Jerry Seinfeld and the art of conversation

President Obama and Jerry Seinfeld sharing the art of conversation --
and a good laugh, too.

Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee is a show that focuses on the art of conversation. It's a gathering of comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his friends, going for a cup of coffee, driving in cool old cars, sharing stories all the way.

"It's a show about trust," said former Daily Show host Jon Stewart.

Now, in an ultimate show of trust, President Obama is going to ride in a car and share coffee with Seinfeld. The president will appear in the opening show of the seventh season of the popular web series, which debuts on Dec. 30. He becomes the first non-comedian to appear with Seinfeld.

In their episode filmed earlier this month in Washington, D.C., Mr. Obama and Seinfeld take turns driving a blue 1963 Corvette Sting Ray split-window coupe around the White House driveway that encircles the South Lawn, then sit down to chat over coffee in a staff dining room.

According to the White House, the president's appearance in Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee was "an opportunity to pull back the curtain for Americans on life in the White House.

"The president and Jerry had a unique, candid conversation that focused largely on the lighter side of the presidency," said a White House statement last week.

"Growing up in the '60s my kid dream was always to be an astronaut -- doing a comedy show with President Obama in and around the White House felt like going into space," said Seinfeld in a statement released by Crackle, Sony's online video site and the show's distributor.

At 61, Seinfeld has been a comedian his whole adult life. He's one of the best when it comes to the art of observational humor, whether talking about personal relationships or the nuances of uncomfortable social obligations. It's what we loved about the New York native in Seinfeld, which spanned 180 episodes over nine seasons from 1989-98 on NBC. The series remains a fixture in reruns across the country.

Now, in transitioning from TV to the internet, Seinfeld takes an offbeat approach that shows the other side of the comedy world, something he feels talk shows and interviews can't or don't let you see. The web-based comedy series he created, directs and stars in debuted in 2012 and is shot using DSLR and interior-mounted Go-Pro cameras.

A who's who of contemporary A-list comedians, including Chris Rock, Ricky Gervais, Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer as well as iconic comedians Mel Brooks and Don Rickles, have been coffee companions of Seinfeld's. So have past and present late night TV hosts such as Stewart, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Trevor Noah, and Stephen Colbert. Seinfeld co-stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards have also made appearances.

Each episode of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee follows the premise of Seinfeld introducing a vintage car such as a 1952 Volkswagen Beetle or a 1967 Austin-Healey 3000, then picking up his guest comedian in that vintage car and, finally, taking them out to have coffee or dine in a restaurant. Seinfeld has filmed episodes on both coasts, in New York and Los Angeles, and he's also ventured to Portland, Oregon as well as to New Jersey and Massassuchetts. Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee can be seen by anyone, anywhere with access to the internet, and on any web-enabled device. And, don't worry, the language in each 12-to-20 minute episode is family friendly.

The unscripted conversations between Seinfeld and his companions in Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee are at times both meaningful and meandering, silly and deep. Yet, with the series having been streamed over 100 million times, they're very comfortable to watch on a smart phone.

Hardly a show about nothing.

Note: The seventh season of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee premieres online on Dec. 30 at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Along with President Obama, other featured guests this season include Will Ferrell, Steve Martin and Garry Shandling.

Go behind the wheel of the President Obama episode of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/behind-the-wheel-of-the-obama-episode-of-seinfelds-comedians-in-cars/2015/12/21/2d6376b0-a29b-11e5-9c4e-be37f66848bb_story.html

To watch previous episodes: http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com

Photo: Courtesy of comediansgettingcarsgettingcoffee.com. Video: Courtesy of YouTube. 

Christmas 2015: Sharing our humanity

May there be peace on Earth, good will towards men.
How lovely are the messengers 
that preach us the gospel of peace!

There are so many different things that can tie together a good message about our faith, love and hope in God. And, there are plenty of good messages that are worth sharing. Sometimes, it just takes moving in the slow lane of life, observing, and enjoying the journey.

