Keith Robertson – Page 42

Week in Review – July 31, 2017

This was a quiet week until Saturday when we were able to squeeze a number of fun activities. The day started with a matinee of the “Bodyguard” musical at the Fair Park Music Hall just south of downtown Dallas. The venue is quite old with a nice art deco flavor and lots of room to mill around before the concert started. We had seats in the balcony and were able to move to better seats as it wasn’t very busy upstairs. The musical is based on the movie starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner from 1992 and has 20 songs – mostly popularized by Whitney Houston. The big number is “I Will Always Love You” towards the end. The story didn’t completely follow the movie – particularly in the second half. The singing was fine but not quite as good as we were hoping for.

We headed from Fair Park over to the Bishop Arts district in Oak Cliff and the “Wild Detectives” bookstore. This is my favorite bookstore in Dallas (not that there are many to choose from these days). It’s very small with a nicely curated selection of both books and music. It also serves coffee and drinks. We had a coffee and crossword in the outside garden which was fun until I started melting in the 100 plus degree heat.

The fantastic French restaurant, “Boulevardier”, across the street offered some welcome air conditioning and a delicious cocktail and steak tartare (served with a quail egg). Next was dinner with Patty and Brent at the Meddlesome Moth. We shared several delicious appetizers and then I had a wonderful rabbit pot pie. It paired beautifully with my Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin Nitro beer.

We managed to cram a lot of activity into Saturday afternoon and evening.

Monday night saw the first concert at the new Frisco Star – the indoor practice field for the Dallas Cowboys. James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt put on a very enjoyable show. We had been concerned about echo in the venue based on a lunch we attended on the field, but some very large curtains took care of that nicely. The highlight for me was Bonnie’s cover of the “Angel from Montgomery” by John Prine – so soulful and heartbreaking. James Taylor highlights were “Fire and Rain” followed by “Sweet Baby James”. It was nice to have dinner at the Cowboys Club and use the private “Jones family elevator” to get down to the concert. Diana actually went back up to the club to get her drinks rather than waiting in line in the venue – and beat me back to the seats.

I finally finished up “Moonglow” by Michael Chabon. The narrator in this book is chronicling Chabon’s conversations with his dying grandfather and mother about his family. He weaves together tales of the various generations and relatives very cleverly and sometimes with just a bit too much detail. Chabon is right up there with Ian McEwan as one of my current generation favorites based on his wonderfully clever and descriptive similes and metaphors. “He had maybe two minutes before the rocket of his anger burned up its fuel and fell back to earth”. “Inside the airduct was a smell like the taste of a new filling”. I didn’t enjoy this as much as the last of his books I read, “Telegraph Avenue”, but would definitely recommend it.

I discovered an excellent Aretha Franklin song during dinner at the Meddlesome Moth due to the amazing Shazam app. “Share Your Love With Me” was originally recorded by Bobby Blue Bland in 1963 and covered by Aretha in 1970. There are very good covers by Van Morrison and The Band as well. Richard Manuel’s singing on The Band version is amazing.

The other song I heard this week that really caught my attention was “(Wish I Could) Hideaway” by Credence Clearwater Revival. It has a lot of the same elements that I love about their song, “Long as I Can See the Light” with the “Candle in the Window” line that made it into Diana’s vows.

The latest chapter in my jazz book covers Charles Mingus – the renowned bassist and composer most popular in the 1950s. My favorite recording is “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” which he released in 1959. I learned that it was written as an elegy to Lester Young who had died a couple of months earlier and was well known for his broad-brimmed pork pie hat when playing the saxophone. I remember enjoying the Jeff Beck version from the early 70s when studying in university. Joni Mitchell released an album dedicated to Mingus where she added lyrics to his compositions – I’ve never been able to get into it although I’ve tried a few times.

Week In Review – July 23, 2017

On Wednesday I was able to convince McD to give the Cowboys Fit another try – this time the music and machines were much more to her liking. We enjoyed the new breakfast service at the Cowboys Club after a good workout.

The Ogans arrived on Thursday evening and we enjoyed a relaxed evening at home.

Patty and Brent joined us for pizza and some games around the dining table.

