keith.robertson@aig.com – Page 43

Week in Review – March 12, 2017

Music City, U.S.A., Nashville, was our destination for the weekend.

We arrived on Thursday and checked into the lovely Thompson Nashville hotel. I was happy to see the musical theme of the hotel – they had a god selection of vinyl albums and a turntable in the lobby. I was equally happy to see a very nice coffee shop off the lobby. The room was equipped with a Marshall blue-tooth speaker system and a really interesting coffee table book showing people with their record collections. The room was excellent – probably the nicest we’ve stayed in with a huge claw foot bathtub and shower.

A walk downtown stretched us out after travel and also let us know that the SEC basketball championship was in town – the place was infested with Kentucky fans in their blue shirts. We could hardly navigate Broadway, the street with all the music bars and clubs, for all the basketball hoopla.

After our exercise we headed to the rooftop bar to enjoy the beautiful day and downtown views with some great cocktails (mine was called “The Battle of New Orleans”). Then we had dinner at the Marsh House, a new John Besh restaurant in the hotel – the ceviche appetizer was delicious. Next it was off to the concert that was the main reason for our trip. We saw the Southern Soul Assembly perform at the City Winery. This is a group of 4 singer songwriters – Anders Osborne, Marc Broussard, JJ Grey, and Luther Dickinson – who usually perform on their own but did this short acoustic tour where they each take turns singing with acoustic guitars. The music and the venue were both excellent – we appreciated the table seating with food and drink service and the sound was very precise. We had heard Anders and Marc perform separately before and both agreed that JJ Grey was the star of the show. Here are JJ Grey, Anders, and Marc – you can decide which you like best but the variety was really entertaining.

Friday started with coffee and the crossword followed by a workout on the elliptical machines. We had lunch at a restaurant called the Little Octopus near the hotel. We were disappointed they didn’t have ceviche at lunch but enjoyed the Caribbean style food very much.

After lunch we walked to the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. We had a pleasant couple of hours exploring the exhibits and learned quite a bit about the local Nashville session musicians who played on music by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Johnny Cash and a host of others.

I was interested in the original song notebooks – particularly the one with one of my favorite songs, Angel from Montgomery by John Prine. It was fun to get inside a guitar too.

On the walk back to the hotel we stopped for a picture of Diana with her new angel wings – do you see the guitars in the wing design? We laughed as Diana jumped in between a group of silly young girls who were taking forever to take multiple typical teenage poses in front of the wings. There was another couple waiting patiently and Diana told them, “That’s how it’s done”.

We repeated Thursday night’s routine with a trip to the rooftop bar at the hotel – quite a bit colder this time though so we sat inside. Then it was a quick Uber ride over to the Butcher and Bee restaurant – excellent Mediterranean food. The night finished with a quick visit to the Sambuca music club across from the hotel where we enjoyed a good cover band.

On Saturday we awoke to snow outside – it’s amazing how the weather in
March can go from almost 80 degrees one day to snow the next. The coffee, crossword, and workout routine was repeated and then we headed over to Husk for brunch. Husk is in a small house in a residential/industrial neighborhood just outside downtown and had a great Southern brunch menu. The food was served on plates that looked like they were sliced from a tree trunk. One last delicious meal in Nashville before we had to head back to the hotel and pack up for the airport.

On the walk back to the hotel we made a diversion to visit the Third Man Record factory and store. This is run by Jack White of the White Stripes band. Have you heard of them? Diana hadn’t and didn’t recognize their song “Seven Nation Army” when I played it on my phone on the walk over.

The store was completely unique with old style listening booths and rediscovered blues recordings from the 20s and 30s that Jack White has repressed and released. I picked up a turntable mat with the Third Man logo for the turntable in my office at home.

A very enjoyable short trip to Nashville that we hope to repeat again sometime soon when there’s another good concert at the City Winery.

Week in Review – February 26, 2017

My work team gets together in person for a couple of days each quarter since we all work in different locations. This week we met up in Woodland Hills (just north of Los Angeles) for a few days. One night we made the scenic trip over Topanga Canyon for dinner at Duke’s seafood restaurant on the beach. The food was good and the views spectacular.

