Month: June 2019

Week in Review – June 30, 2019

The week started well with a relaxing and delicious lunch at June’s All Day brasserie on far South Congress.  This is the place that Mark took me to for lunch when I interviewed for my job in Austin, and I hadn’t been back since.  Diana and I both loved our lunch – delicious wines, smoked salmon nicoise salad for D and steak tartare for K.  The heavens opened as we were finishing up and so we had to stay for coffee and wait for a brief respite in the rain.  Temperatures dropped 15 degrees in a few minutes and the humidity was thankfully gone from the air for a while.

I got tied up at work until late on Monday evening.  Diana was able to meet up with Sheri (after some confusion on which Kendra Scott store they were meeting at) and then they stopped back into June’s for some Happy Hour champagne.

Then they met up with Sean at the Continental Club to see the amazing Peterson Brothers.  These two young men have so much positive energy and interact with each other beautifully.  May they never lose those positive smiles they have playing music together.  I was able to join around 7:30pm for the second half of the show.    We particularly enjoyed the rendition of “Amazing Grace” on violin by Alex – it was his first instrument in school before graduating to bass guitar virtuoso.

Then the Brothers went mobile, wandering through the club, passing the guitar off to a friend at the bar to jam, heading out into the street and then plopping down in the seats behind us for a few minutes.

I thoroughly enjoyed the second hour of this show.  Just what I needed after a long work day.  Here’s a quick clip of the Brothers jamming:

After the show we followed the typical circuit – Hopdoddy burger followed by Hotel San Jose courtyard.  Sean was able to have a nice chat with Glenn and Alex about when they were going to play in California.

Diana headed back to Dallas on the Tuesday bus and I put in some long days at the office, battling system problems.

I enjoyed a work dinner at Bonneville on Wednesday night.  This is a good restaurant, just across the bridge from the apartment, that I hadn’t heard of but enjoyed quite a bit.  The scallop dish was yummy.

I rode back to Dallas with Vinod on Thursday afternoon – always an enjoyable journey because of the wide ranging conversations.  It was really nice to be home with Diana in McKinney for a few days.

The new movie from director Danny Boyle, “Yesterday”, was our entertainment on Saturday afternoon.  We both enjoyed the movie and the interesting concept behind it.  It really brought home the breadth and differences in the Beatles catalog.  Diana mentioned being reminded of the Cirque du Soleil “Love” show in Las Vegas, and how it gave whole new meanings to the classic Beatles songs.

I had always thought that the Beatles “I Want to  Hold Your Hand” was the number one song when I was born.  I just looked it up and that was actually an honor held by the Four Pennies, with their song “Juliet”.  Have you ever heard of the Four Pennies?  I certainly haven’t.  I like the guitar introduction to the song.  It was only number one for a single week.

Take a look at the number one hits from 1964 – so many classics that we still remember.  I challenge anyone to believe the same will be true of the number one hits from 2019 – most of them will be forgotten a couple of years from now.  Cilla Black has a couple of number ones and she got a mention in “Yesterday” during the visit to Liverpool.  What was in that Mersey water?

Date Artist – Title Weeks
at #1
« 1963 1964 Number One Songs 1965 »
 –  Beatles – I Want To Hold Your Hand 5
 –  Dave Clark Five – Glad All Over 2
 –  Searchers – Needles And Pins 3
 –  Bachelors – Diane 1
 –  Cilla Black – Anyone Who Had A Heart 3
 –  Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas – Little Children 2
 –  Beatles – Can’t Buy Me Love 3
 –  Peter and Gordon – A World Without Love 2
 –  Searchers – Don’t Throw Your Love Away 2
 –  Four Pennies – Juliet 1
 –  Cilla Black – You’re My World 4
 –  Roy Orbison – It’s Over 2
 –  Animals – The House Of The Rising Sun 1
 –  Rolling Stones – It’s All Over Now 1
 –  Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night 3
 –  Manfred Mann – Do Wah Diddy Diddy 2
 –  Honeycombs – Have I The Right? 2
 –  Kinks – You Really Got Me 2
 –  Herman’s Hermits – I’m Into Something Good 2
 –  Roy Orbison – Oh Pretty Woman 3 (2)
 –  Sandie Shaw – (There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me 3
 –  Roy Orbison – Oh Pretty Woman 3 (1)
 –  Supremes – Baby Love 2
 –  Rolling Stones – Little Red Rooster 1

I heard a song on Spotify that I enjoyed by Alan Price.  The keyboard sound was somewhat familiar, so I did some research.  I found out why it sounded familiar – he was the organ player with the Animals.  You’ll notice above that “House of the Rising Sun” was number one just after I was born – I still enjoy that song today and remember Billy Joel playing it when we saw him in New Orleans recently.  The Western musical brain certainly loves arpeggios – particularly when a minor resolves into a nice major.

