Burgers for Teitur

LOL - well not exactly - but we did have burgers on September 18th at Edzo's Burger Shop in Evanston with friends Ron & Mary. And Mary's calendar (which lists all US holidays) did say Teitur for the same date.  And since her calendar had pointed out Ashura near the same date she assumed it was some religious holiday unknown to her. 

It turned out that the event called Teitur on her calendar was actually a concert we had bought tickets for the four us to attend! so Happy Teitur or Merry Teitur or Joyous Teitur - LOL whichever you wish...

so we decided since the concert was at Evanston S.P.A.C.E. we would grab a burger before the concert at Edzo's -

the warm up act were sisters from Alaska/Chicago/Ireland (LOL) really - called Maeve & Quinn -

from their website-

maeve & quinn is the duo of Maris Maeve O'Tierney (voice, guitar, piano) and Bryce Quinn O'Tierney (violin, voice, piano), musician-composers and writers from Anchorage, Alaska. As twin sisters and collaborators, Maris and Bryce have been making music together for most of their lives, sharing a classical music background as well as an improvisational language that informs their songwriting. Their project as maeve & quinn has evolved with their relationship, an intimate conversation that translates to their live performances. Weaving influences of indie pop and folk, as well the melodic emotion of Irish traditional, the music of their cultural heritage, maeve & quinn builds a sonic atmosphere evocative of their dynamic, expansive home-state, Alaska. What the listener hears in their music are the highly attuned ears and eyes of storytellers observing the world around them, and the push-pull of the human heart.

followed by the main act Teitur-

Teitur; born Teitur Lassen 1977 is a Faroese musician, composer, singer-songwriter and producer. He is a winner of multiple Danish Music Awards and has toured globally since his debut release, Poetry & Aeroplanes, in 2003. Since 2001 he has dedicated himself to playing and writing music in English full-time, and has released six studio albums as a solo artist. He has additionally produced, written for, or worked with multiple international artists including Seal, Corinne Bailey Rae, Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Emilie Simon, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Holland Baroque Society, Nolwenn Leroy, Nico Muhly, and Ane Brun. His songs have appeared on major motion picture soundtracks and numerous compilations. In 2010 he was invited to perform for the Queen of Denmark's 70th birthday celebrations and in 2015 Teitur was a speaker at the TED conference in Vancouver. (from Wikipedia)

and while I liked all three performers, I really wanted to LOVE them and didn't.  His music because he was very lovable -as were the ladies, but last night I just never found the songs that wowwed me... felt the same way about the young ladies- just didn't get hooked by anything.... but it was a lovely evening with friends anyway and a nice celebration of "teitur" a holiday now ensconced in our calendar for next year LOL!

take a breath

or maybe not- we have been in a whirlwind of social stuff - after the trip to STL for family get togethers and the side trip to the eclipse... we came home late late late Monday night.  Tuesday we met Sheila & Mary at Proxi for another fun meal-

Again the votes for winning course went to the elotes and the oysters - both worth stopping in for as a snack on the way home if you work in the Loop...

again we liked the pork jerky a lot as well!

a wonderful Chinon that Sheila chose for us to drink-

The pork porterhouse - still good!

we also had a lot of other foods including the zucchini and the fish collars and the black pepper pork and the nahm prik and the lamb ribs LOL----

so we didn't go hungry LOL

the next night we went out with Mike and his cousin Stephanie for burgers at Butcher and Burger - good food and frozen custard--- 

meanwhile I have been caring for my neighbor's flower boxes while they are away for three weeks - good news they are still living...

we actually had dinner at home on Thursday LOL - Wha' happened? 

Friday we went to Edzo's for a quick dinner before the show at SPACE in Evanston - a concert by Charlie Musselwhite - 

Charles Douglas "Charlie" Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the non-black bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s, along with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield, or bands such as Canned Heat. Though he has often been identified as a "white bluesman", he claims Native American heritage. Musselwhite was reportedly the inspiration for the character played by Dan Aykroyd in the Blues Brothers.

Musselwhite was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi. He has said that he is of Choctaw descent, born in a region originally inhabited by the Choctaw. His father played guitar and harmonica, his mother played piano, and a relative was a one-man band.  At the age of three, Musselwhite moved to Memphis, Tennessee. When he was a teenager, Musselwhite supported himself by digging ditches, laying concrete and running moonshine in a 1950 Lincoln automobile. This environment was a school for music as well as life for Musselwhite, who eventually acquired the nickname Memphis Charlie.

In true bluesman fashion, Musselwhite then took off in search of the rumored "big-paying factory jobs" up the "Hillbilly Highway", Highway 51 to Chicago, where he continued his education on the South Side, making the acquaintance of legends, including Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson, Buddy Guy, and Howlin' Wolf. Musselwhite immersed himself completely in the musical life, living in the basement of with Big Joe Williams and working as a driver for an exterminator, which allowed him to observe what was happening around the city's clubs and bars. He spent his time hanging out at the Jazz Record Mart, at the corner of State and Grand, and a nearby bar, Mr. Joe's, with the city's blues musicians, and sitting in with Williams and others in the clubs, playing for tips. There he forged a lifelong friendship with John Lee Hooker; though Hooker lived in Detroit, Michigan, the two often visited each other, and Hooker served as best man at Musselwhite's third marriage. Gradually Musselwhite became well known around town.

