Monterey day two, joy, tears, sun and texas jumbo flyswatters
Today was a day filled with all kinds of emotions, from the upbeat and colourful Rythm'n Blues by the Honeydrippers to the wacky James Hunter to the emotional Terence Blanchard, it was one of the best days ever.
I arrived just in time to see director John Sayles present the Honeydrippers All-Stars, a band assembled to promote his upcoming movie of the same name.
This felt like a gig taken straight out of the Blues Brothers, pure awesome from beginning to end, and the audience went wild and started dancing and all, it was fantastic. Plus it stopped raining and the sun came back for good around the middle of the act, so everything was just perfect.
Director John Sayles
Honeydrippers All-Stars
Harmonica solo
Gary Clark, Jr. and Eddie Shaw
oh yeah
Gary Clark, Jr. in a Marty McFly moment. this guy's good.
Mable John
the audience go wild
some a little too wild...
I hereby present the Texas Jumbo Flyswatters
Drums solo by Lester Jordan
the sun is back! Weeeee!
music also comes in a variety of... bubbles
MJF
Food!
More food!
Brazilian drums & dance
I went to the Bose stand and got a glimpse of the Otis Taylor Band playing at the Jimmy Lyons stage. However, as the guy in charge there put it, Bose may be good at designing sound systems, but their simulcast projector sucks, the thing fell apart two minutes after I arrived.
What can I say, I am cursed.
Hmmm, deep fried calamari
MJF
I went back to the Garden Stage to see James Hunter. The man is nuts, it was a complete blast. With guys like this, Ray Charles may be gone, but damn, the spirit lives on alright.
And that's when my battery died. I must have left the camera on or something at one moment, because it suddenly dropped from full charge to "HEY MAN, I'M DYING HERE".
James Hunter's performance was abolutely great, again it was like being an extra in the Blues Broters, the spirit, the air, everything just felt right.
I unexpectedly managed to see Diana Krall, albeit in the same way I could see Scarlett Johansson a few weeks ago, from the other side of a security detail. She was doing an interview at the CNN stand, and damn she's beautiful.
As I was trying to have a copy of Hunter's album and have it signed by the artist, Borders anounced everything was sold out (great timing again, raph) so I headed back to the Garden Stage for the third performance of the afternoon, the Otis Taylor band.
The man's a living legend, but he's one of those legends who get off the the stage and spend 10 minutes playing and walking among us mere mortals; the crowd was hysterical, everyone cheered, and it was a moment you wish could go on forever.
Back on the stage, jamming with the band was one of the guitarists from Los Lobos, impromptu guest star.
In conclusion, ninety minutes of pure Blues goodness. It doesn't get any better than this.
To end the day, I went to the Jazz Theater to see the simulcast of the evening's concerts at the Arena. Eventually I just saw one, because my cold got worse and I kept sneezing.
But what a concert. Oh my. The Terence Blanchard Quintet and the Monterey Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra gave us A tale of God's Will (A requiem for Katrina), a poignant performance that went right to the heart. Unbelievable. Listening to Blanchard playing, you just know you're in the presence of one of the best player of the planet, and it's a privilege to be here, even if not in the actual audience, and share the music and the moment with all the people there. One of those "I was there" moments. Beauty and sorrow. Tears on a diamond.
A perfect way to end the day. And on this note the curtain falls.
PS. It does taste like chicken.
I arrived just in time to see director John Sayles present the Honeydrippers All-Stars, a band assembled to promote his upcoming movie of the same name.
This felt like a gig taken straight out of the Blues Brothers, pure awesome from beginning to end, and the audience went wild and started dancing and all, it was fantastic. Plus it stopped raining and the sun came back for good around the middle of the act, so everything was just perfect.
Director John Sayles
Honeydrippers All-Stars
Harmonica solo
Gary Clark, Jr. and Eddie Shaw
oh yeah
Gary Clark, Jr. in a Marty McFly moment. this guy's good.
Mable John
the audience go wild
some a little too wild...
I hereby present the Texas Jumbo Flyswatters
Drums solo by Lester Jordan
the sun is back! Weeeee!
music also comes in a variety of... bubbles
MJF
Food!
More food!
Brazilian drums & dance
I went to the Bose stand and got a glimpse of the Otis Taylor Band playing at the Jimmy Lyons stage. However, as the guy in charge there put it, Bose may be good at designing sound systems, but their simulcast projector sucks, the thing fell apart two minutes after I arrived.
What can I say, I am cursed.
Hmmm, deep fried calamari
MJF
I went back to the Garden Stage to see James Hunter. The man is nuts, it was a complete blast. With guys like this, Ray Charles may be gone, but damn, the spirit lives on alright.
And that's when my battery died. I must have left the camera on or something at one moment, because it suddenly dropped from full charge to "HEY MAN, I'M DYING HERE".
James Hunter's performance was abolutely great, again it was like being an extra in the Blues Broters, the spirit, the air, everything just felt right.
I unexpectedly managed to see Diana Krall, albeit in the same way I could see Scarlett Johansson a few weeks ago, from the other side of a security detail. She was doing an interview at the CNN stand, and damn she's beautiful.
As I was trying to have a copy of Hunter's album and have it signed by the artist, Borders anounced everything was sold out (great timing again, raph) so I headed back to the Garden Stage for the third performance of the afternoon, the Otis Taylor band.
The man's a living legend, but he's one of those legends who get off the the stage and spend 10 minutes playing and walking among us mere mortals; the crowd was hysterical, everyone cheered, and it was a moment you wish could go on forever.
Back on the stage, jamming with the band was one of the guitarists from Los Lobos, impromptu guest star.
In conclusion, ninety minutes of pure Blues goodness. It doesn't get any better than this.
To end the day, I went to the Jazz Theater to see the simulcast of the evening's concerts at the Arena. Eventually I just saw one, because my cold got worse and I kept sneezing.
But what a concert. Oh my. The Terence Blanchard Quintet and the Monterey Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra gave us A tale of God's Will (A requiem for Katrina), a poignant performance that went right to the heart. Unbelievable. Listening to Blanchard playing, you just know you're in the presence of one of the best player of the planet, and it's a privilege to be here, even if not in the actual audience, and share the music and the moment with all the people there. One of those "I was there" moments. Beauty and sorrow. Tears on a diamond.
A perfect way to end the day. And on this note the curtain falls.
PS. It does taste like chicken.
1 Comments:
Get yourself to a Walgreen's, CVS, or a Rite-Aid drug store. Buy yourself some Advil cold medicine. Just look for the cold remedy section of the store, usually close to the pharmacy window in the back. Get a couple packages so you don't have to go back. Or if you are close to one of these stores, buy one pack to see if you like that medicine. Nyquil is really awful tasting, but works wonders for sleeping through the night. Pay attention to the dosage. You won't wake up within 8 hours after falling asleep from Nyquil.
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