September 15th-22nd

September 15th The weather has turned very cold so although John had the day off work we couldn't enjoy the beach one last time. We walked over to the new gourmet supermarket and bought some food but apart from that I was busy preparing for my departure from New York tomorrow morning. As we had set the alarm for 5.30 we meant to get to bed early but somehow never do!
September 17th The goodbyes don't get any easier as once again John and I had to part! I will miss him but we do stay in constant touch. My plane set off from JFK exactly on time unlike last year when I was delayed by a whole day due to bad weather!

On internal flights only one movie is shown and on this one it was `The Soloist'. Based on a true story the movie stars Robert Downey Jr as Steve Lopez a journalist who discovers Nathaniel, a talented homeless musician (played by Jamie Foxx) playing beneath a statue of Beethoven in Los Angeles. Under pressure to find a good story, Lopez investigates Nathaniel further to find that he dropped out of Julliard due to mental illness. He tries to help him but has to face the harsh realities of the situation and the frustrations with the authorities who seem unable to help. However the experience transforms him as a person.
The flight arrived early in San Francisco but I still had to wait for the airport bus which was late! It was wonderful to be back in sunny California and to see Janis and Dennis again. Janis and I are both anti-capitalists and we enjoy setting the world to rights! We wandered down to the town in the evening where there was a display of classic American cars! We admired the style of these huge petrol guzzlers, took some photos and took a walk down the wharf. It was a perfect September evening!













September 19th
This morning Janis and I took a walk around Monterey. The memory card on my camera needed replacing but I was unable to find anywhere that stocked them, even the camera shop on the main street! Luckily Dennis lent me his camera so I could take it to the jazz festival.
The jazz festival kicked off at 6 in the evening. It has been 13 years since I attended the Monterey Jazz Festival so it was wonderful to arrive on perfect day and soak up all the great jazz on offer. From 21 year old rising star Esperanza Spalding to 90 year old Pete Seeger and 91 year old Hank Jones the stage was set for a wonderful week-end of music!

the first band I saw were the Roger Eddy Band who appeared on the Garden Stage early in the evening. They are a quintet comprising all musicians from the Monterey Bay Peninsula. As well as piano, bass and drums Bob Basa was featured on acoustic guitar. The music seemed really suited to the setting. Eddy is a tenor sax player with a warm rich tone. The music was relaxed and laid back with plenty of Brazilian tunes. This band played quality West coast style jazz and set the scene nicely for the rest of the evening.

Esperanza Spalding was the first act appearing in the main arena and the place was buzzing when she hit the stage! Spalding is one of the most exciting new acts to hit the jazz scene and at the tender age of 24, already has developed her own style, drawing on influences of the past but with a definite contemporary touch! I had just missed seeing her at Centre Stage in new York so was very happy to see her on the bill here. She plays upright bass with style and authority and has a strong and expressive voice moving up and down the octave with ease. Much of her music had a Brazilian flavour and she sang the Shorter/Nascimento tune `Point of sale' in perfect Portuguese! She took up the electric bass for a Shorter jazz/rock tune and also for a beautiful original tune `Sunlight'. The audience gave a standing ovation at the end enthralled by the talent of this new face at the festival!

Next up were the Monterey Jazz All Star Band comprising Kurt Elling, vocals, Kenny Barron, piano, Kiyoshi Kitagaura, bass, Johnathan Blake, drums, Russell Malone, guitar and Regina Cater, violin. They opened up with ``When I get too old to dream' in which they all took a solo and for the next hour thrilled the audience with their virtuosity ending with my favourite song ever `Nature boy'. Please note everyone I want this song played at my funeral, the Nat King Cole version! I left before the last act as it was getting late and I was getting cold. September nights in Monterey can freeze your bones!


19th September
Back at the festival I checked out a great jazz choir from LA and got chatting to a composer called Caroll Coates who wrote some classic tunes such as `London by night' and `Sunday in New York' (two cities dear to my hear!)
The opening act on the Jimmy Lyons stage were John Scofield and the Piety Street Band. I've seen John Scofield perform and John Cleary but was looking forward to seeing them play together. John Scofield is a player who likes to explore different styles of music and this time he found inspiration in old gospel tunes. I have the Piety Street album and all I can say is they were able to exactly reproduce that sound.


Next was the highly anticipated appearance of American icon Pete Seeger. On Saturday afternoons the festival has always featured American blues and roots performers to add some diversity to the festival. At 90 years old, I wasn't sure what Seeger would be capable of but having seen Les Paul last year at 93 I guessed that he would need help! Yes, he has lost his singing voice but he can still play the banjo and he had a talented ensemble of family and friends to help out with the vocals.