Being so close to San Diego we decided to have Diana meet me there for the weekend and have a visit with Campbell. On Friday night we had a stroll along the harbor and found Diana’s boat.

This gave Diana the idea that we should charter a yacht and go out on the bay with Campbell and Molly on Saturday afternoon. We had been back and forth with Campbell on what to do and he didn’t seem overly enthused about the Wild Animal park or zoo.

That evening we tried the Searsucker restaurant in the gas lamp district to see if it lived up to the Yelp reviews. It did for the most part with creative food, a nice casual setting and great service.

After a good night’s sleep we made preparations for sailing with a quick trip to the gas lamp grocery store for snacks and drinks.

Then we rendezvoused with our captain for the afternoon, quite an interesting character, and headed out for a lovely afternoon on the San Diego bay. More than 30% of the population is military and predominantly Navy so we saw a lot of their activity and buildings on the waterfront. You can see the Midway aircraft carrier behind us in the group shot.

Captain Diana did a much better job than Captain Molly who took over the wheel just when Diana was downstairs in the head and learned quickly that large movements of the wheel cause the boat to turn very quickly and the boom to swing over. The official captain was quite entertained by the exploits.

You can see that Campbell didn’t get the memo to wear his black puffer jacket like the rest of us.

All the fresh air and sun caused us to work up an appetite. So we walked to Joe’s crab shack for a quick feast.

On Saturday evening Diana and I ventured out to the gas lamp district again and found a fantastic bar/restaurant called the Whiskey House. This place had over 1,000 whiskeys from all over the world around the walls and a very impressive menu of whiskey based cocktails. The ones we sampled were perfectly made and delicious. We had a snack of scotch eggs and were wishing we had an appetite to try more from the great looking menu.

On Sunday morning we ventured to the Italian area for brunch. I edited a picture of Diana under the Little Italy sign for my entertainment. Brunch was amazing at a tiny Italian place. Then it was off to the airport for our flight back home. We had a lovely time visiting with Campbell and Molly and are very happy with where he chose to attend college. Looking forward to visiting again soon.

Week in Review – February 19, 2017

Monday was spent recovering from all the excitement of the long weekend in New Orleans before St. Valentine’s day rolled around on Tuesday.

My fiancee made a delicious dinner of filet mignon topped with lump crab and a side of baby carrots and accompanied by a delicious Stag’s Leap Artemis (one of my favourites) that was being saved for a special occasion.

Saturday was a busy day that started with a drive to the University of Texas at Arlington to watch the Boyd High School Jazz Band perform in a competition. They played 3 songs and sounded great. Here’s one called “Cutie” by Count Basie and featuring Alicia on the flute.

We drove from UTA to the diamond store to pick out a final setting for Diana’s diamond and to pick out wedding bands. Jeff helped us choose efficiently and we were finished in less than 2 hours.

Then it was over to the hotel to check in before the Delbert McClinton show at the Granada Theater. We had a delicious pre-show dinner at the Sundown next door – I’m not sure we really needed the truffle mac n’ cheese for dessert but it was excellent. The opening band was Teresa James and the rhythm tramps. She was a cross between the boogie woogie piano style of Marcia Ball and the voice of Carolyn Wonderland – right up our alley. Here’s Delbert playing one of his more well known songs, “Starting a Rumour”.

His 9 piece band was excellent as you just heard. The saxophone and trumpet players were real highlights. Here’s a clip of them taking center stage while Delbert took a short break. He’s 76 and played for a solid 2 hours. His was the first show I saw in Texas – back in 1985 at the Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth when I was training with Gearhart and he sounds as good now as I remember then.

Sunday morning started with brunch at the Dream Cafe in the Uptown district of Dallas. Diana reminded me that the last time I took her there was on New Year’s Day 2016 to try and make up for falling asleep before midnight the night before. I like the feature when this restaurant has a wait – they give you an album cover and then call out the name of the album when your table is ready – very clever and entertaining.

Week in Review – February 12, 2017

Wednesday, February 8th, was a big day in our home. I cooked a close replica of the first meal I made for Diana, catfish with orange and rosemary sauce and green beans. That was followed with me playing and singing (if the word stretches that far) a poorly rehearsed, but well received, version of Marc Cohn’s beautiful song, “True Companion”. Then I dropped down to one knee and proposed to Diana – and she said “Yes”. I believe that I was able to completely surprise her.

