and a show with la national film chamber orchestra at malba, possibly another rehearsal tonight, tbc.

charly garcia & the prostitution will be playing at teatro gran rex next monday


kabusacki

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

2 weeks

kabusacki

in the last 2 weeks I played with flopa at bar tunon, a duo set, with carlos alonso a ciudad konex, with la national film chamber orchestra at malba and at la noche de los museos and at canal 7 twice,

last sunday night I visited charly at home and listened to his mixed cd 3 times ...sounds wonderful...walls of sounds, stunning performances ... great work, I'm very happy that this record is about to see the stores, welll I hope

I notice that because I'm a musician some people expect me to be noisy and loud; in fact I'm very careful with sounds. and my neighbors are very insensitive and careless with sounds...slamming doors, talking very loud and making loud noises all the time, even late at night...perhaps they are musicians and i'm not...perhaps I must move somewhere else.

an article quoting me apperared in the new york times yesterday, I was interviewed last week, asked about juana molina and her work. I said marvels about her musicianship, surprisingly I was also asked at the end of the interview about her as a person. I froze and couldn't say a word. I could not speak, I remained quiet. as if I don't know her at all after such a long time working with her.

Saturday, September 30, 2006

september 24, bochaton, cordoba>buenos aires










from the venue straight to the hotel to pickup luggage and off to the bus station; the whole band is back to buenos aires. seating next to me on the bus also a callejeros fan. thankfully I had my Ipod with dylan's modern times in it. the guitars work amazed me. beauty, mastery! 11hs drive to buenos aires. here more photos: francisco and matias, our lodging place in villa maria, the backdoor of 990 club de arte, my pedals and villa 31 at sunset, welcoming us to buenos aires

Saturday, September 23, 2006

cordoba

kabusacki

short week in buenos aires: back from rosario with moni and baby on monday

tuesday visit to doctors, taking care of my health

wednesday: a day of guitar lessons and bus to villa maria in the evening

spoke to charly on the phone, he is in new york mixing the record with former rolling stones collaborator andrew oldham. he sounded excited about andrew and his work. he shared musical impressions, ideas and feelings on the music. suggested I fly to ny inmediately. I felt tempted. best wishes towards ny.

taxi to the bus staion at 22:30, moni waved good bye from the balcony. we travelled with sueter, miguel zavaleta's legendary band from the 80s, who were sharing the bill with us in villa maria. mz's sense of humour is remarkable and was most welcome on this hard trip

97% of the passengers on the bus were young fans of callejeros, very excited young kids ... for their band's first live appearance after the comagnon massacre. this was hard on me since, among other things, let aside ethics and other things, this bunch of people blindly praise a band whose music is highly offensive to my musical taste. the bunch's excitement cause the rage of the bus driver, who parked the bus at the side of the road, came up to them and shouted "if you guys don't shut up and remain quiet either I stop the bus right now or WE WILL CRASH (nos hacemos mierda were actually his words in spanish)". after this threat the crowd kept quiet.

nevertheles I couldn't sleep at all, I was scared.

the lodging in villa maria was feeble. the show was utterly windy, my guitar was misteriously charged with electricity and I couldn't touch the bridge without receiving electric shocks, the monitors were appaling, fran's bass out of tune, the audience apatethic but hey...there we were...at least we had a set list and empanadas in the dressing room were delicious.

dinner with the band and sueter was fun. the nightmares of our bus trip was subject of good jokes. thanks God there's humour

to bed early.

friday: asado by francisco at the house, siesta and bus to cordoba in the evening. another nighmarish trip which feature movie starring francella and lucia galan . at our arrival at the hotel the restaurant was already closed so we had to look for another restaurant.

life on the road

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Saturday



Leandro, Gorrion de Alma kindly sent me this photo of one of my strangest performances ever. On July 30 this year I played with Francisco Bochaton at La Trastienda one week after my appendix was removed. The surgeon reccomended to not make any physical effort for 2 weeks but I couldn't say no to Francisco's music, so I played seating on a chair, wearing a hood to feel more "protected". I had a terrible sense of vulnerability, weakness and also pain in my abdomen throughout the show. But also a feeling of "I have to be here, playing, no doubt, regardless of the surgery". I attempted a couple of songs standing but couldn't bear the pain. I wore trousers I would never wear on stage (Adidas jogging), the only ones I could fit...well...pijamas were my only other choice. Strange for a high action rock show, but the performance was very good and actually we rocked. Thanks Leandro for the photo!

