In May 2023, we returned from Portugal with over 400 photos. For this blog. I picked just a few favorites with a story to tell. A separate photo album covers our time in Magical Madeira. Arrival in Cascais The idea to visit Portugal began with an invitation from the Jacobs Foundation to attend a conference on the theme of how learners can adapt to our changing world. As the timing fit my 60th, Audrey and I decided to make it a birthday trip. ...

A wild mix of blues, jazz, cuban funk, oh my! Micah and I enjoyed so many genres in one day at this year’s San Jose Jazz Festival. On the main stage, we discovered Vanessa Collier, a passionate young blues singer from South Carolina. In addition to having a captivating voice, Vanessa sang the blues through her saxophone. On the cover photo, she is jamming with Laura Chavez, a brilliant blues guitar player from nearby Mountain View. ...

Roy Pea and I were thrilled to catch Buddy Guy, now age 87, and still an icon of the blues playing a free concert in San Francisco’s summer series at Stern Grove. Buddy urged the crowd to sing, dance, and celebrate his music; and the crowd of 10,000 responded. Buddy started with “Damn right, I’ve got the blues,” showed he was still a Hoochie Coochie man, and probably would have played all night if they didn’t keep reminding him to get off the stage. Close to the end of the show, Buddy walked through the crowd while still playing his guitar as security cleared his way. Wow! ...

Two friends engaged in a beautiful musical dialogue, set to a bossa nova groove. Romero Lumbambo played a nylon-stringed guitar, which gave a soft tone to his Brazilian sound. He plucked both the bass line and a rhythmic counter point, while at times leaping into lightning fast and precise melodic runs. Anat Cohen—a favorite at the Stanford Jazz Festival every year—plays a soulful clarinet. She joined Romero on the precise, fast runs but also led with intricate melodies and soaring solos. Through they had lovely communication, both through their eyes but also through their bodies. It was a special performance. ...

Our May 2023 visit to Madeira was a magical experience. After arriving on a quick two hour flight south from Lisbon, we soon found ourselves in a paradise of flowers, butterflies, steep mountain landscapes, flowing water, and adventure. Our first stop after picking up a rental car and checking into our hotel was to visit a lookout point, Cabo Girao. Here a skywalk juts out from a cliff, 580 meters above the ocean. The cliff drops straight down, especially as we looked through the glass floor of the skywalk. After taking in the spectacular views, we drove to a spot at sea level where a waterfall crashes down on the road; we watched some cars drive through the waterfall. Then we stopped at Porto Sol, a colorful beach town, where we enjoyed a cocktail at a cafe overlooking the ocean. ...