Closing night of the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival in Playa del Carmen, Mexico opened with an unexpected experimental fusion from Alex Otaola. The performance featured a unique, live soundtrack to a collage of 1950s video clips that seemed to leave the audience either loving or hating it. Jazz great Richard Bona amped up the energy when he jumped onto stage. Festival goers were on their feet, dancing in the sand before Bona earned a heartily applauded exit. As the hour reached midnight, the Yellowjackets eased into the final act with smooth jazz that soothed the soul…
Thai, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Mexican, Moroccan and more… Playa del Carmen boasts a colorful selection of restaurants that feature savory gastronomy from around the world. At “Taste of Playa” we had the option to taste a great selection of the culinary delicacies that Playa has to offer.
One half of this music, the melody, was all pomade and sugar and sentimentality. The other half was savage, temperamental and vigorous. Yet the two went artlessly well together and made a whole. ~ Herman Hesse, Steppenwolfe
The bold and sassy rhythms of jazz are beguiling and seductive. Romantic serenades, heart-wrenching soul or spicy latin fusion, jazz music delves deep and evokes vivid emotion. The sensual notes of jazz dance along the coast of the Riviera Maya, hopping from wave to wave before ascending to the starry night sky, at destination weddings year-round. But, the Riviera Maya Jazz Music Festival is an event true jazz aficionados are not to miss. A musical experience unmatched, jazz greats gather on the sands of Mamitas Beach for a three-day music fest that fuses lively “blood-raw music” with Caribbean paradise.
The 9th annual Riviera Maya Jazz Festival takes place November 24th through November 26th. This years artists include:
Natalia Lafourcade
Jeff Lorber
Randy Brecker
Hnos Toussaint & Enrique Pat
Jon Anderson
Stanley Clarke
Alex Otaola
Richard Bona
Yellowjackets
“Jazz – spontaneous creativity.” ~Kenny Burrell
For me too, its raw and savage gaiety reached an underworld of instinct and breathed a simple honest sensuality. ~Herman Hesse, Steppenwolfe
Visitors in the Riviera Maya save a seagull! The legs of the poor little bird were tangled up in fishing line. One brave man fetched the frightened bird from the water while a young woman ran off to a local resort for a knife. Together they set the bird free…
View the photo story below. But first, read up on some of the facts about marine pollution:
Every year, fishers leave behind a trail of tackle victims that includes millions of birds, turtles, bats, and other animals who suffer debilitating injuries or slowly starve to death after swallowing fishhooks or becoming entangled in fishing line. In fact, officials with the Virginia Marine Science Museum Stranding Team say monofilament fishing line is one of the top three threats to sea animals (along with propeller boat strikes and plastic trash). –Fishinghurts.com
Plastic waste kills up to 1 million sea birds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year. Plastic remains in our ecosystem for years harming thousands of sea creatures everyday.-SavetheSea.org
Millions of boaters use the nation’s coastal waters, discarding more than 400,000 tons of garbage every year. A large part of this debris is plastic, such as six-pack beverage holders, plastic fishing line and plastic bags.Plastic is not biodegradable. Most of the plastic dumped at sea washes up on our beaches where birds, fish, and other marine life encounter it. Every year, thousands of fish, birds and even sea lions die with six pack holders around their necks and bodies, or entangled in plastic fishing line and netting. Some animals eat plastic, which makes them feel full while they slowly starve to death. –California Department of Boating and Waterways
We at playaloves.me Photography are certainly fans of fish and fishing. However, we stand 100 percent behind controlled and regulated fishing as well as environmentally-conscious practices that help preserve this wonderful little blue planet we call home. So please learn the facts and do what you can to get involved in protecting our precious Caribbean habitat!
For those wanting to take action in Playa del Carmen visit these websites for info on beach clean ups and more:
Teams of two dressed up and ran around the center of Playa del Carmen, MX in a fun scavenger hunt that included prowling like a cat and shots of tequila! Hungry participants had their choice of hot dogs and hamburgers. Lucky raffle winners won prizes like a brand new iPad and a Catamaran trip for two. All of the proceeds from the event benefited Coco’s Cat Rescue…
Mocha loves to cuddle and Mocha loves to love. But, a jealous diva, she wants all the love for herself! The warrior princess wants to be the ruling queen being patted, petted, walked and fawned. Beautiful, friendly and super out-going she often gets her way… ooohhh the dog days of Playa!
Liona is a streaking fluff of energy and sprite. In rebellious bursts she’ll leap over furniture, bounce off of walls and jet for the quickest escape to the magical and mysterious world outside. The “boxing cat” charges at canines with a determined might that makes any onlooker giggle. Moody, ornery and not one for all the sappy “love stuff,” yet somehow she’s got us completely under her charming little spell!
Sports enthusiasts will be testing their physical limits in the Mexican Caribbean this weekend. Extreme athletes will begin competing early Saturday morning for the Triatlón Xel-Há 2011. Events take place all weekend from November 17th through November 20th.