Thursday: recordings with Francisco and band until late. Great new songs. Yes!

A very long day yesterday: La National Film Chamber Orchestra played at Canal 7 in the morning; to tyre shop to replace the back wheel that had been stolen from my car last week outside Concreto Studios (second time this happens to me in 5 months); then to the studio to listen to yesterday's recordings and pick up my amp; in the evening I played with La Congreso World Templation (with Mono Fontana, Ale Franov and Santiago Vazquez) at Templum. Full house. We booked our next show for October 20. Back home late.

My mobile phone was lost all day. I found it in the back of my car. relief.

Monday, September 11, 2006

la mujer que nacio vestida




friday: la mujer que nacio vestida, butoh dance performance by qui binetti at centro cultural borges. superb work! my music sounded nice there. the lights, projections and sound treatments were very good! later dinner with futura bold at vargas'

saturday: I played with mussa phelps and with carlos alonso at fuga jurasica. very exciting. later recordings with charly at maria's. suposedly the last song of the album.

sunday: rehearsal with flopa. new bass player in the band. powerful and potential.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

keep on going



here's a photo with flopa, courtesy of hers

august 31 was hectic: at 22:30 I played with flopa at centro cultural cooperacion. a duo lineup, 2 guitars. very intimate and nice show. for me is always a luxury to hear flopa sing and play her songs. playing with her is an unbelievable bonus. my setup: washburn red rocker> big muff> volume pedal> line6 dl4 delay modeller > fender pro junior amp

from ccc I ran into a taxi to centro cultural tasso, where everybody was waiting for me to arrive. so from the taxi straight to the stage to play with bochaton one of our hottest shows ever. shelley and her friend were there dancing. my setup: wasburn red rocker > rat > fuzz factory > roland dd20 delay > marshall jcm900

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

busy monday, busy tuesday



Sunday: played with La National Film Chamber Orchestra at Malba. 3 action movies about spies. the second was my favorite. possibly one of the best shows of LNFCO

Monday: recording at Canal 7 with La National Film Chamber Orchestra. a selection of comic short films. some laurel & hardy, chaplin, etc. in the evening I played at Ciudad Cultural Konex with La Bomba de Tiempo, a superb percussion ensamble directed by Santiago Vazquez (photo). Mr Hugo Fattoruso played also as guest. later I drove to Maria's to say hi to her and Charly. I ended up recording guitars until 5:30 am. magically I remembered much of the songs. back home very tired, but happy.

Tuesday: rehearsal with Francisco in the morning, a nap at home, rehearsal with Flopa in the evening.

Friday, August 18, 2006



a very good photo by dino trentalance (www.elacople.com): with francisco bochaton at la trastienda a few weeks ago.

last night we played with fran at centro cultural torcuato tasso, in the neighborhood of san telmo. full house. a shared bill with palo pandolfo. the band sounded good. our drummer is recovering from a broken ancle and my self 90% recovered from apendicytis surgery. my setup: burns electric+ fuzz factory + rat + big muff + roland dd20 delay stereo into a marshall jcm900 and a little fender projunior. I liked the sound of this setup.

after the show dinner at la academia with fran and matias. good conversation.

this saturday's gig with flopa at auditorio san rafael was cancelled. again, one more!!! one more post cromagnon effect. this city's government has definitely gone too far. no place where rock can be played. in this case the argument is that the venue is located in a residencial area so no muci can be played. I doubt flopa and myself with guitars and f's vocals would disturb the hood at 21hs....this is turning scary. see emocionhomicida.blogspot.com for more info on the subject.

interview for canal 7 yesterday at home. valentina visited later from barcelona and got along wonderfully with little baby.

