I arrived in New York on Monday afternoon to a heavy thunderstorm. Circled La Guardia for a couple of hours before landing and then took over an hour to drive to the hotel due to the weather. The travel woes were quickly forgotten as I headed to the Village Vanguard jazz club for an evening with the Village Vanguard jazz orchestra. This is a 16 piece all star ensemble that plays most Monday nights. The celebrated their 50 year anniversary in February.
I sat next to a middle school music teacher from Chicago who plays drums in a local big band. He was a great source of comments on the drumming and the band in general and has several students who have gone on to have professional music careers. What a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
It was inter
esting to see the Village Vanguard in a documentary called “Becoming Mike Nichols” that I watched between catch up naps on Saturday – apparently he and Elaine May performed there in their early days as an improv duo. The documentary was about Nichols work up to and including “The Graduate” which was his first movie at age 36. It was also Dustin Hoffman’s first movie – Nichols had seen him perform at an off-Broadway production.
Tuesday and Wednesday were long work days at 180 Maiden Lane in the Wall St area. 80 folks locked up in an auditorium with rotating speakers, panels, and group discussions.
Wednesday night was another excellent music adventure. I took the subway up to the Times Square area and saw Joe Ely performing at B.B. King’s club. This club is set up like a supper club with good food, drinks, and great seating/views. I remember seeing Joe Ely for the first time at an outdoor amphitheater in San Antonio over 20 years ago – Ian Moore was the guitarist in his band. He is a great singer/songwriter, originally from Lubbock, TX. His stories and songs were very enjoyable – particularly in the solo acoustic setting. Here’s a movie I made from a few clips I took during the evening. My favorite song of the evening was “Live Forever” by Billy Joe Shaver. I didn’t get a video of that one but it did remind me of the Bugs Henderson song, “I wish I could write like Billy Joe”; a tribute to his stellar songwriting skills.
Here’s some Bugs Henderson – I really miss seeing him live since he passed a few years ago. A trademark Bugs solo starts at 2:48.
Thursday was another work day in New York and then travel back that evening – another weather delayed flight that got me back home pretty late.
Friday night was pizza and wine night with the Wahba’s at their home – trying to distract Patty from her bad news.
On Satur
day I made my first Blue Apron meal in a while. Catfish with ponzu and red pepper sauce, ginger toasted peanuts, garlic infused rice, and sesame seed zucchini.
I finish
ed the book “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson this week. This is a mind blowing account of the racial injustices of the judicial system in the South (particularly Alabama) told through stories of many cases that the author, a Harvard lawyer who has never really earned much of a living, has worked on over the last 20 years. The progress that Stevenson has driven almost single handedly over the years with many Supreme Court hearings is phenomenal.