Mitchell101

We literally just did this the other night..... Santana, George Clinton, Smokey Robinson, Sir Paul, Keith, Mick, Eric Clapton, Irma Thomas.....

Kind of hard to write this as life threw us a curveball while at Jazzfest. We were staying for both weekends and was having a great time as always. On the 2nd Friday we got the news that my younger brother who lives in Las Vegas took his own life the night before. He had been struggling with depression for quite a while and couldn't see a way forward. We have holes in our hearts but grateful he is no longer in pain. There really wasn't anything we needed to do immediately so after much thought we decided to stay. We be believed being around our close friends and listening to music would be cathartic for us and as it turned out it most definitely was. So the highlights including some special moments: Santana: he passed out on stage 2 weeks earlier so we weren't even sure he'd show but he did and was fantastic. His band is on another level. Dragon Smoke: mash up Jazzfest only band with Stanton Moore, Rob Mercurio, Eric Lindell and Ivan Neville. I've heard Ivan Neville sing the Jimmy Cliff song "Sitting Here in Limbo" covered by The Neville Brothers innumerable times but after my brother's passing it had new meaning to me. Pearl Jam: Just a super fun set with everyone singing along to all of their hits. They had a two hour set and we really wanted to see Ledisi singing Nina Simone songs in the Jazz Tent so we left Pearl jam halfway thru. If you aren't familiar with Ledisi you should be. An amazing voice, so soulful. She has an album of all Nina songs that is great. Live was even better. As for a special moment, about 4 songs in she said she is often asked what her first exposure to Nina Simone was and why she loved her so. She said she was 17 years old sitting on her porch thinking about how she was going to kill herself when she heard "Trouble in Mind." Needless to say I lost it..... Naughty Professor: A local jazz/funk instrumental band whose latest album (Voices) utilized 10 or so local vocalists on different songs. Just great with the highlight being Maggie Koerner on "Wings to Fly" Lenny Kravitz: I wasn't sure how this was going to be as he doesn't tour with his band all that much but this was fire from beginning to end. We had ideas of leaving early to go see an act at another stage but it was so good we stayed put. He stayed around and played with Trombone Shorty to close which didn't suck. At night, a tribute to Walter "Wolfman" Washington who passed away a few years ago. And another special moment Saturday night: Most of you know that one of our faves is Anders Osborne who had his annual birthday bash with a bunch of special guests. He has a song called "It's Gonna be OK" which is simple but soulful and meaningful. Whenever anyone close to us faces loss or tragedy we send a video of him singing the song with an acoustic guitar. He never plays it with his band or electric but sure enough on that Saturday night the day after we learned about my brother he played it. It was like he was singing it to us. Tears started flowing again. Anyway, thanks for reading along. Writing this has also been cathartic....

What did you get?

Jazzfest Highlights Part 1 Halfway thru and here are the highlights: Ryan Foret & the Foret Tradition: Swampy soul with a great groove Rosie Ledet singing cajun/zydeco with a family band with all of her songs being double entendre like "You Can Eat My Poussier" 😀 Bonerama: Trombone band playing Led Zeppelin Stanton Moore Trio: Funky jazz with sit ins by horn players Eric Bloom (Lettuce) and Skerik. This was just great and had everyone in the Jazz Tent on their feet. Shemekia Copeland singing the blues. What a voice. Delfeayo Marsalis and his orchestra: What a band. My newbie friends were blown away. Honey Island Swamp Band: If there is a more fun swampy funky soul band please let me know. Youssou NDOUR: Just amazing voice and band. Never saw him before. Stanley Clarke: Just wow. A small and super tight band. Clarke played upright bass for the first half of the show and bass guitar for the second half. A true legend. The Rumble: Mardi Gras Indian Soul Funk band that never disappoints. Ari Teitel, their Jewish guitar player, is making his parents very happy. 😆 The Revivalists: They always bring it at Jazzfest. Special moment: they brought out Tank Ball and Ivan Neville to close with "I Shall Be released." My wife lost her mother just last month so she lost it. It was downright beautiful. And the next day we ran into lead singer David Shaw at a Crawfish Festival. She told him that he made her cry the day before and he gave her the biggest hug. And the above was just during the day....... Night time has also been great including this:

At the halfway point of 12 days in New Orleans for Jazzfest. Food highlights first: Mamou: On Rampart this was the former home of MoBar which had been one of our faves. Now we can add Mamou to one of our favorites. Leaning French but with a number of Creole touches. We sat at the bar and shared braised celery heart with smoked beef tongue. Delicious and great sauce to dip the homemade pretzel roll in. Then risotto with head on gulf shrimp cooked with shrimp stock and crab fat. Huge plate of food that can be easily shared. The crab fat was really intense and screamed crab. And a roasted drum fish served with a crispy parmesan crisp and a caviar beurre blanc sauce. Perfectly cooked fish and more sauce for the pretzel roll. Skipped dessert. Lufu: Relatively new Indian spot right downtown. Lots of flavor bombs (favorite was Tandoori Pineapple with a spicy red sauce). Food very good. Service a little spotty. 34 Restaurant and Bar: New Emeril place run by his son and serving Portuguese food. Also right downtown. We were a big group and ordered most of the larger format dishes. Seafood rice was the real standout but everything was quite good. Ham fritters, Blood sausage, patatas bravas, piri piri chicken among others. Cochon: Always very good but for whatever reason this visit was a tad below our past visits. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, just not as great as usual. Drago's: Our grilled oyster spot. Still fantastic but I'd avoid everything else on the menu. And at Fest: I'm on a mission to not duplicate any items (other than the praline stuffed beignets by Miss Loretta and the Mango Freeze which is a must on hot days). So far: Softshell crab poboy which was really exceptional this year Cochon de Lait poboy Crawfish Strudel Shrimp and Macaroni Au Gratin and crawfish Monica, all great as usual. Getting ready for the next 6 days....

I can’t recommend Aleria enough in Athens. Just a fantastic dinner in a beautiful courtyard.

They are playing a night show with Jadu Heart during Jazzfest. I’ve listened and watched, just not my thing.

And guess who was just added as a special guest at Trombone Shorty's Treme Threauxdown during Jazzfest?

If you are still in Austin on Tuesday you can see Carolyn Wonderland at the Continental Club.

My fish store is charging $50 per lb for those scallops…..

You are the first woman who noticed his face.😀

Always a highlight when the Jazzfest schedule comes out. Makes me happy o one hand and has me pulling my hair out with my other hand as there are so many tough choices as to who to see. There are 4 acts I want to see all playing at the same time on 1st Saturday..... Or 2nd Saturday, Pearl Jam vs Ledisi singing Nina Simone. https://www.nojazzfest.com/music-schedule/

I’m going to be in Milan and the Piedmont area in November so will also appreciate any recs.

I've been meaning to try this place on Kent in Williamsburg as our daughter lives a short walk away. Finally dropped in over the weekend and had a very enjoyable dinner at the bar. Place was virtually empty at 7:30PM but filled up by 8:30. Mostly small plates to share, it was suggested we order 5 or 6 dishes. We went with 5 which was just the right amount. Highlights were the fava been tartlet, scallops and stuffed morels. A few excellent cocktails and interesting WBG. We will definitely be back. ETA: We used the InKind app and got $50 off the bill right there. I was skeptical when I downloaded the app but it worked. What am I missing?

Deepest condolences, may his memory be a blessing….🙏