We are two friends from the cities of Sevilla and Melilla, Spain.

Our names are Jose Maria Escudero and Jose Luis Ortiz and we are Paul Simon fans from a long time.

We are collaborators of THE SOUND OF SIMON, the wonderful spanish website about Paul, and we have decided to do a new website in english because many fans who visite the spanish web do not understand our language. Anyway this new website neither is a part of THE SOUND OF SIMON nor it is associated to it, it is independent from it, so all the good or bad you find here it is on the site of Jose Maria and Jose Luis.

On this section we want you to know something about us and our hometowns.

SIGHTSEEINGS FROM SEVILLA

Famous Holy Week Processions Famous April Fair

SIGHTSEEINGS FROM MELILLA

JOSE MARIA ESCUDERO

Born: Sevilla, Spain, in 1958

Living: at Sevilla

Job: Medical Doctor dedicated to Diagnostic Imaging in a hospital

Unmarried

BECOMING A FAN

I became Paul Simon fan in 1970 (being 12 years old !!!!) during the successful release of Bridge Over Troubled Water album. I remember S&G were very fashionable that year in my highschool. Everybody had that album and it sounded very much in friends parties and events.

The first Paul´s song I ever listened to was The Boxer and I still love it very much. The first time I listened to Paul singing The Boxer live I was about to cry. One of my favourite reminds is how Kodachrome hit in Spain. I walked around with my friends and everybody picked that song from jukeboxes, yes…..I am too old talking about jukeboxes. Curiously Live Rhymin album also hit in Spain, one of my happiest reminds from my youth is me skating on ice and on loudspeakers sounding that album.

Fans Meeting at Olympia Hall. Paris, Oct 2000 before Paul´s

concert. Appearing Jose Maria, Javier Marquez and The

Sound Of Simon team: Aitor, Javier and Alberto

Fans Meeting at Jose Maria´s home. Summer 2002. Appearing:

Jose Luis, Jose Maria and The Sound Of Simon team

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT PAUL SIMON´S MUSIC

Paul´s music is linked to my life happenings from 1970, it is like my life´s soundtrack.

I do like very much Simon´s lyrics, they are so intelligent and sophisticated, so poetic and ellaborated….and sometimes so strangely funny. I do love his landmark of writing a song with happy and upbeat music linked to serious subjects (like on Mother And Child Reunion). And what can I say about his music? It is one of the things really worthy in the life for me.

I do adimire how Simon has always tried to be different in his work and he does not repeat himself. He is always looking for something new, investigating, trying….on every song he invents himself again. Every new Paul´s album always surprises me.

Though some people use to forget it Paul Simon´s guitar playing is great, so wonderful and elegant, it seems easy but is so hard to do, I think he is one of the greatest guitar players in pop music.

And his voice. It is unique. There is no other voice like that. So tender and soft. I cannot understand his songs without his voice, though there are great renditions by other artists, none sings his songs like himself. I think a large amount in the Simon´s work attractive comes from his voice.

As I said before: “What a stream of beauty. How perfect sound. How warm and touchy vocals. How meaningful all those deep and poetic lyrics. My friends we all are lucky because we enjoy with the wonderful music of one of the greatest XX century genius in arts.

Art, beauty and poetry becomes us all better. And Paul has tons of it to improve us all. THANKS PAUL. Thanks for over 30 years of delight with your music. Thanks for doing my life better”

JM in Acropolis JM in Brugge

MY TOP 21 SONGS

The Boxer
Hearts And Bones
Trailway Bus
You Can Call Me Al
The Coast
Graceland
Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard
How The Heart Approaches What It Yearns
Sound Of Silence
Cecilia
Late In The Evening
Mother And Child Reunion
Homeward Bound
Slip Slidin Away
Loves Me Like A Rock
Congratulations
Jonah
American Tune
Señorita With A Necklace Of Tears
Old
Love

MY FAVOURITE ALBUMS

There Goes Rhymin Simon
Graceland
Hearts And Bones
Paul Simon
One Trick Pony
Rhythm Of The Saints

CONCERTS I HAVE ATTENDED TO

Paris oct 30 2000: My fiirst PS concert. One of the happiest experiences in my life
Brussels july 2002: I still remember how he played Love, Slip Slidin Away and Loves Me Like A Rock
Amsterdam july 2004: Poor sound but nice to see S&G by first time

Jose Maria (under arrow) in Paris 2000 concert among Nicolas, Guido and Simon Murgartroyd

SOMETHING ELSE ABOUT ME (NPSR)

Other musicians I like: Buddy Holly, Mark Knopfler, Gordon Lightfoot, Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Ritchie Valens, Los Lobos, Leonard Cohen, Elvis….and many others.

Other music I like: Classic music. I like very much Opera. And I do love very much W.A.Mozart (I am Mozart´s fan)

Hobbies: Reading. Art (specially sculpture). History. Travelling. Writing: I have writen some books and many articles about art in my hometown. Astronomy. Poetry: I am a fan of Luis Cernuda, a spanish poet dead in Mexico in 1963. Movies: the last good movie I have seen was The Pianist by Polansky

My Passion: The animals, specially dogs and parrots. Last year my long time companion Blacky, a nice and lovely dog of no race, was dead being very old. Here you can see a pic of me with her. And by that there is now one new pic of my new companion: Kiko

Poet Luis Cernuda at Middlebury, New England, US, in 1948

JOSE LUIS ORTIZ

Born: in Melilla (Spain), in 1961.

Living: at Malaga (Costa del Sol, Spain)

Job: Librarian and formerly a high scool teacher

Married to Matilde, without children

BECOMING A FAN

I am a Paul Simon’s fan since 1973, it was during the Simon & Garfunkel Greatest Hits album superb hit in Spain.

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT PAUL SIMON´S MUSIC

The Paul Simon’s music has been a primordial –both educative and cultural- experience in my life. His art is made of spirituality, beauty and sanity. Simon is one of the few artists that nowadays believe in the beautiful and spiritual as aesthetic categories, while nowadays ugly esthetical and the nihilism rule all the Arts facets.

‘Last, but not least’, I wonder his prodigious capacity to link modernity and tradition, his astonishing blend of ancient songwriting and new musical forms. And even when he approaches to ancient styles (like doo-wop), he tries to discover their validity and expand their limits.