now listening to haco's band

my mother's birthday today

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

tuesday




recordings with flopa at casa frida in the morning and afternoon. I used my podXTlive (basically ac30 and line 6 clean sounds, also some tremolos, rats and big muffs). great to be back at this studio after long time. in the past I've recorded there with mg, with juana, with sama, with the mpgs, with nikada, with the buenos aires guitar circle, with gomez, with laura levy and many more projects. hernan has modified it again (he always does). the new piano in a cozy room, a new window...all improvements

time off with baby: a visit to the shopping mall.

cancelled recording session with matias in the evening. need to recover. we moved the session for tomorrow evening.

chatted with sama, he's in atlanta with cerati

Monday, August 07, 2006

monday




la congreso world templation was on last saturday: full house! we scheduled a new show for september 15th. after the show dinner at pippo with the franovs and the vertigos. traditional vermicellis.

sunday off with the family. a visit to club palermo. baby watched a voleyball game, very interested.

today la national film chember orchestra played at canal 7, national tv. the performance will be broadcasted in a few weeks and we'll play there regularly, perhaps weekly. we played buster keaton movies and a fragment of dr caligari. here some photos from my place and the endless corridors of canal 7.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

saturday


read nile rodger's interviews

I played with vertigo colectivo last thursday at c.c. borges. skay and poli came to the show and as allways were inmensely supportive and sweet. I like daniel's new songs a lot.

from c.c. borges I ran to c.c. torcuato tasso where I played with francisco bochaton. a hot gig. loud. fran smashed his guitar against the drums by the end of the show. wild. the guitar survived. I wonder how.

pain in my little finger, due to my weak left wrist, came back in milder mode during vc's show.

listening to robert's queer space harmonic minor, which I just dowloaded from dgmlive.com. beautiful.

I had a significant dream last night

in a few hours I will be playing in templum with santiago vazquez, ale franov and mono fontana. now I must rest and practice.

the anniversary of mg's birth last tuesday. here's a photo of hers with charly.

Monday, July 31, 2006

back at work


kabusacki

after a week of good recovery and rest I played at la trastienda with francisco bochaton last saturday. I played most of the show seated on a chair. tried to stand up a few times but an acute pain in my lower abdomen suggested back to the chair. a hot gig, one of the favorites for this band...fran was in excellent shape after his holidays.

sunday rest with family, watched capote in the evening. mmmmmm...

today meeting at canal 7: la national film chamber orchestra will be on tv soon!!!!!

photo: members of la national film chamber orchestra at malba last month: kabu, matias, ulises butron and special guest from cordoba horacio sairafi

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Monday, July 26, 2006




played with vertigo colectivo a faena hotel's purple lounge last wednesday. I used my new burns marquee and my washburn with new alnico pro II pickup. sounds great. the dressing room was luxurious: a suite at the hotel.

a surprise in my life: last friday morning I visited the hospital for a checkup since I had a fever and felt upset...doctor instructed some exams and xrays, then called the surgeon...I was diagnosed appendicitys and emergency surgery was performed at clinica del sol at 20:00hs. I am back home now, recovering well.

cancelled recordings with flopa on the weekend, plus a show with francisco in rosario and 2 shows at malba. I expect to be back at work next week.

this photos, courtesy of zak, were taken last october at a show with kazuhisa uchihashi and alan courtis at surdespierto and from the window of our home in congreso

listening now to ariana morgenstern's web radio program. beautiful

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Back in Buenos Aires

After 3 long flight arrived in Buenos Aires last Monday in the morning.

Since then, baby`s birthday party at home, recordings with Roxana Amed at Pedro Aznar`s studio, shows with La National Film Chamber Orchestra at Malba on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and one at Cine Cosmos on Monday. Rehearsal with Vertigo Colectivo. Recordings with Charly at Maria`s last night; 2 songs.

Today: rehearsal with Flopa in preparation for recordings next weekend.

The shows with Flopa at Plasma have been cancelled: one more venue dissapeared. Also The Marquee closed down recently. Scary.

