midweek treat

because it's thursday...

Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall - covered by Robyn

because it's thursday

Pianists in Paris - by CDZA (cover of N****s in Paris)

missed you

Aside from taking pictures of my late-night curry, I've still been missing. What gives, you ask? Well in the last month, I've gotten married, I've started a new job (to put it in a nutshell) which has thrown my life as I knew it into a khaki-clad whirlwind. Also in the last month, I left home (and my new husband) for 2 weeks, I saw DMB in concert,

gained some weight, saw and heard in person the Secretaries of Defense, Health & Human Services and the VA, saw the Surgeon General (twice), and as of last night, am a new fan of Shaolin Jazz Project after seeing DJ 2-Tone and Sound of the City live at Blues Alley (Shanice will be there on 20 July!).

I've managed to squeeze in a few blog-worthy meals on the weekends, but have failed to document them because I just wanted to enjoy and devour (sorry). Eating, going to cultural events and now blogging, are helping me slowly get back to my norm that I loved, and miss, so much. I haven't been so good keeping up with style and fashion; I've been reading a week's worth of fashion blogs on the weekends. I have, however, recently purchased a vintage Coach City Bag in fantastic condition off of ebay (luckily, it's one of the few designer bags approved for work),

as well as a Longchamp Planete Large Tote (also for work). Add to that list of work-related purchases a pair of Naturalizer Deino pumps.

And I haven't even gotten my first paycheck yet.

Thanks for still stopping by and for your requests for posts, and for being patient with me. While I can't promise being on time with my regular features just yet (Because It's Monday, Toothsome Tuesday, List Wednesday, and Fashion on Fridays), I hope to be posting more often.

(photo creds: 1, 2, 3, 4)

time won't give me time

...but we don't have enough time as it is! (taken in my office building)

because it's monday...

because it's thursday...

I Can't Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt

I Can't Make You Love Me covered by Adele

Fun fact: This is Maxwell's favorite song!

mercy

Never mind the goofy slideshow format of this video but the sound is the best that I've found. This is just too good. Captain Kirk Douglas' accompaniment is perfect. I love the entire DMB but I hope this song sounds just like this on the album. Can't wait for it to drop!

Oo just found this. If it doesn't work, just go here, but do listen to it right now by watching the above.

better late than never

I know this is old news (yet again), but feast your senses on this super mindblowing amazingness. Apparently Dre, Eminem, Snoop, Wiz, Fitty and Warren G (!) made appearances at Coachella this year. I know! WHAT!

Of course, there are some who need to look beyond the awesomeness and dig deeper into what it means for hip hop, for media, for whatever the hell else... I am referring to this article. Can we just appreciate the performance and visual effects and instead, perhaps talk about what the audience thought and felt? It is performing arts, after all, and isn't the audience's reaction the most important critique? If you have time, read the article and leave me your thoughts.

Arggggh I already dove deeper than I wanted to...

because it's monday...

Bohemian Rhapsody by California Guitar Trio

 
Bohemian Rhapsody by The Muppets

new girl crush/career envy: emy tseng

I got my weekly Cultural Tourism DC email...

(photo cred: her site)

...and this week, there was a gem of a find in it! A diamond in the rough, if you will. On Thursday 15 March, a woman named Emy Tseng will be performing at Twins Jazz Club. She's a  jazz singer from the Bay Area who recently moved to the DC area who sings jazz standards and bossa nova - in Portuguese! Here's a bonus - the Twins' menu features Ethiopian food! Funny, despite walking by it everyday before I moved, I never felt compelled to check out the venue. Despite mixed Yelp reviews of the place, I'm willing to try it to enjoy some doro watt and jazz simultaneously. Yes please.

Emy is also performing for free at the Cherry Blossom Festival on Monday, 9 April and in Alexandria for a summer concert in Fort Hunt Park on Sunday, 17 June.

full on jazz

There are certain weekends that you look forward to for weeks, and that make you wonder how you will feel after it's over. This past weekend was one of those, and I must say, I feel a little crappy this Monday... suffering from weekend withdrawal, I suppose. This weekend was filled with eating fish fillet three ways (both homemade and pre-prepared, unprocessed and processed), museum exhibits, trying out meatBALLS, and, the headlining highlight - live world class jazz.

(photo cred: here)

We went to the Kennedy Center to hear/watch Wynton Marsalis (WM) and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and it was amahzing. Despite having weird single-file seats next to a rail (you get what you pay for), I was super excited to see him in real life with this characteristic brushed-brass horn with the cool smooth mouthpiece (is the mouthpiece unique to Monette trumpets? Or are the different types of mouthpieces specific to certain kind of horn or sound? See below for a comparison of mouthpieces. Perhaps I should do more research on trumpets.)

(pic cred: Amazon)

(photo cred: WM's Facebook page)

Anyway, the set they played was great, diverse and fun...  I'm so bad. I can't remember all the pieces they played, but the set included the Basque Song and the Big Train (both written by WM).  The  three movements of the Big Train that were played - Bullet Train, Sleeper Car, and Caboose - were excellent and witty. My favorite was WM's rendition of Itsy Bitsy Spider, which was playful and varied.

Perhaps the man on the stage with the most groove in him was Joe Temperley, the baritone and soprano sax and bass clarinet player. He must be in his 70s. You could see how much he was feeling the music, yelping, singing, grooving... and his sound was so smooth.

