Feb. 24th - A SEIS MANOS - Calle 22 8-60 - smack-dab-in-the-middle-of-downtown Bogotá. I like this place. I've liked it ever since I first stepped inside (and off chaotic Calle 22) -- into the high-ceilinged bamboo playhouse that serves as the restaurant. And even before my first visit I suspected it was going to be good. I was introduced to two of the five partners in this new Franco-Colombian venture a couple of months before it opened at one of the 2-3 cocktail parties I allow myself to be dragged to every year and somehow their mere presence and relaxed conversation soothed my anti-social angst. Jean-Christophe and Germán impressed me as enthusiastic, capable, thoughtful and funny: all the things you look for in a host. So I figured any club they ran would probably be a good place to play.My hunch was proven right last Thursday as we scaled the high stage armed with a repertoire designed especially for the occasion. The crowd was attentive, the rum punch flowed, the lighting (which sucked if your a photographer -- sorry, Lema) was low and indirect, and as the rain poured down on the skylight above us it felt good to be singing smokey songs in a dry, cozy club with three gentlemen jazzers: Luis Pacheco on percussion, Edgardo Bossio on piano, and Javier Pérez on percussion and vocals.
Even after two sets, we lingered on to talk with people in the audience and soak in the place. A SEIS MANOS is off to a great start and the Trio is too. If you're in Bogotá and want a different kind of "corrientazo" (either a good lunch or good vibes or both), or a different kind of club experience, brave the insane downtown construction chaos and check it out.
(Special thanks to Alex Vargas who has been helping us with new personalized in-ear monitoring. I CAN HEAR MYSELF!!!!)
