Summer Art and Music

In July, we always enjoy attending two different music festivals: Jazzaldia in San Sebastian and the Bilbao Blues Festival. This year, the two overlapped again, which meant we saw less music at Jazzaldia than we might like, but we did get out to see two free concerts, the second of which was a popular performer named LP who peformed on the beach.

On Friday, we skipped the gym to go paddleboarding in La Concha Bay before heading to Bilbao. It was a beautiful morning and we really enjoyed being out early when it was quiet.

We arrived in Bilbao, and after a yummy Indian lunch went to the Guggenheim to see a Jasper Johns exhibit, which we were not impressed with. That night, the Festival started and we enjoyed watching the music from across the river. The music was very good, and we even stayed to watch a bit of the 10:45 p.m. act, the very talented Judith Hill.

On Saturday morning, we had signed up for a chat by a blues historian about the impact of women on the blues, hosted by the Guggenheim. The talk was fantastic, and accompanied by a singer and guitarist who performed seven or eight songs to demonstrate the historical process that the speaker was talking about.

Before the presentation, we walked through the retrospective exhibition dedicated to San Francisco artist Ruth Asawa. We thought this exhibition was extremely interesting both for the work presented, and also because she had an extremely interesting life, including being interred with her family during WWII. Asawa's most well-known works are abstract looped-wired sculptures, some of which represent natural forms despite being made of cheap metal. She also did several sculptures that perhaps we'll seek out during our next visit to the Bay Area.

We had lunch at Kokken, which does a "surprise" tasting menu, which was fun. They start with 4 dishes, plus dessert, but after 4 plates you can choose to continue with 2 more dishes, then 2 more. We were more than satisfied with the 4. 

On Saturday night, we got rained on, and so spent less time watching music. However, before the rain came, we saw th Bilbao Blues All Star Band, with their 95-year-old Blues Hall of Fame guitar player, Bob Stroger. Bob also sang the blues classic, "I Am The Blues." Pretty impressive for a guy born in 1930.

The next day, as we watched music at the secondary stage before heading home, Shana noticed the members of the All Star Band who were set to go on next. Of course, she had to get a picture with Bob who is pretty spry for a 95-year-old (not that I know many people his age, but he had no problem sitting down to look at his cell phone (of course), and getting back up for photos). That's him on Shana's right, with Jimi "Primetime" Smith.

As always, we enjoyed our local music festivals. It was also a great way to celebrate our 9 year anniversary living in San Sebastian. Now on to August and Semana Grande.

Hasta pronto,

Jeff and Shana