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Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to play?   You are logged in as Guest
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Alonte

 

Posts: 214
Joined: Dec. 2 2008
 

Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to play? 
Help! So I am being asked to play for a restaurant/lounge for the first time. This will be solo for now since I can't find a dancer in my area yet but I was wondering if I can get any help on what to play to cover at least 2 sets of music. Say 2 15 minute sets for now? I know some falsetas here and there and would like to take this as a challenge to learn set pieces until I find a dancer who can work with me.

Any pieces? Or should I play palos and do variations on compas then falsetas here and there? Ughh Im panicking because they want to try me out on this week already.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 27 2011 23:16:41
 
Beausie

Posts: 7
Joined: Jun. 16 2011
 

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
Congratulations!

Play your complete dance accompaniments. I.E. Alegrias with intro- letras - silencio - escobilla and bulerias with what ever falsetas you know. This will eat tons of time and probably sound like what they have in mind. Make big endings with lots of ragueo ;)

Avoid to much jondo rep on the cafe gigs when playing solo. You have to remember the image most owners have of what Flamenco is.

You'll totally get the gig and then you'll have time to fill out your rep with more substantial rep. See it as being paid to practice! suerte!

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 27 2011 23:45:29
 
vuduchyld

 

Posts: 170
Joined: Feb. 20 2011
 

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
Just two sets of 15 minutes? So 30 minutes total? That doesn't seem very long.

How much experience do you have playing gigs? How much material do you have to work with?

If it were me...I'm such a flamenco beginner that I wouldn't want to string falsetas together without having a bigger-picture idea of what I was going to play. Personally, I would play pieces. That's not to say I wouldn't have SOME variation from those pieces...I mean, I might mix up the sequence of a couple of parts and I wouldn't worry about it at all.

But I'm surprised that you could get by with only 30 minutes. Seems like it takes most people longer than that just to eat dinner.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 27 2011 23:45:34
 
Alonte

 

Posts: 214
Joined: Dec. 2 2008
 

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
Tricky situation. There really is no flamenco in my area so we are going to try to introduce it so to see how the community respond to it. My experience is mostly private juergas/jondo with singers and and dancers and I lack solo material. So just play and doodle as if Im playing with dancers? Lots of ragueo with a few chords marking compas? Shoot i dont know any gypsy kings and other rumba like materials ugggh.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 28 2011 2:05:06
 
at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
i agree with what beausie said.

and yes, always end big with lots of loud rasgueados.

jondo stuff is okay but sandwich it in between more upbeat stuff. i do a 10 min solea that ends in bulerias, and surprisingly, this is the piece that usually gets the most applause.

do sevillanas too.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 28 2011 2:24:54
 
Beausie

Posts: 7
Joined: Jun. 16 2011
 

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
Yes...what at_leo_87 sez. If you don't already have four sevillanas up and running, this week is the time to learn them (simple por baile sevillanas- nothing crazy). You'll use the heck out of them because even bad dancers know them.

I wasn't suggesting that you noodle your way through the gig. I just thought that if you had interesting material prepared from working with dancers you could play that. For example, a well composed escobilla can be very nice as a solo.
Do you have pieces that you play for dancers already?

Do us all and favor and leave the Gypsy Kings to the muzak player (Jobee! Jobaooo!!!)
sadly, it would I'm sure it would go over great....

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 28 2011 5:22:17
 
Alonte

 

Posts: 214
Joined: Dec. 2 2008
 

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
This is brilliant! I just kinda assumed that they expect solo is just solo like Paco de dont mention. So what do you guys think of this:

Have an imaginary singer and dancer, just marking.

Say I do a Solea really slow then escobilla then chords for letras then a few falsetas to bulerias. Tientos to Tangos to Rumba. 4 Sevillanas solo type and then maybe another one just playing chords for different songs in different key. Tientos to Tangos to Rumba. Then a straight buleria then finish. My solos and falsetas are rusty as I really focused on Compás and hearing chords for letras for the past year.

I hope this works? Cross my fingers nobody makes request to play GK because I am not familiar with that stuff at all but If I really have to, can you guys recommend songs that are most requested?
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 28 2011 8:04:36
 
KMMI77

Posts: 1821
Joined: Jul. 26 2009
From: The land down under

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
Hi Alonte,

The most important part I find is to feel comfortable with my chosen material. Especially the first tune. Then i can relax into it. Some slow arpeggios over a few nice chords would be my choice for my first tune at my first gig. Then I and the listeners have the opportunity to relax into the sound of the guitar. Once the audience accepts me as part of the room, I have fun and play whatever I feel like.

Don't forget to dress well and smile :-) And don't feel too bad if you finish a tune and nobody claps. It's just part of doing gigs

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 28 2011 8:57:36
 
Mark2

Posts: 1871
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
Just play the forms-just a solea with a few falsetas could take 10 minutes if you wanted it to. Tangos, tientos, bulerias, tangos in e, in b, por medio, por arriba, alegrias, sig, good rhythm and a few falsetas and your out of there with the dough.

I played for classes for years and one teacher would start witrh solea por bulerias for about ten minutes. I'd make simple variations and falsetas to keep from going crazy.

If you decide to keep playing solo gigs, you'll develop a more structured set of music, with some set pieces. If not , a guy who can play for singing and dance can do a 30 minute gig without breaking a sweat.

