Dispatches From Chile 2014: Tiny Bar, Big Hearted Music

Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Bar Cuatro y Diez
Calle Antonia Lopez de Bello 0175
Santiago, Chile

Every so often, by mistake or by design, I end up exactly where I need to be. Several streets away from the hustle and bustle of Calle Pio Nono in the Bellavista neighborhood of Santiago, I am in search of some music. As soon as I pass the Bar Cuatro y Diez on Antonia Lopez de Bello Street I know I found it.

Strains of an acoustic guitar, a haunting voice beckon. This living room-sized bar feels like a comforting waystation for a weary traveler - a perfect setting for the intimate music floating from the lone musician perched on a high stool in one corner.

The softly illuminated tangerine and ochre painted walls, candles on a handful of tables, the bar with four seats, and the soft music embrace me. "Sit down," they say, "This is where you want to be." I think that’s the idea of some of these songs, lovers saying to each other, “Stay, I’m who you’ve been searching for.”

VIDEO Gallo's original compositions

Koko Gallo, a Chilean guitarist, is singing gorgeous Argentine ballads, accompanying himself on an unplugged acoustic guitar. I’m not leaving. I have no idea what the Spanish words mean. I imagine themes of the softened edges of a heart in the first moments of love, full of promise, wistful notes of heartbreak of separation, good hearted wishes to a lover at a relationships end, and hope of another love to fill dreams and needs of someone yearning for connection. The world-weary tone of his voice tells me he's been there. (story finishes below)

An hour later as I leave, the bartender writes down the name and Internet address of the gem of an outpost. “Come back next time you visit Santiago,” he says in Spanish.

You can bet on it.

Photos and Videos by Paul A.Tamburello, Jr.

 

 

Comments

[Carolyn Liesy]

You are so resourceful in finding music and making friends when you do. Koko is a lovely singer, great to have the video, but the stills of the bar were great too.

[Susan Lyman]

Paul
Wouldn't you know you would find your way into a bar!!
Just kidding!!!

[Bambi Good]

Thank you, Paul, for bringing us along on your adventure... I loved the song and the comments and was there in Santiago once again, if only for a couple of minutes... I don't know anyone else who sucks the juice out of life more fully than you! Bambi, where large snow clumps are heading to ground and melting, but some are lasting on the hemlock out my window-on-the-woods

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr. aka pt at large]

Great to have a poetic weather condition report to tell me what I'm missing and reinforce what a good idea it was to visit here.

[Bill Ives]

Paul - I love the video. I see that you can zoom. What are you using for the camera.
Bill

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr. aka pt at large]

Bill
I'm using a Canon S100. It has bells and whistles I'm learning how to use, including the zoom lens. Taking consistently focused shots is eluding me so far.