Jazz at The Cine Bacco Concert Series: Great Things Happen in Small Spaces

By Carolyn Studer

“Somebody once told me, ‘Don’t worry. Great things happen in small spaces.’” — Papacho Sirdey, jazz pianist and producer

After moving to San Miguel de Allende, the only thing I missed was the small, intimate jazz clubs I frequented in Los Angeles—places like the Baked Potato and Charlie O’s, where you could hear exceptional musicians surrounded by people who truly loved listening to jazz.

So I was delighted to discover the concert series at Cine Bacco—a 25-seat movie theater tucked inside Hotel Sautto. With the musicians just yards away on the small stage, the sound filling the room—the deep tones of the bass, the kick of the drums—I once again found myself part of the creative energy of jazz. Up close.

“Up close is what makes the concerts special,” Sirdey told me in a recent interview at Cine Bacco’s new location on the second floor of Hotel Sautto. On July 21, Sirdey welcomes the New York–based Alex Kautz Trio, featuring Brazilian guitarist Marcio Philomena and acclaimed Mexican bassist Benjamín García. When asked why he took the risk of starting a series in a city so rich with musical offerings, he didn’t hesitate. “In the bars and restaurants, the music is in the background. People are talking and drinking. You can have a drink at Bacco, but you’re connected to the music. You listen.”

A widely respected musician’s musician, Sirdey says the jazz you hear at Bacco is different: “We feature musicians who have something original to say—something personal—who are authentic in their sound and push the music somewhere.” In a room this size, the musicians are challenged to be their best. “Every note counts,” he said. “There is a concentrated energy, and the musicians feel it.”

And so does the audience. Carrole Francois, a Haitian-born jazz aficionado who recently retired to San Miguel, attends regularly. She praises both the excellence of the musicians and the diversity of the music: “Papacho brings musicians from New York and Montreal,” she says, “but you also hear rhythms from Michoacán, Oaxaca, and Veracruz—often played on instruments you’ve never heard before.”

And the space itself? “It’s like listening to a great band in my living room.”

If Papacho was once concerned about the space, he isn’t anymore. “We’ll keep playing great music, and the people will come.”

July 21 - Shows at 5:00 p.m.& 7:00 p.m. Tickets: $600mxn

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