With Christmas just a few days away, I would like to share a Christmas Day poem by the 19th-century Scottish poet and essayist Robert Louis Stevenson reflecting our common humanity:

A Prayer for Christmas Morning

By Robert Louis Stevenson

The day of joy returns, Father in Heaven, and

crowns another year with peace and good will.

Help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus, that

we may share in the song of the angels, the 

gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the

wise men.

Close the doors of hate and open the doors of

love all over the world.

Let kindness come with every gift and good

desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil, by the blessing that Christ

brings, and teach us to be merry with clean hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to 

be thy children.

And the Christmas evening bring us to our bed

with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for 

Jesus's sake.

Amen.

Wishing kind thoughts for a Merry Christmas. Although we are of many faiths, it is important that our common humanity allows us to share a season of peace and goodwill.

Pink Martini: The "little orchestra" that's bringing joy to the world in these troubled times

Pink Martini / The "little orchestra" that's inclusive, full of warmth and
represents many human experiences.

Pink Martini is an internationally acclaimed "little orchestra" from Portland, Oregon, founded by a couple of Harvard classmates, pianist Thomas Lauderdale and vocalist China Forbes, that mixes glamour and sophisticated easy-listening music. Since 1994, the band that the Washington Post once called "utterly cosmopolitan yet utterly unpretentious," have amassed an impressive repertoire of festive songs drawn from around the globe, including many timeless classics and a few rarely heard chestnuts.

A typical Pink Martini show -- and I speak from experience have seen the band perform nine times over the past decade in a variety of California settings -- is both multilingual and multicultural, and at holiday time it's also multi-denominational. Above all, it's inclusive -- full of warmth -- and represents many human experiences.

Through the energy and creativity of their music, Pink Martini brings joy to the world in these troubled times -- something which should make all of us feel grateful and appreciative.

"We're very much an American band," said Lauderdale, "but we spend a lot of time abroad and therefore, have the incredible diplomatic opportunity to represent a broader, more inclusive America... the America which remains the most heterogeneously populated country in the world... composed of people of every country, every language, every religion."

Pink Martini has performed on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe and Asia, as well as in Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America and North America. I have seen them perform both as a "little orchestra" as well as in concert with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. When his schedule allows, NPR "All Things Considered" host Ari Shapiro, also a Portland native, joins Pink Martini as a guest vocalist.

Pink Martini's 'Joy to the World'

Last Monday in Livermore, about 30 miles inland from Oakland, my wife and I saw our most recent Pink Martini show. It was part of a two-week "Joy to the World" bus tour through northern and coastal California towns, including Arcata, Davis, Monterey, Redding, and Santa Barbara.

On this night, the 12-member band delighted their audience at the Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center's 507-seat Bankhead Theater by performing from their expansive catalog of pop, jazz, classical and holiday songs that were beautifully sung in Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, German, Turkish, Armenian, Spanish, Italian, French, Romanian, Croatian, Chinese, Japanese and, oh yes, English, too. There was a nice mixture of charm, elegance and humor throughout the band's two-hour performance.

In a recent interview with the Santa Barbara Independent, co-lead vocalist Storm Large said: "Every language expresses love, pain, joy or grief, in whatever song I'm singing, in whatever language, it's just a matter of being honest in the feeling I'm expressing." This was plainly evident when Large sang the very serious Romanian folk tune "Pâna când nu te iubeam" ("Until I Loved You") as well as a long-time favorite of mine, the spine-tingling Croatian song "Eu plavu zoru" ("At Blue Dawn"), accompanied by violinist Nicholas Crosa.

Pink Martini performs their "Joy to the World" holiday
show in Livermore, California on Dec. 7.

Among the sacred and secular holiday songs which Pink Martini performed in Livermore were: "Little Drummer Boy," "We Three Kings," "A Snowglobe Christmas," "Talj, Talj," "La Vergine Degli Angeli," "O Holy Night," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

"Christmas music is so inherently joyful for me, as well as for the audience," said Large. "People just have so many good feelings around the holidays. It's a marvelous reason to sing."