Friday, July 07, 2006

July 7, Nagoya > Tokyo



12:35 hs nagoya > tokyo

on wednesday we played at taku taku, a legendary venue in kyoto where musicians like the staples, david lindley, albert king and clarence gatemouth brown have played. a vibrating venue. hot performance with loud and very intense passages. a wonderful drummer came to join us for the encores straight from the airport, back from a u.s. tour with the boredoms.
during the first set I injured my left little finger and needed chiropractor assistance. sensei doctor was available for a session after the show. weakness in my left wrist. he suggested I use a support band in my wrist.

last night we played at tokuzo, in nagoya. we felt tired. full house, very enthusiastic audience. kei opened with a guitar duo and joined us for an encore

long drive to tokyo.

straight to kinema club for soundcheck. here's a photo of the venue during soundcheck

Thursday, July 06, 2006

hiroshima > kyoto


july 4, tuesday

16:18 - on the van from hiroshima to kyoto. a travelling day.

yesterday: last night we played at club quattro hiroshima. this band is becoming a group and I'm very happy about it. for my ears, a very good performance. very warm and enthusiastic audience. mr otomo yoshihide joined us as guest during part of the second set.

after the gig check in at hotel and luxurious dinner by the river

today: this morning we visited the hiroshima memorial park and ground zero, the exact place where the a-bomb was dropped. I sat by the river for a few minutes.

long drive to kyoto, rest of the day off

skype works!!!!! now I can call home easily!!!!! thanks to santi for the advice

wonderful dinner...with delicious sake!

july 2nd, in japan


kabusacki


july 2 sunday

TOKYO

7:45 - breakfast at asia center hotel

not sleep to sleep last night. jet lag not gone yet, after 3 days

uma's 2 new teeth are coming out

we played last night the first gig of this tour: seiichi, yuji, alejandro, santiago and myself, with special guest ua on vocals. full house. wonderful sound, engineered by zak. inspired evening. back at the hotel, very tired...laundry. endless drying process

very busy times before departing to japan...

here's an outline of what I've been up to before coming to japan:

- completion of kabusacki 7+8 cds. they are now both ready and manufactured
- several gigs with francisco bochaton in buenos aires, cordoba and la plata
- rehearsals with francisco
- rehearsals and gigging with flopa
- gigs with la national film chamber orchestra at malba
- preparation for the trip to japan
- recordings with charly garcia for his new cd (which, btw, will be stunning!!!)

in the evening we played in osaka, with kazuhisa uchihashi (whose sounds in 7+8 are amazing) and some guests. an extense performance, very rich, very musical. very good attendance. very moving: kiri's mother was in the audience and seiichi introduced us. I believe I should have been strong as to contain this kind woman, but at her presence I could not stop from crying. I was frozen, petrified, could not say a word. I was so moved I could not react. so strong. It was an honour to meet kiri's mother. kiri was one of the most wonderful persons I've ever met, and one of my best friends ever. she passed away exactly 3 years ago. the concert in tokyo last friday was dedicated to her memory, at least personally for me.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

thursday and friday

kabusacki

thursday: guitar practice and one gtr lesson in the afternoon

in the evening slept 1 1/2 hours and went to the studio for recordings with charly: no importa is taking shape. wonderful. I recorded a compressed twin guitar. I learned that last monday's session in lujan went on until wednesday morning!

back home at 10:00, slep for a couple of hours and helped moni carry her paintings to the art school, where she presented her final thesis and became licenciada en artes visuales. her work was superb and the jury was impressed by the quality of her work.

in the evening I played with francisco bochaton in plasma, san telmo. one of the best shows of this band. slept 15 min in the dressing room. back home at 3am, very tired.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

7 and 8 getting ready for the factory

kabusacki

last friday la national film chamber orchestra played at malba, nosferatu. good attendance.

last saturday we played trafico de almas and el hombre del tong. a misunderstanding regarding show times kept audience waiting for 10 minutes while the members of lnfco had coffee at a nearby bar.

sunday off, dinner with moni at peruvian restaurant and a visit to charly in the evening

I found pete townshend's diaries in the internet

monday office work, guitar practice on mg's guitar, changed strings on my les paul and in the evening on a van with charly and the strings trio to palito's studio near lujan for more recordings for his new cd. for me this record is taking shape as if magically.

