This evening, a friend and I went to “An Evening with Oliver Sacks,” at McGill University. Dr. Sacks is a neurologist and author of many books, including Awakenings (turned into a movie with Robin Williams and Robert De Niro) and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. He was speaking about topics from his new book: Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. It was a sold-out house of around 500 (and overflowing into a second room).

He spoke about relationships between the brain and music. He touched on various special musical gifts but also pathologies, such as amusia (inability to discern or appreciate music), “earworms” (translation of the German term for those annoying songs or jingles that get stuck in your head), Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and how they respond to musical therapy, musical hallucinations… It was all very interesting.

No surprise here, but it turns out the brain is highly active, and in many different areas, when music is being listened to, played, composed. It is more “broadly” active than with speech or visual processing; regions of the “upper brain” as well as the older, more primitive/automatic regions of the brain get in on the action. Rhythm, melody, harmony…all help activate different regions.

The bit about musical hallucinations was fascinating, if a bit scary. When it occurs (quite rare), it often seems to be linked to the onset of hearing loss. Not exclusively, though; there are young children who scream and tell their parents to “turn off the radio!” The main point here seems to be that if one of the senses stops getting input, the brain “needs to do something“, and will dig into memory and invent something, giving a kind of internal playlist. And there really seems to be something to that whole “blind piano tuner” thing. There are a disproportionate number of blind people with perfect pitch, compared to the normal population. Especially blind people who never had sight, which means all that free “real estate” in their brains can get diverted into processing other sensory inputs…should be no surprise, then, that they have more developed senses of smell, hearing, taste.

One of the patients he saw at his clinic in NY had severe Alzheimer’s. He was so far gone that he was unaware of what he’d done for a living, where he was, what he’d done a few minutes before…yet he was able to sing at a professional level, in his same beautiful baritone voice. He had been performing with a group for years and still was able to perform, even though he had no idea where he was, how he’d got there, or how to tie a bow tie. This same man had also been an avid tennis player. He could no longer recognize a tennis racquet or guess what it was for. But if you stood him in a tennis court with a racquet in his hand and lobbed a ball at him, he would start playing a “mean game of tennis.”

Another man, a life-long stage actor, is also stricken with severe Alzheimer’s, yet able to perform Shakespeare (in fact is on stage in NY right now). This reminds me of my own grandmother, who is far down the Alzheimer’s road, yet can still appreciate and sing along to the songs my aunt sings. She was an English schoolteacher her whole life, and loved poetry. Even in her current state, if you give her a line from A. A. Milne, she’ll say the next line.

So, these “performances,” these routines people program themselves with for a lifetime, seem to be among the brain’s strongest connections. They remain even when names, dates, words, facts and details are long past the reach of recall. With Alzheimer’s, music therapy generally focuses on emotional connections to childhood memories; songs the person may have heard and enjoyed, say, when they were younger than 20. Music really seems to be one of the “last things to go.” The benefits of a music therapy session may last for several hours after it has ended. I got the impression Dr. Sacks (now 74) was a devotee of classical music. I wonder if, in sixty years, the music therapists will be playing Ice Cube, Skinny Puppy and Shakira, thereby tending to the earliest musical memories of their patients?

With Parkinson’s, music therapy takes a different tack. Here, the most important thing is the music’s rhythm. Parkinson’s is a disease that takes away voluntary movement. Musical rhythms seem to help activate and synchronize the motor skills, to literally “get the patient moving” (for example, dancing). But here, the effect is lost as soon as the music is switched off.

In a similar way, some patients who’ve had strokes that affected the front left lobe of the brain (speech centre), are still able to access language and words — i.e. communicate — through song. There is much more research and possible therapy going on in all these areas.

Dr. Sacks has been on a book tour, but he said it was special for him to be in Montreal, home of Dr. Penfield’s Montreal Neurological Institute, where so much top music/brain research is being done.

In the conversations around me, after the lecture, the main comment I heard was along these lines: “Well, guess tomorrow I need to start singing/learning an instrument/dancing/[insert musical thing you’ve always wanted to do]. Practicing every day. To stave off the dementia, give me a few more years…” And it seems there just may be something to that.

