We recently vacationed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I was the guest of my wife Gail, who, along with the entire advertising sales team at The Daily Record,had earned this fantastic reward by exceeding the goals set for them. We all had a great time. Puerto Vallarta is a fantastic place and it was full of charming surprises.
I had hoped to hear some authentic Mexican music while in PV and I was surprised by where and when it happened. We were dining at a restaurant called "El Patio" up a rocky narrow road in the village of Mismaloya, the town made internationally famous in the 1964 John Huston film "The Night of the Iguana".
We arrived at El Patio on the recommendation of Miguel, the charming doorman/porter at our hotel. There was no one there. Saturday night 6PM, 80 seats on several levels of outdoor patio covered by thatched roofs – and there was no one else there. Except for Jorge, our waiter and one guy behind the bar, aho was also the cook. They had bottles of Damiana Liquor behind the bar so I felt better right away.
Guacamole – Excellent, or as Jorge told us "Best in the World"
Margaritas – Fishbowl sized and outstanding, also billed by Jorge as "Best in the World"
Fresh Seafood platter for two – amazing. Dorado (aka Mahi-mahi), Snapper, Shrimp, Frog’s legs, lobster tail, crab and rice.
Then Jorge produced a guitar and began to sing. I had been carrying my portable digital recorder all day, recording various sounds of the city and the surf – I quickly fired it up and started recording.
To listen to any of these songs – right click on the link and save the file to your computer – then play with any music program, Windows Media Player, itunes, winamp… There is also a Zip File with all 7 songs in one folder Download jorge_live_at_el_patio.zip (15 Megs)
Well, we were stunned. Literally moved to tears by the power of these old Mexican love songs. It is just some very simple guitar strumming and one man singing in the night – if you listen very closely you may be able to hear the Rio Mismaloya cascading down the hill in the background, and perhaps the rustling of an Iguana in the jungle…
We brought the entire group back to El Patio on Monday night. A party of 14 people, we tried to call in advance but the phone was not working. AS we came up the hill in a caravan of four taxis past a small village carnival whioch had not been there 2 nights ago, I prayed that they were open… and the lights were on! This time there were some others in the restaurant and we heard a few more songs.
By my interpretation, this is a song of regional pride. Jalisco is the state we were in at Puerto Vallarta. The town of Tequila is in Jalisco and the Blue Agave cactus from which fine tequila is made is grown here. According to this song "Las Mujeres de Jalisco esta Primero" The women of Jalisco are the best.
Not sure what these two songs are, but they were nice too.
Finally, the last song is the most famous farewell song in Mexico, "Vaya Con Dios"
Then Jorge climbed into his red Cadillac convertible and drove off into the Mexican night.
Click to enlage Pictures.