Alan Price is a self-taught musician and was a founding member of the Tyneside group “The Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo”, which was later renamed “the Animals”.   His organ playing on “The House of the Rising Sun”, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”, and “Bring It On Home to Me” was certainly a big part of the group’s sound and success.

He also had a big role in introducing one of my favourite musicians, Randy Newman, to the world.  Price’s second album, “A Price on His Head”, released in 1967, featured seven songs by Newman, virtually unknown at the time.

What was number one on December 18, 1964 when my wife entered the world, I hear you asking.  Well – that was a Beatles song – “I Feel Fine”.  Not one that I was familiar with, even though it spent 5 solid weeks at number one.  Oopsy – now that I listen, I know it well.  “I’m in love with her, and I feel fine”.

Changing over from music to the literary front, I finally finished “The Parisian” by Isabella Hammad.  This was a very long slog of a book with lots of Arabic dialog and names.  I did learn a lot about the history of Palestine in the early 2oth Century, and the influx of Jewish immigration that ultimately caused the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that still exists.

Here are some of the reviews that convinced me to embark on this read.  I’m not sure I agree with any of them – this book was really hard work.  I enjoyed the first few hundred pages that were set in Paris, but the Palestinian years were just work.

I’m looking forward to some lighter reading this week.

Here’s the Alan Price song that got me off on that Animals trip earlier:

Diana gave me a beautiful vinyl rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s new “Western Skies” album for fathers’ day.  Here’s one of my early favourites:

How can Bruce still be making such meaningful music while performing every night in his solo Broadway show?

I’ve always loved the music of Robert Cray and came across this recent album.  Ask me about seeing Robert Cray in a small club on Greenville Avenue in Dallas in the late 80s, when Stevie Ray Vaughan joined him on stage.

 

 

 

Week in Review – June 23, 2019

Our second wedding anniversary on Monday was welcomed with a pretty sunrise.  After a long work day, we celebrated at Uchi, a sushi restaurant close to the apartment and rated one of the best in the United States.  The food was excellent, as you can tell by the smile on D’s face.  The service was equally outstanding, from the initial greeter, to Sam our waitress, and everyone else that interacted with us.

The rest of the week was busy with work and quite hot outside.  On Wednesday evening we braved the heat for a walk along the river, passing by the movie on the lawn event on the way home.  “The Goonies” was showing on a giant inflatable screen.  Temperatures continued to heat up, with Thursday being the first 100 degree day of the year.

Friday afternoon took me to one of our stores on far South Congress to observe system performance during the peak time and close process.  As luck would have it, C-Boys Heart and Soul was close by.  Diana joined me and a couple of work colleagues for happy hour.  The Rosie Flores Revue was playing (as they apparently do every Friday) – what a pleasant surprise.  We’ll have to return again soon.

We met our friend Vinod for dinner on Saturday night at the newly re-opened Swift’s Attic on Congress Avenue.  They had a fire several months ago and we’ve been looking forward to enjoying the amazing scallops again.

That’s the table we occupied in the bar area.  The word seems to be out on the re-opening after just a few days – the whole place was quite busy.

Sunday kicked off with a nice long swim and very relaxing sauna, followed by coffee at Opa!  The puzzle was by creators and an editor we didn’t know – where did Fred Piscop go?  It took us both over 30 minutes to finish the “Doing the Splits” crossword.

Sean and Sheri were in Austin looking at houses and evaluating a move from San Jose.  We had a drink together in the Catherine Sky Bar on Sunday evening and then a lovely dinner at Peche.

