Boquete Takes the Lead with Blues

The Entertainment Scene
with Lourdes Quijada

Boquete, fast becoming  a must-visit festival center in Panama has taken the lead in bringing Blues to the Isthmus.

And there’s nothing like a blues tune to chase away the blues. Ask my husband who during his recent stay in hospital managed to gripe away with the T-Bone Walker blues classic Call it Stormy Monday (which is the day he ended up in ICU). The lyrics continue, “ Tuesday’s just as bad, Wednesday’s worse…” if you get my meaning.  When he felt better he even brought up onto his laptop a late 50’s recording of Guy Mitchell singing “I’ve never felt more like singin’ the blues.” Now I know he’s getting better.

Bulgarian jazz diva Saska Laroo

Everybody knows the Danilo Perez’ annual Jazz Festival in Panama City which next year will move it’s final concert from Casco Viejo to the City of Knowledge, but tiny Boquete has had an annual Jazz Festival for the last five years and plans next month to steal a march on it’s famed cousin.

As Jazz lovers will know  Jazz, is the baby that grew out of blues, and Boquete is bringing  daddy and baby together in March.

There’s an annual Blues Festival in Costa Rica. There have been large Blues concerts in Colombia and Ecuador. There’s a huge Blues scene in Brazil with festivals that attract tens of thousands of people, there are annual Blues Festivals on various Caribbean islands… and now Panama.

Blues is almost unknown here. There may be some people who know some of  the big names in the Blues like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Taj Mahal…but beyond that there’s very little knowledge of this unique, and genuinely American music…

The Blues has been around long before Jazz evolved out of it. The Blues has spread from the cotton fields of Mississippi to Chicago, all over the USA, and from there all over the world. You can hear the Blues, and attend Blues Festivals almost everywhere, from North America to South America, Europe, the Near East, Australia, and Asia. Blues Festivals in Japan always attract huge crowds of Blues-crazy fans.

In Panama you can hear and enjoy everything from salsa, and  merengue, to heavy metal … but no Blues!. On March 1-4, all of that will change when The Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival Foundation will present the country‘ first open-air Jazz & Blues Festival in Panama with world-class Blues artists from the US and Europe in addition to top-notch Jazz musicians from Panama, the US and Europe.

World-class Jazz and Blues on the slopes of Volcan Baru in the valley of rainbows and eternal spring.

Here’s the line up

Blues:Mitch Woods (US), Johnny Sansone (US), Andy Egert (CH) with Bob Stroger (US), Sharrie Williams&The Wiseguys (US), Ron Hacker (US).

Jazz: Carlos Ubarte quartet with Idania Dowman (PA), Saskia Laroo (NL) with Salsa Bop, The Smoking Time Jazz Club (US), Betty Bryant (US), Rigoberto Coba Big Band (PA)

A special concert with Jazz lady Betty Bryant and friends will take place at the BCP theatre in Boquete on Thursday evening, March  1

There will be a FREE opening show for the general public  in Boquete central park on Friday, March 2 followed by parties at local restaurants and hotels in Boquete and then a two dayopen-air festival in the Valle Escondido amphitheatre on March 3 & 4.

Festival tickets can be booked online and  tickets are sold locally at Mailboxes ETC. in Boquete.. Tickets for the open air March 3 and 4, are:…day ticket; $20 adult, $ 5 students and minors. 2 day festival pass: $30 adults, $7.50 students and  minors

Ticket price for the Betty Bryant concert on, March 1. : $ 13.
www.boquetejazzandbluesfestival.com

www.es.boquetejazzandbluesfestival.com

The Boquete Jazz&Blues Festival Foundation is a non-commercial, all-volunteer, not-for-profit organization. Which does its work for the love of music, and to enhance cultural life in the  community and to realize  a vision of putting Boquete firmly on the Jazz and Blues map.

