To the Festival

The fun has continued here. Yesterday was the first day of the festival. Oddly, most of what we saw wasn't jazz but good all the same. The whole experience reminded me of a Grateful Dead show x5 (easily!). Back when Day on the Green still happened in Oakland (does that still exist?), Bob Dylan and The Grateful Dead played (far after their hay day, of course, but just as delightful) and it was a similar atmosphere, spinning dancers and all. Just add 10 more stages and break up the crowd a bit.

In an attempt to catch the last bit of Otra, we happened on Big Sam's Funky Nation. They're lots of fun if you ever get a chance to see them. I'll be looking for their stuff in the CD tent before the weekend is out.

After that, we spent a bit of time at the gospel tent. A good gospel choir can really get to me. This one was no exception. We weren't there long as we wanted to make it to another stage, but they were fantastic. Didn't catch their name, though.

Next we saw Alison Kraus with Robert Plant. A small part of me wept when I heard the question, "Isn't that the Addicted to Love" guy? (Btw, the answer is "no"). They were great. They did an a capella number (Down in the River?) that literally moved me to tears (luckily hidable, lol). They also did a couple of Zeppelin tunes, which were lots of fun.

We stuck around for Sheryl Crow a bit before heading over to see Lizz Wright. I know some heavy jazz fans who aren't overly enamored with her, but I liked her a lot. RS is a fan now, as well. Her voice itself is stunning. She did CSN's "Old Man" and I was in heaven.

Today is Billy Joel headlining. Incidentally, he was very close to us as we saw Robert Plant.

Much more to come...