Happy Easter and April Fools’ Day combined. I did learn from my Dad this morning that any April Fools’ jokes have to be executed before noon – so you’re safe now in this post.
Diana and I took a jaunt to downtown McKinney on Monday for coffee and a crossword at Filtered (local coffee shop) and then wandered around the corner to a new store McD had noticed that sold records. The Groovy Coop is a fun store with several racks of records (both LPs and 45s) and a lot of vintage curiosities. I stopped myself from browsing after the first two bins (new arrivals and the letter A) and had already selected two records. Dave Alvin’s Romeo’s Escape was from the “A” bin and features the great song “Every Night About this Time”. Interestingly, Dave Alvin was the first show we saw at the Kessler theater and we’ve been back many times since. I’ll always remember Diana leaning over to me as the show started and saying, “You know this is country music, right?”. Kind of a country infused Americana sound – but the first song was quite country.
The second record was Ray Charles’ “Genius Sings the Blues” which I have been enjoying on the Linn while typing this. I haven’t bought new records in a little while and will have to be careful to limit my visits to the Groovy Coop as I’m currently out of record storage space.
Penelope had one of her fits on Tuesday morning as I was starting my commute to work. As I accelerated hard to join the highway, the check engine light came on accompanied by the message “Visit workshop soon” (silly Germans) and a hard wobble of the engine. P had a service a couple of weeks ago where they replaced the spark plugs and this was the fist time I’d given her a good workout since. I found out on Wednesday morning when she was delivered to the “workshop” that one of the ignition coils had come loose and so the spark plug wasn’t firing. One might think it hadn’t been installed correctly after the plugs were changed. To add insult, it poured with rain all day Tuesday and Wednesday and the left windshield wiper wasn’t working properly – also something that was supposed to be repaired during the service. Glenda’s (featuring again later in this post) ex-husband (Penelope’s Porsche mechanic) was a bit sheepish about both issues. I’m happy to report P is back in full working order and has a full tank of gas for McD this week when I’m in New York.
Friday brought the much anticipated Nils Lofgren concert at the Kessler. This show had been cancelled twice – once due to the Force Majeure clause in Nils contract that allows him to cancel if Bruce Springsteen has a sudden desire to tour (The River tour) and once due to surgery. Jens and Glenda joined us for the show and pre-show burgers and tots across the street from the Kessler.
I was introduced to Nils by Andy Bull (who learned about him from his older brother) in University and he and I enjoyed his shows at the Glasgow Apollo and Usher Hall in Edinburgh (35 and 33 years ago). Lofgren has had a long and interesting career – starting with the band Grin, several excellent solo albums, playing on “Tonight’s the Night” and several other Neil Young albums, and the last 20 plus years as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street band.
One of Lofgren’s best known songs is an ode to Keith Richards, “Keith Don’t Go”. He did an excellent acoustic version at the Kessler – here’s some of the song and then his trademark finger picked harmonics in the solo.
In addition to his excellent guitar, Nils is also an accomplished pianist. Here he is with his poignant tune “Believe” from one of the early Grin albums.
The show concluded with “No Mercy”, a song I first heard on a Radio Clyde mid-morning show hosted by Dougie Donnelly, best known for his football commentary.
After the show, Nils was very gracious with his time to meet his fans and sign any albums and artifacts they had brought. It was fun to see so many people with very old albums under their arms. I got my copy of “Night After Night” and “Flip” signed along with a photograph of Nils and Bruce Springsteen at the jazzfest in New Orleans.
Lofgren is only 5′ 3″ tall and so it was fortuitous that he was a step up from me for this picture. Diana told him that I had attended the show at the Glasgow Apollo that features on the “Night after Night” album and he said that had been his favourite tour – it was certainly at the height of his popularity.
Diana found out on Saturday morning that Friday had been a tough day for Lofgren with his guitars being stolen overnight from a van parked outside the Holiday Inn where he was staying. He had spent Friday morning rounding up loaner guitars and gear. You certainly wouldn’t have known it form his attitude or the excellent guitar sounds.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2018/03/30/guitars-harp-stolen-e-street-bands-nils-lofgren-dallas/475079002/
Saturday was an on and off sunny day and I was able to sit outside and finish my long running book “Notes on a Foreign Country” by Suzy Hansen. The book chronicles Hansen’s changing views on American foreign policy as she lives in Turkey and visits Greece, Afghanistan, and Iran. One of the hardest hitting passages is when Hansen returns to New York and is admitted to a Brooklyn hospital for what is ultimately diagnosed as pneumonia. She tells of her American friends saying she was so lucky to be home when it happened. However, her story of misdiagnosis and the conditions in the Brooklyn hospital as compared to the Turkish hospitals she had visited is pretty scary. The book is fairly dense and intellectual but worth reading for a differing view on America’s role on the world stage.
If you haven’t heard enough about music already, I’ve been enjoying the new album from the jam band The Heavy Pets this week.
