Relaxing to the Sound of Latin Jazz

When spending some months in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I often went out with people I knew and chicks I would meet however.

One time in particular, I was walking outside to meet up with another guy named Matt just like me.

If I remember right, he was from Kentucky.

Anyway, we were set to go to some bar for a few drinks.

Though there was one thing about this bar that I didn’t realize as I was walking over to it…

Which is that it was a jazz club that was going to have a live performance that day.

In short, it was a pretty nice experience.

I got there and met up with Matt and a few other folks who happened to be there also joining us.

Once inside, we all sat down but none of us knew there would be a live jazz performance.

We simply chose some random bar in the neighbourhood and went with it.

From there, ordered a few drinks and also some hamburgers also if I remember right.

To which then the jazz band started playing their music to our surprise.

Though, over the course of the next few months in Buenos Aires, I made sure to return to that bar again when I could.

Mostly to just enjoy the live jazz concerts that they had going on.

Followed them on Facebook so I knew when to show up.

And while I enjoyed the concerts they had…

I also made sure to look around in Buenos Aires for similar jazz performances.

In short, I came to the conclusion that Buenos Aires is a really nice city when it comes to jazz music.

At least when compared to other Latin cities.

It wasn’t until I arrived to Brazil soon enough for a brief visit that I came across some of the jazz music over there.

Bossa Nova in São Paulo

During my time in Buenos Aires, I ultimately took a side trip to the Brazilian city of São Paulo.

I went to São Paulo with a handful of other Americans who came along with me during the time.

While we were there, we ended up engaging in different activities like checking out this social movement that you can read about here.

Beyond that, we also checked out briefly some of the nightlife.

In Brazil, there are certain types of music that are quite popular among some folks.

You have samba and you have bossa nova.

Personally, I’m more of a fan of bossa nova.

It’s a type of Brazilian jazz music that consists of some of my favourite music from Latin America.

As it is not uncommon for me to listen to it while I am alone in my apartment.

Which is funny to say because I can’t understand the lyrics very well.

My Portuguese is shit compared to my Spanish or English.

Nonetheless, I will share some Brazilian music here. Some of the lyrics are in English also.

Enjoy the music.

I really enjoy it.

It sounds very nice.

And when I was in Brazil, I got to experience a live performance of it also.

Along with Samba.

Though given the fact that my time in Brazil was brief, I wasn’t able to enjoy it anymore while there.

Although I still do listen to Bossa Nova nowadays.

But it wasn’t the last time I listened to jazz music live in Latin America.

Celebrating my Birthday in Mexico City

When I was with my last girlfriend

Whose name was Brenda

We ended up celebrating my birthday at a jazz bar in Mexico City known as Zinco Jazz.

It’s definitely one of my favourite places in Mexico City to visit during the night.

When I went, they had a cover of about 100 pesos or 5 bucks.

Inside, the food was good.

We both had a hamburger and some fries.

And they have some special treat to me for it being my birthday.

Some type of cake.

Furthermore, I found the alcohol prices to be quite reasonable when I was there.

I ordered a bottle of some type of Chilean wine for, if I remember right, about 40 to 50 bucks.

And the live performance was nice well.

The only thing I didn’t like about it was the long wait for the jazz performance to begin.

It wasn’t a big deal though.

And it was worth the wait.

All of this though points to a bigger thing though that I suppose I want to point out.

The Point

Ultimately, why does any of this matter?

In the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn’t to most people.

But really it’s just to talk about one thing that I quite like about Latin America.

When people talk about this region and why they live here…

It’s not uncommon for someone to say that they really like the culture and that is why they live here.

Though that is not necessarily true all the time as sometimes people bullshit you as to the reason why they live here.

It more often has to do with the low cost of living and for dating reasons.

Which isn’t bad.

I’m not judging.

And, being personal, I’d say that it is a large motivation for me also to stay down here – the low cost of living.

While although I never had a big interest in Latin culture before I moved down here…

As I wrote in this article here, different aspects of Latin culture have grown on me as I have continued my time down here.

One of those things…

If you haven’t figured out by now…

Is jazz music from Latin America.

Though, being fair, I should say specifically from the Southern Cone.

More like Argentina and Brazil if we are being honest.

In my experience, the rest of Latin America doesn’t produce jazz music as well.

Mexico City does have a little jazz scene though that isn’t bad.

But, in my experience, the best countries for jazz music down here are Argentina and Brazil.

With Brazil by far taking the cake.

At any rate, despite some of the negative things I say about life in Latin America…

This is one thing that I really appreciate.

One thing that I love about Latin America.

Is the jazz music and the venues for it in different parts of the region down here.

It’s a nice little treat to spend time in a jazz venue and see a live performance down here.

Anyway, here’s some more jazz music from Latin America below here.

And if you have any comments or questions, drop them below.

Thanks for reading.

Follow my Twitter here.

Best regards,

Matt