I got back home tuesday at 14hs. lunch, sleep and a meeting with designer of the cover of kabusacki 7/8, my new cd. wonderful work!!!! a few touches and the cd is in the factory

Friday, May 26, 2006

busy weeks

kabusacki

amazing negativity in francisco's website's guestbook. fuera de ahi, cuervos negros! there's no relationship between francisco's wonderful music and some stupid comments in the web.

may 11 la national film chamber orchestra played german films in cordoba, with horacio sairafi as special guest. he played really well

may 12 played with francisco in la plata. again, stupidity in a few members of the audience harmed the performance. the van left us waiting in the street with all our gear between 4: and 6:15 am. pitiful. tough.

may 13 recordings with mono fontana for my new cd at home. sublime.

may 14 la national film chamber orchestra played dr jekyll and mr hyde at malba, with special guest lukas stadelmann. then I played with the suarez brothers, matias and lukas at thelonious, as part of the buenos aires jazz festival. full house. 2 sets, all improvised. recorded on hard disk by calu.

may 17 played with bochaton at kilt. terrible sound system, terrible venue. we were asked to stop the performance at 11hs due to neighbor's complaints with threats to close down the venue. this is buenos aires post cromagnon. scary.

may 18 vertigo colectivo at centro cultural borges. hot.

may 19 mixing and mastering the flower and the radio, my new double cd. exhausting.

today la national film chamber orchestra plays nosferatu at malba.

japanese visa already in my passport.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

in cordoba

kabusacki

rehearsal with bochaton and christian. I tried facu´s fuzz factory. it´s wonderful! I definitely need one of this.

back home in time to say goodbye to shinkuro, who was flying back to osaka today.

guitar lessons in the afternoon.

gonzalo and jose came to show me the ideas for new website design. very good work.

at 22.30 matias and I took a bus to cordoba. comfortable seat, acceptable movie and acceptable food. new standards are set for fakir touring.

Friday, May 05, 2006

friday

kabusacki

last night, when I thought the day was coming to an end, I went to pick up charly and drive to maria's home for more recordings. organizing stuff, defining a running order and record a few layers of vocals and guitars (acoustic and bass for ch, electric for me) over the whole sequence of songs. stunning stuff.

drove charly home and back homa at 10am for a few hours sleep

shinkuro will arrive soon

Thursday, May 04, 2006

may already

kabusacki

the b side of kabusacki 7.5 is taking shape. I'm organizing bits and pieces and defining crossfades. studio for final mixes has been booked.


spoke to bochaton

saw a documentary on joni mitchell on dvd (courtesy of mono fontana) and one on johnny cash on tv

a new tyre is already installed in my car, as well as an alarm system

a concert by la national film chamber orchestra in cordoba has been booked.

papers for japanese visa arrived.

yesterday: time with uma, guitar lessons and a concert by virtuoso violinist schlomo mintz in the evenig, followed by dinner at a very fine asian restaurant

wonderful to spend time with baby

discovering dylan's nashville skyline

Sunday, April 30, 2006

few days

kabusacki

thursday: drove moni to work. spent much time with baby. delightful

friday: tea at malba with family. picked up gear left from the last nfco show. short nap. a long day, and very intense.

played with flopa at plasma. memorable gig for me. not the debut of the band anymore. I really enjoy playing with flopa, juan and lucas. the opening act was coiffeur, a very fine singer, guitarist and songwriter.

after the show I drove to maria's for a night of recordings with charly and sama. maria is engineering superbly. I recorded guitars on 1 song. back home at 8:00 with medialunas. breakfast with the girls and straight to bed for a 4 hs sleep.

saturday: lunch with toto and family. good nap in the afternoon. I declined ale franov's invitation to play with him at templum. need recovery. moni and I to dinner at pippo and to cine premier for "good night and good luck". very good film.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

the last 2 weeks


kabusacki

this photo was taken by fito fratti at vertigo colectivo's dressing room at centro cultural borges, april 6. charly was vertigo's special guest that night

april 10: flew to mendoza with robert for guitar craft XXI anniversary course in lunlunta. the course completed on april 19

april 20: flew back to buenos aires. lunch with rf, marcelo, moni and uma at prosciutto, then drove rf to ezeiza airport, back home for a nap and off to rehearsal with bochaton

april 21: francisco bochaton at la trastienda. full house. the audience felt strange: audience is not allowed to stand up and dance nor jump...could have been a hot gig but this constrained something. strange. post cromagnon effect. also a professinal hassler (nicknamed boludo) in the first row making our performance very difficult.