Ideally, for a gig like that, you should play some recognizable classical tunes, know malaguena(cause someone will request it) Recuerdos, romance, stuff like that. But you can totally fake that gig playing what you already know. Being really good at that type of gig, however, requires that you please the public. They will not know Vicente or Pacos material, but they will know all the spanishy stuff that is popular.


quote:

ORIGINAL: Alonte

Tricky situation. There really is no flamenco in my area so we are going to try to introduce it so to see how the community respond to it. My experience is mostly private juergas/jondo with singers and and dancers and I lack solo material. So just play and doodle as if Im playing with dancers? Lots of ragueo with a few chords marking compas? Shoot i dont know any gypsy kings and other rumba like materials ugggh.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 28 2011 16:48:12
 
Alonte

 

Posts: 214
Joined: Dec. 2 2008
 

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
Great input! I'll definitely try this for the first few gigs. Gee I haven't brushed up on those popular spanish pieces in almost a decade maybe it's about time to review them. Do you guys tried playing with a solo compás (compás only) backing track? or just play dead solo?
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 28 2011 17:04:29
 
Mark2

Posts: 1871
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
Don't do the backing track. It would be more fun for you(I love playing with Jason's dr compas at home) but the public will just be distracted by the clapping. They don't get how cool it is when you snycopate against the palmas-they just get annoyed. They do love the sound of a good guitar miked up with a bit of reverb though-it creates an atmosphere-that's why they are paying you.
I went through the whole circle. I was trained by an old school flamenco who made a living playing solo. He had it wired-he did his own stuff, but also arranged the spanishy stuff for the general public. He was against noodling, as he did concerts. All set pieces. A restauarant gig was where you worked on your concert programs.

I started doing a lot of solo gigs following his lead. One night I saw a flamenco guy just playing the forms at a restaurant, noodling. I wasn't impressed.
Later, I started playing for dance, and forgot all the cheesy solo stuff. I ended up being just like that guy I was not impressed by, noodling my way through three hour solo gigs. The money was good. I realized I was not doing as good a job for the public in this way, but my focus was not on that type of gig anymore. It's hard to do both, unless you are a full time musician. Even then, you have to make a choice. Pick your poison.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 28 2011 17:25:09
 
Alonte

 

Posts: 214
Joined: Dec. 2 2008
 

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
Interesting. I am not really a professional musician. My goal is to really bring flamenco to where I live. I hope the community recieves it well enough, I see your point... they will probably want to hear and request the popular tunes eventually so I see that as a challenge and responsibility.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 28 2011 17:57:12
 
Ron.M

Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
quote:

Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to play?


"Entre Dos Aguas" of course!!


cheers,

Ron
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 28 2011 18:00:13
 
etta

 

Posts: 342
Joined: Jan. 20 2010
 

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
Flamenco yes; but if you can, mix in a few latin/jazz pieces, and mix in a few jazz riffs with some of the flamenco. Unless you live in an area where there is lots of exposure to flamenco, a general restaurant audience may not appreciate or understand the edge to our music.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 29 2011 17:45:01
 
Lucerom

 

Posts: 60
Joined: Feb. 13 2006
From: Denver, Colorado

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to etta) 
quote:

Flamenco yes; but if you can, mix in a few latin/jazz pieces, and mix in a few jazz riffs with some of the flamenco. Unless you live in an area where there is lots of exposure to flamenco, a general restaurant audience may not appreciate or understand the edge to our music.


I agree with etta, do mix it up with latin jazz. I used to bartend at a Tapa's Bar / Restaurant in Southern California and most Flamenco is too rough on the ear's of restaurant goers, unless they are actually paying for or expecting to see a full flamenco show with dancers.

Imagine transporting the patrons to the Mediterranean or some tropical island and melt away the stress of their day while they enjoy their meal or beverage. Sadly, that means they want to hear Ottmar Leiber and Jessie Cook stuff (not that there is anything wrong with them; I just know we'd all rather play flamenco).

But you could also try adding in stuff like Buena Vista Social Club's Chan Chan; Maldita Vecindad's Kumbala Bar; just turn them into Rumbas. Here's an example from my buddy's band http://www.myspace.com/sombraquietamusic

Etta - Can you recommend any Latin Jazz material?

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 29 2011 19:14:17
 
Alonte

 

Posts: 214
Joined: Dec. 2 2008
 

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
Thanks for those inputs. I am a very open-minded artist and will try anything that works. Any more recommendations on repertoire? It's great you've had experience bartending so I am sure you have an idea for what most people would want to hear.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 29 2011 21:33:05
 
Wannabee

 

Posts: 131
Joined: Jan. 13 2007
 

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
It really depends on the location and what manner of clientele the place gets.

If they are expecting genuine flamenco guitar then go with what you know, but if they just want background "dinner music" you may want to through in a few jazz,
pop and whatever else you can play.

When I did that I always played a mix of fingerstyle stuff including some light classical pieces, some bossa, some half improved GK's, and some JM stuff.

If I were a real flamenco guitarist, I would have included more real flamenco, but I had to go with what I am able to play.

Best of luck,
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jun. 29 2011 22:57:04
 
Alonte

 

Posts: 214
Joined: Dec. 2 2008
 

RE: Restaurant/Lounge Gig... What to... (in reply to Alonte) 
Guys! Just finished my first gig. Success. People liked it. Solea almost the whole first set, people were just chatting over it. Crazy ragueos on the macho and done. Tangos on Sevillanas on the 2nd set and by the end people were just talking and I just did some improvised stuff por taranta. People were fascinated and they accepted flamenco well, it's kind of the first ever flamenco on the restaurant since they mostly have djs, salsa and belly dancing. My hands are warm again. Thanks for all your inputs!
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jul. 1 2011 6:35:32
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