Pink Martini's unique vision can be attributed to its inclusiveness of language, culture, and religion, musically. The band wants anyone and everyone to feel welcome at its shows and, if they are so encouraged, to jump up and dance. And many did dance in Livermore. The evening was complete  with an encore performance of the band's signature tune "Brazil" in which many in the audience at Large's urging formed a conga line while others danced at their seats and in the aisles.

If you think about it, said Large, "It's really the perfect recipe for 'Peace on Earth and Good Will' we hear about so often during the holidays, but sadly have witnessed quite the opposite in the world of late."

Note ~ Hear Pink Martini's "Joy to the World: A Holiday Spectacular" that's airing this month via NPR:

http://www.npr.org/2015/12/09/458905971/pink-martinis-joy-to-the-world-a-holiday-spectacular

Golden State Warriors: They are the darlings of the NBA

Stephen Curry / An affable MVP who makes his art look effortless.

Barely two months into the new pro basketball season, the Golden State Warriors once again are the darlings of the National Basketball Association. Nightly, the defending champions have been providing their fans with a highly-entertaining product that sells out the house at Oakland's Oracle Arena. Five games into a two-week, seven-city road trip, the Warriors are also dazzling fans across the country in cities like Salt Lake City, Charlotte, Toronto, Brooklyn and Indianapolis, too.

The Warriors are scoring lots of points thanks to shooting the lights out from 3-point range, playing stingy defense that forces opponents into committing costly turnovers and, most of all, they are winning. Great teams find all kinds of ways to win.

Recently, the Warriors set an NBA record for most wins at the start of a season -- 16 -- and the winning streak continues, reaching 23 on Tuesday night with a 131-123 victory over the Indianapolis Pacers. The Warriors became the first NBA team to open a season with 13 consecutive road wins, breaking the 12-0 record set by 1969-70 New York Knicks.

Draymond Green / The Warriors' power forward scored 22
points and added 9 rebounds and 7 assists against the Nets.

So, the perfect season lives on -- 23-0 and counting -- and when you consider the Warriors won their final four regular-season games last season, the Warriors have 27 consecutive victories, which ties the second-longest winning streak in the NBA's history. Next, the Warriors complete their seven-city road trip this week with games at Boston and Milwaukee on Friday and Saturday.

Last season, en route to winning the team's first NBA crown in 40 years, the "Dubs" achieved a franchise-best 16-game winning streak, going five weeks without losing a game. One of the reasons for the Warriors' success can be attributed to having one of the brightest minds in the game in head coach Steve Kerr. However, he's been sidelined this season while recovering  from two off-season back surgeries. At the start of this season, Kerr passed the reigns to one of his assistants, Luke Walton, and the interim head coach hasn't missed a beat.

Luke Walton / So far, he's made all the right moves
as interim coach of the Warriors.

So far, Walton has made all the right moves, and he's getting the most out of his deep roster of talented stars -- point guard Stephen Curry, shooting guard Klay Thompson, and power forward Draymond Green -- and "second unit" role players like Andre Iguodala, Ron Livingston and Leandro Barbosa, each who could start for any other NBA team.

Nobody has been able to stop the Warriors this season -- maybe for a quarter, but not for all 48 minutes. When the Warriors take the court, writes San Francisco Chronicle columnist Bruce Jenkins, they "have five players who can run, pass, set screens, rebound, play fiercely motivated defense and, most importantly, hit the three-point shot.

"They love playing together: the fancier and more unselfish, the better. Curry is being linked with the all-time greats and Green looks to be a certain All-Star."

As the accolades come pouring in for the Warriors, the national media has begun to take notice. The other week, I read an utterly fascinated feature about the affable Curry in The New York Times in which Graham Lustig, the artistic director of the Oakland Ballet Company, said "there's a certain musicality to the way his body works. It looks like he's moving to a slightly different dimension as everyone else. Incredible, unbelievable control. And that's what you want in a dancer."