Once again, the “birthday” of this blog passed without fanfare, without me even noticing until it had passed. Anyhow, two years and still going, though hardly “strong”: my frequency of posting seems to have tapered off in the last few months… So, here are a few random notes to stir things up again:

Hats off to Gabriela Montero. I just discovered her — she’s a classical pianist from Venezuela who is doing something “shocking” and “revolutionary” in the staid classical world: improvising. It’s what used to be done a lot more, by folks you may have heard of, like Mozart, Beethoven… Her latest album is Baroque (if it ain’t), and she has this to say about it:

It has taken a few years for people to understand and believe the inexplicable mystery of free improvisation, which is what I do and have always done since a very young child. I would like to make clear that every piece on this record was created on the spot, based on themes that are well known of the Baroque period, and every free improvisation was born without any influence of an external theme.

The CBC wrote a little article about her recently, because this past week she played at Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.

To take a 90 degree turn, and speaking of other “gifted” Latinas, yesterday I remembered why people aren’t handing out any hard-hitting news awards to news site 20 minutos. One of their top headlines yesterday was about los pechos milagrosos de Salma Hayek. Assuming she was not quoted out of context (or perhaps joking…please?), apparently in junior high she asked God for larger breasts, so kids would stop teasing her. She dipped her hand in the holy water at church and said: “God, give me breasts.” And then: “He gave them to me!” A few months later she developed a real pechonalidad (this does not translate to English; it’s a wordplay on “breasts” and “personality”). I guess a miracle is a miracle, but it’s really too bad she didn’t ask God for world peace, an end to poverty, or something…useful. (Though evidently those breasts are currently “useful” for her newborn daughter.)

Even bigger news in Spain this week — you know, besides Salma’s miraculous breasts — was the Spanish king’s comment to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, at the Ibero-American summit in Chile: “¿Por qué no te callas?” (”Why don’t you shut up?”) You can now buy this slogan on t-shirts; the internet domain is up for sale on eBay (latest bid: 10,000 Euros); someone invented a popular new tapa by that name (it’s topped with a Spanish flag). In the meeting, it’s obvious Zapatero was trying to stay respectful, even defending his politically-opposite predecessor Aznar, but the king had a shorter fuse, and just couldn’t take Chávez’s comments any more. My question: whatever happened to diplomacy in international politics? (Answer: Screw that! — we can make more money and bigger headlines with confrontation, patriotism and pride.)

Oh yeah, one more thing. I saw the movie “Once” on an airplane last week. Simple, authentic, moving. Yes, it’s a musical, but…I liked it a lot. Go figure. No, there are no “show tunes.” The actors actually composed and sang the songs. Now you can stop “figuring” and just go see it.

So I’m still in limbo, waiting for my fate to be decided by someone in Madrid (or wherever they decide who gets to come and go from Spain…). In the meantime, I float in limbo, listening to podcasts and music, writing, taking pictures, working…

Here is the perfect limbo-music, a new “nuevo flamenco” group, who are from Terrassa, I believe. Thanks to loyal reader chocolatina for pointing them out to me. The good news is that you can download their tracks for free, if you sign up with Atrapalo (ah, there’s always a catch — if you don’t want to do that, you can just listen to the songs on the band’s website in a Flash player)… Anyhow, the group is called D’Callaos (official website here)… The Atrapalo offer (link may expire, I suppose…) can be found here. What you’re signing up for is to be notified when other “up and coming” groups are being promoted, and get their music before it’s released in a big way…it also offers them a chance to see from what parts of Spain (or the world!) interest is coming from, so they can plan tour dates…

Anyhow, I love the music (the band logo design is nice, too). It’s reminiscent of Ojos de Brujo, a bit (a number of rumbas)…well, actually more like Chambao. Most songs are less frenetic than OdeB, a bit more melancholic, which suits my mood these days just fine. Give ‘em a listen — personally, I love it!

P.S. If you’re in Madrid on Oct. 14, go see them live!

Well, the Ojos de Brujo and Son de la Frontera concert was great. S de la F (or as I call them, the “geniuses from Morón” ;-) were much more traditional than I expected. They had two guitarists, two singers and a dancer. It was great flamenco, but with only a few genre-bending twists (I especially liked a number that I would describe as country and western-slash-flamenco). Unfortunately, some annoying people standing behind me on the dancefloor were disrespectfully “imitating” the singing and clapping, something that was obviously new and strange to them. Some people are not very open-minded. We finally had to tell them something in a language they would understand: “Ferme la!”