I was amused by the casual demeanor of the orchestra. It was almost like you were watching them in an informal jam session and were truly amongst friends. It wasn't my first live jazz performance, but I was impressed that a group that's best in the business was so casz cool.  I was also amused by WM being amused by his bandmates. He was truly surprised and impressed by their improvisation...speaking of which...a trombonist was in the middle of a solo when he couldn't find his plunger. He then continued his excellent solo while looking for it, then used his hand as a mute, then eventually found an actual mute and used it. Amahzing!

I also loved all the stomping, clapping and singing by the orchestra.

I wrote years ago about how music is food, and am grateful that this weekend, I again found myself in this area, at a completely affordable live musical performance, completely satiated.

watching the grammy's...

• RIP Whitney. I wish I could make a video or audio montage of all of my favorite Whitney songs. I remember imitating her as a kid by singing into a fake microphone and tapping it in trademark Whitney fashion. (Skinny Jennifer Hudson did an excellent job covering the song I like the least of Whitney's.)
• I love the Grammy's! It's the best concert ever! Greatest hits of everyone!
• This is the best Maroon 5 has ever sounded (covering the Beach Boys).
• The Beach Boys! Old as the hills.
• Every performance has been excellent thus far (my favorite being Alicia Keys + Bonnie Raitt - love these otherwise unlikely collaborations).
• I'm so glad Foo Fighters won Best Rock Performance, especially after hearing how they recorded their album. Plus, they're as good as ever.
• Grammy commercials! - who knew!? It's like watching the Super Bowl all over again!
• Can LL host every award show?
• El Debarge??? R Kelly?? What year is this?! Love it!! I can't believe the award went to Chris Brown. And was that Ledisi? I remember seeing her at Blues Alley on a date years ago. Who knew?
• Oh man, Adele.
• Oh no. The day has come. I don't know any of the nominees for "Best New Artist." Wonderful. This coincides well with my finding a white hair this morning.

.... and with that, time for bed... (thank goodness for DVR)

• Oh wait. Nate Dogg is DEAD?! When did that happen? I don't know what's harder to believe - that he's dead or G not knowing who he is.

rest in...

...love, peace and SOUUULLLLLLL, Don.

 

(photo cred: pulled from here, but originally from VH1)

baby blue

Although it's dismaying to hear the birth of their child caused inconveniences to other new and expectant parents at Lenox Hill, congratulations to J + B on Blue Ivy (the name sounded better when it was Ivy Blue, as initially and incorrectly reported on WTOP). This posting about Jay-Z's tribute song to his child's birth is heartwarming and the song itself is even better!

(photo cred: here and Life+Times)

(...and that, my friends, is today's dose of super late news.)

mylo xyloto

It's widely known, as one can gather from reading some of the Amazon reviews for their latest album, that being a Coldplay fan is fodder for bullies.  I'm not so sure why - some people are annoyed at their self-deprecation, but I find it kind of endearing. I actually think it's pretty cliche to bag on Coldplay. Whatever. As a fan since 2000, I remember hearing 'Yellow' and thinking that the song was catchy, didn't sound like any other band I had heard before, and felt it fit really well into my fascination for all things British spawned from my brother moving to Sheffield for a year.

Then I remember the first time I saw the Yellow video...I was in a Roman Diesel store killing time while my dad went to look for a phone? some change? I forget. I just remember him telling me to just stay there until he came back, as we were stranded after riding a public bus, getting fined for not following some boarding protocol and having to give the cop all the money we had, then forced to de-board in a neighborhood with which we weren't familiar (we were looking for a particular church). Anyway, the Diesel store had televisions on which the video played.

The point of this story? There isn't one really, but I remember thinking Coldplay had a sound all their own, and having listened to Mylo Xyloto (which dropped last week), thought their unique sound came through.

(photo cred: Coldplay's online store)

There were some songs that sounded like the group experimented with some new sounds and instruments (somewhat like the new instrument sounds in Viva La Vida), but there were others that possessed some melodies that were characteristically, classically Coldplay. There's one acoustic song on Mylo Xyloto that sounds like early Coldplay, while the first full-length song sounds a lot like Phoenix (I actually thought they collaborated with Phoenix on the album, which, if they did, would be pretty awesome). The collaboration with Rihanna, 'Princess of China,' (the only song title I can recall) was not my favorite. I don't feel Rihanna added anything to the song but instead just made it an additional selling point...and I guess play the female part in a song with 'princess' in the title.  The 'oooohhh' part of the chorus reminds me of the song in this commercial:

Sure I think Chris Martin's vocals can sound whiney at times and yes, there may be some sort of formula they follow in every album, but I did enjoy this latest release, and will continue to unabashedly be a fan (though I remember feeling they sold out when I had to settle for bad seats in a too-huge show at Hollywood Bowl once).

(...and that my friends may be the worst album review you've ever read - you'll notice I didn't use any song titles except one! Similar to how I talk about wine, however, I realize I may not know what I'm talking about when it comes to music, but I know what I like.)

don't stop to ask

Yes yes YES! SO good! Break down to Breakout! Thanks, Eat n' Park...good times.

ben harper

How could I have missed this...just yesterday?!?! (For those of you who don't want to click on the link, he played at 9:30 Club.)

(photo cred: his twitter page)

525,600

...just posting this here so I can watch it readily, whenever I want.

watch the throne

I've never written a review for an album before, but I'm listening to Kanye and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne right now (which dropped at midnight) and all I can say is that it's DENSE. I think I may be experiencing auditory overload (or my broken headphones are just too loud).