Marcos Silva at the Vineyard

This is the California life! Just five minutes from our house, Portola Vineyards offers Sunday jazz under a redwood grove. Bring your own picnic and they supply the wine tastings.

We enjoyed top notch Brazilian jazz from Marcos Silva, who writes his own compositions in a range of authentic styles. The bass player, Scott Thompson, nailed the low end and the compelling pulse of Brazilian music–and he also played fine solos with dexterity up on the high end of the neck. Gary Meek brought a range of winds to the tunes, including flute, alto sax and soprano sax. He reminded me of another great wind player I saw at the vineyard, Paul McCandless. I didn’t catch the name of the drummer and he also didn’t stand out.

The main problem was that we just brought sandwiches for our picnic, which was not keeping up with the Jones. People brought whole tables with platters of food. Nonetheless a very fine way to spend a Sunday evening. Check out those redwoods!

Details