The concert got better from then on — Raúl Rodríguez, the lead guitarist (well, most of the time he was playing a guitar-like instrument known as the Cuban tres, which has a higher, sharper tone), was really incredible. He also had a very likeable look: he came across as genuine. And with a super-expressive face; so he smiled, frowned and grimaced his way through all the numbers. It was great. They were obviously having a great time, a theme which would be echoed in O de B’s show. Later, when O de B had just finished their two-hour set, I saw Raúl standing alone at one of the club’s bars, so I sneaked over and told him how much I enjoyed the show. I think he was a bit surprised to have a rubio speaking to him in Spanish…

O de B were great, as they were last time at the Spectrum. Even if you’re not into their music it would be hard not to feel their joy of performing. The Metropolis was packed to the rafters, and I found a spot on the dancefloor about 4m back from the stage. The Montreal crowd was very good to them, too. The group seemed surprised and delighted at how much we were enjoying them. (I wonder if they had as good receptions in San Francisco or New York, where they’d been just before.) Much of the crowd (where I was, at least) was Spanish, Spanish-speaking, or local flamenco dancing “chicas” (students). It seemed everyone around me knew how to do palmas.

At one point, someone leapt up on stage and started dancing. It turned ugly (not because anything bad happened; just because those people made fools of themselves!) but the band wasn’t at all freaked out. The security people are usually pretty quick to toss folk off stage, but in this case they hesitated. More and more people took that as their cue to get up on stage. Eventuallly, the head security guy (looking very pissed off at his indecisive underlings) intervened to get the impostors off-stage. It was a bit tense and weird, mainly because it looked like the people up there were there only because they wanted to be seen, not because they were into the music.

During one of the encore numbers, Marina “la Canillas” hauled a girl up on stage. She then started bringing a few more girls from the audience up on stage, and one of the security underlings actually was recruited to help her. They danced, and this time it had a good feel to it (and, no, not just because they were all cute girls!); they obviously knew and loved the music and were singing along. Eventually grumpy security guy very politely helped them off stage again.

Especially impressive — besides the magical stage presence of la Mari — were multi-percussionist Xavi; the “real gypsy” guitarist Ramón; Javi on bass and Maxwell Wright with his high-speed vocal effects. There was also a beautiful flamenco dancer who performed during some numbers, along with the requisite costume changes. This group is all about the music. They love to perform, and they do it brilliantly. They’re also notable for eschewing big-name record labels and instead have made it “their way,” under their own record label. The video projections were also fantastic; not detracting from what was happening onstage, but instead a perfect accompaniment. A great show full of “good karma,” although I believe I should have worn earplugs…today I still can’t really hear in my left ear, which was dangerously close to one of the main loudspeakers.

This is the first time I’ve responded to a “viewer mail” on the blog. Mind you, it’s practically the first time I’ve received any “viewer mail”… (-;

JS (from U.S.A., I’d guess from the email address) writes some nice things about my blog and writing style (thanks!), and expresses confusion about my age/maturity (thanks!). He goes on:

…I would like to know more about you but right now I’m investigating the future purchase of a classical guitar for my nine year old. [My son’s teacher] suggested that since we are going to Barcelona it would be a good time to purchase a Spanish classical guitar for him. […] could you tell me what I might be looking at spending for a 3/4 size guitar that sounds good and plays well? And while I’ve got you on the phone, any recommendations on where to go to hear some classical and flamenco music/dance while in Barcelona?

Hi JS,

Excuse me — you want to know more about me? I am but the messenger (and here I mean in the old-fashioned, pre-MSN sense). The blog-spirits occasionally favor me by planting ideas in my humble soil; I nurture and water those ideas until they grow and thrive. I am nothing. Sometimes I fail the BS’es, for want of proper fertilization (seems unlikely, I know!) or pure laziness on my part, and their ideas wither and die. I am nobody. Soy El Jardinero Zurdo. I inhabit, and also also go by: “Edges.” But, truly, enough about me.

Buying a Guitar

It’s hard to say exactly how much a 3/4 classical guitar would go for — because of course with guitars there is a wide price/quality range, depending if you want an “entry-level” guitar or a fancy one. You can get a “starter” classical guitar kit for usually 60-70 Euros in shops in Barcelona — I imagine this is not what you had in mind, if your son is already playing. You could get something reasonable with a solid top for 100 to 200 Euros, I’m sure (especially in the 3/4 size).