april 22: la national film chamber orchestra at bafici

april 23: la national film chamber orchestra at bafici, featuring charly garcia, played music for the stag movies at malba. an improvised petit show followed. dinner wit the band and charly at la madelaine. back home very tired at 5am

april 22: day off

april 23: rehearsal with flopa. her songs move me everytime I hear them. they are stunning. after the rehearsal, in the neighborhood of floresta, I realized that one of the back wheels of my car was stolen. ouch. lucas the drummer and juan helped putting the spare tyre. frustrating feeling...but the thought of "it could have been worst" helped me.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

kabusacki

kabusacki

Wednesday: Meeting with Iman in the morning. Listened to Adat tapes from recordings at Melopea years ago. Decided to make a record and continue our work together soon. Guitar lessons in the afternoon. The Gardel 2006 Awards ceremony in the evening. The highlight for me: Charly and Mercedes together and Leon Gieco playing live with Los Pibes Chorros.

Thursday: rehearsal with Francisco Bochaton in the morning, mixing for Kabusacki 7 at Concreto. Vertigo Colectivo at Centro Cultural Borges. Charly Garcia came as special guest, he played piano and sang. after the show Ch and I went to Maria's studio to record Charly's vocals and keyboards on 2 pieces for Kabusacki 7. Stunning. back home at 8:30am. Happy. Tired.

Friday: Cancelled recordings with Mono in the morning. Shinkuro arrived from Osaka at noon. In the evening gig with Flopa at Plasma, in San Telmo. Very nice venue. Yes!!!!!!! Flopa's songs are so good!!!! Florencia Ruiz played as opening act.

Saturday: drove with Mono Fontana to Rosario. We played with Luis and Mariano Suarez at Parque de Espana. All improvised. Wonderful moments. Good flow. Discoveries in my Kaoss pad. Very good attendance.

Sunday: drove back from Rosario. nice weather. recovery, time with Moni and Uma. getting ready for Guitar Craft Anniversary Course in Mendoza.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

past weeks

kabusacki

very busy in the last couple of weeks

rehearsals and shows with francisco bochaton, vertigo and flopa

recordings with charly. stunning new songs.

been to rosario, played with dibujos mudos: la national film chamber orchestra in duo formation...with juan piola on keyboards. great to play with juan.

samalea proposed the running arder for my new cd and it works great. the cd moved to the new stage. voices by maria albistur are impecable. yes!

very busy still.

euphorica, the new cd of buffalo daughter is out. I received my copy last week. I like the cd so much!

tomorrow after gtr lessons I will be at the gardel 2006 awards ceremony at teatro gran rex. la maravilla is nominated.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006


march 15, 2006

- saturday: rehearsal with flopa in the afternoon. in the evening a wonderful recording session with charly in his home. keyboards and guitars. a new song is taking shape. beautiful. we recorded until 3AM. charly really masters his roland digital recorder!

- sunday: a day with family

- monday: visited guitar store to pick up my marshall switch pedal and find info about new humbuckers for my washburn electric. rehearsal with samalea/kabusacki band in preparation for our concert at teatro colon, mar del plata. my cd kabusacki 6.1 is nominated for the carlos gardel awards, the ceremony will take place on april 5, samalea's alvear is also nominated. here's a photo of sama and kabu playing together last year in buenos aires. thanks to mari sano for the picture!

- tuesday: rehearsal with vertigo colectivo in the morning. rehearsal with flopa in the evening.

Friday, March 10, 2006


Meeting with Maria Albistur today to share ideas on the vocals for my new CD. Hope.

Here's a photo of a concert with Mono Fontana and Kazuhisa Uchihashi in Buenos Aires last October.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Last week:

- guitar lessons began again on wednesday

- thursday: my 41st birthday.

dinner with Moni, Charly, the Vertigos, Matias and Paulita at Edelweiss. luxurious. in the afternoon a strange coincidence: listening with Charly to the recordings of the shows in Pinamar, both of us were playing over the recording, my 4th string broke in the same song that it did in the recording. so in the cd we heard Charly saying " Kabusacki va a cambiar una cuerda" when in fact I was looking for a spare string in my guitar case.

