And Then He Kissed Me

Yesterday was the best day of my life.

Well, okay, so maybe THAT day was actually the birth of my son, or any of a zillion days since then (at the time, I probably thought it was my wedding day - but trust me, this day beat that, hands down!).

To begin with, I watched The Boy play soccer. He was AMAZING! Okay, so he's 6 and still has a long way to go, but I am very proud of how his skills have improved this season. He is loving playing the game, and is really getting into it, so I couldn't be happier!

Later in the day, I went to my first book club meeting of the Ladies Loving Literature group. We discussed the book "Passin" by Karen E. Quinones Miller. Awesome book (funny as hell), and what a great discussion! I'm so glad I was finally able to make it to a meetup with these ladies!

From there, I went to Georgetown to meet up with a friend for dinner and some blues. We ate at a french bistro (I didn't catch the name, but the onion soup was fabulous!) took a walk and wound up in Virginia via the Francis Scott Key bridge, then strolled on over to Blues Alley.

David Sanborn was playing. He's a favorite of mine. Since we'd already eaten, we settled in quickly with a bottle of Zinfandel to wait for the show. We didn't have to wait long. The Blues Alley Horns got onstage, followed by his own band - drummer, keyboardist, electric guitar player, and bass player - he did the bass guitar and the actual "bass" instrument. Awesome. Those guys truly love what they do. During the show, you could tell how "good" it was getting by the keyboardist, because he'd stand up every time he couldn't take it any more! Fabulous.

David himself was, of course, simply marvelous. I was well aware that he was a petite guy, but he's truly small! I mean short and thin! Looking at him, you wonder where all the wind for his music comes from! But it did come, and he gave a marvelous performance. Those of us in my corner of the room noted that the length of the performance was not disappointing at all. We had been concerned because the line for our 10:00 show was pretty full at 9:20, and we watched very few people leaving - drawing the conclusion that the show had actually ended even before this time-period. We were concerned. To no avail, however, because the show was good and long!

He played much of his new music, but got the crowd really riled up with some of his classic stuff. St. Louis blues (a ringtone you can download from his site - see the link above) was his starter piece, and Brother Ray got him and the band so riled up that they kept on playing and playing - it must have lasted about 15 minutes by itself! He also did Send Me Someone To Love and I've Got News For You from his new album.

Lovely, just lovely.

Now, and wonderful thing about where he was playing is that the venue is very intimate. Most times, the band/singer will meet with fans after the show. I have played the groupie there before - most recently with Joshua Redman, who was a very cordial artist, signed my album, shook my hand, and then disappeared back into the coat room to finish his chicken and fries (I saw him walk through the room with them in his hand before the show!). Not bad. He is very talented, and must have adoring fans all over the place.

BUT!!!! I must say that David Sanborn truly loves performing and is VERY accommodating of his fans. He, of course, was upstairs shaking hands, signing autographs, and taking pictures with people. I took my CD up, got to shake his hand, asked if he'd mind if my friend took a picture (he gladly agreed). While waiting for the camera to be ready, I told him how much I'd enjoyed the show, and thanked him for playing for us. Next thing I knew, he'd leaned over and pecked me on my cheek!

OMG!!! I was sooooo floored! How awesome! Then I stood there like he was "mine" with my arm around him for the next few minutes while he talked with another fan, and my cool buddy Juan got the camera (and his own CD to be signed) ready.

Wow. I was kissed. By a celebrity. Wow!



:O)