San Jose Jazz Festival

I took my little guy down to San Jose on Saturday to catch some jazz. Of course, we spent 80% of our time in the jumpers with other kids (I think the festival should add just one or two more attractions for kids) and doing the rock climbing wall, but that investment paid off when my 4-year-old sat quietly through 6 songs in the Karrin Allison concert in the Rep auditorium. I was quite proud of him. I like how she does "Moanin'" (with Jon Hendricks lyrics)--I want to do that tune. I also like how she plays shaker. She sang a Jobim tune I'd never heard of, but her Portuguese, while not bad, is just not too clear either. I couldn't really pick out the words she was singing. I believe she's a very good pianist, but she didn't play piano. She dances around a bit, which I dig.

I caught a few songs at the salsa stage, and then managed to say hi to Mike Spiro and Wayne and Murray and Frank Martin and the guys over at the latin jazz stage, even though I missed the performance. I said hi to Paul VW and he said my CD was really nice. I think I forgot to tell him that he was a major reason why--he is an awesome, creative drummer, and singlehandedly responsible for the basic groove on I Did It, I Live It, since that was a blank slate coming in to the studio.

I said, "Sorry I missed you guys playing, how did it go?" "Oh, it was extraordinary! We made musical history," Paul joked. "Man, how come I always just miss the historic sets?"

A few more trips to the jumper ensued, and then we caught the last song at the salsa stage. It was Anthony Blea y Su Charanga, and Orlando was singing! I waved to him and he saw me and waved back. I had just bought Sebastian an ice cream and he was sitting on the curb eating it and a guy asks me to dance, so I say OK, so long as I can watch my kid.

We do a few turns and right away he starts with the dance lesson, trying to show me some stupid out-of-time jump that he does (not like a cool move Emilio and I learned in Cuba called "pancake"). He barks that I should never look at the ground, only at him. I point out in Spanish that I'm looking at my kid, and hey, let's just partner dance, ok? A few more spins and it's back to the stupid dance lesson. Then the song is over. What a jerk.

I always hate it when you have one dance and it's a dud. But it's also a perfect example of how people see what they want to see--this guy thinks he's God's gift to dance instruction even though he's not, and he snags a victim like me. And instead of letting the experience happen, see if we can dance together, he keeps interrupting the flow and stopping our dance to confirm his belief that he's going to teach me something. I mean, I'm not a professional salsa dancer, but I do pretty well. So it goes. I only hope Orlando didn't happen to look over and see me trying to follow this guy's ridiculous hops! I do have my reputation to protect, after all. ;-)