from what i hear, cannas aren’t usually this big. i don’t know what i did, but it has been so amazing to watch them grow…and grow. this picture was taken around september 3. the one below was taken about august 20. today we dead-headed them for the last time and discovered wonderful cactus-covered seeds all over the top. they are certainly remarkable plants.
our birthday festivities were great fun. it wasn’t just the food, or the weather, or even the presents. it was the people that made the day such a joy. i like the above picture because it has 4 generations in it and i was honored to have such an event at my home.
saturday’s sunshine and cool temperatures teased us into thinking it might actually be autumn soon and we went up to new harmony to eat and enjoy the music of “the shade tree players”. you remember i made a friend at the dulcimer fest the week before and we’d agreed to trade my german accordion for a smaller guitar. the dulcimer player on the left side of the picture (big guy) is the husband of my “new friend”. we made the trade and the fella playing guitar in the band, who plays wonderful modified mother-maybelle-style played a little for me and said he’d give me lessons. they’ll be starting a new group in january and i hope to be a part of it.
last week sis and i were back doing our sing-along at one of our favorite nursing homes. we have such fun doing this and now have our repertoire perfected with the addition of “how much is that doggie in the window?” and “when the saints go marching in”.
i started listening to my other categories of music with “blues”. actually, this was a boxed set of historic blues that i bought my dad the christmas he died. 4 cds that include such great names as muddy waters, robert johnson, walter “buddy boy” hawkins, blind lemon jefferson–lots of ”blind” this and that, nicknames like memphis minnie, st. louis jimmy, texas alexander—old, scratchy stuff that makes you feel like you’re in a black-and-white movie, listening to an old radio in the very south south. great stuff. i actually put it into its own category for more than one reason: lack of room on the shelf which had dictated that i divide things up.
one group which i had called “compilations” was next, but i think that was a misnomer. several of the cds are actually compilations of a genre: Big Band is 2 cds of the greats doing their greatest, A Piano anthology is 1 cd compiling folks like jelly roll morton and fats waller. it’s a great way to own representative 70-or-so-years-old music. wonderful listening.
but i had included in that group some albums that are actually “tribute” compilations, including the 30th anniversary concert celebration of bob dylan; “just one of those live things - a tribute to cole porter; ” a tribute to stevie ray vaughn” and “higher ground” which is a hurricane (has there only been one hurricane?) relief benefit concert.
i’ll start with the cole porter. because of this album, i discovered dee dee bridgewater–one of the greatest jazz vocalists around. you gotta love cole porter songs and they are not just vocalized by such voices as ella, shirley horn, sarah vaughn and dee dee, but also performed by great instrumentalists like oscar peterson, art tatum, and stan getz. i love it.
i sure wish i could have been at the bob dylan anniversary concert, though. whoa. the artists–wow. stevie wonder, lou reed, eddie vetter, tracy chapman, june carter and johnny cash, willie nelson, krist kristofferson, johnny winter, ron wood, the chieftains, neil young, eric clapton, the ojays, the band, george harrison, tommy petty, the heartbreakers, roger mcguinn—that’s not even all. clapton’s guitar on “don’t think twice, it’s all right” i can actually play very accurately on my air-g; i sing all harmonics on the ojays “emotionally yours” and did you know chrissie hynde is really lipsynching to my voice on “i shall be released”? i love, love love this album. i love, love love these songs.
the stevie ray tribute is chock-full of every great blues-man of our time who was still alive at the time of srv’s death: b.b. king, buddy guy, robert cray, bonnie raitt—of course my buddies: clapton and dr. john (even aaron neville). jimmie vaughn (stevie’s brother) is every bit as talented as his late bro and the song he wrote for srv: “heaven done called another blues stringer back home” is the kind of music i want sung at my wake. .
the “higher ground” tribute was put together by wynton marsalis, a man who is on my list of most-respected individuals. it has many less-well-known nola artists like marcus roberts trio, terence blanchard, joe lovano mixed with aaron & art neville, norah jones, buckwheat zydecoe, etc. and wynton himself. it was actually recorded in nyc’s lincoln center, where wynton is jazz director. it drags in a few spots, but is overall impressive.
i have 4 diana krall cd’s. she’s a jazz pianist/singer who i first heard on “prairie home companion” one sunday. she was playing with her brothers, who are also musicians and i think they were playing bluegrass! i am currently listening to her stuff in the car and enjoying it very much, thank-you. she married elvis costello, you know. or maybe you didn’t.
this weekend i attended a workshop for autoharp at the bluegrass creek dulcimer festival. although the lady who was supposed to teach it ( a shirt-tail relative who married mom’s cousin sammy who she calls billy) was ill, i learned a lot and made some friends. i also bought a cd of “shade tree players” that is pretty okay. more about that later, with pictures.
michael and jessica were in for our traditional birthday-date at ellis park. aunt sister made the day brighter with a gift of betting vouchers and his savvy betting netted him a little extra cash. he did go half with me on a box in the 5th race, but only 2 of the 3 horses came in, so we shrugged and came home.
it’s been a beautiful week-end. my new crops of green beans, lima beans, radishes, peas, etc. are coming right up. we took out the zinnia bushes and the goldfinch are pissed, so we put up a finch feeder (which they are ignoring). i still have some zinnias and sunflowers in an adjacent garden spot and the hummingbirds and butterflies are quite content.
i’m thanking the Lord for my family—what a blessing to have such nice people to claim! lana and charley are coming by after today’s races; we’ll have berkeley’s 5th birthday party here in 2 weeks; next week is the dulcimer fest and sis, cuz, and i will attend with bells on. wish more of you were nearby, but our hearts are with you.
last week-end’s visit to indy was just great. the rca dome seems like a large bouncy-game and i was surprised at how small it is. the new one being built next door is much larger and more impressive (as in doesn’t look like a circus tent), but i’m glad to have been able to experience this one. the colts ran all over the lions which made for more casual watching and i was able to enjoy the company of boy-child & wife, as well as boy’s best man, travis. beer: $6.75 for 22oz. good thing we had primed ourselves before entering the stadium.
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