Caracass Sincronica

Just discovered a new venue in London - the Bolivar Hall, 54 Grafton Way. It's owned by the Embassy of Venezuela, and its 300ish seats were full of very cool looking south american tipos this evening, there to see the Venezuelan Quartet http://www.caracassincronica.com. They were absolutely stunning. The drummer in particular, with his cajon doubling as bass drum, playing mostly with brushes or splash sticks - making a drum kit really work as an acoustic chamber music instrument; gorgeous stuff. They performed a group from Manchester (I think) - http://www.psappha.com/ - 3 very 'classical' guys, on vibes, clarinet and guitar. I'm afraid the swing factor on stage dropped through the floor when these guys joined in - and after loads of great chat from the Venezuelans about how pleased they were to be there, not a word from any of the British musicians - two of them had faces like they were playing at the worst kind of 'function' where nobody gives a shit that you're there - barely a glance at the audience, never mind a smile. The encore was a relief - back to the Sincronica for some more Caracassonian flair, so we left feeling happy.