- friday: Bochaton in La Plata. a very hot show, with a very hot audience. we rocked. my gear: Washburn Red Rocker electric through a Rat, Big Muff, Line 6 delay and a Marshall JCM 900. loud was good. I think the audience even aprroved the band this time. yeah!!! listening to Lou Reed and Grateful Dead in the car

- saturday rehearsal with Flopa & band. also luxurious.

- sunday: our 7th wedding anniversary

- monday: Moni's birthday

Tuesday

last week:

- guitar lessons began again on wednesday

- thursday: my 41st birthday. dinner with moni, charly, matias, the vertigos and paulita at edelweiss. luxurious. in the afternoon a strange coincidence: listening with charly to the recordings of the shows in pinamar, both of us playing over the recording, my 4th string broke in the same song than in the recording. so in the cd we could hear charly saying " kabusacki va a cambiar una cuerda" when in fact I was looking for a spare string in my guitar case.

- friday: bochaton in la plata. a very hot show, with a very hot audience. we rocked. my gear: washburn red rocker electric through a rat, big muff, line 6 delay and a marshall jcm 900. loud was good.

- saturday: rehearsal with flopa & band. also luxurious.

- sunday: our 7th wedding anniversary

- monday: moni's birthday

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Sunday

Listening to recordings of the shows with Charly in Pinamar. Yes!

This week:

rehearsals with Vertigo Colectivo and Francisco Bochaton began, both with wonderful new songs

my new CD The Jungle and the Radio came out from the drawer and what I heard amazed me. Hope. Next step is recordings with Mono and Maria.

from the office: the japanese tour got confirmed... end of June.

today I walked with baby in the morning, practiced and worked on repertoire, walked around Puerto Madero with Moni and baby;

visited Charly in the evening to talk about an upcoming project in which I'm happy to take part. the plan was to record tonight but we decided to do it tomorrow... gaucho aphorisms apply here: don't leave for today what you can do tomorrow ... or don't leave for tomorrow what you can do next week

Sunday, February 19, 2006

La NFCO, Malba

Same lineup and same movies as last week: Mono, Matias, Maxi and myself playing Steamboat Bill Jr and The Docks of New York at Malba. Samalea couldn´t make it today.

It was luxurious to have Maria Rosa Yorio in the audience for the second show. I believe her presence helped us enormously.

I had a couple of technical problems today: the presets of the VG 88 changed randomly! I solved this by turning the wheel several times back and forth. perhaps a dirty pot? also, the power adaptor of the Line 6 DD4 kept unplugging from the power strip.

Besides all this, the sound was very good.

Last night we saw Mercedes Sosa with Charly as guest, on TV. Amazing how the energy of the show changed when Ch went on stage. And he looked very happy and comfortable.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Charly Garcia. Second show, El Ojo de las Artes, Pinamar

Monday, Feb 13

mon 9:10hs- bus to Pinamar. Arrived at the hotel at 14:00hs. Dropped luggage in the room. Lunch and quick visit to the beach. Siesta. Practice. Reviewed my songs list. Preparation for the show. Charly sleeping.

mon 23:00hs - the organizers decided to move the show to Tuesday. Ch needs to rest. OK: one more day in Pinamar. Called Moni to explain the situation. Dinner with Monitor and Astor at hotel lobby.

tues 1:30 - lobby phone rings: I grabbed my gtr and went up for playing and recording in Charly´s room. Coffee kept me up.

tues 6:30 - I´m tired. I go to bed. Not much sleep, though: Charly continues recording vocals in the room (next door to mine).

tues 8:30 - I woke up with baby´s smile in my head. beautiful. walk to Plusmar office to change my bus tkt for tomorrow

unfruitful search for a suit

practice. learned the lines that charly wrote for me last night. amazing riffs. some with tricky fingerings in the NST. practiced them in different octaves. tried to sleep some more: hopeless...so I decided to knock at Ch´s door guitar in hand. rehearsal: new songs, new ideas. more songs in my list. preparation for the show.

