It was a real treat to see John Scofield at the intimate Bach Dynamite and Dancing Society. And a special treat to celebrate Micah’s birthday with some delicious cupcakes overlooking the ocean. Scofield and his quartet played a wide variety of tunes. A Cole Porter song was memorable as were some of his original compositions. Some of his trademark funky grooves were included. For Half Moon Bay, we also had unusually clear skies (no fog!) and a calm ocean. ...
Our favorite jazz venue is the Bach Dynamite and Dancing Society. To keep the flame burning, we sponsored a recent show by David Sánchez and his quintet. We started our Sunday adventure on the fabulous deck, overlooking the Pacific. The ocean was calm and silver-toned, with occasional slow waves crashing into the shore. Together with our guests – Micah, Glenn and Liz, and Judi and Nick – we had a cornucopia of snacks to enjoy. We were in good spirits. ...
On Sunday afternoon, Audrey and I went to see the summer gardens at the Filoli Estate. We enjoyed the most fragrant roses, boldest dahlias and biggest hydrangea. I recently got an e-bike. I was excited to test it out by riding the 10 miles to Filoli while Audrey drove. The ride is all on backroads through Portola Valley and Woodside, then along Cañada Road. I got there in about 35 minutes, which was an average of 17 mph. It was a beautiful ride. On the way back there is hill that lasts for several miles, and I definitely enjoyed the battery boost. ...
On a cool Saturday night, Audrey and I enjoyed some cool Brazilian jazz at the Stanford Jazz Festival. Anat Cohen on Clarinet was joined by Marcello Gonçalves, playing the 7-string acoustic guitar. It was a magical evening. Anat plays very lyrically, with a full range of emotion. Marcello played the role of the orchestra, conjuring bass, rhythm, and percussion from his guitar. They played music in a range of styles, closing with a spirited version of Leonard Bernstein’s song America, from West Side Story. ...
Jon Anderson’s angelic, timeless voice filled the historic Warner Theater in downtown Washington, DC, defying his 80 years of age. Indeed, his spiritual energy and genuine warmth throughout two sets lasting about two and a half hours was amazing. Although many of the songs were recorded by Yes in 1970s, they sounded perfect today. The set began, in classic Yes tradition, by playing Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite through the speakers as the Band Geeks took the stage. Recently, Anderson has been touring and recording with this mob from Long Island. The Band Geeks were a bit bored during the pandemic and started challenging themselves with homemade recording of the super-challenging Yes classics. Their covers were posted on YouTube, where I and many others found them to be wonderful. Jon Anderson found them too and asked them to play with him. ...