Friday kicked off with my pulled pork eggs benedict for breakfast – Denny commented that I had upped my breakfast cooking game quite a bit. The afternoon entertainment was iFly indoor skydiving. Denny and Anne had double fly time as Jack and Mason decided it didn’t look like fun to them. We enjoyed watching Denny’s cheeks vibrating in the upward air blast.

Friday night dinner was at Wasabi where the food was good but the service was very slow. We found afterwards that one of the line cooks had walked out just as we were sitting down to eat and another one had an accident. I had commented that it was nice to see the restaurant full and we were concerned that they weren’t able to keep up – little did we know.

Diana and Luna were both exhausted after the evening and a look through the amazing wedding album that Diana compiled.

Got all the way through to the back page of the 100 page album and went off to sleep

Saturday started out with pool time and then a lovely brunch at the Cowboys Club. There’s not a chance that I was going to get a smile out of either Jack or Mason when I forced them to pose in the Cowboys Star – Saints fans wouldn’t dare.

The USA versus Costa Rica soccer semifinal of the soccer championship was the big event for Saturday night. We tried out the soccer experience set up in a parking lot of AT&T Stadium but the kids were melting outside.

The cooler option was dinner at the Stadium Club inside the stadium. The first half got off to a slow start with neither team able to string together effective breaks. The only exception was a very narrow miss by the USA in the first 10 seconds. The second half was much more exciting with two excellent goals from the USA.

The second by Clint Dempsey was one of the more impressive bending free kicks that I’ve seen. I learned afterwards that this goal tied him with Landon Donovan for most goals for the USA.

The breakfast offering on Sunday was my Gorgonzola cheese grits and eggs which were again well received by Denny and the crew. Then some more pool time and the traditional ice cream in the hot tub for the boys.

And then all good things have to come to an end again. We really enjoy the Ogan visits and they always seem way to short.

On Sunday night we watched a show called “American Epic Sessions”. This was executive produced by Jack Black and was a series of recording sessions using original 1925 recording equipment that had been restored over a 10 year period. The care was amazing as the engineers set up the gear and cut the sessions directly to LP. Here’s one of the sessions with Elton John and Jack White.

The latest chapter in my jazz book is on Ben Webster – a saxophone player most popular in the 40s when he started as the lead player in Duke Ellington’s band and then recorded a number of excellent solo albums. I’m really enjoying his ballads and here’s one of my favorites.

The full Stanton Moore tribute to Allen Toussaint was released on Friday and I’ve listened to it a few times now. I still enjoy Java – the first track that was released last week and here’s another favorite.

Week in Review – July 15, 2017

Last weekend we enjoyed a few days in California. There was a special treat for me in the fridge at Clorinda’s house – dark chocolate covered pistachios with a special message on the bottom, “For Keith, but Clorinda tasted”. Diana’s still searching for her special treat. I was able to reciprocate with some handmade ginger flavored chocolate hearts that were well received.

During a dinner at Adamo and Amy’s home, a local policeman showed up to return a sign that had been stolen from Gypsy Hill and spotted in a yard in town. Luciano took advantage of the visit to enjoy his first experience in a police car with the lights on.

The sunsets from Amy and Adamo’s home can be quite spectacular – even more so now that some trees have been trimmed back.

On Sunday I had a very enjoyable lunch at Santana Row catching up with Finn while Diana met up with her girlfriends for “Sip and Dip” at Kristina and Cat’s home. Finn shared his website which showcases some of his graphic design and mobile application work – finnrobertsondesign.com. He’s working on finding the perfect job match in this field just now. I met up with the crew at Kristina’s and we enjoyed a lovely dinner and sharing stories with her Mom. We spent the night in Los Gatos and I was able to visit some favorite old haunts – Carry Nations pub, The Great Bear coffee shop where we met up with Los Gatos Amy, and The Los Gatos Cafe for breakfast (and a special carrot and walnut left over treat for Clorinda).

On Tuesday we met up with a couple of friends of D’s from Australia – Renee and Daniel. Renee taught Alicia dance and singing when she was in Australia many years ago and has since married Daniel. They walked across the Golden Gate Bridge; we met them on the far side, and took them up to the top of the Marin Headlands for the best view of San Francisco.

From there we headed to lunch at a restaurant in Sausalito called Bar Bocce – an excellent recommendation from Amy that included a small beach and bocce court. Good food, great company, and excellent views.