Read original article here >>

London’s Times Square

Brian Rose in the Google Holodeck

When I was Venice, I visited the beautiful new Google offices there.  It’s where most of the photos team is based.

We had a fun little giveaway where I invited a winner to join me for the day at Google.  The winner was Cam Meadows, so he joined me and Tom Anderson on a grand tour around the offices.  Along the way, our host, Brian Rose, led us to the Google Holodeck.

It’s fully integrated into the latest version of Google Earth, and you can zoom and fly around anywhere in the world.  I grabbed the controls to zoom into San Francisco then asked him to smile while I grabbed a quick photo!

Elephant Grill in Panama

Friday, 17 February 2012 17:07
Written by Matt Landau
The Panama Report

Elephant Grill in Panama

David Henesy is the smartest restaurateur I know in Panama, and I have no idea who would rank second. The dumbest consigliere in David’s management circle is still smarter (by himself) than all the employees at Crepes & Waffles, Niko’s and Café Pomodoro’s restaurant syndicates combined. Expert foreigners in Panama make everything a little unfair.

“The servers at Elephant Grill are almost robotically well-trained.”

Panama was predisposed to love David’s newest restaurant, Elephant Grill, before it even opened and I totally understand why. First, it’s a new territory in his evolving restaurant empire alongside the likes of La Posta, Market, and La Chesa, which is to say, it would be more surprising if Elephant Grill was bad than if it was good. Second, Panama City has a severe shortage of Asian food, which is to say, any kind of Pan-Asian cuisine is usually better than nothing. Lastly, Elephant Grill is located on a prime corner on Calle Uruguay (which Panamanians like) and offers valet parking (which Panamanians love).

We arrived 30 minutes before our scheduled reservation and were seated without hesitation. The décor inside Elephant Grill is dim and Indian. There are some kind of Asian characters on the wall, the furniture has a decidedly organic feel, and an idle dimsum pushcart gets me kind of excited to try somewhere other than the Golden Unicorn.

The menu items at Elephant Grill are conveniently categorized by the vehicular modes on which they will enter your mouth: finger foods, chopstick foods…etc. The prices range from $4 appetizers to $30 entrees and the waiter-recommended cocktail, a leechee martini, was $7. It was pink. It was girly. And it was embarassingly delicious.

David and his wife are sitting next to me drinking wine, entertaining different appetizers and picking at entrees as each arrives with their fingers. Every now and then, David makes explosive, demonstrative hand gestures as if he’s conducting a band of soldiers. Without looking up from the table, one arm in the air means, someone come here I need something pronto. Both hands swirling in the air means we’re done, please remove all our plates now. But when I try these signals a few minutes later myself and they don’t work, my girlfriend tells me to stop being an idiot.

We started with corvina and spinach dumplings, which come four to a serving ($10). They were seared on one side (light and fluffy on the other) and served with a light dipping sauce. They were delicious (but should have been $6). We also snacked on great edamame (soy bean pods) doused in a spicy pork sauce ($5). Wooden chopsticks aplenty grace the tabletop and a small side stool is useful for bags and bottles of wine.

Simply by existing on the night of my dinner, Elephant Grill represents at least four signature hallmarks of David Henesy’s savant-like success in Panama City:

The servers at Elephant Grill are almost robotically well-trained.

On the rare occasion that a fine-dining establishment in Panama serves me something spectacular, I often realize that (a) the chef did something irregular but somehow it worked out miraculously and that (b) I’ve actually invested more intellectual energy into the quality standards of the restaurant than the goddamn proprietor. When I eat the Korean bulgogi ($21) at Elephant Grill, I can factually state that neither of these are even remotely true. If the Pan-Asian theme of Elephant Grill is intending for Asian flavors to unite and solidify and create a continental hegemony to defeat the Western ideologies, the bulgogi shall be its leader.

I observe people in Panama’s nice restaurants. A lot. There is only a premier echelon of places that the guests can range from formal to totally casual and still be treated with the same service that the staff gives its owner. Elephant Grill falls into this category.