The eight piece band included fiddles, guitars, banjo, upright bass and piano. Seeger began with the familiar `Midnight special' which had the audience singing along enthusiastically. Most of the vocal leads are sung by his grandson Tao Rodriguez Seeger who also plays guitar. `Turn turn turn' which became a big hit for the Byrds also drew a great response.
`I don't have enough voice left to sing this one, but I can give you the words. In church, they call this `lining the verse' said Seeger. Irving Berlin's `Blue skies' also proved a popular choice of material. The band ended with `This land' which as Seeger related, became popular by accident! the song was written by Woody Guthrie for children to sing in school but somehow caught on! Much of the audience were my age or older and were caught up by the nostalgia the songs evoked and were thrilled to see an American folk legend.
Janis, Dennis and I grabbed some lunch and could hear Ruthie Foster wowing the audience on the Garden Stage!

Susan Tedeschi had the difficult task of following Pete Seeger on the Jimmy Lyons stage. Tedeschi is one of the most talented female singer/guitarists around at the moment along with Ruthie Foster who was appearing on the Garden stage at the same time! Tedeschi can really mix it up from blues, rock to a New Orleans style Allen Toussaint tune. her band comprised sax, organ, rhythm guitar, bass and drums with Tedeschi playing some great leads. I hadn't realised just what a good guitarist she is. There are very few women as talented. Debbie Davies and Deborah Coleman spring to mind and Ana Popovic gets a lot of hype but Tedeschi can really rock! Many of the songs come from her latest album `Back to the river' and she ended with Hendrix's `Spanish castle magic' which was performed by Hendrix himself on the same stage at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.

The last act to perform on the Garden Stage on Saturday were the New Orleans All Stars featuring Henry Butler and Cyril Neville. Ironically since Katrina both have now left the city with Neville residing in Texas and Butler in Colorado! There was standing room only about half an hour before the band began! They kicked off with a great New Orleans style instrumental and then featured Butler on Tipitina and `Let it roll'. The whole audience were rocking to the infectious grooves! Vocals alternated between Butler and Neville. the band played for 90 minutes and got a standing ovation.


20th September. I spent the morning getting ready for the long trip home. Once again I've really enjoyed my time in the US. Hope to be back next year, God willing! As I find it hard to sleep on aeroplanes once again I caught up on some great movies. I'd seen most of the mainstream movies on offer so settled for some more arthouse movies! The first two were Australian films. `My year without sex' 9yes, i can relate tho that! is set in the suburbs of Melbourne. Ross and Natalie and their kids are struggling with the usual problems in life when Natalie suffers an aneurysm unexpectedly. She is forbidden to have sex for a year but her and her family face many other challenges in that time! This movie has won many fans and may just be the Australian film of the year!
`Four of a kind I loved this clever female movie which contains 4 interconnected but self contained scenes about women betrayed and their ways of taking revenge. Compelling viewing from start to finish! here's what Tom Ryan of the Age said about this film: '“The performances shine in Fiona Cochrane’s debut feature, a neatly plotted thriller based on Helen Collins’ four act play Disclosure… Joe Camilleri & the Black Sorrows provide bluesy, on-screen punctuation.
Next I watched `Disgrace' which I missed when it came out last year. Based on the book by J.M. Coetzee, a Booker prize winner who now lives in Adelaide it is set in post- apartheid apartheid South Africa. It stars John Malkovich as David Lurie, a professor at a Cape Town university. He has an affair with one of his young students and is dismissed from his position so he goes to stay with his daughter who lives on a farm in the South East Cape. Here he encounters a different world and when he and his daughter are attacked and she is raped and impregnated, he finds himself unable to adapt to the new South Africa.
the last movie I watched was `Frozen River' which also came out in 2008. the film takes place in the days before Christmas near a little-known border crossing on the Mohawk reservation between New York State and Quebec. Here, the lure of fast money from smuggling presents a daily challenge to single mothers who would otherwise be earning minimum wage. Two women, one white, one Mohawk, both single mothers faced with desperate circumstances are drawn into the world of border smuggling across the frozen water of the St. Lawrence River. Melissa Leo was fantastic as Ray Eddy, the main character. More than anything this film really showed the realities of life as a struggling single mother in this harsh terrain. This film was deservedly nominated for 2 Oscars.
22nd September I lost a day coming back to Australia. As the pilot said `if 21st september was your birthday...tough...you missed it! 'We arrived at Sydney on time but having retrieved my baggage and crossed to the domestic baggage transfer faced a delay as the conveyor belt had stopped working! Luckily some of us who were trying to make connections quickly were allowed to use the oversize belt so I just made it to my flight!
Now I'm back and still adjusting to the cold wet weather here in Adelaide, and waist high weeds in my garden but a very happy 19 year old cat! Hope you enjoyed reading the blog and please feel free to comment!