Looking for Live Music

EVEN IN THE OFF SEASON in Puerto, on a good night you can hear everything from old-school rock 'n' roll, Latin rock to cutting edge to romantic Mexican ballads performed by musicians from all over Mexico and beyond. These talented individuals could be pursuing their careers in the metropolis, but, like so many of us, would rather be here.

So here's what you can expect to find this month on the local music scene:

Mayca, the doyenne of Latin music in Puerto Escondido, has been singing here almost non-stop for 26 years. Mayca plays just about every night at her own club, El Son y La Rumba, but as this issue was being put together, she was changing the location of her club, the new site yet to be announced. But she and her band frequently appear to perform the full gamut of Latin music, from folk to Cuban sones at locales such as the Hotel Arcoiris, Pascal and El Cafecito.

The first time Rosela heard Mayca she had an epiphany; a vacationing university student from Guadalajara, she knew then she was going to sing, learn the guitar and become a performer. That was in 1996. Since then she has preformed at Pascal, the Posada Real, Villa Sol, Arco Iris, and Casa Babylon. Now Rosela is part of a hot, new band La Viuda de Romero, which plays bluesy rock, Cuban and other Latin rhythms suitable for dancing Fridays at the Split Coconut in the Jardín Real hotel, the best regularly scheduled night of live music in P.E. this month.

Other members of Viuda (named for a brand of cheap tequila) include David Rangel, a master percussionist, Daniel Santiago Ramírez (vocalist and wizard guitarist) and Sergio Venegas Amaya on bass. David, who has been playing percussion for over 20 years, counts as his influences the rhythms of Cuban son, Andean music, Yoruban drums and rock. Drawing on the international character of the local music scene, he has a vision of new sounds emerging from our corner of the coast, both incorporating and transcending the musical background of the artists.

Bassist Mike Facen is not only talented, but versatile. You'll see him playing rock 'n' roll one night, Latin dance music with Los Tlacuaches another and then alternative beats with Bare, funk and jazz with Timi O'Tools, and Latin rock and funky reggae with Pampa. He says that in the ten years that he's lived in Puerto he's played with at least 100 musicians, often in jam sessions with vacationing artists, including all the performers at the Puerto Blues Festival.

Mike was born in Holland (his parents are Swiss and Italian) but grew up in Argentina where he began his musical career as a percussionist.

Percussionist Charlie Castro achieved early success in the '70s and '80s as a member of the Mexican rock bands Nuevo México and Chac Mool. From rock he went to Latin with the Salvadoran-Mexican band Yolocamba y Ita, with whom he toured Europe, the U.S. and Canada. Charlie first came to Puerto in 1985, after hooking up with Mayca at a musical event following the 1985 Mexico City earthquake.

He still sometimes sits in with Mayca but has just formed a new blues, rock, jazz fusion band - Los Elementos - with blues guitarist and vocalist Memo López, bassist Flor Alvarado and conga drummer Luis López, another Mayca alumnus. You can catch their act at Casa Babylon.

Cuban-born, U.S. and Mexican educated, guitarist and singer Alfonso Fors writes original, expressive compositions and has recently recorded two CDs in England as Bossshole. Although most of what he writes is in English, he has a strong background in Latin rock having played with such Mexican groups as Cuca, Los Caifanes and La Lupita. He often performs with his wife, vocalist Julianne Chadwick, and Gwen Wylde, with the new Puerto rock group, Bare.

Canadian songwriter Gwen (Wendy) Wylde has lived in Mexico for 14 years, the last 10 in Puerto. She has been a regular on the music scene playing violin and guitar, and recently as a vocalist. She plays with guitarist Steven Ellis, a fellow Canadian, and she occasionally accompanies Mayca. She does her own music at the Seis Palmas restaurant in Villas Carrizalillo and the Café Kahlo at the Punta.

Pepe Estevane Méndez has performed in Puerto since 1987. He plays at the Arcoiris and weekends at Sabor al Mar on Zicatela beach where his Brazilian, reggae and blues inflected guitar, vocals and flute have a cool dinner jazz lilt. A Mexico City native, Pepe comes from the well known musical Méndez family and, before settling in Puerto, he toured the U.S. for seven years playing new age, microtonal music. Meditation and healing through music, he says, is the focus of his life.

Barbara Schaffer is a poet and language teacher. barbaraschaffer.com