Diana and I split steak tartare (one of our favorite renditions but Justine is still the winner in Austin) and a decadent burger and fries.  Sheri loved the braised short ribs and duck fat mashed potatoes, and Sean was quite happy with his bouillabaisse.  Of course McD couldn’t pass up the fig foam Manhattan.

After dinner we finished off the evening at the Roosevelt Room.  The bar is lovely and the cocktails good, but we decided it was just a bit too much work to get a drink in that place.  I did like the interior and particularly the musician paintings – here’s one of Austin native Gary Clark Jr.

I continue to slog through my current book with a firm goal of finishing it up this coming week and getting on to some quicker, lighter summertime fare.

A work colleague told me about a solo release by Ed Jurdi of the Band of Heathens – “Bumblebee” – very nice.  Diana was listening to it on Sunday morning and wondering why it sounded like the Band of Heathens, but not quite right.

The other lead singer from BoH also released a solo album a few years back.  I love this song from Gordi Quist, “Satisfied Mind”:

Thinking about local musicians brought me around to Ian Moore and one of his underappreciated albums, Luminaria:

And here’s a late addition that just popped up on my Spotify playlist – seems appropriate as we enter summer.  The great songwriter and performer Chuck Prophet – will never forget seeing him in Denton with less than 10 other folks – hard to believe.

 

Week in Review – June 16, 2019

Happy Father’s Day to my Dad and all you others celebrating today.  Being a Dad – the most challenging occupation I know, filled with terrific highs, tough lows and lots of unanticipated in betweens.  Here’s a picture of my Dad, sister, and brother in law at Pitmedden Gardens near Aberdeen.

This week was all work, work, work for both of us with lots of challenges to solve.  I think McD solved most of hers, while I’m still battling through mine.

The only real respite all week was a very pleasant walk along the river trail on Thursday night.  The city of Austin does such a good job maintaining the trail and the natural habitats.  We enjoyed this guy with his long neck sticking up from the vegetation.

Friday afternoon brought a lot of work issues for me and so I was ready for some fun and relaxation when arriving home.  I had bought tickets to see the author David Sedaris read from and talk about his latest book, “Calyso”, at Book People but couldn’t face the prospect of 400 people crammed into the 2nd floor space after such a long week – time for Plan B.

We walked down South Congress Avenue (SoCo) to the San Jose hotel for a relaxing drink and snack on their excellent patio.  This is where we finished our evening with the Aussies and Diana sent Sue a picture of the patio.  She replied that they were fighting through thunderstorms in Custer, South Dakota  – those Aussies get around.

From the Hotel San Jose, we rambled on down to C-Boys Heart and Soul for the 10:30 pm show – the Mike Flanigin trio with special guest Jimmy Vaughan.  Jimmy is Stevie Ray’s older brother and an excellent guitarist in his own right – albeit with a much more understated style than Stevie Ray.

I always appreciate a stage set up with a deep saxophone.  Jimmy wandered in about 5 minutes before showtime with his guitar on his back and quickly set up.

The last time we saw Jimmy Vaughan was at the New Orleans jazz festival and his set in the blues tent was cut short by torrential rain.  This show was in no hurry to finish.  Here’s Jimmy with a nice guitar solo (see what I mean by understated?):

We shared a table with a local couple – he has been retired for 12 years and made us very jealous.  They hadn’t seen Vaughan since the early 80s and were enjoying the show as much as us.

C-Boys Heart and Soul was an excellent venue, reminding me very much of New Orleans with the mix of ages and backgrounds of people enjoying the show together.  The establishment also has a great patio and upstairs room that we’ll be returning to enjoy.

On Saturday, we caught an early movie on the way to a Target run.  Rocketman is an excellent musical based on the life and work of Elton John – highly recommended.

The way the movie uses the songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin to tell the story of Elton’s life is exemplary.  Very creative musical performances give way to deep scenes on his early life and challenges.  Diana and I were chatting about how “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” won’t mean the same to us after the visuals and story from this movie.  The closing credits show that John has raised $450 million to date for his AIDS charity – amazing from a gentleman who has brought so much musical joy to so many people, and in his second act so much relief to so many people suffering from such a horrible disease.

The scene about John’s first American performance, at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, was beautifully executed, with Elton and then the crowed levitating under the power of the music.

