Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Finding Lucho

I was building a PhotoStory from some old pictures my Mom had, and was struggling to find some music to accompany the video. Mom was born in the Panama Canal Zone and lived there most of her young years. When we were kids, Mom loved to play records by a Panamanian organist named Lucho Azcarraga, and the sound of his music is deeply rooted in my psyche.

Sadly, Mom's old records are pretty much shot, and I don't have an operational turntable anymore besides. But you gotta love the web -- Lucho's granddaughter has a
website where she sells CDs of his recordings, and I ordered one last night. Here is a sampling of his sound.

Can't wait for the CD to arrive.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I grew up in Panama and my Dad was a big Lucho Azcarraga fan. My parents would play Lucho records and I would sit in front of the stereo totally memorized by the sound. It was definitely rooted in my psyche as well. In the last few years I have managed to acquire most, if not all of Lucho's LPs through Ebay and such. I even contacted Marisa (his grand daughter) and was able to get a DVD of an interview that Lucho did for Panamanian TV back in 1987. I can not watch that DVD for very long without getting overwhelmed with emotion. Reminds me of Panama, my Dad, the Canal Zone, and many pleasant childhood memories.

Anonymous said...

I spent two tours in Panama with the School of the Americas and Lucho was one of the outstanding memories. I have worn-out all his old records and attempts to buy replacement CD's have met with failure. His granddaughter no longer handles them. If anyone knows where such items can be purchased, would appreciate knowing.
c-bauer@comcast.net

Anonymous said...

Charlie, I got all my records on Ebay. Just do a search for Lucho Azcarraga and you will find some LPs for sale. They are usually $10 to $25 each plus shipping depending on where they are shipped from. If you have access to a turntable, you can connect the audio from the turntable to the audio input on your computer and use software to record the music and transfer it to CDs. This way you can listen to the music while preserving the original vinyl records for posterity. If you need any technical support, let me know.

Unknown said...

I remember that Lucho could make the organ talk.
Kato

Anonymous said...

Hi All,
Just a note to let everyone know I still handle my grandfather's music. Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks and happy holidays to all.
Marissa

Jody said...

Not sure if this blog is still active. I'm looking for Marissa Azcarraga McLamb to order music for Lucho.

Paul said...

The last email I had for her was:

marissam@atmc.net