Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Blue Bar Christian and Rodney

Tonight had dinner and drinks at the Blue Bar at the Algonquin Hotel, Rodney and Christian were tending bar. I picked it because it was dark, quiet, and sort of old fashioned. The meal was good and the service was very attentive, but not intrusive. There is something very pleasant about eating at the bar in a place like this, a combination of anonymity and belonging. Rodney was on a kick with one of the waiters about Simon and Garfunkel...I'm pretty sure that Jose didn't really give a rat's behind about Simon and Garfunkel...he said something about Sinatra...
Monday, March 19, 2007
Ingrid Jensen Jazz Standard NYC

I'm in New York on business and in an uncharacteristic manner I went out after work to get some dinner and listen to some Jazz. I noticed that Ingrid Jensen was playing at the Jazz Standard which is a new(ish) jazz club in New York. I got a ticket (not really needed on a Monday early show) and went over. Dinner was good, the restaurant upstairs was nice and the menu had lots of barbecue favorites and the bar had an excellent bourbon selection. Later I went downstairs for the show and the club is in a basement, stage at one end bar at the other...proper. I had read interviews with Ingrid but I had never really listened to her music, I was very impressed, great tone, nice lines, and a very good band backing her. She had a replacement saxophone player, who was quite good, though you could tell she hadn't spent a lot of time with this group or with the music. I enjoyed it a lot, and now I've got to download some Ingrid Jensen for my iPod. Oh, and one of my favorite parts of the performance was a Stanley Clarke tune called "Why Wait", especially pianist Orrin Evans' burning (maybe more than) double time solo chorus. I'll be looking for the lead sheet for that tune...and perhaps some Ingrid Jensen lead sheets from her artist share website...
Labels: Jazz, sites "me like"
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Del Mar

Del Mar
Originally uploaded by jpfxgood.
We went out to dinner in Del Mar, CA north of San Diego...and arrived just after sunset. The beach was really pretty as was the sky and ocean after sunset. We ate at Poseidon which is right on the beach, the food and service was very good but it's a popular date place on Saturday night so the volume level was pretty loud.
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