Completely irrespective to his profession, David Henesy wears Croakies 24/7.

I am including the following anecdote for two reasons, neither of which is, “because it will affect your dining experience.” I was seated under some sort of air conditioning unit that haphazardly released droplets onto my head throughout the course of dinner. In retrospect, this was probably the only unamazing thing I could possibly say about the restaurant. It was the only flaw that exhibited the restaurants mortality. But I kind of liked it because it reminded me of an authentic meal on the streets of Thailand.

photo credit: Steve-h
photo credit: h.koppdelaney

Orange Queenstown Sunset

Hiking Through the Valley

Hiking Through the Valley
© 2010 Trey Ratcliff
Stuck In Customs

Boat in Feng Huang

Why Your Next Trip Should Be To Panama

January 27, 2012
Caroline Patek, Contributor
Forbes

Poised at the junction of North and South America, Panama possesses a laundry list of new attractions, hotspots and luxury hotels that are making it an up and coming travel destination—with the catalyst undoubtedly being the $5.25 billion Panama Canal expansion that’s underway and scheduled for completion in 2014. The aim is to allow a greater volume and size of ships to pass through the historic, 50-mile long waterway. The result? Panama City is transforming into an energetic, modern metropolis, with investors preparing for moneyed visitors by upping its luxury quotient.

Donald Trump got in early on Panama’s growing popularity, opening Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower in summer 2011, making it the first international venture for Trump Hotel Collection (and the tallest building in Latin America). The hotel is uniquely shaped like a tall ship’s sail, and rooms have floor-to-ceiling views of Panama City and the Pacific Ocean. Panamanian touches such as wood-carved headboards grace the 369 guest rooms, and luxe services abound, including wardrobe storage assistance (so frequent visitors don’t have to lug baggage back and forth) and a complimentary catamaran to Trump’s private Beach Club (an island with white sand beaches, a pool, cabanas, watersports and beach chair service). But it’s the 1,830-square-foot pool deck that really caught our attention—it has a gorgeous infinity-edge pool, alfresco seating at the poolside bar and restaurant and expansive ocean views.Photo courtesy Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower Panama.

Waldorf Astoria’s The Panamera, the brand’s first in Latin America, is scheduled to open in June in Panama City’s fashionable Calle Uruguay neighborhood. Located less than 15 minutes from Marcos A. Gelabert International Airport and within walking distance of the massive Cinta Costera (the city’s version of Central Park), the luxury hotel will have a 2,500-square-foot spa, 130 guest rooms and an outdoor swimming pool. There will be a variety of restaurants, from the handcrafted sushi at Ginger Sushi Bar and Lounge to contemporary French-American at Brasserie Brillo. The Bungalo Terrace and Pool Bar will be the spot for poolside libations, and The Cristal Bar will serve as an elegant space for cocktails and mingling in the lobby.

There’s much more to do than lounge poolside in Panama. The once dilapidated but charmingly historic neighborhood of Casco Viejo has undergone a sophisticated makeover in recent years. While you can still spot the colonial-era architecture prevalent throughout its streets, the area now houses some of the city’s best restaurants, bars, galleries and hotels. DiVino Enoteca is a swanky wine bar, with hundreds of varietals to choose from (watch for the classic, black-and-white movies playing silently in the background). At tapas restaurant Manolo Caracol, there is no menu—once seated, you’ll be given a variety of small plates with Spanish influences, such as Andalusian gazpacho with cucumber sorbet and spicy tuna sashimi.

The Frank Gehry-designed BioMuseo is set to open in early 2013, and will focus on the country’s fascinating biodiversity and the importance of the isthmus—the narrow strip of land that makes Panama and its revenue-generating canal. And though the museum isn’t officially open yet, you can join the list of VIPs (Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jane Goodall) and stop by the site for a sneak peek.

The Forbidden City

The Opposite Hotel