We were so lucky! We headed up to Oregon, stopping first at Breitenbush Hot Springs, where we soaked, hiked and ate and met some really cool people. One of them a jazz musician who combines music with farming with his wife on their ten acre sustainable organic Dancing Roots Farm.
Then further north to Portland. Where my husband found himself a sleek new recumbent bike, and zoomed all over the cycling friendly city.
We had heard about Jimmy Macks' the Jazz Club that Down Beat Magazine rated as one of the 100 best in the world! And as luck would have it Devin Phillips,playful,joyful,Coltranesque sax player was performing on Friday Dec.9 with his New Orleans Straight Ahead. Phillips and Andrew Oliver, the fine pianist who led the band too, are both refugees from the Katrina disaster. They have been in Portland for five years and plan to stay. I've been enjoying Phillips' CD Wade in the Water as I think and write about the sweet jazz evening we had. The place was packed. The food was good. No pressure to keep buying drinks. And - I got really into painting the setting and performers on my iPad. They autographed the painting! Thank you very much Devin Phillips, Andrew Oliver, Eric Gruber (hidden in the shadows - sorry1) Mark Diflorio, and lovely singer Michael Angelo.
We wish Portland, with its bike paths, largest independent bookstore in the world - Powell's, good food and sweet jazz scene was closer!
Amen!
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