There are two places I would recommend in Barcelona, for classical (or flamenco) guitars:

• Casa Luthier — this is where I bought my Alhambra flamenco guitar… It’s on Carrer Balmes between Aragón and Valencia (map). Really big (tons of guitars and music), great service. They have customers from all over, so they do speak some English (though I dealt with them in Castellano).
• New-Phono — on Carrer Ample between Via Laietana and La Rambla (map). I looked at guitars here, and bought strings once, had very good service too. Don’t know about English, but I imagine they can speak some.

Of course, there are plenty of other places selling guitars; I’ve been to several but these are the two I was most impressed with for service, selection, etc. There are lots of shops on Carrer Tallers, but I was not as impressed with them. If you want a classical guitar you’re probably best going somewhere that really specializes in that, like Casa Luthier. I’m curious about La guitarreria, but haven’t been since it’s a little outside of Barcelona, in Sabadell.

Seeing Music

For classical music, lots of churches have concerts (they’re often handing out flyers for classical guitar at Santa Maria del Mar, though I’ve never been to a show there). Also, if you can, you really should try to see a concert at the Palau de Música Catalana. Or at least take a tour — it’s a World Heritage Site and, well, a beautiful building.

As far as seeing flamenco in Barcelona, there are some (but not that many) options. As you’ll see, I’ve only been to a few of these places.

• Tarantos — this place, in the plaça Reial (plaza Real), is kind of a nightclub/bar that offers nightly flamenco shows. The best part is that they are cheap…used to be five Euros, now I believe it’s six. There are shows (the same one, repeated) at 20h30, 21h30 and 22h30 — you can stay for all shows for the same price, if you really liked it. Showcases young and little-known groups and dancers. I’ve been several times, and it can be okay…or, if you’re lucky, truly great! Not guaranteed to be representative of “typical” flamenco, since sometimes they are young performers experimenting with new ideas (go for it, I say!). I saw a percussion-only show once, which disappointed me at first (as a guitarist keen on seeing guitar), but in the end it really blew me away (the group was “Esencia”).
• Tablao Cordobes — never been; I’m not so keen on tablaos (typically too touristy and expensive). On the other hand, it’s almost 40 years old, and claims to be one of the “most important tablaos in Spain”, or so claim: “the more demanding artistic minorities.” (-; Yes, that’s what it says on their website — gave me a good laugh, though I imagine they mean to say “artistic authorities“???
• Tablao de Carmen — also have never been; another touristy tablao. But I’ve been just outside and listened through the windows. It’s located inside the Pueblo Español, a kind of Spanish “theme park” which recreates various bits of Spain inside one attraction. I just can’t imagine “ponying up” 64 Euros (or more!) for a dinner plus (somewhat tacky, I imagine) 75 minute show. Then again, I’m cheap. And judgmental, sometimes.
• Tirititrán — “relatively” new place, also haven’t been (geez, where have you been, Señor Zurdo?). It is restaurant, also a tablao of sorts, with shows only on certain days of the week.
• Flamenco Barcelona — another newish place, this is not a tablao but a shop with some flamenco items for sale (shoes, music, etc). But also offers classes (dancing, guitar, singing, cajón) and has regular casual shows in the back, at low prices. Especially tends to have music in the Rumba Catalana style…a Catalan variant of the rumba flamenco style. (Check out Barcelona’s Ojos de Brujo if you haven’t yet!) I took a few basic flamenco guitar classes here last year.
• [NEWLY ADDED 19/03/2007] Restaurante Nervión — never heard of this place before, though they claim to have been around since 1980… I just found a pamphlet at the tourist office. No idea if it’s any good; to me looks like another touristy tablao, but maybe I’ll have to try out some of these places. At least not as expensive as some of the others, and in fact if you come after 23h30, apparently it’s only 5 Euros for a beer (or sangría) and the show. Looks like shows are hourly, from 22h through 1h.

Other than regular “venues” like those above, keep your eyes on the concert/event listings (from local papers, web sites, or the tourist offices). There are various flamenco festivals in Barcelona throughout the year. It was at such special events that I’ve seen some of the best flamenco in Barcelona, actually. The most amazing show I saw (dance-wise) was Sara Baras’ show Sabores.

In May there is the Festival de Flamenco Ciutat Vella, and just before it, the one in Nou Barris (not sure if it’s on this year, I didn’t find anything on the web). Most importantly, there is the Festival Flamenco de Barcelona from mid-June through July. Also, starting next week (through June!) is the Festival de Guitarra de Barcelona, which features amazing guitarists in all styles.

