Charangoa at LACMA - Lemvo at Grand Performances

~by Dena Burroughs

A SATURDAY OF SUMMER CONCERTS - ORQUESTA CHARANGOA AT LACMA AND WALDEMAR BASTOS / RICARDO LEMVO AT GRAND PERFORMANCES - July 19th, 2008

Just when I think I'm so smart, I realize that everyone is ahead of me. This past Saturday I decided to combine the Orquesta Charangoa concert at LACMA, from 5 pm to 7 pm, with the Ricardo Lemvo concert at Grand Performances, from 8 pm to 10 pm. One concert after the other, with just enough time in between for transport and perhaps a bite to eat, both concerts free of charge, both outdoors - no need of fancy wardrobe or high heels... boy, I had it all figured out!... yeah, and so did a whole bunch of people! So many folks did the exact same thing, and we all had an awesome time.

LACMA's "Latin Sounds" concerts are quite popular. They're free to the public because they're outside of the actual museum (going into the museum is $12 for adults). Outdoors, a few seats are set up and a bar is available, but there's plenty of space to bring your own seats and blankets and spread out your lunch, wine, and any other necessities for a good picnic.

This past Saturday's band was Orquesta Charangoa [ http://www.charangoa.com ] which included flutist Fay Roberts, singer Freddy Crespo and two generations of violinists, Pablo Mendez Sr. and Jr. They got a great response from a large crowd of listeners and a brave bunch of dancers, who seemed to be in competition with the sun as to which one was hottest.

The performers at LACMA change every week. The full schedule is at http://www.lacma.org/programs/LatinSounds.aspx . It is not a bad idea to combine one of the concerts with a visit to the museum. The exhibit Los Angelinos, although small, has a good selection of Chicano painter's works out of the Cheech Marin collection. One of the artists displayed is Margaret Garcia. A picture of her painting, "Ezequiel's party," is below.

The Grand Performances concerts, in downtown L.A., are also free and a perfect place to open your second bottle of wine. The set up at the Grand Performances is very nice, actually beautiful... if you're not me. I find the distance between the dancers and the performers excruciating. The water that divides the platform between the dancers and the musicians, which esthetically is gorgeous, makes a picture-wanna-taker like myself feel like a tenant at the zoo, or like a dragon that can't get to the castle on account of the freaking moat... But you're not me... so you'll most likely love it.

This Saturday's performers were Waldemar Bastos, Zairean born and Angola raised, and Ricardo Lemvo, Congo born, of Angolian ancestry. The evening began slow and soothing with the music of Bastos and then burst into the fabulous rhythm of Lemvo.

I have concluded that one can never hear enough of Lemvo. He is contagious, invigorating, beautiful to watch, simply adorable, so charismatic he should be a politician. With every note of his music the moat between me and his band became wider, deeper... and just plain annoying...

The pictures of Lemvo you'll see are from far... far away. The good news are he'll be at the Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena on the 26th... with no water to stop you! Anyhow... I mean no disrespect to the Grand Performances concerts. Their set up is truly beautiful... please understand that I'm just a frustrated groupie. The Grand Performances concerts will go on until early October. The full schedule is at http://grandperformances.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/season_schedule.overview

Make one of these Saturdays your "Summer Concerts Saturday!" You'll love it!

ORQUESTA CHARANGOA AT LACMA

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