“A Guys Happy Hour and Dinner and a concert in the same week!”
I got some work done on Monday between coffee with Finn at Duino, and going to Clorinda’s appointment with the retina specialist in the afternoon. Later, I went to my first Happy Hour with some guys in a while. Robbie and Fred from work met me at Union Bear and we really enjoyed catching up for a couple of hours.
Nothing much to report from Tuesday through Thursday. We shared duties taking Clorinda to appointments and were both pretty busy with work. I have a quarterly Board of Directors meeting in a couple of weeks, and it’s always busy getting everything ready for that.
Diana followed me down to Auto Hans early Friday to drop off Penelope for an oil change. Now she has new tires, new oil and is getting a full detail tomorrow – so spoiled and pampered.
On Friday evening, Finn cooked and hung out with Clorinda so that we could attend a concert at the Kessler. Mike Zito and his Big Band with opener Indigenous. We bought tickets at the last minute and so didn’t have a reserved table. No worries, we got there early and claimed the prime high seats at the back beside the mixing desk. That way Diana had a clear line of sight to the stage, and the sound is premium.
Seats claimed, we walked up to Nova for our typical light dinner before the show. We sat at the bar and enjoyed three delicious appetizers – beets (my favourite), Brussel sprouts, and smoked salmon potato skins (McD’s favorite.)
We really enjoy the relaxed and welcoming feel of Nova. The bar tender was convinced she knew me – thought she might have gone to high school with me – unlikely. Upon investigation, we decided that the only place we could have met was at the Green Room in Deep Ellum, over 20 years ago. Possible, but still unlikely.
I was looking forward to Indigenous. They are a band formed of family members from the Sioux reservation in South Dakota. Mato Nanji (Ma-TOE NON-gee) is the lead guitarist and singer. I first listened to them in 2000, with the CD “Circle” one of my favourites that year. I also saw them as part of the “Experience Hendrix” show at the Warfield in San Francisco, with Buddy Guy and Carlos Santana. Here they are at the Kessler performing a John Lee Hooker cover, best known these days as the theme music for NCIS New Orleans:
And here’s a Hendrix cover that I enjoyed. Isn’t that a beautiful looking guitar?
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Mike Zito. He was in a band that I enjoyed, Royal Southern Brotherhood, with Cyril Neville. His guitar playing was always great, but didn’t know if I would appreciate the vocals. We were pleasantly surprised. Here’s a Prince cover, not necessarily what you expect from a blues band:
Now a good example of Zito’s blues guitar:
That solo is from a new song, “Ressurection”, that I thought was a highlight of the set:
And I’ll finish up the concert sharing with a solo from the trumpet player (apparently a regular member of Jason Mraz’s band):
At Diana’s prompting, we had a nice chat with Jeff Liles, booking agent for the Kessler, about this appearance in the “Bring Music Home” book that raised money for “Save our Stages”, a fund raising effort to save independent music clubs that were closed at the height of the pandemic. I really love that book and the thought and care that went into creating it.
Saturday started with a walk with McD – it didn’t seem too hot but we were both quite sweaty and tired when we finished – the humidity always gets you. While limbered up, I finally was able to fix the aromatherapy unit for the steam shower – power reset required, and then took on the task of washing the big windows that look out to the pool from the family room. My best job yet, with the secret being the drying technique with the squeegee. Clorinda approved the work and is enjoying her clearer view of the pool, trees, and flowers. Diana tackled the ever-returning weeds while I did that. We both entered the afternoon with a feeling of accomplishment.
Amy spent the night, having had her fill of crashing on the couch at her kids’ apartment. We ordered food from the Little Greek and enjoyed catching up – getting formal by eating our take out in the dining room.
Finn and I watched game 5 of the NBA Finals (Milwaukee Bucks vs. Phoenix Suns) with Clorinda after dinner. It was a good game and she refused to go to bed after it finished at 10:30pm – thinking there was still something interesting to learn from the post game commentary. We’ve created a sports fanatic.