On Thursday we flew down to New Orleans for a long weekend. First stop was “Avery’s” – a Denny approved hole in the wall restaurant with outstanding barbecued shrimp po’boys. Then to the local French wine shop to pick up some nice champagne to celebrate our engagement with the Ogans. The gentleman who owns the store was quite a character and full of stories. Dinner was at “Meril”, a new restaurant from Emeril Lagasse named after his daughter. The food was great and very reasonably priced. Diana had Korean short ribs and I tried the saffron tagliatelle with roasted lamb – both delicious. Dessert was a selection of cheeses from the St. James cheese shop – another of our favourite New Orleans destinations. We always laugh when we think of Anne’s Mum, Carolyn, telling Diana that Jack Bauer was paying when we went there with her because he had just received a big bonus for saving the President’s life.

After dinner Denny consulted the extensive listing of concerts happening in New Orleans that night and we decided on Marc Stone at the Columns hotel. He was playing in the front room and at one point there were just the four of us listening to him. Denny had a good chat with Marc and didn’t forget to slip in some “Wash Dat” marketing activity. I thoroughly enjoyed his show. So much fantastic music is happening all over New Orleans every night. We headed to Dos Jefes cigar bar next to listen to a Japanese trombone player with what appeared to be a band composed of local music students – a great finish to our first night in New Orleans. We’re always amazed at how much ground we cover in a day when there.

Friday began with a trip to SOFAB (Southern Food and Beverage Museum). Toups meatery has a restaurant inside and I loved the goat tacos that I had for lunch. There were lots of interesting exhibits on food and cocktails over the years. Next we had a coffee at “Morning Call” – a 24 hour coffee and beignet shop close to City Park and also to the restaurant where Denny had last left his credit card. Next to the coffee shop was the outdoor sculpture garden and we had a pleasant wander through it while enjoying the beautiful weather. Here’s a picture of my favorite sculpture – it seems to represent the evolution of man but I can’t remember the official name.

Friday dinner was at “Petit Lion” in the new Troubadour hotel. Another lovely meal with delicious appetizers and then steak au poivre. That was followed by a refreshing walk to the Smoothie King center to see a concert by Billy Joel.

None of us had seen him perform before and were all very impressed with the showmanship and musicians. His saxophone player is a real star and his solo on “New York State of Mind” was a real treat. I particularly liked that Joel included a number of New Orleans songs in his show. Here’s his version of “House of the Rising Sun” done with a tone that really conveys the song’s message well.

Cocktails at the Cellar Door finished the evening as we waited for the crowd to disperse.

Saturday started with a Jack and Mason soccer game accompanied by champagne and King cake (as only happens in New Orleans).

The boys always enjoy torturing “Miss Diana” when she comes to town. She’s in the middle of some kind of protest here. I see the boys play about once a year and am amazed at how much they progress – the team played really well.

Soccer was followed by a unique experience – a visit to the “batture”. The batture is the inside of the levee on the Mississippi – so right up against the water on stilts and right beside all the busy boat traffic.

Our host was Macon, a very interesting local character. His girlfriend was celebrating her 50th birthday and so Denny and Frank shucked over 300 oysters which Bruce barbecued on the upstairs deck with Denny’s yummy blue cheese sauce. Macon is a great story teller and well connected with the local musicians. He was telling us a story about a friend who was in Los Angeles because the band he plays in was nominated for a Grammy award. I asked him if the music they played was like Tommy Malone’s band – the name of which I couldn’t remember. Denny said, “it’s the Subdudes” and then Macon said, “Tommy Malone’s right upstairs”. You can’t make things like that up.

We left the batture and meandered to the French Quarter to watch the Krewe de Vieux mardi gras parade – pronounced “Crew de Voo” in New Orleans. This was the first parade of the season to roll and featured very irreverent political satire – if only Trump could have watched. The floats were smaller since they had to be non-motorized and drawn by donkeys. What a hoot the parade was – with excellent local brass bands throughout. We finished up the evening with cocktails at Broussard’s from Pete the world renowned bartender.

