Last night my new friend Priscilla and I attended one of the more sublime musical experiences I've witnessed. We drove up to to the Toledo Museum of Art, an impressive sprawling neoclassical complex just off highway 75 and watched this Spanish quartet do their thing at the Peristyle, a sort of Roman coliseum-style theater. Very impressive. As we walked in the atmosphere was hushed and alert, the soft, powerful music filling the room. Immediately after sitting down I realized we were in the presence of absoluty vituosity. Rich, complex melodies, evoking nights in Spanish cathedrals or street festivals in Barcelona swept over us. The layers of harmony rolled and swirled through each other, and it was beautiful.
What's cool about this quartet is that they are actually are "The Romeros." The grandfather, Celedonio, started playing many years ago and taught his two sons to play, who in turn taught their sons to play (you can get the chronology here). Watching their styles, the generational differences become apparent. The older fellows played softer, slower tunes, while the kids jammed it out, thumping rhythms on their guitars as they played, kicking it up a notch. The finale was a flamenco "improvisation" that had us nodding our heads and laughing as the sons showed off by playing with one hand, Jimi Hendrix-style. People were yelling "Bravo!" from the audience, and they were right.
As we walked out and were trying to describe how intense the music was I was reminded of the line attributed to Elvis Costello, who said, "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture." And I think someone else once described architecture as "frozen music." So rather than blather on vaguely about why each of you should catch these guys when they come to town, perhaps the best way to describe the unique experience of a Romeros concert is to humbly offer the following image.
Enjoy.