I hope some of this helps — thanks for the letter, and have a great time in Barcelona (where I just happen to be en ce moment). Let me know how it goes, and what guitar you end up getting for your son!

Yours truly,
EJZ (Edges)

What’s going on, Jardinero — two videos in two days? Well, this Swedish film gem (though “old”, from 2001) is really great, especially if you like rhythm, percussion, found objects… If you like Stomp or Mayumana or Blue Man Group, you’ll love this…without question!

(If you want higher quality, you can watch it at AtomFilms, but you have to watch a 30-second ad first.)

We are told to count our blessings. My friends may not want to do anything with me…but…at least I know they’re honest. Brutal honesty may be (by definition) brutal, but it is (also by definition) honest.

How do I know my friends speak so truthfully? A month ago (I planned well ahead, knowing to expect little interest) I invited a bunch of friends to join me for a dance show entitled FlamenTango, that finally took place in Montreal this past Wednesday. Perhaps ten people were on the invitation email (I call this the “sow many, reap few” approach). I was not ignored (ah! a veritable feast of blessings!). Instead, I received replies from everyone, indicating — in varying degrees of directness — that they were completely uninterested in seeing such a show. It was the flamenco they were rejecting, not me. Really.

I specifically invited the female partners of my male friends, knowing that, statistically, women seem to be more keen on this kind of thing. (I know, “seem” does not sound very statistical…) “Why don’t you come alone, just with me,” I tempted those ladies, “you don’t need to invite [that uncultured bore] along.” Let’s be clear — I wasn’t hitting on them. I just wanted some company. I refrained from offering to buy tickets, since that might be construed as a cultured form of prostitution (isn’t that what escort services are? No, not that kind of “culture”…). To be fair, I did receive one upbeat response. One stressed-out new mother was very touched by the thoughtfulness of my offer (to “get out of the house, leave the kid and husband behind, see some tight Spanish butt…”), but had to kindly refuse. This lovely lady was the only person who actually expressed interest in the idea of seeing a dance performance.

Well, the show was two days ago. Lonely and abandoned by my friends, I hadn’t bought a ticket. Instead, I planned to wallow in self-pity at home, listening to a scratchy old recording of Niña de los Peines. But when I realized I owned no such recording, I rushed out in the rain at the last minute to buy a ticket for the show. Duende was with me, because there were still tickets available — especially if you were looking for…a single.

Well, the show was great — especially the tango portions, which, in spite of the show’s title, I hadn’t really thought about. I’ve seen some tango in Buenos Aires (only a tiny amount, you must understand), some in Spain, some in Montreal — but I think this was the best I’ve seen. It certainly got the blood going. In fact, perhaps I’m jaded from having seen so much great flamenco, but I thought that, in this show, the tango trumped the flamenco. If it were my show, I would have called the show “TangEnco”, or “TaMenco”. Which obviously would make the marketing more difficult. And flamenco superstar María Serrano (it’s her dance company, after all) would probably have her feelings hurt.

Don’t get me wrong — Ms. Serrano was excellent, as were her male dancers. But the flamenco dancing (or choreography) lacked a little something; it was just a bit too much “the same”. I would have appreciated more variety in the costumes, in the hand gestures, in the energy level. Some slower pieces, less technical prowess and more soul. Sure, hyper-speed foot tapping is impressive, but you won’t see me buying Riverdance tickets… As Varekai director Dominic Champagne would say, I wanted more: “Ee-moshun, ee-moshun, eee-mo-SHUN!” In spite of a few awkward moments, the musicians were great — I really enjoyed having piano, accordion and electric bass added to the traditional flamenco mix of guitar, voice, cajón. And I was spellbound when singer Inmaculada Rivero stood at the front of the stage, surrounded by darkness, and sang a piece which I suspect is called “Dime” (tell me), since she kept repeating that heartbreaking plea. (My lame paraphrase of one part that particularly struck me: “Tell me…If the heavens are a lie and only the earth is truth…tell me!”) I though it might be a Lorca poem, and tried and failed to find the lyrics on the web. Incredibly moving and full of…ee-mo-SHUN!

The last laugh was on my friends. They missed the chance to see a great show, to see some amazing bodies (er, both on-stage and off, since Montreal’s many flamenquitas (dance students and aficionadas) show up to all such performances…), and — of course — to spend a delightful night with me.

