BoomerTrekker

A travel blog by Joseph Koppi

Hangzhou
St. Paul
Cuenca
  • Happening Now
  • Stories From The Road
  • Destination Guides
  • Travel Tips & Tricks
  • Map
  • Contact
  • Happening Now
  • Stories From The Road
  • Destination Guides
  • Travel Tips & Tricks
  • Map
  • Contact

Evening of blues in South America

February 6, 2020 | Stories From The Road

My wife, Char, and I were pleasantly surprised recently when we squeezed into the Inca Lounge & Bistro’s tiny venue above Cuenca’s Tomebamba River to listen to a couple of Canadian blues musicians.

Canadians Peter Nolan (left) and Joe Brett entertained a tightly-packed crowd at the Inca Lounge & Bistro in Cuenca, Ecuador, with some blues. The two entertainers put on an impromptu show after meeting for the first time only days earlier.

The local expat community responded enthusiastically on short notice of the event, which was, more or less, impromptu, as the two musicians had just met for the first time a few days earlier. Not more than 35 to 40 patrons fit into the place, packed in pretty much shoulder to shoulder. Owner Mike Sena called in extra servers for the expected packed house, and they scurried along what was left of aisleways balancing plates of portobello burgers, burritos, and taco salads on their fingertips.

The Inca Lounge & Bistro provided a tiny venue but a packed house for an evening’s entertainment featuring Canadian blues singers Peter Nolan and Joe Brett.

The audience for the evening was mature, including a number of graybeards and heads of hair streaked with wisdom’s silver filaments–some of them passers-through, but most being those who have made Cuenca their home. I continue to be surprised and impressed with the vitality and participatory spirit of Cuenca’s expatriate community. So, it is no wonder that these folks, too, were among those scrunched into this venue fit more for Lilliputians than full-sized hominids.

Char and I have made a number of friends during our two winters in Cuenca. We often get together for breakfasts, dinners, and entertainment. Sometimes we visit local sites and, occasionally, take day trips around the area.

We had had the pleasure of watching and listening to Peter Nolan play when we were in Cuenca at this time last year. Nolan is from Alberta but spent quite a bit of time living in Mississippi studying the blues. He plays his acoustic guitar with passion and sings the same way.

Joe Brett, on the other hand, has one foot in blues and one foot in a kind of country rock. On the blues side, he performed Polk Salad Annie (Tony Joe White, 1968), a southern blues piece with a bit of Cajun spice; on the country side, he played Lay Down Sally (Eric Clapton, 1977), a country rock piece with blues overtones, according to Wikipedia (as I’m not a music critic, I rely on the zillions of bits and bytes of the cyberspace knowledge base for my expertise in these matters).

Not until my late 60s did I begin to attend live concerts. Imagine that–me–a product of the original rock ‘n’ roll generation, waiting all these years to hear this great music in person. I am finding that attending live performances induces a link not only between me and the music, but also among everyone else who is there. The songs reverberate among us, pique our emotions, stimulate our primeval rhythms, and bind us together with words and notes and riffs like some kind of giant molecule of music appreciation.

The mini-venue of the Inca Lounge also added to the evening’s enjoyment by creating an intimate atmosphere. When I think about it, people from locations around the globe came together in this tiny place for a couple of hours in the mountains of Ecuador to experience a fundamentally human phenomenon–the creation of music–and then evaporated into the evening.

After the show

Often when we walk home after an evening out, we pass one of our favorite cafés, Goza Expresso Bar. It’s kind of a hip place, especially in the evenings. Of course, the crowd is much younger than we, but that doesn’t matter. We probably stop at Goza once a week, mostly for lunch or an afternoon break.
Goza Expresso Bar caters to the expat community, as reflected in its prices. Although, the place is also frequented by locals as well. It’s located on the primary thoroughfare of El Centro, Calle Larga, and sometimes–during times of heavy traffic–the noise can overwhelm your conversation if you sitting outside, and everyone wants to sit outside. In the evening, the noise usually comes from Goza’s music selections. Goza is clean, has great food and excellent servers. You’re looking at our late night snack on our way home from the Inca Lounge.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Print

Category: Stories From The Road

About Joseph Koppi

Joseph Koppi is a traveler and writer with over 40 years of writing experience. He currently treks the world, writing about his adventures in foreign lands and with the amazing people he encounters. Read More

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

About BoomerTrekker

When you travel, only one of two things can happen: something good or something bad; either way, you have a story to tell.

Boomertrekker.com is the cave wall on which I try to etch the stories and pictures of my travel experiences. You will find stories of setting out to go one place, but arriving at another; of finding, quite by accident, experiences that I could not have anticipated; of meeting and becoming friends with people whose language I cannot speak. Sometimes you will find me paralyzed and out of my comfort zone, as I was in Cambodia when I regretfully let pass my opportunity to eat a cricket. At other times, I hope you marvel, as I have, at the intelligence and ingenuity and inventiveness of ancient peoples everywhere. These are the stories I tell here. They are the stories of my travels to foreign lands in which I am the foreigner. Read More

Locations

Beijing British Columbia California Cambodia Canada China Cuba Curaçao Ecuador Florida Hangzhou Havana Iceland Mazatlan Mexico San Francisco Sierra Leone United States Vancouver Vietnam

Popular Articles

China: First Days…

February 5, 2012 8 Comments

Update: Hangzhou Foreign Languages School…

March 18, 2012 7 Comments

Today’s Lesson: Teaching at Hangzhou Foreign…

February 22, 2012 7 Comments

Marryin’ Joseph…

May 23, 2012 5 Comments

We’re headed south for winter in the Andes…

January 7, 2020 5 Comments

Recent Comments

  • Claudine on We’re headed south for winter in the Andes

    Glad you have arrived safely and are settled in. The Farmer's Market looks luscious. And the weath......

  • Andrea on We’re headed south for winter in the Andes

    I'm so happy for both of you.. continue enjoying Cuenca!! :) xoxo...

  • Jeanine Ryan on We’re headed south for winter in the Andes

    Thanks for taking me along! I look forward to reading more!...

  • Judy Horsnell on We’re headed south for winter in the Andes

    Joe, enjoy your escape to that beautiful area of the world; really, you are not missing anything bac......

  • Marsha on We’re headed south for winter in the Andes

    So happy you are able to get away from the cold and be in such a neat place. Looking forward to foll......

BoomerTrekker

Joseph Koppi is a freelance travel writer with over 40 years of writing and communications experience in both the media and corporate arenas. He currently treks around the world, writing about his adventures in foreign lands and with the amazing people he encounters. Read More

Get BommerTrekker by Email

Enter your email address to subscribe and receive new articles by email.

Join 19 other subscribers

Browse by Topic

  • Happening NowStatus Updates
  • Destination Guides
  • Stories From The Road
  • Travel Tips & Tricks

© 2023 Joseph Koppi. All Rights Reserved. Home • Contact • Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.