new music Sunday (yes another one)

 Check out baddy daddy on Soundcloud. I love this artist and his joie de vivre.

BADDY DADDY🎧MUST WEAR HEADPHONES · Featuring The Wilson Sisters, in another Baddy Daddy Mixed Up Production.wav

new music Sunday

Kendrick Lamar dropped a new album GNX and yes I'm old (so what hip hop is for the people) and YES it's fire.

birthday week reflections

I celebrated another year on the planet this week. Capricorns, rejoice!

I gifted myself a day off to spend as I pleased, which included:

Saturn 2024 it's chaos be kind

--A jazz performance featuring the charismatic Merv Campbell (briefly and oddly interrupted with a guest appearance by Mr. Peanut)

--Spending the morning with the wonderful women of Dress for Success

--Coffee and an egg-and-pimiento-cheese biscuit from French Truck Coffee

--Kingcake! from Adrian’s, courtesy of the The Shop at the Collection on Royal

--A stop at the museum to see Naydja CoJoe and her amazing band TheLagniappes

--Dinner and tequila with my partner

--A family Zoom complete with weird cat video and birthday quiz, and the gift of bubbly from beautiful friends

--A king cake cookie from NOLA Cookie

--AND then joyful, mind-bending jazz at Saturn from the ZSC Collective

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I went to bed tired and happy, grateful for family and friends and music and cake.

noname

Loving rapper Noname’s Tiny Desk Concert. She’s smart and courageous and talented, feeling so modern and yet like a throwback.

volunteer lyfe

I've been volunteering a bunch these past six months.
Ushering at a museum. Helping out at festivals.
Last week I worked an info booth beside a 70-something woman from Tennessee who talked for an hour without perceptibly taking a breath, and ranged from Fox News headlines to tales of a runaway dog.
Two days previous my attempts to volunteer were thwarted by too many volunteers (!) so after wandering fruitlessly from beer tent to beer tent, I gave up and went to see some music instead.
I will say the large population of boomers is interesting and somewhat annoying. There's an air of entitlement I don't care for. They haul around canvas chairs and coolers and try to elbow out anyone who might want to enjoy themselves. Sorry not sorry old folks, but kindly fuck off.
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Today another orientation for a big event coming up in May. I'm not really meeting anyone which was kind of the goal, but I am enjoying myself and getting to know a city that has given me so much.

cubes! and wrasslin'

It's French Quarter Fest. Four days of free music across twenty stages.
The cubes tell the story. So much music!
And, surprise guests in town yesterday, old friends, a few beers, hugs, lots of laughs, and Big Freedia onstage.
What a night.

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My friend in hospice has passed away. I felt sadness this past week. Respect for a soul that has transitioned. And missing two dear friends who I feel are becoming more and more distant. I don't want to be clingy, don't want to double-tap text. But I miss them terribly.
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And I'm working hard to carve out writing time. Wrestling and wrasslin' a plug-in to build an email list. Writing a chapter-by-chapter summary. Writing writing writing and reading. It's a part-time job and labor of love. Emphasis on the love.
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Today, stormy weather, but outdoors and within. I wish for peace and contentment.
And accomplishment.

 

music is (soothes) my soul

This week was full of longing. A friend and former co-worker lies in hospice, and I didn’t get a chance to tell them how much they mean to me. Always humble, giving, teaching, learning, and quick to laugh. Then dementia and a cancer diagnosis in January and now word that time is very short. Another dear friend had surgery yesterday and I couldn't be there, my worry a low constant boil all day, relief when the text came that they were awake and in recovery. 

Feeling anxious and fretful, I took myself and my pal to a jazz show mid-week. As always it was the absolute right choice. A swanky band, an intriguing and talented singer, persuading us wooden-fingered onlookers to clap and even sing along. My soul relaxed, took a breath, and rejoiced.

the moon

After a night of music (the Shotgun Jazz Band, finishing their set with a soulful "Basin Street Blues"), my pal and I stopped on our walk home at a quickie mart for a snack.
I stood around outside. A young woman exited. Did you see the moon? she said, excited.
She pointed. I looked. The moon hung low in the sky like a chunk of nibbled cheese.
How had I not seen it?
A guy exited the store so we showed him too.
My pal and I enjoyed our snacks later on, standing on a rooftop balcony in the warm evening, looking at the moon in wonder.

week 10 a clarity

Up to double-digits now, and I’m both sad and eager. I’m enjoying my stay but I’m lonely. I miss people who love me and that I can be silly with. Talking to shopkeepers and co-working space people just isn’t the same.

