Tell It Like It Is...

It is or better was one the best and most compact life music experiences I had in my life. I don't even know where to start writing. After Candye Kane had worn me out on Friday night, I was kind of bumped out on Saturday and missed Corby Yates and Dr. John, another time guys, sorry about that. My discussion group in the evening was the only activity that could get me out of bed.

On Sunday however, I was ready again for another round of rock'n roll and blues and funk and salsa and jazz and... The parking God was with me. While everyone else was cruising around desperately looking for an empty spot, someone pulled out right in front of me and I could take his spot in the free parking garage on Second Street. I walked down to the main stage on Plaza Cesar Chavez where the Latin Jazz Big Band worked the crowd while Munichmaedchen got her festival T-Shirt and program and moved on to the blues stage on Almaden and San Fernando to listen to Chris Cain and band. He still got the mojo going, I can tell you.

Elke called me on my phone right at the moment when I decided to walk back to the main stage to see the Neville Brothers. I met her right at "our tree" in front of the stage where we watched John Hiatt playing last year. With her eagle eyes, Elke was the first to spot the Neville Brothers entering the stage. What can I say? I was enchanted like the rest of the audience around me. They brought all the great songs including "Fever".  "Tell It Like it Is"  was the 1966 hit during we all outed our age by morphing into screaming teenagers.  OK, I was seven in 1966, NOT a teenager, ok? I loved standing in the midst of this crowd of strangers who held eachother by their hands or hugged eachother and moved to the song. It was just one of these musical moments I will never forget. When they played "Superstition" in the end, I thought that this was the best version I've ever heard.

Then I left Elke and the main stage to walk back to the blues corner, not without stopping for one little calypso at the Latin jazz/Salsa stage. Sony Landreth was ready to slide on his blues guitar, and he played Superstition so that I got immediately confronted with another more rocking version of the piece I had just heard masterly performed by the Neville Brothers. I admit, I liked Sonny's version better although both were creme de la creme, no doubt. The guitar freak that I am I just couldn't get enough from listening and watching Sonny. Eric Clapton once said that he "is the most underestimated artist on this planet and probably one of the most advanced." I agree. The way Sonny marries blues and zydeco is just giving me goose bumps. His unique way to play slide guitar has created his nick name, "the king of slydeco." It was the first time I saw him life and believe me it was not the last one. This guitarist is smoking hot.  He played  encore after encore and the crowd went crazy. None of the other stages had performances anymore when he was still rocking. Although it would be a work day, I am considering to see him today or tomorrow again in Santa Cruz at Moe's Alley.

Then entire festival was devoted to raise funds for NOLA. It doesn't matter where we all live on this globe and into which town we were born into, we all want New Orleans to rise from the ashes like phoenix and those world class musicians I heard this weekend, were all giving their share for that because NOLA is in their heart like it is in mine.

I am still so full of music from this weekend and I am happy that I could make it to Candye and the San Jose Jazz Festival. Not for anything in the world I would have liked to miss this weekend's grooving experience. Ok, friends, here is my birthday wish for October: I want John Wedemeyer, Robben Ford, Sonny Landreth, Corby Yates, and Larry Carlton playing together just for me and then giving me guitar lessons to improve my own sucking skills. What? You can't do me this little favor? Well now you disappoint me.

Believe it or not, I did not go home at 9PM. I met Felix, Erika and the movie gang at the Pruneyard for The Night Listener with Robin Williams and Sandra Oh. Comment: Weird but not enough pop to really get me excited - forget it. It was nice though to hang out with my blogger buddies. I haven't had time recently to watch a lot of movies with them on the weekend and look forward to change this in future.