With each three-point basket shot from way downtown and every spinning layup, the 6-foot-3 Curry is reinventing the game of basketball -- transcending the sport, if you will -- and turning it into an artistic performance. According to Lustig, "much of his aesthetic appeal was rooted in what ballet dancers seek most: to make their art look effortless.

"Steph doesn't really look like he's putting in a lot of effort, does he? I'm not suggesting at all that he doesn't use effort. It's just that he doesn't display it, and I think that's probably at the core of what this is about."

Stephen Curry / "When he's hot, he makes things happen,
says teammate Leandro Barbosa.

Far from effortless, Curry began the season by averaging a league-best 31.6 points per game to go with 6.0 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 steals in winning Western Conference player of the month honors for November. With his 44-point outburst Saturday at Toronto, which included 15 points in a seven-minute span en route to an 112-109 victory, Curry has scored more than 40 points in seven games this season.

"Steph knows he's going to be on the court for most of the game, and he's going to have the ball in his hands for most of the game," Walton said after Sunday's victory against Brooklyn.

"He can pick and choose when he wants to get aggressive and take over and when he wants to get his teammates involved. That's his call out there, and he does a great job judging when to do both."

Toronto point guard DeMar DeRozan told the San Francisco Chronicle: "He's a heck of a player, and he makes it look so effortless." After a recent win at Phoenix in which Curry scored 41 points by knocking home 11-of-20 field goal attempts -- including 9-of-16 3-pointers -- in just 31 minutes on the court, Barbosa said: "When he's hot, he makes things happen. We were just enjoying watching him play."

While Curry seems to be enjoying himself shining in the spotlight -- putting on a boffo show for the fans both at home and on the road, which have included hip-hop mogul Drake in Toronto -- and contributing to his team's success, where their wins this season are coming by an average of nearly 16 points per game, the basketball world can't seem to get enough. The Warriors are not only a hot ticket at the box office, sales of their team merchandise have skyrocketed this season, too.

The Golden State Warriors / Celebrating the team's first
NBA championship in 40 years. 

Collectively, the Warriors show no signs of letting up. They love the feeling of being winners and their confidence remains high. In their win over Indiana on Tuesday, it was Thompson's turn to shine. His 39-point performance included 10 three-pointers.

Winning motivates this team. There's no boredom or conflict. After the Warriors' victory in Toronto Saturday, Curry called the team's winning streak "surreal." He told the San Francisco Chronicle that it doesn't sound right when you say it out loud. "But we're very confident when we're out there on the floor. We're very comfortable, and we expect to win every night."

Their fans love a winner and Curry and the Warriors keep delivering victories.

A postscript: On Saturday, a night after a gut-wrenching, physically taxing double-overtime victory over the Boston Celtics, which elevated the team's win-loss record this season to 24-0 and winning streak to 28 games, the Golden State Warriors finally lost a game, 108-95 to the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee. It was the seventh and final game of a two-week road trip across America and Canada. The streak had to end sometime.

Photos: Courtesy of Google Images.

Toy Story at Twenty: To infinity and beyond!

Toy Story / A great story with great characters.

With the release of The Good Dinosaur over Thanksgiving weekend, it's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since the debut of Toy Story, the memorable tale of a group of toys that come to life which was the first feature-length computer-animated film and the first theatrical film produced by Pixar.

At San Francisco International Airport, I recently happened upon SFO Museum's newest curated exhibition, "Toy Story at Twenty," which tells the story behind the story of this wonderful buddy-comedy adventure film through a variety of artifacts -- early sketches, toys and sculptures of the unforgettable characters Woody, a pull-string cowboy doll, and Buzz Lightyear, an astronaut figure -- as well as sharing backstories from many of the principals at Pixar such as director John Lasseter, producer Ralph Guggenheim, and story co-creator Andrew Stanton, who were involved in the production that forever changed the landscape of feature animation.

Toy Story / A buddy movie where the buddies are toys.

