Luis Laguna Website!

WWW.LUISLAGUNA.COM
WWW.LUISLAGUNA.COM
WWW.LUISLAGUNA.COM

Several months ago I visited the city of Maracay to work on some music with our great composer Henry Martinez and after hours of work on my transcriptions of his music, he took me to the home of the late, great venezuelan composer Luis Laguna. The family still owns and lives in the house and we spent the evening talking about Laguna's music, the groups he played in and his life in general. I had been interested in documenting the life of this great venezuelan for some time, so this was a great honor and also a very enlightening encounter!

I went back for a second visit several weeks later, having purchased the web address with his name, and taught myself how to design a website, armed with my laptop, scanner and notebook, with my lovely assistant Cyntia Irady, we interviewed, scanned old photos and other documents, and took photos. But mostly we enjoyed the warm hospitality of Ms. Margarita (Laguna's widow) and his son Luis Jr. Wonderful people living in a house full of memories and wonderful musical energy!

WWW.LUISLAGUNA.COM
WWW.LUISLAGUNA.COM
WWW.LUISLAGUNA.COM

Capacho ~ Pablo Montoya

On April 1st I went to the small city of Capacho (in Táchira state) for four days to visit the composer Pablo Montoya. I had been in Capacho several months ago playing a concert with Cecilia Todd and I met some local musicians who played one of his pieces. I asked who the composer was and they told me about Mr. Montoya. He's 73 years old and has been playing mandolin, violin and guitar for all of his adult life. Along the way he has invented his own songs in the traditional styles (mostly waltzes, venezuelan merengue, bambuco, paso doble, and porro). He is known to have almost 70 compositions, but told me he could only remember some 25 or so. Since he does not write them down, all depends on his memory or that of his friends and family who play his music. This is why I quickly went back to Capacho... The idea of this music being lost is horrible. He and two of his sons and a friend were kind enough to sit through a long recording session and try to remember as many pieces as possible. After several hours we managed to record a list of 40 songs! That's where the well ran dry. I left them in charge of remembering the other 30 songs for the next time I go. Meanwhile I have a lot to transcribe!

Barquisimeto ~ Ricardo Mendoza

On a trip to Barquisimeto for a concert with Cecilia Todd, I was invited to meet composer and mandolinist Ricardo Mendoza. He is the composer of the much performed waltz entitled "Lagunillas" among many others. We met at a musical reunion and he played with my friend Chuito (Jesús Rengel) while I took some photos and then I played along with my soprano sax. I spoke to him about my book of transcriptions and he invited me to come back to Barquisimeto to show me the rest of his compositions. I'll probably be visiting him in May.

With Aldemaro Romero

In May, 2005 I played for Aldemaro with Cheo Hurtado and other friends and we all had a lively discussion about the time signature in venezuelan merengue. It is performed regularly in 5/8, but over the years there have been many different interpretations of this style. For many years it has been written simply in 2/4, but the actual sound is seldom so square. I've heard many different interpretations, from strict 5/8 to 6/8, and everything in between.
It was a memorable day!