During Zihuatanejo’s languid, steamy, summer months, after the tourists and snowbirds have flown north, Zihua’s musicians finally have time to take a deep breath and relax. That doesn’t mean that they stop playing however.
The hottest live-music venue in town simply shifts to Ed Litchfield’s house in El Hujal. Several Saturdays each month, with a six-pack of cerveza and instruments in hand, musicians show up at Ed’s for a spirited jam session.
Last June, one of the musicians commented that, in addition to the annual children’s benefit concert, wouldn’t it be cool to record a benefit CD as well. Por Los Niños de Zihuatanejo quickly agreed to fund the production costs, and the SailFest organizing committee welcomed the CD and concert as official SailFest events, qualifying them for matching funds from the Bellack Foundation and Pete Boyce.
Ed shouldered the task of herding these musical cats into Zihua’s tiny recording studio; Tres Warren worked his electronic wizardry with the sound and mixing; Jackie Basoco designed the striking album graphics; and music-industry veteran Morrie Last kept us pointed in the right direction.
The finished CDs finally arrived in Zihuatanejo just four days prior to the beginning of SailFest, where 650 were sold in the first 10 days, nearly 800 CDs in total. And the sold-out benefit concert, where eight of the recording artists performed, attracted more than 250 music lovers. To our delight, the musicians’ combined contributions were the most successful of all SailFest fund-raising events this year.
The 2007 SailFest raised a total of $941,042 pesos, including matching grants. Approximately 50 percent will be dedicated to the Nueva Creaciòn Building Fund; a community partnership to build a safe school for 172 impoverished children. The balance will be distributed to educational projects at other disadvantaged schools in the community.
Now, when a musician asks me, “How did we do?” I can smile and reply, “Well, you just built an entire classroom with your voice and guitar.”
CDs are available at Club Blue Mamou, Rick’s Bar, La Casa Cafè and other locations. For more information, contact Lorenzo Marbut, lorenzo@porlosninos.info, www.losninos,us
