“Return to Jazzfest”
We started a big music week with a visit to Chickie Wah Wah to see Luke Winslow King. I first saw him on the Lagniappe stage in the Paddock at a Jazzfest many years ago, and then found out that my friends, Vince and Lori, know him well and have hosted him at their home when he played nearby. The club was not crowded at all and had rare cocktail tables in front of the stage – so we were comfortable and had an excellent view.
That’s Roberto Luti playing the tasty blues slide guitar with Luke. He’s originally from Italy and met washboard Chaz when visiting New Orleans. The two made some recordings together and then got major visibility in the “Playing for Change” video of “The Weight” – well worth a few minutes to watch:
And here they are when Chaz joined them for a few songs:
We headed out early on Thursday for “Locals Day” at Jazzfest. Tickets are heavily discounted for folks with a credit card tied to a local address. Camp was established at the Gentilly stage and we listened to Flow Tribe, Bonerama, and some of the Iceman Special.
It was no bother to be at the front for Flow Tribe before the crowds arrived.
Jazzfest is about amazing food as well as music. Diana got us the trio, the first thing we ate at Jazzfest when we started attending, and consisting of a crawfish sack, and oyster pattie and shrimp beignets. Yum. Later in the day she also brought meat pies.
We migrated to the Congo Square stage to see Groupo Fantasma – a Mexican flavoured band from Austin, Texas.
I tried to watch Derek Huston doing an interview but went to the wrong place. Diana did find it and really enjoyed the interview. I saw the Forgotten Souls brass band at the stage I chose incorrectly. I think the best brass band I heard all day.
The Fais Do Do stage always makes me smile – folks doing the Cajun two step (apparently different than the Texas version.)
Diana and Kenny walked over to the main stage to see John Fogerty, while I caught some of Goose, a new jamband to me, at Gentilly. I made my way over to Fogerty and caught several classic songs. He was having so much fun onstage and is amazing for someone turning 80 next month.
Denny and Anne joined us to catch some Fogerty.
A wonderful day with almost perfect weather came to a close.
Look at the headline on the Friday morning newspaper. Keith Spera (music columnist) agreed with us about the Fogerty show:
Saturday began with a longer than anticipated walk for coffee. I had planned to visit French Truck coffee, but there was a long line. Kept wandering down Magazine to Trumpet and Drum – even longer line. Finally Undergrowth coffee made us delicious iced beverages for our longer than expected walk back down Coliseum street to home.
We met Denny and Anne for a delicious lunch at La Petite Grocery (LPG) before Anne headed back to Florida on Saturday afternoon. We all loved our food – sweet potato soup, LPG burger, gnocchi, and tagliatelle with alligator.
We watched the first episode of “Secrets of the Penguins” on Hulu and it looks like this going to be an entertaining and educational series.
Sunday was a very quiet day for me – only clear liquids all day in preparation for my colonoscopy on Monday. Ugh!
I’ve forgotten to share Will’s achievement with you these last few busy weeks. He was a recipient of the “Founder’s award” at the getaway for the top performers:
I finished “All Fours” by Miranda July this week. This book did not finish as it started – I was very pleased with the early section last week. The last two thirds of the book were almost unreadable for me, but I slogged on. Slow, vulgar, and with no real point. Like when Philip Roth or John Updike tried to shock you for a paragraph or two but dragged out by July for a hundred or more pages. Not recommended. I asked Kelly (our resident literature guru) what she thought – “HATED IT!” I’m not alone, and we both wonder what’s wrong with all those gushing reviewers.
I needed a palate cleanser after that, and so have made it most of the way through “My Darling Boy” by John Dufresne. I’ll share the online summary now and return with some of my favourite passages next week:
“A brilliant and gut-wrenching novel about a father and son from a “master” (Lee Martin) of the tragi-comic.
Known for his bold voice and unforgettable characters, John Dufresne tells the story of Olney, whose beloved son Cully collapses into addiction and vanishes into the chaotic netherworld of southern Florida. Aided by his terminally ill girlfriend and the colorful inhabitants of a local motel―including a doomsday prepper, an ex-nun, a pair of blind twins with an acute sense of smell, and a devoutly Catholic shelter worker―Olney sets out to save his son. Hilarious and devastating in equal measure, My Darling Boy is a hero’s quest for our time, a testament to families touched by the opioid crisis, and a remarkable achievement from one of our most talented, genre-bending authors.”
We’ll skip the music section this week, given all the coverage of that topic earlier.
Coexist peacefully, with patience and compassion for all!
We were in the CBD (Central Business District) for a meeting with our estate lawyer on Wednesday afternoon. Diana commented that she didn’t remember the last time she was in a high rise office building – it’s been a while for both of us. After the meeting, we walked to Peche, a restaurant that we’ve been looking to try for a while. Debra recommended it and her recommendations carry some weight, given her job as manager of Jaques-Imo’s.
I circulated this picture of Diana peeking out of an egg as an Easter “yoke.” It was actually a dinosaur egg as part of an advertisement in a shopping mall in Glasgow.
There is a wonderful new record out this week -“Audience with the Queen” by Galactic and Irma Thomas. Thomas is 84 years old and sounds fantastic on all tracks, especially this one:
Alicia’s cat, Fri Fri, has been staying in our bedroom since Marco has an allergy to cat dander. I’ve renamed her the terrorist since she loves to jump on my head from behind when I’m sitting on the couch, nibble my toes in the middle of the night, and generally be a nuisance. And then she has the gaul to sleep on my side of the bed.
I started “Infinite Jest” by David Foster Wallace. I’m not sure how far I’ll be able to make it through this. Some chapters are entertaining and some are just very strange, and it’s a very long tome (1500 pages). More to come.
I missed the annual Tulane book festival on Thursday. This has really grown into a notable event. Things kicked of on Thursday evening with a panel from the Atlantic magazine and a talk from Bryan Stevenson, author of “Just Mercy.”
“Tulane University grabbed a small spot in the national conversation over the Trump administration’s Signal chat leak on Thursday as journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, 
Amy made this mandala for Clorinda on Saturday. If you’re not familiar with the mandala, here’s a brief description:
Chef Diana was at it again on Sunday. This time the product was a Goudarooni. Most of you probably aren’t familiar with this Italian treat, so I’ll share the recipe:
I was reading about the upcoming release of a new book by Kevin Wilson, and decided to see if he had other books that I hadn’t read. I loved “The Family Fang” and “Nothing to See Here.” I started “This is Not the Time to Panic” – about 30 pages in I realized that it was very familiar and that I had read it before. On to “Perfect Little World”, a very enjoyable and thought provoking read:
“When Isabelle Poole meets Dr. Preston Grind, she’s just about out of options. She recently graduated from high school and is pregnant with her art teacher’s baby. Her mother is dead, and her father is a drunk. The art teacher is too much of a head case to help raise the child. Izzy knows she can be a good mother, but without any money or prospects she’s left searching.