We spent last night listening to some jazz in the small town of Hastings, MI. My son Derek is in a high school combo that did a set at a coffee shop on Hastings' version of "Main Street USA." They sounded pretty good for it being one of their first public performances! At the end of their session, they were paid a nice compliment by a musician in the audience who joined them for a reprise of their opening number and proceeded to blow things open with a rousing trumpet solo! All in all, a nice night out, a fitting way to celebrate the return of spring as we saw a lot of sun today that melted away most of the snow (other than the plow piles pushed to the edges of parking lots...)
7 comments:
I like Jazz but I'm not really into it. I think that I would have enjoyed Hastings.
That looks great; there's something that has always appealed to me about jazz in a small, intimate setting like that (or at least it looks small and intimate). I might have to try and arrange a trip up for coffee and jazz!
Bob, have you ever made it to the 18th and Vine district in KC? I was there for a couple days last summer and really enjoyed the time. It was a business trip so I only got a chance to hit the Jazz and Negro League Baseball Museums for a quick afternoon swing-by, but even that short experience was enough to get me to look more deeply into America's jazz tradition. I'm still only a dabbler in the genre so I don't think I'm much different than what you indicate here. I wouldn't have driven as far as I did if my boy wasn't in the band! But given all that, it was a fun time and quite cool!
Matt, I agree, the smallness of the setting and the intimacy of the performance makes a big difference - it helps to really absorb the power and the emotion of the performance when the horn is blasting just a few feet away from your ear and you can see the players blowing and turning colors!
Planned to go once (to 18th & Vine) and didn't make it ... maybe this year? Didn't get to Bryants for BBQ did you?
Bob, I did get to Arthur Bryant's, as a matter of fact. The original place, not the newer and more nicely decorated branch operations. Our hosts took us to get some authentic KC barbecue. We pulled up to about the funkiest little hole-in-the-wall rib joint I've ever seen (or at least dared go into.) I don't think they've changed the decor or set up of the place in all the years its been in business. I ordered the "meat tray" which lived up to its billing. A half-pound of barbecue (you tell 'em what kind you want - ribs, turkey, pork, etc.) plopped directly onto a rectangular cafeteria tray - no plate needed. You take the tray to the no-frills table and enjoy it straight or with generous dollops of their distinctive sauces, available in squirt tubes for quick and efficient dispensing. IT WAS SO GOOD!
I had never really given barbecue much of a second thought until that experience but since then, I search out local barbecue eateries fairly regularly. I didn't really appreciate just how unique and tasty Bryant's sauce is, especially the original recipe. I bought a bottle of their three varieties and took them home with me. Now I wish I'd bought a case since it's a lot cheaper to buy the sauce there on the spot than over the internet - and I can't find it anywhere around here. Not that there aren't plenty of good sauces around, but Bryant's is addictive. The old man said that he wanted to make a sauce so good that you'd eat it served on plain bread! He succeeded at that, IMO.
When Arthur died one of our local cartoonists drew him at the Pearly Gates where St Peter asked this question:
"Did you bring the sauce?"
Everyone in KC loved Arthur but not everyone his sauce. Bryants is a place that one either loves or hates - seemingly no middle ground ... I have loved it for almost 30 years now. There are two other Bryants restaurants that my wife likes better (yes I married a woman that likes Arthurs) because they are a bit "nicer" ... I like them but miss the 'ambience' of the downtown place.
Don't know how to get the sauce long distance but let me know when you are next in town and I'll buy the BBQ.
Bob
Guess you got the (BBQ) juices flowing - I linked back to you and posted the cartoon at my place.
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