Then it was back over the bridge for a tour of the city that included Coit Tower, North Beach, downtown, the very touristy Pier 39 (with only a few sea lions in residence), and dinner at The Slanted door in the Ferry building.

Golden Gate Bridge from Coit Tower as the fog rolls in

Creative plating of Slanted Door Spring Rolls and Peanut Sauce by Keith

This weekend was mostly spent relaxing after the trip. We did see the movie “The Hero” on Saturday afternoon and both enjoyed it very much. It’s by a director named Brett Haley and starts Sam Elliot as an aging Western movie star. We looked up other movies by the same director and found “I’ll See You in My Dreams” – a similar movie starring Blythe Danner and Sam Elliot.

Dinner on Saturday night was at Wasabi with Patty and Brent. This is the sushi and Japanese restaurant that I first experienced with the Halls and loved. My second visit was just as good as the first. After dinner we walked over to Zin Zen where The Three Amigos band was playing. McD demonstrated her varied dance moves with Patty and some new friends that shared her exuberant dancing approach.

During the trip to California I was able to finish the book, “Two and Two, McSorley’s, My Dad, and Me” by Rafe Bartholomew. This is a very enjoyable read about the oldest continually operating bar in the United States and a father and son who have both worked there for many years – several together. Lots of insights into the operation of the unique bar are offered along with a lot of commentary on working together with one’s Dad. I was interested to read that the bar did not close down during Prohibition but was first closed during Hurricane Sandy. This reminded me of my experience trying to recover connectivity for AIG’s employees stranded at home during Sandy. This while all of the New York based team was completely offline due to lost electricity and connectivity. Not something that I hope to have to do again in my IT career.

A favorite music discovery this week was the album “The Convincer “ by Nick Lowe in 2001. I’ve always enjoyed his music and witty lyrics and this album contains a solid dose of both.

I’ve also been loving the new song “Java” by Stanton Moore’s band from their upcoming tribute to the late Allen Toussaint. The musicians are all stars, the arrangement excellent, and all backed by the incredible drumming of Stanton Moore. I was reminded of the first time I heard him – Levon Helm’s band was playing at jazzfest and Levon came out from behind the drums to sing a couple of songs. Stanton Moore took over at drums and I asked Denny who that amazing new drummer was. I was an immediate fan and have enjoyed several performances by Moore’s bands Galactic and his eponymous trio since.

Week in Review – July 5, 2017

This posting spans about 10 days since we enjoyed a long weekend for the July 4th holiday.

On Tuesday I decided to take advantage of the new living room sofa configuration and finally put a piano in the area we’ve referred to as the “piano room” since moving into the house over 4 years ago. I did some quick online research and then made a trip to Jack Whitby pianos in Dallas. Jack is quite the local character and had a good selection of reasonably priced pianos. I picked one out around 1:30pm and it was delivered to the house by 5pm – much to Diana’s surprise and entertainment. I’ve been enjoying the sound and feel of the new Shoenbach piano very much over the last week.

Patty and Brent joined us for “sip and dip” (Patty only) and then dinner on Sunday afternoon. We made gorgonzola lamb chops on the grill outside and they were well received.

Brent arrived over with a “scroll” he had been working on during the day, “The Profound Historical Significance of Diana and Keith’s Wedlock”. The story plays out with ancient Roman and Italian interactions and lines spoken by each party. Brent’s brain is a very interesting and unique place – he had us in stitches. All of this set up on his arrival with a story about watching a History channel show about the ancient Romans and Scottish.

We also loved this wedding card from the Scottish penguin series that includes our Christmas present mugs with William Wallace, Batman and Robin, lovebirds, and bagpiper.

Will arrived on Monday afternoon for the Roger Waters “Us and Them” show which promised to include a heavy dose of classic Pink Floyd songs. I picked him up at the airport and we headed to the Meddlesome Moth for an early dinner. We started with some delicious mussels with a Belgian sauce. Then Will was determined to try the bone marrow which turned out to be delicious. I had Thai flavored ceviche and then we split a very good steak pie. Well fed for the music marathon ahead!

It’s been over 30 years since I last saw Roger Waters. Andy Bull, Willie Kennedy and I made a trip to the concert arena outside Birmingham to see his “Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking” show which included Eric Clapton as the lead guitarist and some amazing staging.

