Lola Peñaranda: All the parties of tomorrow

She remembers a photo she and her brother, Gerard, took at a very young age with their grandfather. The two children with toy saxophones, and the grandfather with his real one. "He was a saxophonist, yes, although I don't remember seeing him play the instrument. On the other hand, with my father, who is a guitarist, my brother and I have played a lot." Lola Peñaranda smiles with a certain distance, half present body, half head flying among musical notes. She sips a Coca-cola leaning on the bar while, in the background, the notes of Hank Mobley's Ace deuce trey crackle in the evening atmosphere of the Bar.

"At six years old, they enrolled us in the Oriol Martorell school and at eight, when they told me I had to decide whether to go into music or dance, I chose the alto sax," she recalls. The vocation was clear. The choice of instrument, too. "Although I have classical studies, the sound of the saxophone has always attracted me because of its presence in more modern music."

A call that grew when she discovered the universe of jam sessions which, by rebound, introduced her to her passion for jazz. "At thirteen, I started frequenting the summer music workshops in Avinyó ---she explains--- and I realized that at first they intimidated me, but as soon as the jam was underway, I let myself be carried away." Those encounters allowed her to cross paths with respected musicians like Chris Cheek, Llibert Fortuny, or Judit Neddermann.

Now she is 21 and has a track record that is beginning to bear fruit in the world of improvisation and in others such as pop and rock or charanga. She plays with Brou, a band that covers pop classics that ---she announces--- "we are going to increasingly set aside with the idea of composing our own material in Catalan", and with Zebras, a charanga that has a big band version for large stages and with which they liven up even a wake. And she confesses that, when she participates in a jam, she still feels that initial sense of challenge, followed by a resounding enjoyment once the commotion has started.

Ellington would be proud

At 16, Lola Peñaranda was studying artistic baccalaureate and, although she had very marked musical coordinates, she was not clear what would become of her in the near future. "My brother was in the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, and I knew that some saxes had left the formation." She took advantage of that context, met with Joan Chamorro (ideologist of the mythical Barcelona big band) and he didn't need much to understand that Lola's talent should not be wasted. "In addition to the clarinet, which I already played self-taught, he integrated me into the group by changing my alto sax for the tenor. And now I combine both ---she laughs shyly--- with a predominance of the tenor!"

About five years have passed and her career has been on the rise. Concerts, recitals, trips and, as the icing on the cake, participation, this year, in the thirtieth edition of the Essentially Ellington festival and competition in New York, where the best big bands are awarded. "Thirty formations competed, the vast majority American, and we came in second". A sample of the potential global projection of Barcelona talent, which, however, did not receive a response from our institutions and entities, which did not collaborate with the expenses. Duke Ellington would have been, in any case, proud.

"I still don't dare much with composition, although I have done some things, like my own song that we played in a concert I organized for the Nit de la UB under the name of Lola Peñaranda Quartet." There is still time and a lot of learning ahead. There are projects on the horizon, such as the Tijazz Trio, which she has put together with Mateu Teixidor and Pau Álvarez and which has already visited stages such as Guzzo del Born or Vicicleta de Sant Andreu. Jam sessions to participate in, like the one she recently organized at the Nova Jazz Cava. There is still a long way to go, worlds to visit, new lives to live. Places to leave and to return to. She still has all the parties of tomorrow.

Elegy to neighborhood life

"I have always lived between Mundet and Horta and, the truth is, I live a lot of neighborhood life. I like it, it's pleasant, quiet. Lately I move more around the city, to go study at ESMUC or to go to jams in Gràcia, otherwise I stay in my area or escape to a farmhouse that several families of friends have rented together in Hostalric."

In love with her neighborhood, the artist is clear that, although the life of a musician inevitably takes her away, to other countries, to other cities, she will always want to return to Barcelona.

--- One of the things that will always make you want to come back here is our gastronomic offer. Dinner time is approaching and we have everything: tapas, portions, à la carte, combined dishes…

Lola Peñaranda smiles. Hank Mobley's Soul Station accompanies the slow summer sunset filtering through the Bar's windows. She thinks about it for a moment.

"I think a combined dish is fine," she finally decides, showing interest in what comes next: "Dessert, because I'm more of a sweet person!" she clarifies.