Sunday last was more of the same tediousness but I was making progress so I got things going early on and walked up Esplanade in search of groceries and coffee on a cool, glorious morning. I don’t enjoy walking across four-lane highways and under interstates but otherwise it’s a pleasant walk. I found some mayhaw jelly (new to me and could be tarter but it’s good enough) and tried Cypress Cakes on my way back. Unfortunately the coffee was bitter and the pastries lackluster. A rare miss.

I reached out to my New Orleans acquaintance about meeting up but he never replied. However, a friend’s daughter was in town so we texted and agreed to meet up Monday. I took an afternoon break to walk through the JamNOLA Festival, then finished up work and headed home late.

Monday: nervous about letting my boss know the tedious project wasn’t quite finished, I was up early, got another batch going, and headed out in PNW-like fog for French Truck Coffee. It was a joy to see my friend’s daughter, who sounds like her Mom and patiently gave me an hour to hang out and talk. She isn’t a fan of New Orleans--it’s busy but slow, she said. As opposed to New York City, which is busy and fast. We also discussed how Southerners seem more closed off than Seattleites to adding new friends. I do wonder. (And the biscuit breakfast sammy from French Truck is surprisingly good: get the pimiento cheese, spicy and tangy, and don’t toss out the herbed strawberries.)

The day dragged as co-workers got snarly about some of their files and I had to stay late to work and then jump on a cousin Zoom and then a friend Zoom. I made it home by 9 pm, so tired I was in tears.

Tuesday I looked forward to ushering but that alas was canceled and my boss needed help with another tough project.

By Wednesday I was so tired it was all I could do to work and stagger home.

But Thursday! Most meetings canceled, I took a rare afternoon break and walked to Rouse’s, shot the shit with a guy complaining about cops rounding up homeless and vendors off Jackson Square to prepare for the Macrons’ visit, then strolled to Baldwin & Co to sit on the patio with hot tea and some reading.

Friday I took comp time and even though I felt headachey and sinus pressure, went for a long hike across town, checking out Honest Bakery (ok pastries, diffident service), and impulsively walking back through the Warehouse District. I stopped at Le Mieux Galleries and was amazed by the art (especially Kathryn Hunter’s witty embroidery).

On my way back along the river I walked through the shopping mall, gazed at the Mississippi, and lurked by Jackson Square hoping to see Macron and madame. A Dickie Brennan's waiter in sharp red lipstick poked her head out a French door. “What’s going on out here?” The French president, I said. She made a face--bah--and shut the door. This day I stopped at St. Coffee for more patio time, then Rosalita’s for a watermelon margarita.

By Saturday I felt better and got writing done before the big gala event. I got emotional walking there, with people in festive holiday headdresses and glittery clothes, hearing Vince Garibaldi playing, and literally no one I know to wander with. But, I went to my shift and worked for two hours, checking wristbands, giving directions, surviving one “don’t you know who I am,” and evicting one would-be party-crasher. I’m sure there were notables but I only recognized the football player guy from Southern Charm New Orleans. There were gowns and sequined coats, high heels and big hair, a seven-foot tall man in a kilt and top hat, two men in tuxes rolling a giant wooden cent around (“big money coming through!”), and of course jazz. A Spanish-themed quintet, a vibrant second line complete with Baby Dolls I’d met earlier, a free shot of whisky courtesy of a woman bartender I chatted up, plus an all-woman jazz band complete with washboard. Outside in the muggy night as tourists gawked and the beautiful people lounged and a horn played from the balcony, I felt a moment of gladness.

weeks 8 and 9

Let’s call week 8 a bye. I had business to take care of and it superseded everything else.

Week 9. A purportedly short week at work (3 days) with of course 5 days of meetings crammed in.

I took myself for long walks in the morning chill, stopping in at District Donuts for pumpkin cheesecake and lemon meringue donuts. On a whim I stopped by Loretta’s even though the website said they were closed, and a sidewalk sign out front proclaimed “Yes we’re open!” So I popped in for a pecan tartlet and a pumpkin tartlet.

Tuesday ran long so I took a quick break to call a friend, walk to Frenchmen Street, grab an Abita at the Spotted Cat, and hear a band play “St. James Infirmary.” It was 20 minutes but it was enough. I wanted to stay for Meschiya Lake and her band but I had a competing Zoom.

Wednesday work ran even longer (8am to 8pm) and when I took a break around 2pm to dash to the café around the corner for food, the café was closed, the streets clogged with camping chairs and families, and a brass band tootled on the corner in 70 degree warmth. Wonderful, but I was still hungry.

My Thanksgiving Day invitation evaporated and work remained horrific so I spent the holiday doing tedious, tedious tasks, but I have a lot of free time on my hands and hopefully the tediousness will pay off in the end. I cooked up some pasta with Cajun tomato sauce and vegetarian meatballs and a ton of Parmesan and after a family Zoom I settled in with tartlets and a nip of whiskey.