The Dallas show did not disappoint. Both Will and I loved it. The advances in technology over the last 30 years allowed the show to be even more of a spectacle than the famous Pink Floyd shows of years past.

Here’s the staging for a selection of songs from the “Animals” album. Screens and chimneys down the middle of the arena and perpendicular to the stage reprised the classic album cover of the Battersea power station. This was also the point in the show where Waters’ feelings on Trump were on full display. Including a large Trump pig that circled the arena and many graphics and direct Trump quotes projected on the large screens. It was interesting to look around and see the split of those cheering and those sitting on their hands. I’d say about 30% obvious Trumpers in the audience – I was expecting less.

Here are some videos that I took. The first is the “Great Gig in the Sky” – one of many songs from the “Dark Side of the Moon” album. The lady singers don’t quite get close to the original but the rest of the band does very well.

Next is a very good performance of “Wish You Were Here” from my favorite Floyd album of the same name. The sound system did a very nice job with the acoustic guitar sound.

The first half of the show ended with “Another Brick in the Wall” and a crew of local Dallas kids dressed in orange prison garb dancing on stage. They removed their overalls to show “Resist” shirts. At the end of the show, confetti with Resist stamped on it dropped from the ceiling. “Resist” is a slogan for a movement that encourages grass roots organizing and action to stand against the current Trump/Republican agenda.

As is typical, the show finished with “Comfortably Numb” from “The Wall”. This features one of my all time favorite guitar solos.

Based on this text I think Will enjoyed the show as much as I did which makes me very happy.

For a completely unique cover version of “Comfortably Numb” try this one from The Bad Plus with Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley on vocals. The jazz piano is excellent.

For Tuesday, July 4th, breakfast I made my becoming famous barbecue pulled pork eggs Benedict. The hollandaise came from a mix this time after failed attempts at getting it thick enough following recipes – worked out much better and was much quicker. Will, Diana and I really enjoyed them.

After breakfast we put Will to work on a few tasks that are beyond our technical capabilities – programming the buttons on the Passat and Porsche to open the garage doors so that we don’t have to carry the remotes in our cars. He claims to have just followed the instructions in the manuals that didn’t work for me…

Then it was off to the Cowboys Club for 4th of July lunch. Will and “McD” both loved the lobster bake while I enjoyed the typically American burger. No pictures of lunch since they’re not allowed in the club 🙁 Mc D just finished her left over lobster for a very nice lunch. Then a quick trip to the airport to drop of Will for his flight back to San Francisco.

We were too tired and lazy to go out and watch the local fireworks display – so we enjoyed the New York show on TV.

In the reading department, I finished “White Tears” by Hari Kunzu. I found this through a New York Times Book Review recommendation – the blues music aspect interested me. The Amazon summary reads, “White Tears is a ghost story, a terrifying murder mystery, a timely meditation on race, and a love letter to all the forgotten geniuses of American music and Delta Mississippi Blues. An incisive meditation on race, privilege and music. Spanning decades, this novel brings alive the history of old-time blues and America’s racial conscience.” I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was a quick read as I took a break from the very dense “Moonglow” by Michael Chabon – hope to finish it for next week’s post.

I’ve also been reading “But Beautiful (A book about jazz)” when I’ve only had short amounts of time available. This book is 8 vignettes, each featuring a famous jazz musician. So far I’ve read the chapters on Lester Young, nicknamed “Pres” by Billie Holiday and Thelonious Monk. Listening to Lester Young has been a pleasant discovery – he has a very gentle and lyrical tone as compared to his bebop era contemporaries like Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane. Here’s a sample:

I’ve tried to appreciate Thelonious Monk’s piano playing but just can’t get there yet. I did enjoy this one with Coltrane on saxophone:

The next chapter is about Bud Powell and I’ve been enjoying his piano much more.

In other music news, my very favorite two albums released recently are by Jason Isbell and Dan Auerbach. Both heavily influenced by Nashville session musicians and both on heavy rotation in my office.

And to round out the music department, here’s an album by the great jazz guitarist Bill Frisell that I stumbled across this afternoon and have been really enjoying – “Telstar” is a highlight.

Week in Review – June 25, 2017

On Tuesday afternoon the traveling horde (about half the size of the outbound group) made its way back from Cozumel to Dallas. The flight, immigration process, and drive home were all very smooth – just a slight hiccup with the minivan selection at Hertz. Everyone was quite tired and ready to relax when we hit Boulder Lake Rd.