Don’t think you would ever guess correctly. After an all day work meeting, Mc D and I were invited to attend WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) Monday Night Raw. I remember my Grampa watching wrestling on TV on the weekends and have briefly watched some WWE on TV but never imagined being one of the 
rowdy nuts that watches it in an arena. It honestly seemed even more fake live and there were long periods of downtime between bouts for the adverts on the live TV broadcast. That being said, it was good, silly Monday night entertainment. The highlight was John Cena making a speech about how disappointed he was that the Undertaker hadn’t answered his challenge for a fight at WrestleMania.
I felt sorry for the folks queuing up for the late show in the cold and snow outside the Blue Note. We hadn’t quite had enough music for the night and so headed around the corner to Bleeker Street and the Red Lion pub which has had good live music each time I’ve visited. There was a duo of guitar/singer and drummer playing classic rock songs very well that we enjoyed for a while. Things picked up when one of the bar tenders joined to cover a couple of Janis Joplin songs.
Flying home on Friday afforded me a 40 degree temperature change by leaving New York at 40 degrees and arriving to 80 degree plus in Dallas. You can see by this picture from the plane leaving New York that most of the snow had melted and it was a nice sunny day.
book, “A Visit from the Goon Squad”. This held my attention much more effectively and I read the full book out by the pool on Saturday. The book is centered around the music business and the change in the economic and distribution methods over the last decade. I highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in music – the story telling is innovative, interesting and creative.
Vinyl Matters” by Jennifer Bickerdike. This is a coffee table style book that I received as a Christmas gift from Diana and has chapters from musicians and people involved in the music business relating why they love and appreciate vinyl records. I particularly enjoyed the interview with Nick Hornby who wrote “High Fidelity” that was the basis for the John Cusack film.
On Friday I took the first of the piano lessons that Diana gave me for Christmas (thanks McD). Anthony has a music studio in a room of his bungalow in downtown McKinney and calls it the Piano Dojo. The lesson was very enjoyable as Anthony asked me to play scales and sight read (scales not so good after 40 years of neglect, sight reading not too bad). He also wants me to start learning basic drumming patterns so I’ve obtained drum sticks and a practice pad and might get started today. Apparently learning to drum teaches the brain to better manage right and left hand separation and is good for the type of blues/boogie piano that I’m hoping to learn. Anthony and I shared stories about jazz clubs in New York and musicians that we enjoy. I’m looking forward to getting my scales and drumming down so that I can schedule my next lesson.
We celebrated Patty’s birthday on Friday evening and started with a lovely dinner at Sachet in the very fancy Highland Park neighborhood just north of downtown Dallas. Sachet is a Mediterranean restaurant and was voted the best new restaurant of 2017 by the readers of D magazine. We started with several “meze” or small plates – the y
Patty’s birthday was off to a great start but we had a surprise in store – John Oates at the Kessler theater (Dallas’ most redeeming quality). John Oates is one half of the best-selling duo of all time, Hall & Oates, as well as an accomplished solo artist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Oates embarked on his solo career in 1999. He has recorded six solo albums and his seventh project, “Arkansas”, was released in February. He featured 6 songs from this album to start his Kessler show.
I’ve been enjoying “Manhattan Beach” by Jennifer Egan this week. The novel opens in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to the house of Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family.
We arrived around 3pm and Sean and Sheri weren’t due until later in the evening, so we set out to explore the center of town. The main square is dominated by La Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, the current parish church of San Miguel, which is unique in Mexico and the emblem of the town. It has a Neo-gothic façade with two tall towers that can be seen from most parts of town. It is one of the most photographed churches in Mexico. The church was built in the 17th century with a traditional Mexican façade. The current Gothic façade was constructed in 1880 by Zeferino Gutierrez, who was an indigenous bricklayer and self-taught architect. It is said Gutierrez’s inspiration came from postcards and lithographs of Gothic churches in Europe, particularly the one in Cologne; however, the interpretation is his own and is more a work of imagination than a faithful reconstruction.
Sean and Sheri arrived safely on Thursday evening and we headed to another rooftop, SMA restaurant, just up the street from the house. We had a delicious dinner and several of the group sampled Casa Dragones Joven tequila (apparently a favourite of Oprah and Martha Stewart).
Friday began with a walking food tour. This took us to 6 restaurants around town and our tour guide, Pascal, provided a lot of cultural and historical information along the way. The town, so the story goes, owes its founding to a few over-heated dogs. These hounds were loved by a Franciscan friar, Juan de San Miguel, who started a mission in 1542 near an often-dry river 5km from the present town. One day the dogs wandered off from the mission; they were found reclining at the spring called El Chorro. The mission was moved to this superior site.
One of my favourite dishes from the tour, mole enchiladas, was next at La Cocina, Café del Viajero. There are many different recipes for mole sauce, typically including chocolate, chiles, sweet and sour ingredients, thickeners and spices. The sauce at our stop was absolutely delicious.
The tour finished with ice cream from a street cart and delicious churros with caramel sauce. This was a wonderful way to explore downtown, the food variety, and to learn some history – thanks Anne for organizing.