Here’s what the LA Times music critic had to say:

“Rejoice. Rock music, which has been going through a rather uneventful period lately, has a new star. He’s Elton John, a 23-year-old Englishman whose United States debut Tuesday night at the Troubadour was, in almost every way, magnificent.”

“His music is so staggeringly original that it is obvious he is not merely operating within a given musical field (such as country or blues or rock) but, like Randy Newman and Laura Nyro among others, creating his own field.”

I chuckled on arriving at Target – there was a greeter up front to tell me that they were having computer system issues and it could take a long time to check out.  I read the next day that all their stores were down for two hours – they had recovered by the time we were leaving.

Fathers’ Day Sunday started with a nice swim and sauna at the apartment, followed by coffee and crossword at Opa, and a ridiculously good brunch at Odd Duck.  Chef Bryce Gilmore started out in Austin years ago with the Odd Duck farm to trailer food truck, before opening Barley Swine and then the Odd Duck restaurant.

Here’s a short documentary about the original trailer that Bryce found in Wisconsin and remodeled himself:

Our brunch started with shishito hashbrown, creamed corn, and braised goat – such a delicious combination of flavors.  A close second to that was the next dish of smoked chicken skillet,  sunny eggs, mushroom cream,  and tobacco onions.  The final dish of Mediterranean flavours – eggplant falafel, fenugreek sausage, cashew humus, and herb yogurt made it difficult to choose a favourite.  We really enjoy the concept of smaller portions to share – particularly when each contains so many fresh flavours.  Can you tell that I was very happy with everything about my brunch?

I write this post relaxing on the couch, pleasantly sated and watching the one of a kind views of the US Open golf at Pebble Beach.

Radio Paradise accompanied our Sunday morning reading and this song from Bob Marley caught my attention.  Sentiments from many years ago still so true today:

That was followed by a song with similar messages form Ben Harper – it’s been too long since I heard his music:

And then the beautiful harmonies of The Jayhawks.  A band that I always forget about until they show up on the radio or a playlist – I haven’t heard a song of theirs that I don’t enjoy:

And finally, Sonia Dada, a band formed in Chicago in 1990 by Daniel Pritzker, when he enlisted a trio of singers he heard in a subway station.  Again great harmonies and voices:

 

 

 

Week in Review – June 9, 2019

The afternoon bus took me to Austin on Monday and I settled in for an early night.

I was up early on Tuesday morning for a swim at the chilly Barton Springs pool.  A very refreshing start to the day.  After work, Damon and I had dinner at Chi’Lantro and then caught an Allman Brothers tribute band at the One 2 One bar.  This was an excellent show, far exceeding our expectations.  All the musicians were great – the dueling guitars, double drummers, bass and organ.  Anne would prefer this to the original Allmans as the solos were short and tight – not the sprawling 10 minute guitar solos of the original band.  Anne always complains that there aren’t enough words and the songs last too long.

Here they cover one of our favourite songs, Warren Haynes “Soulshine”:

That’s Paul Mercurio on guitar and vocals on the left and Dave Biller on guitar on the right.  Biller is a legendary Austin guitarist who can play any style from Django gypsy jazz to heavy metal and country.  Here’s some guitar jamming:

An Allmans show isn’t complete without a drum solo with the two drummers complimenting each other:

Diana arrived on the bus around 8pm on Friday.  She was a real trooper and brought a couple of folding chairs with her so that we could enjoy the Black Fret showcase on the lawn of the Long Center next door.

Black Fret is an organization of patrons of the arts that makes donations to support local bands.  Members vote on which artists should receive grants.  Friday night was one of their showcase events where they present local bands at no cost.  We saw the last band, Bright Light Social Hour.  The setting was very picturesque with the downtown skyline behind the stage.

We enjoyed reading the circular plaques in the patio of the Long Center.  Stevie Ray Vaughan had a lot of thanks to Clifford Antone for giving him a place to play regularly when first moving to Austin:

The heat outside was rising on Saturday and Sunday with “feels like” temperatures of over 100 degrees.  We enjoyed the shaded patio at Opa for coffee, crossword, and a Mediterranean snack.  We had a reservation for Peche on Saturday night, but somebody slept through it.  Poor Diana had to execute plan B – “to go” food from the Hyatt bar.

