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 co
nfiguration 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.