Songwriting Session

Last night Becky Gomez and her daughter, Gil Dominguez and I attended a songwriting workshop put together by fellow SLHW member Ray Torres and musician extraordinaire Jon C. Esquivel. Ray gave an engaging presentation on songwriting, especially on how it relates to the classics recorded in Mexico. Also attending the meeting and contributing to the songwriting discussion was Marvin Palacios, a vocalist, guitarist, composer and copyright & licensing consultant, and former member of the duet, Rene & Rene.

Once the songwriting class was over, we were treated to beautiful music on the piano by Mr. Esquivel, who is a trained classical pianist, violinist and composer. He was also accompanied by Lucha Nieto, a very talented mariachi singer and performer. Another wonderful Spanish singer also accompanied Mr. Esquivel on the piano, but please forgive me, her name escapes me at the moment.

Mr. Esquivel graciously opened up his home to us for the meeting, and along with his wife, Carmelina, and daughter, Bertie, made us feel like special guests. I was also very honored to receive two CDs from Mr. Esquivel at the end of the evening: The Jon Esquivel Sextet's "Watch What Happens" and "A Musical Tribute to My Beautiful Family." I am currently listening to "Watch What Happens" and it's simply beautiful.