Sunday was even warmer than Saturday.  We tried out a new grocery store, Central Market, and had coffee in their cafe while doing the crossword and enjoying the live jazz music.  I lost in the crossword competition by over three minutes – it took me over 17 minutes – very poor showing.  Central Market had an excellent cheese selection but otherwise was too big and hard to navigate.

On Sunday evening, we revisited on of our favourite Austin spots -the Townsend bar and listening room.  The entertainment was by Michael Fracasso featuring Charlie Sexton on guitar and Michael Ramos on keyboards and accordion.  It was a treat to see Sexton in such a tiny venue – he was about to head back out on the road as the guitarist in Bob Dylan’s band.  I mentioned a week or so ago enjoying his playing on Boz Scagg’s latest album.  And of course the Arc Angels, his short lived band with Doyle Bramhall II, has been a favourite of mine since living in San Antonio.  Michael Ramos has an equally impressive resume, having toured with and produced many well known artists.

Here’s my favourite Fracasso song, “Mother Nature’s Travelling Show”:

It was really nice to see how much the musicians were enjoying this one of a kind show.  I enjoyed this song, “My Blue Heaven”, very much:

Charlie Sexton gave a beautifully nuanced performance on guitar with Francasso.

While we were in the show, everyone’s phone started alerting at the same time, for a flash flood warning.  Apparently it was raining very heavily outside.  Things had dried out after the show and we were able to enjoy the walk home at a temperature over 20 degrees cooler than when we entered the show, 2 hours prior.

 

Denny shared an excellent article, “The Memorable Mr. Hughes”, with me this week.  Mr Hughes is retiring as the music teacher at Lusher, the school that Jack and Jason attend.  Diana and I have attended several “Morning Meetings” in the Lusher courtyard and the music is always a big part of these.  A highlight was Trombone Shorty getting down in the middle of the kids when his microphone didn’t work correctly.  Here’s a quote from the article:

“And then, every morning for the past 20 years, Mr. Hughes has stepped up to close out the morning assembly with a song. Not just a song, but a performance. Not just a performance, but a lesson.

With his electric guitar strapped over his shoulder, he introduced the song of the day, most often a classic composition from the pantheon of classic New Orleans R & B.

Fats Domino. Allen Toussaint. Ernie K-Doe. Lloyd Price. Smiley Lewis. Sometimes he dipped into the broader portfolio of popular music – the Beatles, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis.

This is how the kids start school every morning at Lusher, where all three of my kids went. They dance, they jump, they shake out their willies so that when they finally get to their classrooms, they are chilled out, musically infused, and ready to carpe the hell of the diem.

Lusher is a public school, so they don’t start school with a prayer. But try and tell me starting school with James Brown doesn’t give you religion.”

Here’s a typical morning meeting:

Week in Review – June 2, 2019

Happy Birthday to Alicia!  She hosted 5 girls for a pool party on Monday afternoon.  They were mostly very well behaved.  19 year olds don’t seem to be anything like 13 or 14 year olds – much less squealing and yelling.  It took poor Diana a few minutes to get all the candles lit on the mini cupcakes.

We had a pleasant surprise when Yoshy and Kerry (one of the two Aussie couples we met at the Continental Club last week) were able to join us for the birthday celebration.  I grilled burgers, chicken and veggies for dinner and Alicia and Diana made huge green and fruit salads.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal.  You can see the lovely purple orchid that Kerry brought for Alicia on the right hand side of this picture.  Hopefully we can keep it alive for a while after Alicia leaves.

As luck would have it, Kerry and Yoshy live only 10 minutes from our friend Stan in Brisbane, Australia.  We had just been having a FaceTime session with Stan the night before.

I finally drove Penelope down to Austin on Tuesday morning.  I had been worried that the 4 hour drive in her hip-hugging bucket seats would be too much for my back and sciatica pains, but it really wasn’t too bad.  Seems the swimming that I’ve been doing lately is really helping with that.  Penelope mentioned that she’s looking forward to exploring some of the twisty Hill Country roads after the straight shot on Interstate 35 – a very boring ride.