Wednesday’s highlight was a trip to the iPIC movie theater and the luxurious lounge chairs to see Wonder Woman. I got way too comfortable and fell asleep about 30 minutes into the movie. I woke up towards the end as things got noisy and am reasonably comfortable that I still got most of the plot. The Halls loved the comfy chairs and food and drink service at your seat.

Ten pin bowling was the main activity for Thursday. I had no idea how competitive Elspeth and David were at this pastime. I think I came in third or fourth on both games but just broke 100 on each which is always my goal. Struan definitely had the most force behind his bowling ball while David seemed to rise to the challenge from Elspeth in the last couple of frames of each game.

For Mum and Dad’s last night in McKinney we treated them to dinner at Gregory’s – a local French restaurant that we’ve been visiting in various locations for several years. The new location in Adriatica (a community styled after a Croatian village and in walking distance of our home) is by far their best. Diana had the nightly special – scallops in a saffron broth with lobster and mushrooms – absolutely delicious. I had my usual sea bass on a bed of lobster risotto while Dad enjoyed the rack of lamb.

Friday started with shuttling Mum and Dad to the airport for their flights to Philadelphia and then back to Glasgow. Speaking of Philly – Struan is a huge fan of cheesesteaks. So we found the best local place – Big Tony’s Cheesesteaks and he loved his meal. Leaving lunch I thought it would be fun to show the Halls the crazy Allen high school football stadium on our way to Best Buy. The route I selected was a bit rough with a large unexpected dip that sent both McD and McHeather airborne in the way back minivan seat. After some complaints and head rubbing we were back on track again with sunglasses intact.

David loved browsing Best Buy and trying to talk us into a much larger and fancier TV for the living room. A quick stop at Total Wines to amaze the Halls with the selection and we were home again.

The evening included sushi at Wasabi in Adriatica (owned by Gregory and Lydia – so we ate in their restaurants two nights in a row) and the “Secret Agent Men” performing at Zin Zen (a local wine bar with music on the weekend). Wasabi was amazing – soft shell crab, Korean BBQ ribs, and crab Rangoon all delicious. We all enjoyed the music at Zin Zen – surf music blended with the Shadows. We missed “Apache” but did get a request in for another Hank Marvin and the Shadows tune.

A lazy afternoon by the pool on Saturday was followed by a trip to the Granada theater on Greenville Avenue to see Carolyn Wonderland perform. We started with a relaxing and somewhat healthy dinner on the patio at Sundown next door. Diana’s hair fared much better after we convinced the manager to turn off the misters (it really wasn’t that hot).

Carolyn provided her usual combination of Janis Joplinesque vocals and solid blues guitar chops. A cover of The Band’s “Don’t Do It” was as much of highlight as when we heard it first with Denny and Anne at the Kessler.

Manual labor kicked off Sunday. We needed to disassemble the beds in Diana’s office, move them back upstairs, and then move Diana’s desk back into the office. Only problem was the desk being about an inch wider than the door opening. Solved by removing the door from the hinges – much easier done with Struan and David than with Keith and Diana prior to everyone arriving. Then the Halls headed off for their trip home.

Our home already feels very spacious and quiet. We miss having family around all the time – such a nice treat for the last 2 weeks.

Week in Review – May 21, 2017

The week started out with us picking up Diana’s new ride – a triple black (paint, upholstery, and wheel rims) VW Passat. She seems to be enjoying it so far but always missing the convertible top.

The crew at the Portside Lounge Tiki bar

My bachelor party with the boys in New Orleans kicked off on Thursday afternoon. We had a drink at a brand new bar named the Portside Lounge which had a tiki bar theme and some great beverages.

Dinner was at DTB (Down the Bayou) on Oak Street – another newly opened spot – Denny keeps his eyes and ears open for anything new popping up in his city. DTB is billed as a modern Creole Cajun restaurant and menu choices included crispy duck confit, cornmeal gnocchi, and mushroom boudin balls. Another great find by Mr. Denny.

