Toñin Ortiz Y Su Trio “En El Rincon De Una Barra”

The first song, “En El Rincon De Una Barra,” from which the album takes its title, translates to English, the internet tells me, as “in the corner of a bar,” which one might suppose to be literal, and somewhat off, except that on the album cover, who I assume is the singer, Toñin Ortiz, is standing right up against an inside corner of a bar. Which is kind of odd, because most bars go straight across and don’t have corners—so they really had to make an effort here! Some other corner of the internet says “the drinker’s corner”—which could be more metaphorical. The song might be quite famous, but I don’t know it, but I get a feeling from the song, no less. It does sound familiar, but maybe just from listening to this a lot. I don’t remember where I got this record, but I was certainly attracted to the full-cover photo, an old-time looking bar with a handsome, dangerous looking man wearing crisp light blue, including a scarf with a silver clasp. He’s holding a cocktail glass in one hand (likely a Scotch-based concoction, as there’s a bottle of Pinch sitting there) and has a very long cigarette in the other. On the back is a picture of the trio—there are two guitars, one rhythm and the other playing really beautiful, clear notes. I can listen to this all day—even with no Spanish—after all, I can never understand most English lyrics anyway. I had this fantasy that I only owned six records, and this was one—so I went on a deep dive and unearthed all the meaning, learned to play the guitar (best I could, anyway), and over time I would deepen my love (as well as annoyance) with it! Of course, I generally want more records, but “What If?” That leads me to think, recorded music is infinite—at least in relation to one person’s ability to take all of it in. A thought which leads me to think about all of those “greatest” lists—which are absurd—and makes me pity the journalists, sure, but also makes me a little angry.

12.26.25