smf36: jazz piano luncheon!

This was my first noon30 concert of the year!

 

As has been the case for the past couple of years, these are held at the Metal Building at Trustees Garden.

 

So many different textures!!!

 

Savannah red brick, plate glass windows, corrugated aluminum roofing - 

and even part of the Kehoe Ironworks sign, softened by fluffy clouds sailing past!

 

There were a bunch of volunteers for this show, including my friends Joe Buttner and Sue Gorecki - hooray!

 

Therra, the world's best volunteer wrangler, was there, too, to make sure the new house manager, JD, got off to a flying start.

 

She even complimented me in front of him, saying she wished she had ten of me because I was so reliable!

 

Wasn't that so very kind of her?!!!

 

Maybe that's why I had a new position today: Explorer Pass Point Person!

 

That meant I was the one to check in each SCCPS student who showed up at these general admission concerts with an adult in tow, so they could both gain free entry.

Yes, I said -FREE- entry!!!

The students can get in free anyway, simply by having their student ID; the difference is the Explorer Pass allows them to bring a parent or other adult to enjoy the experience, too.

 

There's only one caveat: if the show is sold out, then they cannot get in, of course.

Also, none of the shows at the Lucas Theatre are included in this program, as the concert must be general admission seats only.

Still, that leaves every other venue wide open for this bonus!

 

That said, I had no students come for this noon30 performance by the jazz pianist, Emmet Cohen, who I had last seen online for SMF31 in 2020.

 

Then he had played mostly with a trio, but today it was just him and his great big... piano!

 

(smile!) 

He looks so far away in this new configuration of the once-intimate space.

That made no never mind to him, though.

 

He took us on a ride through time and space, going from the mid-1920's into the 1930's, traveling from Cuba's Ernesto Lecuona' "La Comparsa" and straight into Harlem, NY, with Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin' ", a tune that always makes me dance!

 

I think it must have made Cohen want to dance, too, as he stood up right after and told us about Waller's "Harlem rent parties".

 

See, he lives right there in that same neighborhood where so many jazz folk once lived, and it was clear from his talk that the are fascinated him.

 

Good for him!!!

 

He launched straight from all of that into an Irish song ("Danny Boy") that's right at home here, especially as St. Patrick's Day was so recent - very nice!

 

He even gave us one of his very own to start the show ("My Love Will Come Again"), but finished up with Duke Ellington's 1927 "Black And Tan Fantasy".

 

All in all, a very lovely start for my Friday, by a young man born the same year that the Savannah Music Festival held its first concerts.

 

Emmet Cohen will be 36 this year, too, just 4 days before my bday67.

(smile!)

 

After the concert, I was headed off to dine at Funky Brunch Cafe, gift card burning a hole in my pocket!

 

One of the concert-goers, a woman with a cane, caught my attention and asked if I knew of a place nearby that was pretty good.

 

She and I ended up going to my destination together, where I was sure to show off the inside decor after we took a table on the patio.

 

Such a warm and lovely day, in the low 80's!!!

We both dined on the Poseidon's Trident, a seafood-packed, but light, summery meal.

 

She's from Greenville, SC, and has been driving down for the SMF for several years for the jazz concerts - even though she's 83 now.

 

We talked about our names, of course!

 

Hers is Leith, pronounced as though it were "Keith", but mostly goes by "Lee".

 

I doubt I'll run into her again this weekend, but I'll certainly look forward to catching up the next time she's here in the seaport!

(smile!)