Culture Vulture: Ibrahim Ferrer Jr. in Merida
I’m in Mérida, Mexico, co-facilitating a week-long retreat called “Gay Men and the Art of Aging Gracefully.” Walking to dinner the first night, by pure chance I walked past a nightclub I’d never noticed before on Calle 60, the newly spiffy avenue connecting the Plaza Grande with Paseo de Montejo in Merida. On the sidewalk, I noticed a poster announcing a concert featuring Ibrahim Ferrer Jr., the son of one of the great stars featured in Buena Vista Social Club (the album and the movie, now adapted into a musical for the stage openly shortly on Broadway after a sold-out Off-Broadway run).
Four of us from the workshop I’m leading reserved a table and spent a lovely Valentine’s Day evening in an intimate setting watching a concert in the club’s courtyard with the full moon beaming down on us.
Ferrer Jr. is, of course, no longer a kid. He’s 66, he walks with a cane, and he wears hearing aids. (His father died in 2005 at the age of 78.) But he put on a great show, very chatty from the beginning with an audience that seemed to include a fair number of Cubans. He plays with an exciting ensemble of young musicians — guitar, string bass, percussion, trumpet, trombone, and keyboards (played by his vivacious female music director, whose name I didn’t catch) along with a young woman who danced, sang backup vocals, and helped the star on and off the stage.
Some in the audience couldn’t resist getting up and dancing in the aisles.
Everybody was there because they’re fans of Buena Vista Social Club, so we all went a little crazy when Ferrer brought up a special guest, Ruben Gonzalez Jr., whose father was also a key player in the Buena Vista Social Club project.
And the temperature in the room rose again as the set steered into the final third with “Chan Chan,” the opening number from the original album and the song probably most associated with the group.
Experiencing the music live made me want to go back and watch the Wim Wenders documentary again. Even the official trailer makes a case for these musicians as prime examples of The Art of Aging Gracefully.
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Don, Little tears of joy in my eyes for what you are doing, thank you.
My body is being less graceful about this endeavor than I would like, primarily due to chronic fatigue. But by the grace of more than one god/goddess I find myself in meaningful emotional and erotic relationships with three lovely men. All know to me for between 13 and 42 years.
Part of my social/ political activism has always demanded that I be Out, sometimes blatantly so. And I speak openly of the importance of erotic connection in my life whenever possible, especially now that I have such an abundance of it.
I use the VA for healthcare and always share that, while I may be a bit crotchety, I do have three “lovers.” I get wonderful, sometimes flirty, responses, but more important is their consistent encouragement to keep it up. (no pun).
I could never imagine establishing meaningful relationships like this with someone new to me.
Do you know other folks finding this kind of joyful connection based on long term friendships?
love this and looking forward to learning how to age gracefully....well I've done a bit at 58 but hopefully more to come so needing examples...