The Rarest of Places and Times

Tonight we watched the sunset over Guiones through layers of clouds and light rain with the sun breaking free from the clouds a good thirty minutes before finally disappearing beyond the horizon. It was low tide and the reflection of the clouds on the sand along with the glowing pink colors emerging as the sun set lower could only be described as magical. I greeted friends while Dan took a short run; most of the locals come out for the setting of the sun- a community ritual. It is Dan’s last night here in Nosara with me. We rented a small four wheel drive vehicle today and plan on driving to Tamarindo tomorrow for one night before his flight takes off on Monday. It has been an eventful visit to say the least. Thinking about Dan’s post on “minimal” takes me to our night of music last night. My guitar player, Bill McPherson and his fiancée, Janette manage a small hotel high on a hill in Pelada overlooking the sea. It was there that Bill arranged a “house concert” of sorts, featuring Grammy award winning guitarist and Costa Rican Native, Edin Solis. The night was billed as “Two Guitars and One Voice” and it was my understanding that I would perform some of my material and perhaps Edin would play along with us before he would do his own thing. Fifty people came to the venue that was aglow in the setting sun with candles and lanterns set all around the pool and property with a covered poolside veranda set up for the music, comfy couches, lounge chairs and seating arranged casually around the “stage” There was a cash bar and plates of tapas available for sale and folks sat down family style at a long wooden table next to the kitchen to nibble and talk before the show. What happened next was like a dream. Dan, Hernan, the bass player, me, Bill and Edin sat in chairs arranged in a semi-circle giving us all the ability to look each other in the eye and there we stayed all night, playing together, taking turns soloing, listening quietly when Edin played, smiling and shouting out during spirited percussion breaks- Dan playing on nothing but a toy Remo hand-drum that belonged to Bills daughter, using sticks and his hands to coax as many sounds from the drum as humanely possible. Edin and Bill both played beautiful nylon stringed classical guitars, each with a distinct tone and style that complemented each other, the audience responded in a way that elevated the performances of every one of us. We did not want it to end. I realized that I had just experienced one of the musical highlights of my life and many people in the audience afterwards told me that it was the same for them. It was one of those rare experiences that can only happen in the rarest of places and times.