Another amazing trip to New Orleans wound down with brunch at Paladar 511 in the Bywater area. Denny and I tortured Diana with discussion about wedding plans and options. I love this restaurant’s decor and food – it’s by a family that owns a small but famous pizza restaurant in San Francisco.

And so it’s back to boring McKinney. We’d love to live in New Orleans but it’s probably just as well we don’t have all that decadent food, music, and cocktails at our fingertips.

Week in Review – January 22, 2017

The big highlight this week was a trip to the Kessler in Oak Cliff for a concert by Eric Lindell on Thursday (my sister Elspeth’s birthday). Brent accompanied us while poor Patty missed due to work travel.

We started with dinner at Bolsa (the first restaurant we tried in Oak Cliff a few years ago and still one of our favourites). We started with smoked trout rillettes (a new term for me – an appetizer that is diced, seasoned, cooked and then pounded to the consistency of a spread) and beef tartare. Then Diana had mussels and I had risotto with several kinds of mushrooms and other delicious vegetables. Left overs were a great lunch on Friday as well.

Bobby Patterson opened the show and we got there just in time to catch his complete set. We were glad we did as he put on a very enjoyable show – you could tell he was very happy to be back on stage and performing to a full house. Patterson is 72 years old and has written songs recorded by Albert King and several others. He was also a record producer and executive for many years. He told a story about recording the song that was to have been the follow up to Percy Sledge’s “When A Man Loves a Woman”. Percy was too drunk to show up for the session and so they had Bobby record it instead.

Eric Lindell played a great follow up set with Anson Funderburgh on lead guitar. Funderburgh was born in Plano, Texas and has a great guitar sound and style – very reminiscent of Jimmie Vaughan. Here’s a clip from the opening song, “Here I am in Dallas”, where Lindell sings about being stuck in Dallas and missing New Orleans.

I thoroughly enjoyed the guitar interplay between Eric and Anson and our seats close to the stage allowed me to watch exactly what they were doing on their guitars. Brent really enjoyed the keyboard player who was playing bass with his left hand on one keyboard and piano accompaniment with his right hand as well as singing backup vocals

One of our favorite Lindell songs is “Lay Back Down”. Here’s a short clip from that song. I don’t think there’s anywhere better to see a show like this than at the Kessler theater with it’s amazing sound, great seating, and welcoming attitude from everyone who works there.

Other activities this week included meeting up with an old AIG colleague, Allen Livingston, who left about a year ago, and with Kevin Johnston, and old EDS/HP colleague that I hadn’t seen for over a year.

Week in Review – January 15, 2017

Sunday was Cowboys football playoff time!

But before we get to that, Saturday was a big night for Alicia. She attended the Winter formal dance with several friends. All the young ladies and gentlemen came over to take pictures before they headed to the dance and they all looked amazing.

I enjoyed watching the performance as Diana, the girls, and another Mom attempted to pin the boutonnieres to the boys’ lapels.

The trouble the boys and girls took to
coordinate ties with dresses and boutonnieres and corsages with their outfits was quite impressive.

We were treated to most of the group coming back over to our home after their dance to hang out for a while. They all seemed to really enjoy the event.

Judy, my friend and EDS admin from California was in town to celebrate the birth of her first grandchild, Reagan Marie. We had Judy and the Dilling clan, Patty and Brent, Wendy and Toby all over to watch the Cowboys play the Packers and to celebrate Nana and Papa Dilling.

I enjoyed holding a baby much smaller than any of my three ever were again. Such a good baby – slept or watched the Cowboys all afternoon with no complaints.

We took a tip from the Winter formal bunch and had a picture of the group taken on the stairs.

Unfortunately the Cowboys lost 34 – 31 in the last few seconds of the game and couldn’t overcome a slow start in the fist half. It was a very exciting game even if not the result we were all hoping for.

