Tour with Jerry Marotta in Spain
August 2007
by Guillermo Cides

After 25 concerts in Spain and some in Switzerland, France and Italy, we have finished our tour.
It is not simple to describe a tour of 6 weeks in a couple of lines, and finally when I look back, there is an impressive musical energy. I believe that the natural state of musicians is playing every day.
Evidently this is not easy to do, and the organization of a tour of this dimension required the effort of many people. But when finally it happens and you play every day in a different place and the nervousness from the beginning is transformed to calm and into good playing, you can do nothing less than enjoy what you are doing.

Jerry Marotta is simply incredible. He is not the type of “demonstrative” drummer as is expected by other drummers, on the contrary, Marotta convinces by his incredible capacity of time keeping - almost perfect- and also when he plays in concert “it seems that he is recording a Cd," as commented our Pepe Bao. The prudence, the perfect timing, the good taste in the choice of rhythms, his creativity and finally his quality interpretation, finds in him a heart that roars healthy and with force in a band.

Pepe Bao is a musician whom the people of each city in Spain love and know. Pepe is our “Spanish famous musician” but much more than that, is an excellent musician and a person of great charisma and feelings. Pepe Bao gave a force to the band and captivated all that were there to hear it.

Some shows in Spain also were with the Marotta/Cides duo, a pair that transformed itself into a “power duo,” obtaining some really interesting results. The audience requested Cds from us which makes us raise the possibilty of a future recording of this music.

The Marotta/Cides/Bao trio appeared in different cities, among them Madrid and Barcelona in the Bikini Theater, with excellent response from the public. The communication between the three was excellent from the beginning. An incredible element was that Bao does not speak English, and Jerry does not speak Spanish, but when heads meet with this level of musicianship there is found no lack for not being able to engage in dialog: music simply appears in the moment.

Personally I will continue playing concerts with Pepe Bao - there are already concerts scheduled for the following months. It is truly an honor to be able to have made this long Spanish tour a reality. It is always an honor to be a part of these types of tours which now include those of Trey Gunn, California Guitar Trio, Oxygene Eight with Linda Cushma and now with the ex-Peter Gabriel drummer Jerry Marotta on his visit to Spain.

For the concerts of Switzerland, Italy and France we were joined by the Israeli Stickista/singer Irene Orleansky. Spontaneous, sweet and energetic, she gave a different point of view, with a calm musicality that was complemented with our “masculine musical speed.” Songs of old Israeli tradition, with tribal songs and songs from her own repertoire allowed us to form a spontaneous trio with a great musical diversity that the public enjoyed in the concerts in which she participated.

In summary, 25 concerts, 4 countries, different languages and audiences and one long list of anecdotes and experiences that will be not only in our curriculum, but in our memories and hearts.

See you in the following tour!
Guillermo Cides




Tour 2007

14 Junio: España/Valencia/sala Wha Wha/c.Campoamor 52 (con Pepe Bao) 21h
15 Junio: España/Castellón/sala Terra/c.Ramon Llull 19 (dúo Marotta/Cides) 21h
19 Junio: España/Madrid/concierto Televisión Española (con Pepe Bao)
20 Junio: España/Madrid/sala Clamores/c.Alburquerque 14 (con Pepe Bao. Banda invitada Psicotropia) 21h
21 Junio: España/Tres Cantos/sala Hog Destiny/Avda. Viñuelas 17 (con Pepe Bao) 21h
22 Junio: España/Colmenar/Casa Juventud/Ctra.Hoyo de Manzanares 16 (dúo Marotta/Cides. Banda invitada Sr .Morfus) 21h
24 Junio: España/Marinaleda (Andalucía)/sala Palo Palo/Avda. Libert s/n (con Pepe Bao)
27 Junio: España/Barcelona/clinic Bateria-Stick/Esc. JamSession/c.Sant Germà 8 19h
28 Junio: España/Barcelona/sala Bikini/c.Deu i Mata 105 (con Pepe Bao. Bandas invitadas Y3 + Icebend) 21 h. Entradas anticipadas www.20gr.com
29 Junio: España/Zaragoza/Festival Tea07/Auditorio de Zaragoza (dúo Marotta/Cides)
30 Junio: España/L'Startit/sala Mariscal/c.Barcelona 51 (dúo Marotta/Cides) 22h
04 Julio: España/Santander/sala BNS/Avda. Reina Victoria 46 (con Pepe Bao) 21h
06 Julio: Suiza/Basel/sala Cuturium/Gempenstrasse 60 (con Irene Orleansky)
07 Julio: Italia/Piacenza/Pollo Loco/via galileo galilei 50 (con I. Orleansky)
08 Julio: Italia/Schio/Vanilla Café/C. Commerciale Summano (con Irene Orleansky)
09 Julio: Suiza/Tesserete/Irish Club Alpino, via Fraschini/ (con Irene Orleansky)
11 Julio: España/Mallorca/Vilafranca (dúo Marotta/Cides)
14 Julio: España/Mallorca/PortoCristo (dúo Marotta/Cides)
16 Julio: Francia/Juan les Pins/47¼Jazz Festival Juan les Pins (con Irene Orleansky)
18 Julio: España/Jaén/Bar Fogo/c.Virgen de Guadalupe 9 (con Pepe Bao) 22h
20 Julio: España/Santander/festival Mar Sessions (dúo Marotta/Cides)

saludos,
Guillermo Cides
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