Chef Berkeley

Our Taxi driver last night was thrilled to learn we were from California. He regaled us in Spanish with stories about how he loved California because it was the home of his favorite singer: Chef Berkeley.

Wes and I nodded politely, though we both had the same thought: “Who the hell is Chef Berkeley?” You would think that if some random Argentine cab driver knew every song by this Californian Cantandor, we should at least have heard his name before.

The driver told us stories of how Chef’s tunes transcended the lyrics and the listener could feel the meaning of the song. How his son loved all his CD's, even though he was 11 and spoke no English.

He talked and talked, and finally, when he started naming some song titles and even hummed a few songs, we realize that his favorite singer was not Chef Berkeley, but Jeff Buckley!

Argentinians can't pronounce the English J. It's very cute. Just ask my U.S. pal here, Jack, who's been going by "Shack" since arriving in BA.