Friday I was signed up to volunteer for a couple of hours, but the venue was closed so I hopped back on the bus and went back to the tedious work.

Saturday:You guessed it. More tedious work! But I went for an early run before a storm rolls in, picked up Evan Williams nog and some breakfast and nearly got run down by a fleet of school buses. Walking back along Elysian I saw a girl in a spangled outfit. Then a marching band. And another. And horse trailers. It was the staging ground for the Bayou Classic. I watched for awhile as the bands tried to drown each other out, warming up, girls doing high kicks, parents and coaches looking stressed and excited. 3 cowboys rode up and down Elysian Fields as they waited. It was surreal and wonderful.

so much music: week two

Tuesday, I did a volunteer shift and met some very bored college students. It was a HOT (85 degrees F plus 90% humidity) day so I walked in the shade as much as I could. Later on, had a video chat with family and a sweltering dinner in.

 

On Wednesday I found a cheaper grocery store (hooray), worked some, then toured a co-working space hoping to find a backup to this unstable wifi at my rental; the co-working space is amply furnished with beefy internet, luscious a/c and all you can drink coffee. Um, yes please. After a friend Zoom hh, we walked to Bacchanal to check out the Wednesday night wine situation. http://www.bacchanalwine.com/ 3 youngish white dudes were playing the most atonal jazz, so aggressively unmelodic that I’m pretty sure they were having a laugh on all of us. The courtyard is magical though, lit with solar fairy lights under the fragrant sky. To refresh ourselves, we stopped afterward at https://www.parleauxbeerlab.com/ Parleaux Beer Lab for a tasty drink on a nearly empty patio.

 

Thursday was horrendous work-wise, and also a day to go back to the pharmacy (no joy, they wouldn't refill my prescription for another day), then wander down Frenchmen to check out The Three Muses We perched at a bar table and enjoyed rootsy jazz played by a clarinetist and pianist, older gentlemen whom you might have taken for accountants. Also made a pit stop at Louisiana Music Factory to peruse the incredible collection of New Orleans and Louisiana music, as well as the instructional books. 

Friday. The weekend! I staggered through two stressful meetings amid bad moods and crashing wifi, went back to the pharmacy and this time successfully got my stuff, dropped by St. Roch Market for roti canai and a beer at Laksa NOLA — St. Roch Market (strochmarket.com), then down to Congo Square in the balmy evening to check out the Reggae Festival. Nola Reggae Fest (neworleans.com). While the music wasn't stellar--the sound guy spent at least 2 hours jumping on and off the stage, to the consternation of the very good local band--the passing scene was amazing, the crowd dressed to impress, vendors selling African-inspired goods, delicious food, cold beer, and a pleasant vibe all around.

Saturday we were determined, despite heavy heat and humidity, to get to the Crescent City BBQ and Blues Festival at Lafayette Square. Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival - The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc. (jazzandheritage.org) We pre-gamed with coffee and avocado sandwiches from Satsuma (both surprisingly meh), made a quick stop at the Pepper Palace to stock up on hot sauce, Pepper Palace - From Wild to Mild!, then made our way, already hot and tired, to a very crowded square, sipping on a vegan Vietnamese iced coffee from the Orange Couch.  The Orange Couch (theorangecouchcoffee.com) We spread out a blanket and waited as a fairly whiny white girl finished up a set (why did she say she was from California), then enjoyed Mem Shannon and the Membership. The food lines were too long to get barbecue, so we abandoned ship and walked toward home, stopping by the reggae festival (sound still not good), then by Loretta's for a praline and a warm bag of praline-stuffed beignets (OMG)Loretta's Authentic Pralines – Loretta's Authentic Pralines (lorettaspralines.com). At home I laid on an ice pack for awhile, feeling achy and overheated, facilitated a call for a conference, then summoned all my energy to go back to Lafayette Square for the evening. It was not my best night; tired, hot, cranky. I apologize again to my very patient partner. We got ourselves happy with beers and other libations and settled in to enjoy the confident, rich delta blues of harmonica-master Charlie Musselwhite.