The morning sky on Wednesday seemed a bit gloomy and ominous.  Waiting for the lift to head to work, I noticed a “stand up” meeting happening at the job site next door, where the new high rise building is starting.  Made me smile, as I was headed for our 8:30 am daily stand up meeting.  The ominous clouds cleared out nicely during the day and the evening was bright and sunny.

I was pleased to read that Western Youth (my favourite Austin band) were performing at Guero’s outdoor taco bar on Wednesday evening.

Sun Radio hosts a weekly showcase of two local bands every Wednesday evening at Guero’s from 6-8pm and also broadcasts live.  This station always does an excellent job with sound quality and so it’s a treat to hear bands playing for them.  No difference with Western Youth – easily the best sound that I’ve heard from them yet – just loud enough with clarity across all instruments.

The set by Western Youth was excellent from start to finish and I think they made a number of new fans from folks who just wandered into Gueros.  Several folks asked me the name of the band and what I knew about them.

 

I’ll start with my favourite of their songs, “The King is Gone”:

That song always sticks in my head for a few days after I hear it.  Another good song was “Dying on the Vine”:

And finally here’s “Black Freight Liner” with some high paced guitar jamming, and inspired by the Jimmie Dale Gilmore classic, “White Freight Liner Blues”.  Jimmie Dale was sitting right in front of me at this show – only happens in Austin.

The extended jam version of “Norah” that closed out this excellent show was amazing, no video though – I was too busy enjoying the performance.

Penelope is enjoying Austin.  She likes cruising down Barton Springs Rd with her top down, and really enjoyed the new experience of backing into the slanted parking on South Congress.

 

 

 

I was getting peckish after all that great music, and made a stop at the Taco Joint on Riverside, a place very close to the apartment that for some reason we haven’t tried yet.  The tacos here are very good – I enjoyed a portobello mushroom and a steamed fish.  Another great food option in very easy walking distance.

An overnight thunderstorm woke me early on Thursday morning and so I decided to try something new that I’d been considering for a while – a morning swim in Barton Springs pool.  The pool is located in the 358 acre Zilker Park and is conveniently located on my short commute to work.  The pool itself is 3 acres in size, and is fed from the underground springs of the Edwards Aquifer.  The average temperature is 68-70 degrees year round, and it’s quite bracing on initial entry.  Here are aerial pictures that show the impressive length of the pool and the view of downtown that one experiences when swimming lengths.

I really enjoyed the swim and particularly the very long laps that are possible.  It took about 10 minutes to adjust to the cooler than typical pool temperature water.   One interesting fact about the pool – this is where Robert Redford learned to swim at age 5, when visiting Austin on holiday.  Barton Springs is a federally protected habitat as it is home to the endangered Barton Springs Salamander.  I didn’t spot any of them but it was pretty dark for most of my swim and the pool has depths up to 18 feet.  I look forward to making a few swims in Barton Springs part of my regular weekly routine.

Thursday night brought a pleasant cultural experience – a showing of the new Miles Davis documentary, “Birth of the Cool”,  at the Austin film society.  Admission included a cocktail, trumpet music in the lobby pre-show, a discussion with the producer, and jazz records in the lobby after the movie.  What a deal for $11.

I enjoyed the movie, albeit a bit lengthy at 2 hours.  I learned a few things about Miles that I didn’t know previously – his father was a very successful dentist in St Louis, and he attended Julliard to learn about music theory and composition.  There was a lot of detail on the incident when Miles was assaulted by a police officer when taking a break outside Birdland in New York.  The policeman told him to move along, while Miles explained that was his name on the Marquee above him.  Another policeman came in and beat him severely with his night stick.  Hard to believe.

