

You put a record on him and he got the rhythm and the tuning right away. «I didn’t know music but I had a fantastic ear. Regular companions on stages in Vizcaya, Berejano’s reflections and good taste never ceased to amaze him. He sang ‘Summertime’ wonderfully … ”, recalls trumpeter José Larracoechea, a retired neurologist from Cruces and a musician to the core. «I met her more than 40 years ago in the old bar Intermezzo (later El Comercio) in Las Arenas. His weakness was always jazz, bossa nova and small rooms, where you could create a more intimate atmosphere than in the mammoth auditoriums in front of thousands of people.

On that occasion he sang together with the guitarist Edu Basterra and there was no shortage of songs like ‘You’ve Got a Friend’, ‘Downtown’, ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Doralice’. He gave his last concert on the terrace of El Mirador at the Igeretxe hotel, at the foot of Ereaga beach. The smiling-eyed, honeyed swing-eyed artist – she adored Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald – passed away early Sunday from a chronic intestinal ailment. He continued in the gap until his health allowed it, especially in choirs and jazz orchestras, with interpreters of the stature of Miguel Salvador, Carlos Velasco and Edu Basterra. In Mocedades he remained until 1993 and, later, in 2019 he joined the branch of Mocedades led by Javier Garay. He had teaching studies, a very good hand with children but his thing was music. That is why a young woman from Getxo (Vizcaya) was chosen, who stood out for her voice and desire to learn. It was 1985 and the void that Amaya Uranga had left could not be filled with just anyone. Ana Bejerano earned a place in Mocedades competing with more than 100 singers.