The first of four excellent musical experiences followed dinner – we saw Reckless Kelly perform at Tipitina’s. This was a country rock band with a bit of an Irish flavor that we all enjoyed – including Timmy (a rare moment when he wasn’t complaining about our musical choices being too “esoteric”). We were able to see the newly awarded Anders Osborne plate on the pavement outside Tipitina’s in recognition of his contributions to New Orleans music.

Jack and Mason (perhaps with prompting and supervision from Anne) like to install obstacles for me when we head out in the evenings. This time it was a blowup Grinch hanging from the shower rod to greet me as I returned to the cottage.

Friday kicked off with lunch at Gallatoire’s on Bourbon Street. This is an old school New Orleans restaurant with white table cloths and tuxedoed waiters. Friday lunch is a highlight of the weekly social calendar for NOLA movers and shakers. The mayor and his entourage were waiting with us in the bar for their table – we posited that they might be celebrating the smooth removal of the last of the confederate statues (General Lee from Lee Circle). Alex, Gary, and Thom joined the usual quartet of me, Denny, Sean, and Tim. The food, company, service, and atmosphere were all excellent.

Excellent seafood appetizer at Gallatoire’s

The afternoon was consumed by a ramble through the French Quarter and taking in the local sights. Sean and I headed over to the Maple Leaf for some excellent late night music while the rest of the boys got some sleep.

Denny and “Good Lord” Alex engaged in a strategic discussion on the French Quarter Ramble

Saturday got off to a reasonably slow start. We had planned to participate in a bicycle pub crawl associated with the Bayou Boogaloo festival that we were going to in the evening but didn’t make it in time. We did, however, meet up with the cyclists at the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club where we enjoyed the third excellent musical performance. The Showtime Brass band put on a great early afternoon show.

Next stop was Rosedale for some lunch. This very unassuming restaurant (looks like a shack from the outside) is part of the Susan Spicer empire and the food was certainly up to her very high standards.

Rosedale – nothing very impressive on the outside

After lunch we headed to the Bayou Beer Garden to relax before heading into the Boogaloo music festival.

Only Sean and I ended up going to the festival and enjoyed a performance from Chris Thomas King before the heavens opened and we headed for the exit and cover.

We decided we were too old to get drenched to see Cracker close out the evening. Just as we exited, I got a call from Denny saying he was at the Cracker stage and had come out to surprise us. It didn’t take much to convince him to head home as well and we avoided having to call an Uber.

As always, it’s painful to leave New Orleans to travel back to the “real world”.

Week in Review – May 7, 2016

This was looking like the first time in several years that we would skip the New Orleans jazzfest. Then Diana suggested going in on the Tuesday between jazzfest weekends to catch some of the night time shows and attend the festival on Thursday (the quietest day of all seven). She checked the cost of flights (much less expensive than anticipated), called Denny to make sure the cottage was available, and we were all set.

New Orleans and Webster St welcomed us on Tuesday afternoon and we settled in Chez Ogan for drinks and an excellent dinner of crab salad and shrimp and goat cheese enchiladas from Chef Denny and Sous Chef Anne.

Wednesday got off to a slow start but quickly picked up speed in the early afternoon with a late lunch at Boucherie on Carrolton St. Look at this amazing soft shell crab – we all agreed it was one of the best we had ever tasted.

While enjoying lunch, Denny did his typical research work and found a unique show happening at 4pm at Bud Rip’s. This is a dive bar in the Marigny and the Morning 40 Federation was performing. The music was like a modern day Iron Maiden – very heavy and very loud with a lot of changing time signatures and keys. Diana enjoyed her Rose wine from a “backpack can”. I found the music sounded best from about a block away outside the bar.

While the rain storm held off we decided to check out Chazfest. This is a very small festival held in a couple of back yards and designed as an antidote to the large and expensive jazz festival. It’s named after Washboard Chaz who we did see performing there. The highlight was the Valparaiso Men’s Chorus doing their sea shanty sing along routine. This is always one of Denny’s favorites as you can tell. A completely unique and unexpected afternoon treat for sure.

Chazfest was followed by a quick stop at Kebab for falafels and sandwiches. Then home to regroup before the Piano Summit show at Snug Harbor.