Today I was very sorry to hear about the death of Kirk MacGeachy, local Celtic music marvel. He was a kind man with a sparkle in his eye, a poetic softness and a magical voice. He passed away of a heart attack on Sunday, at the far-too-young age of 56.

Besides his work with the groups Orealis, Tüna and others, I particularly loved his solo release Moon on the Ocean, which is a beautiful piece of work.

We’ll miss you, Kirk!

But oh, my heart is calling, calling me back home
I hear the big sea rolling, no matter where I roam.
   —Kirk MacGeachy, Moon on the Ocean

Well, the blog has started getting bombarded by spam comments — recently I’ve had to moderate (aka delete) about 30 every day — so I’ve turned back on the “feature” that requires users to log in before posting comments. Since there are so few legit comments, this shouldn’t affect anyone too much…

On a happier note, my flamenco guitar lessons continue today here in Barcelona. I’ve been practicing non-stop (it seems) since my first lesson on Thursday, after discovering I’ve got to unlearn (thank you Yoda) some bad habits.

Went to see a couple of shows at the Flamenco a Nou Barris festival, including the very famous dancer Antonio Canales (Friday) and Grupo Trevenque Flamenco (Saturday). All the musicians were superb, the singers and dancers too — strangely, the one I was least impressed with was Canales himself. He was technically very precise but his performance had a very strange energy (in fact, at first we wondered if he was drunk, but eventually figured the strangeness must be part of his act). There was no passion in his performance, only a creepy kind of “superstar vibe”; everything was performed with the precision that comes from having performed these dances to perfection for many years — without a connection to the audience, without soul. Without duende, some might say.

For lack of any real Scotch here, I toasted Robbie Burns last week with some Sortilège, which I had brought over to my Barcelona hostess as a “uniquely Québécois gift”. It’s liqueur that mixes Canadian whisky and maple syrup — normally I don’t go for that kind of thing but it’s actually pretty decent. Now, it smells pretty much like rubbing alcohol, but when you take a sip you’re very pleasantly surprised to find the delicious taste of maple syrup and whisky.

Oops, I got off-topic… With Robbie Burns’ Day long gone, and my father relating his tales of “addressing the haggis” at a Burns Supper, I got thinking about the bagpipes. (I do that from time to time, you know.) In fact, I know a few pipers and am here to say that the pipes can be a very beautiful and moving instrument. And no — ha ha, yes, good one, very funny — not just “moving” as far away as you can. If you’ve ever been to a Highland Games, like the ones in Montréal, where they have hundreds of pipers and drummers all playing together in sync…well, let me tell you it is quite literally (and also emotionally) moving. The ground thunders, and every “rattle-able” thing you have (above or below the kilt) rattles.

The gallegos (people from Galicia) have Celtic roots — although, like the Asturians and unlike the “official” Celtic nations, they did not keep the language. But they do have bagpipes, fiddles and the bodhran (drum). I wonder if they also have haggis…and a Día de Robertito Quema? Some interesting musicians — Galician piper Carlos Núñez may have been one of the first — have experimented with cross-breeding flamenco and Celtic music (Núñez, in particular, beginning with his second album: Os amores libres).

So, strange though it may seem, there is a Spanish word for bagpipes: la gaita. And they also have some great expressions that use it!

It can mean “a drag or nuisance”…
Es una gaita tener que ir al trabajo. — It’s a real drag having to go to work. Literally: it’s bagpipes to have to go to work. I see they have the same opinion of bagpipes as much of the non-Scottish world (and, let’s face it, some of the Scottish world, too). It is very telling that I’ve never heard pipes on the tartanpodcast. But you’ve got to see Shooglenifty perform live if you want to have some piping good fun! Oops, wait a sec — now that I think of it, there is no piper in Shooglenifty, either. Sigh… All right, then, Afro-Celt Sound System — they have a great mix of Irish uilleann pipes and African tribal percussion that is also a fantastic live show.

Anyhow, back to Spanish. La gaita can also colloquially refer to the neck…
Sacaba la gaita por la ventana. — He craned his neck (”the pipes”) out of the window. I guess this is better than craning your “plumbing” out the window, which some drunk young people have been known to do.

Another funny use is templar gaitas, which means to be conciliatory.
Tuvimos que estar templando gaitas con su padre. — We had to tread carefully with his father. Used with musical instruments, the verb templar means “to tune”…so, translated literally, this is a great expression: Every time we had to deal with his father it was like tuning the bagpipes.

So… Tread carefully and keep in tune, eh?