On Sunday morning I watched the British Open golf while Diana and Amy went out for a run. They both miss their running buddies. Jordan Spieth tried hard but couldn’t keep up with the flawless final round play of Collin Morikawa.
I promised some quotes from “Saved by a Song” by Mary Gauthier – my book last week and my favourite of the year so far and by far:
From the introduction, or what Mary calls “Invitation”:
“I believe songs that heal come from a higher place. They help us with the struggle of being human by letting us know we are not alone. This is the greatest gift a song can give a songwriter and a songwriter can give the world.
Bruce Springsteen said, “Music is a repair shop, I’m basically a repair man.” I love that. Songs have the power to repair hearts and souls.
Saved by a song.”
From the chapter on the song “Drag Queens and Limousines”:
“Clarity comes from stories. They help us make sense of our lives. Witnessing other people’s lives through stories is a kind of medicine, and the magic is in getting the story emotionally honest.
Guy Clark once said, “We’re all pretty much living the same life just hitting the marks at different times.” “Drag Queens in Limousines” showed me that I have no idea what’s going on inside a person’s heart, in that tender place that the poet Miller Williams, Lucinda’s father, described as, “Where the spirit meets the bone.” Until I wrote this song and played it for people, I had no idea most everyone has felt like an outsider at some point in their life, but they have.
That outsider feeling is universal.”
On working on the amazing “Mercy Now”:
“We hang in the balance
Dangle ‘tween hell and hallowed ground
Every single on of us could use some mercy now
Every single on of us could use some mercy now
I worked on it for the next three days, changing one word at a time, meditating on the meaning, letting the new words sit a while, and it was slow going. I played it for a friend, a fellow songwriter, who encouraged me to be brave and play it on a side stage at a festival workshop we were going to share the next afternoon. So, I wrote the words on a piece of hotel room stationery. And in the afternoon on the last day of Canmore Folk Festival, August 2003, I taped those words onto the mic stand and played “Mercy Now” in front of an audience for the very first time.
I’ve played it on every stage at every show, every night, since.”
From the chapter on John Lennon’s “Mother”:
“St. Francis of Assisi said, “One who works with their hands is a laborer. One who works with their hands and head is a craftsman. One who works with their hands, their head and their heart is an artist.”
Finally, from the chapter on “Rifles and Rosary Beads” and writing about a songwriting camp that pairs songwriters with veterans to share their experiences:
“Our job as songwriters is to help turn the veterans’ stories into songs. The songwriter brings decades of songwriting experience, the veteran brings their story. Before I worked my first retreat, I assumed that asking a wounded soldier to open up to a songwriter would be a stretch. I’d heard that silence is the soldier’s code; that those who have seen combat do not talk about it, those who talk about it have not seen it. Coming out the other side is enough.”
“Before long, they start to tell me their story, little by slow. I play a little music on my guitar, find a melody that matches what they’re saying. The music helps open them up; a sympathetic melody is like a magnet that pulls their story out. They feel seen and heard, which helps them feel safe.”
I’m about half way through “Dirt, Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking” by Bill Buford.
Here’s a summary review that captures the plot pretty well:
“What does it take to master French cooking? This is the question that drives Bill Buford to abandon his perfectly happy life in New York City and pack up and (with a wife and three-year-old twin sons in tow) move to Lyon, the so-called gastronomic capital of France. But what was meant to be six months in a new and very foreign city turns into a wild five-year digression from normal life, as Buford apprentices at Lyon’s best boulangerie, studies at a legendary culinary school, and cooks at a storied Michelin-starred restaurant, where he discovers the exacting (and incomprehensibly punishing) rigueur of the professional kitchen.
With his signature humor, sense of adventure, and masterful ability to bring an exotic and unknown world to life, Buford has written the definitive insider story of a city and its great culinary culture.”
Some samples of my favourite bits next week.
This has gone on for a while, and I’ve covered a lot of musical ground already, so I’ll share this excellent playlist that Amy Campagna sent me. So many great songs on this – kudos to whoever created it. Ahh, I see now that was Alex Harrouff. I like the sound of that last name, picturing the pitch going up on the “ouff.”
Stay safe and kind to everyone!