He's Making It To Barcelona Despite Storm St. Jude

He was fortunate enough that Cardiff, where he was, and Bristol, to where he went this morning (his morning over there, not mine which comes later over here) to get his flight to Barcelona, wasn't badly affected by the storm.

This is not the case in other parts of the UK, France and Belgium.  In many places it was very bad.  Power is out, transportation of every sort halted or disrupted, communications difficult.  Four people died.

He was so anxious for the last three days as to whether he'd be able to make his gig with the "Rumba Para Bebo" (memorial for Bebo Valdez with his equally great son, Chucho) the Barcelona Jazz Festival.  But he couldn't leave WOMEX until this morning, as his gig there in Cardiff, with Juan Formell and Los Van Van, was his yesterday evening.*

I'm so happy for him. And relieved.

As soon as he gets into his hotel he’s being whisked off to have dinner with Chucho Valdez and several other great Cuban latin jazz musicians. There just isn’t anything that he loves more than this except hearing them play, of course, which he’ll be doing a lot of.

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*  It's too small to make out as the stage is so far away in this big theater but the screen is projecting a photo of el V, one I took of him last spring.  He's giving the presentation of the award speech.