We enjoyed some great cocktails and snacks during the game. Diana bought us the “Bacon 24/7” cookbook and made us some yummy cheese and bacon puffs. I infused some bourbon with bacon and used it to make some Manhattans that were well received. Judy had her usual lemon drop cocktails from the glitter ball martini glass that I got to celebrate her new grandmother status. Wendy brought a buffalo chicken dip that everyone really enjoyed and Patty and Brent made one of their excellent flatbreads with mozzarella, honey, and basil. Multiple recipes were exchanged.

Old friends (and a one week old new friend) got to spend some fun time together and catch up despite the wrong result on the football game.

Just as everyone was about to leave, the heavens opened and some tornado warnings were broadcast. Diana and I got pretty wet holding umbrellas for folks to leave and fortunately everyone made it home without incident.

Week in Review – January 8, 2017

My youngest baby turned 21 today. Hard to believe and a happy milestone.

We celebrated at “The Boiling Hot Pot” in San Francisco. This was Will’s choice and is one of his favorite haunts. You pay a flat fee and then get as much as you can eat of various meats and seafoods to dunk in four different flavors of boiling hot pot. Campbell and his friends had a ball and enjoyed the unlimited Saki and beer as well. They had a process for making Saki bombs using chopsticks to suspend the Saki shot above the beer and then pounding on the table chanting, “Saki, Saki, Saki, Bomb”. The “Bomb” coinciding with hard enough pounding to drop the shot into the beer. I tried one and decided it wasn’t something my tummy appreciated.

Campbell clearly enjoyed his “all about me” day. His friends left to right are Cody, Patrick, and Cameron (turtle). He’s known them all since elementary school and they’re a great bunch of friends. Will and Christine, Melanie, Laquita, Campbell’s girlfriend Molly, and Diana (meeting Melanie and Laquita for the first time) all participated. It was quite steamy as the evening wore on but the kids didn’t mind or even notice I don’t think.

Following dinner, the kids went back to Will’s house and got dressed to go clubbing at some fancy night club that Will had arranged. I’m not sure what time that all finished and they crashed on couches Chez Will – but I’m sure I had been asleep for many hours when they retired.

Here’s Campbell with the engraved beer stein that I got him as a gift.

This was one of those rare occasions when all three of my sons are in the same place at the same time. It was nice to see everyone having such a good time celebrating with Campbell and the folks meeting for the first time having pleasant conversations.

Week in Review – December 4, 2016

A welcome quiet week at home with no travel, concerts or any major events.

I was sad to learn of the passing, at age 86, of Andrew Sachs who played Manuel in Fawlty Towers, the British comedy written by and starring John Cleese and Connie Booth. Manuel is a waiter from Barcelona working in the Fawlty Towers hotel in Torquay in the “English Riviera”. There are only 12 episodes of this classic British comedy and they are all hilarious. The highlights are often the interactions between Basil Fawlty (John Cleese as hotel proprietor) and Manuel who struggles with English. Here’s one of my favorites.

boxes On Friday we loaded up these boxes for the Salvation Army into Mike Mead’s behemoth of a Tahoe and drove them to Willow Bend mall for drop off. Hopefully the car seats, toy piano, headphones and other goodies will help make Christmas merry for some needy families.

After unloading we enjoyed a late lunch of oysters for Diana and crawfish bisque for Keith at Pappadeaux’s.

The high school band kids had auditions for the all-region band on Saturday morning and we were treated to some excerpts from a few of Alicia’s friends on Friday night. Flutes, clarinet, and bassoons.

clarinet bassoon

Saturday started with an overdue workout. Then I made one of my favorite Blue Apron meals yet – smoked trout tartines. Flaked smoked trout mixed with stewed scallions, creme fraiche, mayonnaise, dill and celery on a toasted baguette. A yummy lunch.

In the afternoon we went to see the movie “Manchester By The Sea” at the Angelika theater. The movie stars Casey Afleck and Michelle Williams and is not a light-hearted, up-lifting movie by any stretch. However, the acting from both the leads is superb and the story is very realistic. The ability of the writer and director, Kenneth Lonergan, to interject humor that works into such heavy subject matter is a testament to his skill. I predict several Oscar nominations and wins for this film.