After the food tour, can you guess what we did? Yes – another rooftop at Pueblo Viejo and then dinner downstairs. In between, Diana, Denny and I relaxed at the bar at a fancy boutique hotel called Beelia.
Sunday brunch was at another Denny deep research find, Nicasio Comedor Mexicano. This was a small, simple restaurant with an open kitchen where we watched traditional Mexican breakfast fare prepared with great flair and attention to detail – tweezers used to place garnish and tiny jalapenos. The pet duck wasn’t in its bed in the restaurant but rather in the pond since it was starting to get hot.
Next on the ramble was a stop at a tapas restaurant where Denny heard interesting music. The music stopped right as we entered but was quickly replaced by Los Miguels, Miguel and his friend Miguel, who sang and played guitar beautifully. Miguel #1 tried very hard to explain the meaning of each Spanish song to us in English before he performed – and he did an admirable job. His passion for his music and for communicating really came through.
Sean and Sheri had a very early departure (5am – ouch) back to the airport and the rest of us left a few hours later. You can tell Denny had a good trip from his snooze on the drive.
go and retrieve our car on Saturday. The radar showed a break in the rain but guess what – yes, the heavens opened for our drive back home. It’s particularly helpful when Texas truck drivers speed through flooded areas and make it impossible for other drivers to see anything due to the spray.
I made a pretty interesting music discovery this week on one of the artists I listen to most, Miles Davis. An article on a Scandinavian trumpet player referenced “Filles de Kilmanjaro” as a major influence on his style. What is this album that I’ve never heard of? Turns out it was recorded in 1968 as Miles was making the transition from his second great acoustic quintet to his “electric period”. The first sessions included Wayne Shorter on sax, Herbie Hancock on Rhodes piano, Ron Carter on electric bass and Tony Williams on drums. The later sessions had Chick Corea on piano and Dave Holland on double bass. I’ve been fortunate to see both Chick Corea and Ron Carter in separate shows at the Blue Note in New York and Ron Carter again in an amazing show at Birdland. This album came right before the classic Miles album “In a Silent Way”.
The interesting painting on the Bywater wall, “Society of St Anne Meeting Spot”, refers to a New Orleans marching krewe that parades each Mardi Gras. Known for the very elaborate costumes of its members, the group gathers in the Bywater each Mardi Gras morning, with the Storyville Stompers brass band providing the music. As they pass through the Faubourg Marigny and French Quarter, additional costumed marchers join the parade at various coffee shops and bars along the route. The marchers continue to Canal Street to watch the Rex Parade and then return into the French Quarter. Of course it made us think of our own favourite Anne from New Orleans.
The music was by the Christian Sands trio who did a tribute to the music of Errol Garner. Sands is a 28 year old pianist who is viewed as one of the best of the younger generation. His technique and dynamics were both amazing. Garner is known for his swing playing and ballads. His best-known composition, the ballad “Misty”, has become a jazz standard and was featured in the Clint Eastwood movie, “Play Misty for Me”. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Since McD and I were not going to be together on Saint Valentine’s day, we celebrated early with a movie and dinner on Saturday night. The movie was “The Darkest Hour” about Churchill’s challenges in May 1940 during Dunkirk. We both thoroughly enjoyed Gary Oldman’s Churchill and learned a lot about those few weeks in history. Many of the classic Churchill quotes were in the movie, along with my favourite, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”.
We ran into Marc Broussard on the way in to see the opening band and Diana took a picture with him. The opening act was the Devon Gilfillian band – Diana said his name sounded Welsh but he grew up outside Philadelphia in a musical family and now lives in Nashville. His sound is a combination of gospel-blues and southern soul with a lot of musical variety from song to song. Part way into the show the band surprised us with an a cappella version of “Lean on Me” with the audience singing along nicely.
On Saturday we had brunch at Smoke since their outpost in Plano closed recently. We love the pulled pork eggs Benedict and cheese grits. Then we took advantage of being in the Oak Cliff area to visit the excellent Wild Detectives book store for coffee, crossword, and a couple of new books. This funny sign was on display in the store.
dedication. She is really addicted to jigsaws – once she starts she has to finish. This one is of the Place du Tertre in Montmartre in Paris where we spent some pleasant time watching the artists at work. I need to try and make her wait a few weeks before starting on the next one.
I finished up the new John Le Carre book, “A Legacy of Spies”. This was much lighter than the typically dense Le Carre spy fare but I was frustrated with the open ended and inconclusive ending. Right up until the last page I was convinced that things were going to come to a good end – but no – left hanging. George Smiley did not come to the rescue although I think that’s what the reader is supposed to assume.
My stay was booked through Friday at the Gild Hall hotel but I was able to escape the madness on Wednesday. My last few days of Executive Platinum status on American Airlines was put to good use in getting me on a flight an hour earlier than planned. This sign that I saw in Heathrow airport was on my mind as I sat cramped in a seat at the back of the earlier flight.
