VIRB

On Friday I went to Calvin College's January Series to hear the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble. What a good ole time.

It started at 12:30pm, and I was running late. I shouldn't have even gotten in. I walked through the blizzardy snow and got to the Fine Arts Center....there was a line. They weren't letting people in, except if they found the right combination of seats open.....and they found one. I threw my hand up- "I'm alone!" They escorted me in, and of all the seats in there, I got to sit in the 10th row. That right there was luck. I came late and got a sweet seat. The best part about my seat though, is who I sat next to. To my left, a woman, probably 50ish, who immediately pointed out that I have big pupils, and pulled a mirror out of her purse to see if hers were as big as mine. They weren't. To my right, an old man, had to have been 80. Not very talkative. The woman on my left went on to tell me how her son has big pupils too, and that he's always tired. I wanted to tell her that he might be doing drugs....but decided I had better not. Our great conversation was interrupted by the concert starting. Each man in the band came out separately, playing their instrument, and gave a bouquet to the host of the concert, kissing her on the cheek. The first thing I noticed was that each man in the band, decked out in a suit, was wearing white socks that shown like the sun. I knew I was in for a treat.

The concert was a tour through the city of New Orleans, which turned out to be really cool. They had a map on the lcd and the old man who played the clarinet explained the geography that was related to each song they played, starting with Canal Street Blues. We were off to a good start.

The second song was New Orleans Joy, which was about the place where everyone would "whoop it up on the weekends" (thats a word for word quote right there).

During the songs, the man on my right would twittle his fingers on his cross legs, like he was playing the piano. Later I decided he was playing the air-sax or air-clarinet, the way he moved both hands, but with straighter fingers than you would with the piano. He was clearly having a splendid time.

The thing about jazz music that I love is that its never perfect, but its always right. Do you know what I mean?

I love the way the instruments battle for attention....they're all saying "look at me!", and they fight and fight until eventually the sax says to the trombone, "ok, your turn..."

Milenberg Joys (a Jelly Roll Morton tune), was almost funny in the way the clarinet and the coronet fought for attention. Thats what I love about jazz....it makes you smile, makes you laugh...its so engaging.

My favorite song they played was Perdido Street Blues, a bit of a melancholy tune. Next up was the Mississippi Rag, which apparently was the first rag. They did an excellent rendition of that.

During the concert, the man on my right knocked his glasses off of his lap from his persistent playing on his air sax, but didn't realize it. I bent down to get them for him, and he was so surprised that somehow I was holding his glasses. If you want a visual picture of what this man was like, just picture Grandpa Joe from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Later during the concert I realized that I was one of the only people in my entire section that didn't have gray hair.

At the end of the concert, the old man looked at me and said "Thanks for the glasses. And don't ever lose your taste for this kind of music." I told him that I would try not to.

No worries Grandpa Joe.