The heavens opened on the drive to Snug Harbor and our Uber driver did a great job of navigating the flooding streets. Snug Harbor is a tiny jazz club on Frenchmen Street in the Marigny. It was one of the first venues on this street which used to be an out of the tourist area music area. Sadly it has recently become more and more of a known attraction for tourists. We got great seats in the upstairs balcony where we were able to see Joe Crown’s fingers floating across the keys as he presented a beautifully varied set of New Orleans piano classics. Tom McDermott followed him and while he was technically amazing I didn’t enjoy his set as much. Marcia Ball gave her usual excellent performance of boogie woogie piano with the highlight being her rendition of our favorite Delbert McClinton song, “Sending Me Angels”. The finale was all 6 hands on the piano at the same time as the three performers took turns sitting on the piano stool, playing the bass line, and playing the soprano part – very entertaining and fun.

Thursday was jazzfest day and we had agreed on a late start around 1pm. I had an interesting experience putting on my Crocs to head out to the muddy field – apparently they can shrink up to 2 sizes when left out wet in the sun – sure enough they had been rinsed off and left in the sun prior to packing. This meant a trip to the shoe store on the way to the festival and a lot of hilarity about “did you put them in the dryer?”. We rendezvoused with Alex, Tom, Gary and the crew at Liuza’s by the track and then headed in. Each year there is a guest country at the fest that shares their music, culture, and traditions. This year was Cuba.

The best days at the festival are those when you really have no agenda – nobody you really must see and have to fight in early to box out a space. We saw the Iguanas at Fais Do Dos, New Orleans Nightcrawlers (my highlight) at the Heritage stage, Herb Alpert in the Jazz tent, 10 mins or so of Widespread Panic on the Acura stage, a couple of minutes of Tower of Power on the Congo Square stage and then finished up with Darius Rucker on the Gentilly Stage (Diana’s highlight as evidenced by her happy music face).

The girls managed to work in oysters at the paddock and trips into the CD/Vinyl tent for better champagne than was on sale at the normal booths.

The food tents are equally as impressive as the music. We like to go back to the “trio” of offerings that we had at our first jazzfest. It’s hard to choose the most delicious between the crawfish sack, beignet, or oyster pattie.

We finished the evening off at a new place called the Beer Garden on Freret street – delicious food all around.

On Friday we had our typical leaving day brunch with Denny and Anne. This time at a new restaurant for all of us called “Cavan”. This was inside an old house with antique fixtures and décor. Again the food and drinks were delicious. So many fantastic and unique restaurants in this town and so little time. Back to McKinney and the ongoing home repairs from the hail storm. We had hoped they would be mostly complete while we visited New Orleans but a storm on Wednesday slowed things down by a couple of days. I woke on Saturday to nail guns on the roof above my head and then a generator right outside the bedroom window.

Week in Review – April 9, 2017

Three trips to downtown Dallas on three consecutive days this week. Tiring in traffic but all worthwhile jaunts. The first trip was on Thursday to catch the last days of the Spring Blooms event at the Dallas Arboretum.

There was a summer of love theme going with a VW bug and bus decorated with flowers and a flower power booth manned by “D”. It was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed a picnic on the lawn by White Rock lake and a nap in the sun.

Friday’s excursion was to the lovely Meyerson Symphony Center for a concert by Alicia’s high school symphonic band. Mort Meyerson was one of the original founders of EDS and has donated to several local causes associated with the arts. The Boyd band sounded great in the hall – not quite as good as Carnegie Hall but very close. Alicia had a solo to start off one of the pieces that had a Japanese sounding theme. She did a great job of rising to the occasion as ever. Here’s a clip:

After the concert we headed over to the eclectic Deep Ellum neighborhood for the annual arts festival – 3 days of music and food outdoors with hundreds of artists’ booths set up along the streets.

We picked up a metal sculpture of aliens carrying off a garden gnome as a gift for Patty and Brent who had been eyeing something similar at the festival last year.

The alien sculpture was delivered on Saturday night on the last of the three downtown excursions. This time to the Kessler to see 10,000 maniacs. We enjoyed dinner at Bolsa and then a great concert courtesy of the Wahbas. So many fun activities around downtown Dallas but a bit too long of a drive in traffic to go as often as we’d like.

Week in Review – April 2nd, 2017

Oscillating between high winds, thunder, and warm sunny days this week was typical of spring in Texas. Diana worked on organizing insurance folks to come and evaluate the hail damage from last week. She also had a handyman visiting to work on all the “bits and bobs” that have needed fixing for a while and are beyond my skill set or patience level.

