Jazz Festival

Hace dos fines de semana se celebro el 32 festival de jazz de Chicago y por supuesto, teniendo a Thomas como apasionado de la musica, teniamos que hacer una visita obligatoria :) Cogimos el tren por la manana deseosos de llegar a Grant Park y disfrutar de la musica, llegamos a la ciudad y caminamos hasta el parque, donde empezamos a explorar todos los escenarios y bandas que estaban tocando. Al principio pensamos que la primera banda que vimos no era nuestro tipo de musica y no nos gusto mucho, por lo que seguimos buscando otras bandas, sin tener mucho exito...algunas bandas eran buenas, el problema era el sonido, los tecnicos podrian haber optimizado el sonido mucho mas, pero bueno, vimos varios conciertos que no estuvieron nada mal :)
The 32nd Chicago's Jazz festival was celebrated two weekends ago and since Thomas is a real fan of jazz music we headed to the city to attend the festival :)
We took the train in the morning looking forward to arrive in Grant Park and enjoy the music. We finally arrived in the city and walked to the park, where we started exploring the area with all the different band and stages. We thought that we were just a bit unlucky because we didn't like much the first band we listened to, so we kept on looking for other better ones without success...some of the bands were nice, the problem was the sound. The technicians could have done a better job, but still we could listen to some nice bands :)




Seguimos explorando la zona buscando algo de comer, pero solo encontramos comida rapida, entre los tenderetes, uno de churros :)) habia que probarlos, claro!
We kept on exploring the place looking for something to eat, but we only found some fast food. Among the tents we found a "churros" tent, so we had to try them!

American bbq. Barbacoa americana

Churros tent. Puesto de churros

Thomas with our churros. Thomas con nuestros churros

Con el estomago lleno, seguimos explorando la zona, esperando a los conciertos que habia por la noche en un escenario gigante. Mientras tanto, pasamos el rato viendo algunos conciertos que iban desde el jazz mas alternativo a lo mas comercial del mundo y yo, para ser sincera, me aburri bastante :)
We filled our stomachs and wait for the concerts late at night which were supposed to be nicer and in a huge stage. While waiting, we listened to some of the bands playing finding really alternative jazz and the other extreme, very commercial music. To be honest, I was very bored :)

Big stage. Escenario grande para los conciertos de la noche

Estabamos todo esperanzados pensando que un concierto en un escenario como ese no podia ser decepcionante. Nos reunimos con nuestros amigos Patricia e Igor y nos dirigimos al gran concierto, pero de nuevo...un rollo, jeje! para nuestro gusto, claro. Hay que remarcar que el lugar estaba abarrotado y que habia musica para todos los gustos, eso si, no del nuestro. Pero como la noche es joven, nosotros no tiramos la toalla y decidimos ir a un club de jazz donde se podia cenar y ver conciertos. Ademas, esa noche habia "jam session". Nos dirigimos a "Andy's Jazz Chicago", donde disfrutamos de una buena cena y un concierto mucho mejor que lo que habiamos visto hasta el momento.
We thought the concerts at night would be better, so we met our friends Patricia and Igor and all together went to the big concert. Once again...it was boring! for our taste, of course. I have to say that the place was crowded and there was music for all kind of people.
At that point we really wanted to listen to nice jazz music, so we didn't give up and decided to go to a nice jazz club where you can eat and listen to live music :). Moreover, that night there was a jam session. After walking for 30 minutes we arrived in "Chicago Andy's Jazz", where we enjoyed dinner and a very cool concert, a lot better than what we had seen before.

Lo mejor de la noche llego cuando empezo la jam session y tres "abueletes" con todo el carino y respeto de la palabra, se subieron al escenario. Fue increible, tocaban genial y ademas, varios saxofonistas y trompetistas se unieron, entre ellos un chaval muy joven que tocaba el saxofon que se ponian los pelos como escarpias :). La verdad es que la experiencia merecio la pena y el dia acabo genial, dejandonos un buen sabor de boca. Repetiremos!!
The best part of the night was the jam session. Three "granpas" (with all my love and respect for them) went on the stage and it was really incredible once they started playing, they sounded amazing! some sax and trumpet players joined the session and one of them was a very young guy who played like a real professional, we were really gobsmacked! To be honest it was really worth it and a great day was had by all. We will repeat!!

"The granpas" band. La banda de "los abuelos" que tocaban genial!!