In time, Musselwhite led his own blues band, and ahe released the legendary album Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band in 1966 on Vanguard Records to immediate and great success. He took advantage of the clout this album gave him to move to San Francisco, where, instead of being one of many competing blues acts, he held court as the king of the blues in the exploding countercultural music scene, an exotic and gritty figure to the flower children. Musselwhite even convinced Hooker to move to California.

Since then, Musselwhite has released over 20 albums and has been a guest performer on albums by many other musicians,  He has won 14 W. C. Handy Awards, has been nominated for six Grammy awards. received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Monterey Blues Festival and the San Javier Jazz Festival, in San Javier, Spain, and received the Mississippi Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. (all excerpted from Wikipedia)

a packed house - truly packed - fire Marshall challenging packed - excellent concert with terrific guitar by Matt Stubbs as well as Charlie's amazing harmonica at nearly 74 years old - they guy certainly isn't suffering from COPD...

Tonight dinner at a friend's house - dinner party for ten - and then tomorrow we catch up with Kevin & Shari at a Filipino place in the hood - and up next week - El Ideas with Ron & Mary and as we head into Labor Day weekend a concert of Brother Sun and Phil has Folk Stage - possible meet up with John & Stephanie before a jammed packed first week of September... days are getting cooler and the siren song of a life by the ocean with fish and stone crabs has started to softly lure us.  

We are already discussing the farewell tour list - after a visit from brother Larry and another from Laure and Alix and new baby Hugo and then our trip to see Steve & Suzanne in PDX and then the first half of October being set aside for the Republic of Georgia wine and food trip...time flies.... #gonow  more to follow - as always...

reporting back

on the concert at SPACE late last night-

above a close up of the way cool light fixtures in the club and below - our table 11 menu holder-

the one word review- outstanding!

so here are the two featured artists- and artists they were-

Janiva Magness - is an American blues and soul singer and songwriter. The Blues Foundation named Magness the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year in 2009, becoming only the second woman, after Koko Taylor, to be so honored. In the same year, she was named the Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year, which she had already won in 2006 and 2007, and was nominated for again in 2012. Since 2006, she has had 22 similar nominations. "Magness is a blues star."

Doug Macleod - is an American storytelling bluesman. Although now associated with his home in Los Angeles, he has lived and worked in North Carolina, St. Louis, Port Washington, New York, and Norfolk, Virginia, where he was stationed in the United States Navy. He became acquainted with the blues in St Louis in his teens and started his career playing country blues on acoustic guitar, finding that singing eased a chronic stutter and helped him to eventually overcome it. Although predominantly associated with acoustic guitar, his skills were developed as a blues bass player, and honed by his subsequent journeys into jazz and electric blues.

so we started the night with a stop at Edzo's - for a char grilled burger for Phil and a crispy griddled burger pour moi... shared "old fries" and topped off our retro meal with milk shakes... can't go wrong there...

Doug played first starting right before 10pm - and he was downright amazing on guitar - his blues singing was very traditional spiced with some humor and upbeat interpretation of some low down tunes.  Really terrific surprise - we loved him!!! hope to see him again (maybe at Bradenton Blues Festival in the future)

and then Janiva- and she commands with the voice of a woman (no little girl folkie whispery voice for her) - came out and knocked the socks off everyone - - - 

some heavy hitters in the guitar back up - three varying leads and even Doug came onstage for a number near the end-

the concert ended at 1am and we headed home in awe of the talent on the small stage last night- we heard four terrific guitarists and Janiva's blow you away vocals... the small but appreciative audience left murmuring accolades to their friends as they entered the cool night air...

tonight Omakase - so always more to return for....

the rest of the week

that flew by- well let's see-

a concert on Saturday night at Folkstage at WFMT- Small Potatoes-

dinner with friends on Sunday night at Cafe Marbella -

dinner with wine buddy and partner Neil on Tuesday at Knife & Tine (OMG I cooked on Monday- how did that happen?)

an unexpected dinner with wine buddy and BFF, Mon, at goosefoot on Wednesday,

Bad Jews at Theater Wit on Thursday

and tonight a concert at SPACE in Evanston (more on that one later) -

Since opening its doors in 2008, SPACE has brought thousands of world class performances to Evanston audiences.  With a rustic and warm ambiance and state-of-the-art technology the venue has become a favorite amongst musicians and music fans of all ages.  SPACE doesn’t fit standard labels such as “jazz club” or “rock club.”  It is a place where music fanatics can get closer to their favorite music and have a uniquely intimate and memorable experience.

tonight Janiva Magness -

this week was also my annual round of doctor visits - eye doc Monday (thanks Dick!) derm doc Tuesday (thanks Laura!) and "women's imagining" LOL Thursday... I am not faint of heart - annual mammography- my mother died of breast cancer and her mother did as well...so I go religiously (despite having no religion- LOL)

so our days fly by and plans get made- next week - three dinners on the schedule before Phil leaves on Friday for the Clearwater Festival with Jeremy & Angela... "and no moss grows on a rolling stone..."