Live Music: Curtis Salgado and Band at Jimmy Mak's, November 30 - Tracy Arrington on the Bass Guitar. Vyasa Dodson on Guitar.

-->

I am very pleased how this photo turned out. Y'all, the man closest to the camera can flat out play the bass guitar--Tracy Arrington! Same thing for the other man in the background--he's taught the guitar how to speak--Vyasa Dodson!

Live Music: Curtis Salgado and Band at Jimmy Mak's, November 30 - Inanimate Objects That Caught My Eye, No. 6, Plus Three Fine Musicians

Microphones, essential inanimate objects for any live music show. These two, along with several others on stage, served everyone on stage and in the audience. Left to right, the fine musicians on stage in this photo, Curtis Salgado (vocals and harmonica), Vyasa Dodson (guitar), and Tracy Arrington (bass guitar). I stood up on one foot, pressed my back against the wall, held up the camera, and clicked away to get this photo, one of very few with more than one performer in it. I am not complaining, just explaining. The entire evening proved to be unforgettable. Thanks, guys!

Live Music: Curtis Salgado and Band at Jimmy Mak's, November 30 - Inanimate Objects That Caught My Eye, No. 5

There on the right, the woofer rotate unit, according to the Leslie Organ Speaker diagram. One of crew members of the Curtis Salgado Band told me it's called the bass rotor. I read online that the woofer is the bass speaker. So glad I got a photo that shows the spinning; I thought it was vibrating with sound when I first looked at it, then when the sound lessened, it slowed, and I could tell it was actually spinning. I thought whatever was spinning was covered with very thin foam rubber. Before the show ended, I believed the covering was some sort of gray cloth. When it spun, the speed caused the blur you see in the photograph which must have influenced my perception, making me think it was thin, gray foam.
 

Here's a wide shot, taken from my seat in the booth beside the stage. On the left is the side of that vintage Samsonite suitcase with the duct-taped handle. I took this photo during the intermission between sets--the extra light allows you to see the cloth better.

Live Music: Curtis Salgado and Band at Jimmy Mak's, November 30 - Inanimate Objects That Caught My Eye, No. 4

According to a diagram of a Leslie Organ Speaker, we're looking at the vacuum tube amplifier. I really enjoyed trying to get a clear shot of these beauties. Straight out of the camera, taken with the camera sitting on the floor and held up at a slight angle as I snapped several photos in sequence. I couldn't tell what I had until I uploaded them to iPhoto. I like this one the best and have left it crooked to give you an idea of how I must have looked, leaning over from our booth, setting my camera on the stage floor and clicking away. No one on the stage could see me, and no one in the audience gave a hoot about what I was up to--it was not a brightly lit corner there beside the stage--because the music had grabbed hold of them and wouldn't let go, period. I know 'cause that's what it did to me.

Live Music: Curtis Salgado and Band at Jimmy Mak's, November 30 - Inanimate Objects That Caught My Eye, No. 3

When the band took a break, a man came up to me and asked me if the organ is a Hammond B3. I have no idea, I told him. He told me that he thought it was a B3. We could read the word Hammond on it, so we knew that part for sure. And I know for sure that it sounded so fine which, as I understand it, is because it is connected to the Leslie Organ Speaker.

Live Music: Curtis Salgado and Band at Jimmy Mak's, November 30 - Inanimate Objects That Caught My Eye, No. 2

My view of the drum set that Brian Foxworth played brilliantly. That's the rich, brown wood of the Hammond Organ on the left, and a bit of the large speaker on the right. I am assuming it is a speaker. Maybe it is a monitor. I really don't know for sure. I am certain that it blocked part of my view. I didn't care. The music was that grand.

Live Music: Curtis Salgado and Band at Jimmy Mak's, November 30 - Inanimate Objects That Caught My Eye, No. 1

From the time we got the tickets, my friend from work Sharon and I had held out the upcoming Curtis Salgado and Band show as the ultimate motivator to get through the days until it arrived. Saturday night she drove to my apartment and parked. We rode the bus to Jimmy Mak's since neither one of us had any idea where to park near the club. We got off in front of Powell's Books and walked down the slope on NW 10th, arriving at Jimmy Mak's before anyone else, not realizing that our reserved seating/dinner required tickets meant an assigned table. We thought it would be first come, first seated. So, we arrived three full hours before the show was to begin, were led to our table--a booth in the corner beside one end of the stage. By 7:00 p.m., we had dined and watched people and talked about what a great time we knew was coming our way. We could see very little of the stage, raised at least six inches from floor level, because a large Hammond organ stood right in front of us, giving us a perfect view of its keys and of the electronic keyboard sitting on top of it. We decided it didn't matter one bit. We were right where we were supposed to be, learning about making reservations at Jimmy Mak's and how you can call after you've bought your ticket online and request a table. Next time we'll know better.
 