There was a section on Miles’ time in Paris when he recorded one of my favourite albums, the film score for “Ascenseur pour l’echafaud”.  The movie covered all phases of his career through his 1986 album, “Tutu” – another one that I enjoy a lot.   What an amazing artist, who reinvented himself so many times.
“Birth of the Cool” was the opening movie of the 2019 Doc Days festival at the Austin Film Society.  The large theater was sold out – great way to start the festival.
I rode back to Dallas with Vinod on Friday and had the house to myself for the night.  Diana and Alicia were enjoying a few days in Boston on the back end of a work meeting that Diana attended on Wednesday.  On Thursday night they visited the Union Oyster House, established in 1826, and the longest continually operating restaurant in the United States.  John F. Kennedy’s booth is marked with a plaque.  Diana enjoyed the lobster (pronounced “Lahbstah” by the locals”.
On Friday, Alicia enjoyed a walking tour of one of the famous Boston history trails while Diana handled some work meetings.  Diana had duck for dinner and it looks absolutely delicious.  They apparently sat next to a couple for Highland Park, Dallas and had a good chat.  Later, they both took a ghost tour around the area.
Continuing the duck theme, before flying home, they joined a duck boat tour on the Charles river with views of downtown.
Sunday started with a swim in the warm gym pool, followed by coffee and crossword.  The evening brought a real treat – a return visit to the Kessler by Nils Lofgren, this time with his full band (including brother Tommy from Grin), and his own guitars.  You might remember his equipment was stolen overnight prior to his last visit, and he had to borrow all the guitars he used.
The set started with a few songs from Nils’ new album, “Blue with Lou”.  Most of the songs are from a 1978 collaboration with the late Lou Reed.  Lofgren told a story of having good music but not great lyrics, when his producer, Bob Ezrin, suggested working with Lou Reed.  Reed wanted to watch his favourite team, the Dallas Cowboys (weird given his role as a New York icon), play the Washington Redskins, before they worked.  After a week or so, Reed called Lofgren at 4:30am to dictate the lyrics he had written for 13 songs.  They have just now been released.
Here’s the set list from the show – a very strong finish including “No Mercy”.  I remember first hearing this on Radio Clyde with the DJ, Dougie Donnelly, raving about the song – I was sold.
As a child, Nils took accordion and piano lessons.  At 18, he was playing on Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush” classic album.  He told a great story while seated at the piano (with demonstrations) of how he used his accordion polka background to come up with the double time piano fill on “Southern Man”.  As usual, Nils delighted the guitar fans in the audience, with some amazing finger picked solos, including unique harmonic work.
The encore, “Shine Silently”, was a real highlight, sending everyone home smiling.

Would you like to see some pictures from Scotland?  Of course you would!

I meant to share this great picture of my Dad at Troon beach last week on my birthday.  My Mum said it was a lovely day, just like the day I was born.  I think she’s referencing the weather, but I like to interpret it being a lovely day because of my arrival.

The next picture form Scotland is my sister and familys’ new puppy, Bramble.  It might take some time to grow into those paws.  I believe Bramble is about 9 weeks old in this picture.

While we’re sharing puppy pictures, my friend Damon’s doodles have grown up quickly.

I finished the book “The Paris Diversion” by Chris Pavone this week and really enjoyed the read.  A fast paced, intelligent thriller with interesting plot twists, that is also well written with great descriptions and vocabulary – a rare combination.

Pavone was an editor for 20 years before moving to Luxembourg when his wife was transferred for work, and starting to write “The Expats”.   I look forward to reading that one in the future.  Here’s an excerpt from the book, where Pavone describes a very annoying habit perfectly:

“Teenage girls were the worst offenders.  Posing was second nature for these kids, selfie smiles rehearsed in mirrors, poses perfected after thousands of variations in body angle and head tilt, hair fluff and lip purse and peace sign, a permanent regimen of fine tuning, akin to practicing piano or laying down a sacrifice bunt, skills never attempted by these kids, who instead know how to do mainly this one thing: look like they’re having a great time in social-media photos, exposure and exclamation points compulsory, soliciting other exclamation points, an ouroboros of manufactured enthusiasm.”

 

Video of Carole King performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1973 was released this week.  This was her first performance outside of the United States.  The first half is her solo performance of “Tapestry” hits, and the second is with a jazz funk band performing songs from her “Fantasy” album.  I love this performance with the 10 piece funk band – excellent drummer and horn section.

Anders Osborne, singer songwriter extraordinaire from New Orleans, and good buddy of Anne, released a great new album this week.  Here’s a song from that:

The late, great Rory Gallagher has new music released this week.  His blues songs really grow on you with each listening.  I go back to play his 1982 “Jinx” album frequently.

And finally, some local Austin music from the Black Pumas, regular performers at C Boys Heart and Soul (Continental Club sister venue).  They just released a major label album after a lot of striving in tiny clubs.