Jan. 10, 2002 – Last weekend's "Friday Night Alternative" was a real heel clicker, as visiting flamenco artists Teye and Belen Oliva Bermudez shared their guitar music and dance skills. "Awesome" is how Alternative organizer Corinne Van Rensselaer describes the pair, who are visiting the Virgin Islands for two and a half weeks from their Austin, Texas, home base and performing around the island.
And the good news for those who enjoyed their presentation or are sorry to have missed it is that they will be back on Jan. 18.
Meanwhile, keyboard/vocals artists "Sunshine" Sally Smith and Marty Beechler and drummer Seb Bartolotta, also known as "Mr. B," will anchor this weekend's get-together on the Marlin Deck at American Yacht Harbor. The action takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. outside Van Rensselaer's Color of Joy art gallery and gift shop in the Red Hook shopping complex.
There will be the usual — but always exceptional — live music plus complimentary wine, cheese and crackers plus a movie video to keep the youngsters occupied while the adults socialize. Also complimentary is the view as the sun sets and the moon rises over the marina. And there's always the opportunity to shop at will after hours in The Color of Joy.
As part of the ongoing fundraising efforts to keep FNA viable, attendees are invited — nay, encouraged, Van Rensselaer says — to spend a little money in ways that will do just that. One is to buy $5 tickets for the raffle of a framed watercolor print of vivid hibiscus flowers at the end of January. The other is to part with $15 for an Alternative T-shirt, which features a "mostly music art" drawing of jazz musicians by Madeleine Meehan on the front and a silhouette of two musicians from a photograph by Greg Miller on the back. The shirts are available in white printed on black or black on white.
At the Jan. 18 return of Teye and Belen, Van Rensselar said, she'll be displaying drawings of the duo made last week by Meehan. Also, "we'll also have their CD's for sale here," she said.