I couldn't help but notice the vintage Samsonite suitcase right in front of me, to the right of the organ bench. Duct tape repaired suitcase handle. I have a long history with duct tape, having learned from my Mama how to tear it off straight from the roll when I was a young girl. For a small woman, Mama had very strong hands. Over my sons younger years, their Christmas included a new roll of duct tape, a roll of string, a flashlight, and batteries. I told the organist that I like his suitcase and its repaired handle. He explained that it wasn't his, that it stayed with the organ which I took that to mean that the organ wasn't his, that it stayed on stage at Jimmy Mak's. Pretty good idea if you ask me. That thing must be very heavy, not something you'd get out of your vehicle and pull into the club to set up for the night.

October 17, 2008, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at Jimmy Mak's, an easy walk from home

Solo time. Sound so low that my skin vibrated with the deep timbre of the saxophone.


I walked to Jimmy Mak’s at 221 NW 10th Ave. (between Davis and Everett), just 12 blocks from the apartment where I used to live ...


... on a great Friday evening filled with funky, outta sight live music and a house packed with fans of the band.


You see, I knew the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, having enjoyed them outdoors a couple of times in my hometown of Jackson, Mississippi.




Women came on stage at the invitation of the band ...

... to dance ...

... and groove to the music.

Impossible to remain still. Fine fun.My older son Lamont joined me once he got off at 3 Doors Down Cafe, the restaurant where he used to work. Always great to enjoy live music together, always.

After the show he walked me to the bus stop a few blocks away on Burnside in front of Powell's Books. Not long after, I boarded the 20 and rode on home.

Man-made instances of the secondary color, green.

The drums on stage with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at Jimmy Mak's, a fine jazz club within walking distance of where I live--how fortunate.


Handlebars and the frame of this bicycle, man-made greens, as well as the cloth in the baby seat. By the way, I actually saw a lady standing near this bicycle with a baby strapped to her chest. I have to tell you that, while I am in favor of bicycling, I just can't get used to folks riding on busy thoroughfares, especially with a baby on board. It strikes me as dangerous, asking for trouble, irresponsible. To give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she rode up to the Hawthorne corner on a side street. But, to tell you the truth, those particular side streets are narrow, often with vehicles parked on both side, and busy. But, I digress. Back to green, known for its calming impact.


The background of the signs at Kelly's, as well as the neon in the signs.


The trash can and these bike racks at Powell's Books, on another extremely busy thoroughfare, West Burnside. Hopefully these riders rode on side streets, too, but again to tell you the truth I've been in autos and buses going slowly along behind bicyclists riding along in the traffic, on the two-laned street which is often bordered with park vehicles.


The rolling waves in this fabulous mural with a terrific message: Practicing nonviolence is a way of life.


The green paint on the Pinecone. I wonder if the building is apartments or condos? I hope it's still apartments because surely that's what it was built to be.


1929 Ford Roadster, seen at the Cruise In at The Bomber.



Fireworks from July 4, 2010, as seen from the Willamette River, downtown Portland, Oregon.


A truck parked across the street from the Cruise In at The Bomber.

Light at the end of the tunnel ...

...let me explain. Besides things like family and fun thankfully taking up some of my blogging time in good ways lately, I've had some camera-to-computer downloading issues/frustrations and then additional uploading from computer to Flickr issues/frustations.

I had dealt with all of that pretty well and intended to spend a good deal of time Sunday, during the NASCAR race at Atlanta, working on a series of posts about one of several wonderful things I've been able to do in Portland recently, maybe the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at Jimmy Mak's Jazz Club or Michael Cully's Puppetry at the Oregon History Museum or Sharon Wortman's Bridge Walk involving the Morrison and Steel Bridges across the Willamette. I had a bounty of specials to choose from, as well as the unique every day things I notice all around town, until Sunday morning.

When I opened Honk, my precious little iBook, and then opened iPhoto, there was a message that read something like, "For iPhoto to run, the iLibrary needs to be updated," and I really only remember seeing OK highlighted as a choice, so I clicked on OK. In seconds all of my photos disappeared from the iPhoto Library, all 6992 of them. I sat here, stunned into silence.

To tell the truth, my calmness at this unreal turn of events totally shocked me. I didn't wail, holler, sob. I knew that I had many, many photos at Flickr already, so I accepted what had happened and then promptly downloaded my three full memory cards into Honk and started putting photos onto Flickr.

Now for the light at the end of the tunnel part of this tale. Today on the bus ride home, I talked as I often do with a young man who is a few years younger than my younger son. When I told him what had happened, he promptly said, "Why don't you use Finder and search for the jpg's?" So, I did. And I found gobs and gobs of photos. It will be some time before I know if I have found what disappeared on Sunday, but I'm some kind of hopeful! And blessed!