After the movie we had a relaxing drink and snack at Del Frisco’s Grille and then headed home for some quiet reading time. I’m working my way through “The Nix” by Nathan Hill and am really enjoying it. I’m currently in a section set against the backdrop of the riots at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. I was shuffling through some music on Spotify while reading and stopped on this excellent vintage Genesis song from the 1976 album “Wind and Wuthering”. I have a biography of Peter Gabriel (Genesis lead singer in the early days) in my stack of books waiting to be read. It seems very detailed and was recommended by a musician gentleman sitting next to Diana on our summer flight from Paris to Glasgow.

I’m typing this while enjoying watching the Steelers beating the Giants – good result for the Cowboys (if it stands) who play the Giants next Sunday night. Here’s a great play from the Thursday night Cowboys victory (to advance to 11-1) over the Vikings.

Music Discovery – Luke Winslow King

I was first introduced to Luke Winslow King at the New Orleans jazz greg festival a couple of years ago on a recommendation from Greg Luzianne (in his new Saints suit on the left). We saw him play in the paddock and I remember it being an enjoyable but not overly memorable set.

His new album “I’m Glad Trouble Don’t Last Always” is thoroughly memorable. The 2 songs that booked the album are my favorites – the opener “On My Way” and the closer “No More Crying Today”. Both have all my favorite elements – great slide guitar, well constructed and great sounding guitar solos, good songwriting and an interesting rhythm.

Luke is originally from Cadillac, Michigan and formed the Winslow-King Blues Band at the age of 16. He earned a diploma from the renowned Interlochen Arts Acadmey, where he majored in jazz guitar.

He first visited New Orleans at age 19 and stayed because of an unfortunate situation – his car was stolen from Ursuline Street in the Treme while parked overnight. It was completely full of the band’s instruments. While recovering from the theft Luke fell in love with the city and now calls it home. Here’s a video of him playing music while riding around the French Quarter in a carriage – part of a great series of local musicians playing music on Sunday afternoons.

After recording his first self-titled debut album in 2007, he continued paying his dues, busking on Royal Street during the day and working in the clubs on Frenchman Street at night.

In 2008, Luke recorded ‘Old New Baby’ mostly live at Preservation Hall in New Orleans. He learned gospel and jazz standards accompanying John Boutté, picked up bottleneck slide guitar watching blues maestro Roberto Luti, performed in John Sinclair’s Blues Scholars, and immersed himself in the trad. jazz songbook while playing with Ben Polcer and The Loose Marbles Jazz Band. During this time he was also a member of Meschiya Lake’s Little Big Horns and is featured on her album Lucky Devil.

Some deep trivia: Luke was an extra in Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day movie as a child.

Music Discovery – Cameroon

A couple of musicians from Cameroon caught my interest lately. The first was “Soul Makossa” by Manu Dibango.

Emmanuel “Manu” N’Djoké Dibango is a Cameroonian musician and song-writer who plays saxophone and vibraphone. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk, and traditional Cameroonian music. The song “Soul Makossa” on the record of the same name contains the lyrics “makossa”, which means “(I) dance” in his native tongue, the Cameroonian language Duala. It has influenced several popular music hits, including Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'”, as well as his re-recording of that song with Akon, the Fugees’ “Cowboys”, and Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music”.

Manu has collaborated with many other musicians, including Fania All Stars, Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, King Sunny Adé, Don Cherry, and Sly and Robbie. In 1998, he recorded the album CubAfrica with Cuban artist Eliades Ochoa.

The Lafayette Afro Rock Band does a great cover of “Soul Makossa” on their excellent 1973 album “Afro Funk Explosion”. Thanks to the outstanding jukebox at the Twilite Lounge in Deep Ellum, Dallas for introducing me to this band.

The second Cameroonian musician I heard is Etienne Mbappe. I first thought he was Jaco Pastorius since he sounds so much like him on electric bass. Etienne is based in France now and plays with several jazz superstars including John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra). He played with the late Joe Zawinul (Weather Report with Jaco) and on Ray Charles’ last album in 2001.

Etienne is one of the few string playing musicians who likes to play with gloves. Here’s an interesting interview.

Maybe I’ll have a chance to see him live in New York sometime soon. Checking tour dates I see him at Ronny Scott’s club in London with McLaughlin but nothing easy for me to get to in the near future.