How Do You Make a Music Sandwich?

Silly question. But Judy and I had a "musical sandwich" this past weekend. I've already blogged about our Saturday of Bluegrass. Well, sandwiched around that was an evening of Reggae and Blues on Friday and an evening of Jazz and Big Band on Monday. Are you beginning to believe that I'm eclectic about everything (go ahead, look it up)?

It wasn't just any Friday. It was First Friday in Southern Pines. We were not the least bit surprised to see Jessie and some sleepover chums there to greet us. Cool people support these kinds of events.


The featured musicians this month were The Corey Harris Band. I wish I could introduce them like Corey did. He was smooth, and captivated the audience with his casual conversation as much as with his music. There was Peanut Whitley on the keyboard, Ken Joseph on the drums, Gordon Jones on the saxophone, and Ralph DuJour on the bass. And as Corey would say, "Yours truly" on the guitar(s).
It didn't take long for me to realize that Corey Harris is a musical genius. PINESTRAW magazine's preview of the evening said "Internationally acclaimed Corey Harris tunes up his guitar for an interpretive ramble through Mississippi Delta Blues, reggae, gospel, African and Caribbean music." That was an understatement!

The sax and bass players did some solo breaks that wowed the crowd. But Corey was a phenom that held the audience spellbound with each new number from his diverse repertoire. I liked The Pilot's quote from Corey in their preview article: "A lot of the walls that we put up between one another-- we're conditioned to do that. It's in the media and in our education for us to look at all the differences and then conclude that there are these huge walls between us. But I really feel that as humans we all have one soul. We got one heart. We got one blood. As the world's getting smaller, we've really got to learn about each other."

Spoken like a true blue ECLECTIC!

This is just a brief video so you can sample the talent of the "5x5 Band."

Corey teased the crowd a little, saying he thought this would be a sleepy little southern town. We showed him we appreciated his playfulness, his art, his message, and his commitment.

The band was called out for multiple encores. Search Corey Harris on youtube for a number of representative videos. Later, I remarked to Judy that I hoped the group would be successful. Then I read that in 2007 Corey had received an unrestricted grant from the MacArthur Foundation (who pay for so much good Public Radio and TV) for $500,000! WOW!

Moving right along, you already know about Saturday's Bluegrass with the Baghdad Bad Boys. If not, scroll down to my earlier blog post about them.

Monday evening Judy and I headed to Sandhills Community College for the second concert in the summer Jazz Band series. This photo was from the first concert in May which was indoors due to inclement weather.

Something about being outside this time made it seem even more "alive."

The college green was packed with lawnchairs and blankets.

And hundreds of people who love jazz, Big Band, and popular standards.

This band is not a bunch of amateurs. Many are active or retired professional musicians. Their performance would draw a nod of approval from any of the old-time greats. As dusk fell, several of the last numbers were tributes to our service men and women, and specifically to Glenn Miller and his band.

Judy and I are continually reminded how nice it is to live in a community that values and nurtures the arts to such a high degree. If you live anywhere nearby, it would be worth your while to investigate and take advantage of some of these FREE, FAMILY-FRIENDLY events. There will be two more summer jazz concerts at the college, July 13 and August 10, with music from 6:30 to around 8:00.

Listen to a bit of "In the Mood," a Glenn Miller all-time favorite. The second video is another Big Band theme.