tues 23:00- time of uncertainty and tension

wed 1:00- showtime I. better than last week, at least to my ears: my guitar sounded much better in my headphones. charly was so inspired, once more. this theater is a wonderful venue to play at. a small theater, with tables. the staff is very kind. I played with my Washburn Red Rocker again in order to make as little changes as possible in my set, but I was tempted to use my Telecaster. Good choice: the 12 strings acoustic and the bass presets in the VG88 were very useful and sounded great. hot moments in the show. a cover tune that charly played at Badia´s request was sublime. burning end.

dropped gear and gtrs in hotel. lay down for a few minutes and changed clothes.

wed 5:00- showtime II at Iguana. I went back to the hotel to get my gear again. since I use the New Standard Tuning I´m useless with a borrowed guitar. I used my Telecaster through a Proco Rat. Distortion most the time. Charly had a Fernandes strat and played through a Korg pedalboard. We played until about 7:00, Ch´s songs (many from the new CD) and cover tunes. Ch played burning gtr solos.

at 7:30 I said goodbye and walked back to hotel.

Slept less than 2 hs.

Bus back to Buenos Aires at 10:40hs. Listened to Neil Young´s Prairie Wind and The Smiths (Johnny Marr´s guitars are stunning) on my Ipod.

Back in Buenos Aires the Taxi I took from the station broke down and I had to push it. Tough. Very hot in Buenos Aires.

Happy to be back home.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Sunday

Walked with baby in the morning. Coffee at bar in Palermo.

Jorge and Carina Vargas and Cris visited for brunch.

Walked with Moni and baby.

Preparation for tomorrow: reviewed all the songs on my acoustic gtr and added a couple more to my list. Watched Head on TV (co-produced by Jack Nicholson....featuring Frank Zappa...and The Monkees).

Sunday, February 12, 2006

La National Film Chamber Orchestra at Malba

We played 2 shows at Malba today. One Buster Keaton movie and The Docks of New York. First time we played both movies. Good attendance on both shows. As usual, some families with little kids for Keaton. The lineup: Mono Fontana and Matias Mango on keyboards, Maxi Demo and myself on gtrs. Sama couldn´t make it. He played last night with Rosal in Mar del Plata and stayed there.

A team from BBC News came to cover the shows. We still don´t know when it will broadcast.

After one of the shows someone mentioned that Spinetta was playing at Rosedal for free. A massive show. I thought of the huge difference in nature between that and our work at Malba.

Friday, February 10, 2006

Charly Garcia. Teatro El Ojo de las Artes, Pinamar

First entry...from February 6, 2006:

Listened to Before the Flood by Dylan and The Band on the bus. Special focus on Robbie Robertson´s guitar comments and Levon Helm´s drums. Arrived in Pinamar at 14:00hs on a Plusmar bus. Straight to the hotel. The maid led me to room #31 and showed me Charly´s room, right across the corridor. Impossible to sleep.

Rehearsal in Ch´s room. Many songs, some I learned on the spot; some I knew; some I refreshed in the rehearsal. I had my own set list with about 40 songs, few of them covers. Later Badia and DJ Pont Lezica came in the room to set the order of the show and details and tune with Ch´s ideas.

The audience was asked to bring a portable radio and headphones to the show: there would be no speakers at all in the theatre. The concert was to be broadcasted live. No monitors on the stage either. An Orson Wells feel...people in town was listening to the broadcast in their cars, homes, on the streets, at the beach; so was the audience in the venue and so were we on the stage! Bizarre experience. Unique.

I used my Washburn through Roland VG88, a Rat, a Boss compressor and a Roland DD20 delay. I gave Charly my Big Muff. I should have had a spare guitar. I didn´t bring it...thought it was "too much"...My 4th string broke...and then my 5th. Ouch!

Never play a gig without a torch...ever...

The audience was very enthusiastic. A good feeling. Ch was inmensely happy.

Charly´s show at Gesell Rock seems to have been quite chaotic and this one felt like a redemption. A recovery.

After the show Clerico at a restaurant by the sea. Back to the hotel at 7:00hs. Slept a couple of hours and back to Pinamar on a Plusmar bus. Slept and listened to Neil Young´s Prairie Wind on the bus.

Back home in Buenos Aires at 17:00hs.