jazz festival . . . thursday
 Did I mention there was a time when "jazz festival" meant ten days of no sleep, precise planning, spontaneous combustion, and getting home at dawn? That was in the days of the late night concerts at the Pitt, which didn't close till about 5am. Timing was everything. If you left one concert at the break you could make another one cross town for the last set, and a third somewhere else, arranging rides everywhere.It was great fun and I got to hear a lot of music, most of it first rate. Am I wiser now or just lazy? I'm more than happy to hear one good concert in a day. Especially on a beautiful sunny afternoon, in a relaxed atmosphere. Two days in a row now all I checked out were mid-day free concerts at Performance Works. I also used to give out-of-towners priority for obvious reasons but don't so much care about that anymore. So today I caught Lisa Miller's Q group, with Steve Smith on the bass, Peggy Lee on cello and (again) Dylan van der Schyff on drums. I loved it. Is it classical music? Is it jazz? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Whatever, somehow perfect for the mood of the day and very engaging. Summer should last all year long and Performance Works should have free music every day! I may run for mayor on that platform. It's a quarter to midnight and I'm debating whether to go to Mike Allen's late night jam at O'Doul's but I'm into an excellent novel, listening to Johnny Hodges, and just too damn comfortable. The three jams I've been to were great fun – lot's of people to hang and drink with, and I'm sure when it's all over in a few more days I'll regret not having gone every night but, y'know, ya gotta live in the moment. (Knowing where that moment is can be a problem.)  Earlier in the day, for the second time this week, I stopped by the "media lounge", just to see what, if anything, was going on. I had more fun and great conversation hanging with these wonderful, friendly, charming, and beautiful women than at any festival events. Left to right, that's Barbara, Susan, and Donna and they deserve much credit for helpfulness, making all those using the place feel welcome. Susan, as it turns out, I most likely met once or twice many years ago and we have about 3,000 friends, relatives, and various cohorts in common so it was as exciting a meeting in the media lounge as I had with the Belmondos in the bar next door just a couple of days earlier.Jazz Festival posts |