Retire Early Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler

In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

From the Shores of Lake Chapala, Mexico

It's

All that Jazz!

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

Seating all ready for tonight's concert

Chapala has grown up since we first started living here in 1993. In recent years this malecon has been built (a broad walking area down by the lake) which is a feature for local residents, families and tourists from Guadalajara, especially on weekends.

On the other side of the malecon is a beach called Playa Chacaltita.

This weekend, the town hosts the 7th Sample of International Jazz.

FREE Admission!

Everybody who was anybody would be there.

Every night, every seat was filled and it was standing room only

A dozen bands from various countries sang, drummed and played music. There were Emmy award winners, Grammy award winners and selections of music from North America, Mexico, Central America, Cuba, and World Music.

It was a visual and auditory delight.

El Pescador - Jesus the Fisherman

From the stage and a little to the right, is a tribute to Jesus the Fisherman. Sitting in the lake a short distance from the beach is a man made concrete island. When the lake water is down (Lake Chapala is a cyclical lake with wet and dry seasons affecting its water levels) people just walk the beach area and up the steps to this monument.

Currently, due to a bonus of water in recent years, a raised walkway was built that makes it easy to visit this little island and get a view of the city of Chapala from out in the lake. 

A women's a cappella band called The Billies

Selections of modern, classic, and Mexican jazz songs were sung, with the women making rhythm with vocal sounds and the snapping of fingers. Here they are singing Billie Holiday's Lady Sings the Blues.

The stage and two digital side screens

As you can see, the seats are all full. There are two digital screens, one on each side of the stage giving close ups of the current band who is performing. The screen behind the bands was alive with colorful images swirling, evolving and bursting into colorful patterns.

The Adrian Oropeza Trio

Adrian is playing drums/percussion with Benjamin Garcia on the bass. Alex Mercado, who is playing the keyboard, is outside the photo to the left.

As you can see, electric colors bathed the stage and changed constantly.

Billy with a mesera serving wine to the crowd

I don't know how it is in the U.S. these days, but it is common place in Latin America to have servers offering wine, beer and liquor to patrons attending theater events or concerts. Coffee and bottled water are also available, but they are at the main table near the light engineer.

The Adrian Oropeza Trio

Here you see the full Trio with Alex Mercado on the keyboard. Notice the background screen has changed once again.

Waldo Madera Group

This is Daniel Berroa on percussion from the Waldo Madera Group. We were over 100 feet away standing at the back of the seating area, and we could feel the sound from these congas physically pounding in our chests!

Daniel and Waldo (who was playing a conventional drum set to the right of this photo) were exchanging licks, mimicking exactly what the other was doing. Hands were flying, cymbals were clashing and drums were beaten. This drum "introduction" before the whole group showed up on stage lasted close to 10 minutes.

Who would have guessed that a duet of drums could be so riveting?

View of the stage from the beach area

(Editor's note: The stone construction in the middle of the photo leading out to the right, is the walkway to the El Pescador statue.)

The music event started at about 7:30pm each night, but people were already in their seats before 7pm. Those who came later or who preferred to walk around, sit on the beach, or enjoy some food during the concert sat in the back area which you see here.

There were absolutely NO worries about hearing the music, as it echoed all throughout this area of Chapala. We could hear the concert clearly from our apartment terrace three blocks away!

What a pleasant social event. As you can see here in this photo, lots of Mexicans also brought their children to enjoy the music and colors. While we walked around the cordoned off area and the malecon itself, we met many of our friends who were attending each night's show.

The weather was perfect for a tee-shirt or light jacket, the music was lovely, palm trees were lighted up decoratively, and the tropical gardens along the walkways were picture perfect.

If you would like to hear some of the music from the concert, click on the link below:

Watch the Video here

And for the Big Band evening click here

For more photos and stories of Mexico, click here

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