On Wednesday we drove over to Dan’s Silverleaf music club in Denton. It was obvious that it had been a little while since we’d visited as we commented on all the new construction (including a large new High School) on the driver over highway 380. The early evening music was “A Taste of Herb” – a Herb Alpert tribute band. Here they are doing Simon and Garfunkel with a Herb feel.

This music took me back to riding in my Dad’s Renault 16 with his Harry Moss 8 track playing Herb Alpert and Tijuana Brass or Bridge Over Troubled Water. Happy memories.

Dan’s now serves food from Texas Tapas next door and we really enjoyed green curry meatballs, mushroom tacos, and truffle parmesan tater tots (which are becoming a common item on menus these days).

On Friday afternoon we checked out the new Cowboys fit facility that’s included in our Cowboys Club membership. They hope to open in late April and we’re looking forward to it – particularly the outdoor, heated lap swimming pool. The facility was filled with lots of fancy new equipment that looks quite intimidating.

To recover from the exertion of the tour, we stopped into Pepper Smash for some of their delicious blistered shishito peppers, Calbrese flatbread (creamy basil puree, charred tomato jam, sausage, and arugula) and cocktails. They have some very creative drinks, including the Cotton Candy Martini – which sounds way too sweet for either of us to try. We walked across the street to the Angelika movie theater and saw T2 Trainspotting. This is a very Scottish movie set in Edinburgh. The language and content are a bit harsh but certainly lighter than Danny Boyle’s original.

Saturday brought a forecast of wind and rain that didn’t amount to much. It was a lazy day since picking up Diana’s engagement ring was pushed to probably Monday. I enjoyed the NCAA Final Four basketball games and Diana’s delicious sea bass.

Sunday brings more heavy rain and so I’m catching up on some overdue blog posts and enjoy the Sunday New York Times. I just ordered up a couple of books that sounded good in the NYT Book Review.

New music that I’ve been enjoying this week include Grandaddy’s excellent new album “Last Place” and Father John Misty’s “Pure Comedy”. They have similar keyboard driven melodic styles that I’ve been enjoying. Just now I’m listening to Nick Spitzer’s American Routes show from the Baton Rouge Blues festival which has some great live Luke Winslow King songs. Here’s a link to my posting on his latest album from December 2016:

Music Discovery – Luke Winslow King

Week in Review – March 26, 2017

Tuesday was a full day of work in Houston with an early morning start and a late night return – but sleeping in my own bed was worth it.

The big night out this week was on Sunday. We started with our first trip to Trinity Groves with Patty and Brent. This is a new area on the opposite side of the Margaret Hunt bridge from downtown Dallas. There is a walking path along the Trinity river levee which provides great views of downtown. We stopped into the Cake Bar where Patty picked up a slice of cake for later. It appears to very popular as most all of the cakes were sold out before 5pm. Kate Weiser chocolate next door had some of the most creative and colorful treats I’ve seen. The Easter eggs were especially impressive.

Brent chose Casa Rubia for dinner. It’s a Spanish tapas place with an interesting menu of tapas and Spanish wines. We really enjoyed the paella, bacon wrapped dates, mushrooms, and chicken liver mousse. A wander around the area after dinner left us ready to go back soon to try some of the other restaurants.

A short drive to Oak Cliff and the perfect Kessler theater to see Shawn Mullins. I first heard him via his album “Soul’s Core” in 1998. It featured the single “Lullaby” which hit number one on the charts but my favorite was his cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down” which I still listen to several times a month.

Rick Brantley opened the show and was the typical pleasant surprise presented by openers at the Kessler. Rick is from Macon, Georgia which was also home to Otis Redding and the Allman Brothers. There must be something in the water there for so much talent to come out of a rural city with less than 100,000 population. Here’s Rick doing the Redding classic “Show a Little Tenderness”.

Shawn Mullins was equally enjoyable with the usual excellent sound experienced in the Kessler. Here he is doing my favorite.

You can see the threatening weather looming behind the Kessler billboard and while we were enjoying the concert it broke. Areas north of Dallas experienced some serious hail and winds. Fortunately Penelope missed the storm at Patty and Brent’s house. Our house was not so fortunate and will need a new roof and fence due to the hail and wind damage.