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.
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 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.
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.
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.
y 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.
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.
tish Santa – we’ve named him “Peaty” since his bagpipes are bottles of Scotch whisky and my favorite single malts are the peaty flavored ones from Islay.
preparations got into full swing. A fifteen pound turkey was prepped and set to bake in the oven. Diana made some very tasty stuffing with a combination of regular and spicy Italian sausage, corn, and celery. It was a huge hit and I’m still enjoying the leftovers. Sweet potatoes were baked, potatoes mashed, and green beans cooked up. A thoroughly delicious and successful first Thanksgiving meal cooked at home for Diana and me.
Greg) for cocktails at what is reported to be the “World’s Best Cocktail Bar”. The “Dead Rabbit” has won all the major best cocktail bar awards for the last few years and it did not disappoint. I had a “Fifth Gear” which was based on Irish whiskey and very strong. That was accompanied by my favorite pub food – a shepherd’s pie made with lamb.
was a full day of meetings. The organizers tried to spice things up with some “lightning talks” – 5 mins or less on any topic an attendee had in mind. We submitted topics in advance and the audience voted. My talk, “Humble and Kind”, was selected first. The idea came to me after enduring the prior week of hateful speech from all sides and particularly the reports from our schools. The talk seemed to be well received and the song “Humble and Kind” by Tim McGraw was played at the end of the day 
on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
ng provided a real musical highlight. We saw Marc Broussard perform at the Granada theater. Dinner before at the Sundown restaurant next door to the theater was very good. Marc has a great voice and a solid band including 3 horns. We enjoyed a couple of soaring saxophone solos. My highlight of the show was a cover of “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley”, originally recorded by Robert Palmer with The Meters from New Orleans as his band. The George Porter bass line is one of my favorites.
I don’t think there’s anywhere better to see a concert than at the Kessler theater in Oakcliff, just south of downtown Dallas. The sound is pristine no matter what band is playing, the staff are friendly and helpful, the bar is great and the reserved table seating in front of the stage is excellent.
e’s. This was a recommendation from the Wahba’s and a great new place for us in the Bishop Arts district. It describes itself as “An American Bistro with a southern low-country influence”. The interior is quite elegant but casual. We started with a beet salad which was interesting in that it included strawberries – turned out to be a good combination.
Then we split some perfectly cooked New Zealand lamb chops while Patty and Brent had one of their favorite shrimp and grits in Dallas.
ew to New York again on Monday to attend work meetings for a few days. On Monday night I met up with a few work colleagues for dinner and then Darrell Crane took me to a jazz club called Mezzrow. This was a very nice surprise of a place. During breaks in the music they played classic albums on a turntable by the door. Our table was so close it almost felt like we were in the 3 piece band – piano, bass and drums. Several different drummers sat in with the band playing only high hat and snare drum with brushes since the venue was so tiny.
t to see Chick Corea perform at the Blue Note. The show was part of his 75th birthday celebration and on the night that I attended he did a tribute to Miles Davis. The concert was sold out and there was quite a line when I got there but I was still able to get a great seat with an excellent view of the entire band. And an all star band it was! Mike Stern, who played guitar with Miles in the early 80s, Marcus Miller who co-wrote and played bass on Miles’ Tutu album, Kenny Garret who played saxophone with Miles in the late 80s, Wallace Roney who inherited Miles’ trumpet, and the amazing Brian Blade on drums.
The show didn’t start until almost 11pm but was really a one of a kind treat and easily worth the loss of a few hours of sleep.