But it gets really good 'round noon.

According to the news, the first two weeks of October 2009 were the coldest on record, as well as the snowiest. It's been a reminder of the fact that we live in Minnesota. According to my wife's Scandinavian family, this is what keeps the riffraff out of state. While the temperatures are supposed to go up over the next few days to something approximating seasonal, the Jazz Workshop decided not to wait and heated things up at McRae Park this afternoon. We had a few new attendees today, Ron and Patrick both on guitar, as well as the usual suspects: Dick, Toria and Sheila (vocals), Steve on (trumpet/flugelhorn), Gene and Ken (drums), Owen (accordian), Pete (bari sax), Ira (alto sax), Wes (tenor sax), Tim (guitar) and ________ on trumpet. I've got to do a better job of remembering names.

We played about 22 songs over the course of four hours: "All of Me," "All of You," "Autumn Leaves," "Recordame," "I Should Care," "I'm Back" (an original by Steve), "Recycling Day" (an original by Tim), "What Is This Thing Called Love," "Ornithology," "How High The Moon," "Tune Up," "The Very Thought of You," "'Round Midnight," "I Remember You," "Lullaby of Birdland," "In a Mellow Tone," "Nica's Dream," "Flintstones," "Gone With The Wind," "I could Write a Book," "Stolen Moments," and "Georgia On My Mind" for the closer. I think that's the complete set list. If I might add an unsolicited editorial comment, "'Round Midnight" is- in my opinion, anyway- the pinnacle of jazz composition and it was a thrill to play it today. Chuck Wayne said the same thing about it, so at least I've got company.

Let's see, we need one more photo to close things out. By the way, the top photo is Ken playing drums and the middle photo is the sax lineup of Ira, Pete and Wes from closest to farthest, along with Patrick's left hand and guitar neck. The bottom photo is Owen and Rob.