photo by Paul Dirks

Last night I played to an appreciative crowd of  60 to 70 folks at Northside Bistro. I hope nobody noticed that I was suffering with mouth pain – having recently had 4 teeth pulled and a denture fitted which was slowly cutting into my gums ! Ouch !!

The song that arguably got the biggest applause ( plus a thumbs up from the bartender) was my singing of  the Rolling Stones opus to disco, “Miss You”. Other songs that got nice rounds of applause were “Natural Woman” – I didn’t sing on that one, but played a bluesy, gospel tinged interpretation.  The great Hoagy Carmicheal tune “Georgia”, also got a nice round of applause, as well as the blues,” Big Boss Man”, by Jimmy Reed. Oh yes, and “Satin Doll” by Billy Strayhorn, which for a time, was the theme song of the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

I love the staff there !! You can see that they take pride in the establishment, as well as in their respective roles. There is a sense of camaraderie and even a sense of family – from the top on down – that is rare !!