Sunday was my partner's last day to party for awhile, so we fortified ourselves with bloody Marys at J & J's, went home to hydrate, waited out a blistering rainstorm, then headed out in the hot wet afternoon, up St. Claude to grab an umbrella, then bean and avocado tacos and a Mexican beer at Rosalita's Backyard Tacos (rosalitas-nola.com). It was a three band night and each one was a pleasure. (The Bourbon Street crowds, including a lot of drunk and happy Bengals fans, were not great.) First up, the Marla Dixon Band at Live jazz - Fritzel's Jazz Bar | Nightly live jazz performances (fritzelsjazz.com). Marla Dixon plays trumpet and belts out classic jazz songs like a pro, pausing and vibing when the Sunday night crowd of street-racer cars roll by outside on Bourbon Street.  After that was a quick hot slice of cheese pizza from Mango Mango (surprisingly tasty) and then Marty Peters and the Party Meters at 21^st Amendment, a tiny space which the 4-piece band good-naturedly filled with well-played jazz classics. Last stop of the night was d.b.a. for our beloved Treme Brass Band. Treme Brass Band | New Orleans LA | Facebook. As the first time I saw them years ago, founder and drummer Benny sat on a pew outside the bathrooms, patiently waiting for the set to start. I wished him a good evening and kept going. The band started quietly and patiently and built to full-throated jazz celebration, with a Sousaphone, a piano, and at least two guest horns sitting in. When the singer came to the barroom floor to pass the bucket and sing Basin Street Blues I felt teary and happy. 

My third week begins somewhat quietly and sadly. More to say in the days to come.

special

I have loved this woman's music for a few years now. Haven't heard all of the new album but this song, "Special," hits me in the feels. As she said on IG, "Fighting for our rights is self care."

I've also been watching "Southside," and it started a lil slow but snuck up on me and became one of my favorites. Set in Chicago at a Rent-to-Own store, it plays with themes of race, gender, poverty, creativity, hustle, police violence and it's laugh out loud by yourself on your couch funny. 

Aaaaand I can't not mention "Abbott Elementary." I resisted for awhile thinking it was a feel-good family drama about school teachers. Ha! It is feel-good and it's also hilarious. The wonderful Janell James as delusional principal Ava pitted against idealistic young teachers including thrice-Emmy-nominated Quinta Brunson, and a host of other characters with purpose and sharp wit. And the kids aren't smart alecky little shits, they're like most kids I know, supremely uninterested in adult life and marginally tolerant of their interactions. A must watch. Cannot wait for season 2.

 

NEW LIZZO this is not a drill

we are all

100% that fan

What a delightful week for music videos. (Or movies, if you're Lil Nas X.)
First, our one true queen of hip hop, Missy Elliott dropped a new album with this gem, Throw It Back. This is classic ME--the innovative costumes, deliberately provocative and referential yet post-modern makeup and grills, her relaxed, confident dance and rhyme--"Watch me."

The video went live August 22, and it's already at 4million views.
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And then there's Old Town Road, continuing to dominate, inspire and embed itself in earholes, now in extended video/movie version, featuring LNX, Billy Ray, Chris Rock, a horse v. car drag race, and elderly bingo line dancing. I cackled aloud.


And there's the CupcaKKe remix, Old Town Hoe, as wonderfully nasty as it gets, because of course. 

welcome, Stranger

Today we congratulate The Stranger, Seattle's sort-of alt-weekly free newspaper, for putting down the vape and recognizing the Seattle hip-hop scene. To sum up the thoughts of myself and pretty much everyone with aural awareness in the 206, we been knowing this.
Still, nice to see a little hometown love for artists I have been keeping an ear on including Parisalexa and Kung Foo Grip.
New-ish to me was Travis Thompson, who just signed with Epic Records.



And the delightful Chong the Nomad!

bobrisky

Today's soundtrack:


I'm not familiar with Bobrisky but I love east African beats and this beat is sweet.
For context, read Okayafrica.

music of the week

Goldfrapp was in town this week. I don't understand most (okay, any) of the lyrics but I love their pure electro-disco escapism and strange, naughty videos.


My city is heartlessly and yet somehow heartily demolishing its musical past, so I feel an urgency to see as many musical performances as I can while I can, especially in the venues that seem vulnerable--the Blue Moon and the Kraken and Re-Bar. And now I guess, the Highline.

four days, three shows

I went to three shows in the past four days and even for me that's over-achiever status.
Tuesday was Kendrick Lamar at the Tacoma Dome, on his tour for DAMN. He kept it simple and real, on a plain stage with stark lighting and unadorned, yet rich, costumes. So powerful in his confidence.
Wednesday was a quick stop at the vegan-metal bar The Highline to hear Pisswand, a pal's metal band. Loud. Raw. So good.
And yesterday, a brave jaunt into the muggy, smoky, post-workday heat to sweat on a grassy hillside and see Summer Cannibals at Seattle Center. The band has an intriguingly rough sound offset with PNW cool. Despite the armpit-like environs, they shredded and I enjoyed it.
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C'est tout. My pictures are blurry, and honestly it's a miracle there are any, because I get so caught up in the show I nearly always forget to take out my phone, and they always look pretty much the same, anyway. Thanks to the good friends who made this a delightfully musical few days. I'm taking a breather. Rock on, y'all.

Yass Queen

This today, because I heart Freddy Mercury so.
Watching a video from 1977--what a raw, unvarnished and sexy relic.