"It'll be a buddy movie: a banter-laden tale of a bitter alliance blossoming into a true friendship," said Toy Story director John Lasseter, as quoted in the exhibition. "It'll have a few unusual twists. First, the buddies will be toys. And second, it will be the first time an entire movie will have been created using computer animation."

According to Toy Story producer Ralph Guggenheim, "Nobody knew what skills we'd need when we started. It was a completely new series of combinations that had to add up to more than the sum of its parts." Added story supervisor Joe Ranft, "If the story isn't there, all the breakthrough computer graphics in the world piled onto it won't matter. You'll have made a piece of passing fashion."

Fortunately, the vivid, entertaining and moving story was there and it resonated with its audience. The iconic and timeless Toy Story had its theatrical debut on November 22, 1995, and went on to earn over $361 million worldwide.

Toy Story / An early sketch image of Woody.

The voices Woody and Buzz Lightyear are familiar ones belonging to actors Tom Hanks and Tim Allen.

"Getting a line reading from Tom Hanks is like getting this big, incredibly wet sponge," remembered animator Glenn McQueen. "It's overflowing with different possibilities for you to wring out." Meanwhile, as John Lasseter described it, "Casting Tim Allen to voice Buzz gave us that quality we wanted of a macho guy with a soft underbelly. Tim's perfect at doing an everyday guy."

Toy Story story co-creator Andrew Stanton said: "We never thought Woody and Buzz's repartee would hold the spotlight in and of itself. But once they were animated, suddenly the chemistry between them was the highlight of the movie."

Toy Story / A prototype of Buzz Lightyear.

The film received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song for "You've Got a Friend in Me" written and performed by Randy Newman. It won a Special Achievement Academy Award.

"Randy (Newman) turned out to be a great help to us when we needed a lot of emotion told to the audience, and accepted by the audience in a short amount of time," said Andrew Stanton.

"'You've Got a Friend in Me' speaks volumes about the love between Andy and Woody, better than we ever could tell it in dialogue. The way you feel it at the end of the song, we would have needed two more sequences without a song to get that point across."

Peter Schneider, president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, summed it up best: "At the end of the day, it's not the technique that the audience cares about; it's a great story, a visual feast, and great characters. They want to be taken on an emotional journey they've never been on before."

"Toy Story at Twenty" opened last week and it's on continuous display daily through May 22, 2016, for free, pre-security, in the SFO International Terminal main hall departures lobby. It is accessible to all airport visitors, and I highly recommend it.

To infinity and beyond!

Images: Courtesy of Pixar and Toy Story at Twenty.

Syrian refugee crisis: America has a moral responsibility

Desperate Syrian refugees / Lost, afraid, unsure, disoriented, alone.

Imagine how you might feel if you were lost, afraid, unsure, disoriented, alone. Or, a parent trying to make sure your kids didn't starve. How desperate might you be if that person was you, a Syrian refugee?

As the leader of the free world, the United States has a moral responsibility to do its fair share to come to the aid of Syrian refugees seeking compassion after having been displaced from their home country. Yet, an irrational fear and political demagoguery from right-wing zealots brought on following the recent Paris terrorist attacks has replaced human kindness in my country.

Many democratic nations of the world are doing their fair part to admit and welcome Syrian refugees. For instance, Germany has already accepted 38,500 and Canada 36,300. In the days after the Paris attack, French President François Hollande said that his country would accept 30,000 Syrian refugees over the next two years. Meanwhile, the United States has pledged to take in a modest 10,000 Syrian refugees, a paltry figure compared to the compassion shown by our Canadian neighbors to the north and our European allies across the pond. We could -- and should -- do so much more.

And yet, one Republican Party candidate for President, Donald Trump, is calling for a ban on a Syrian refugees, calling them "Trojan horses" for terrorism, while another, Dr. Ben Carson, likens Syrians to "rabid dogs." The scapegoating of refugees by these American politicians is not only very aggravating, it's mean-spirited. Their demagoguery -- out and out fear mongering -- about the refugees is a very mean punch in our nation's collective gut. Ever since the Paris attacks, Trump has ratcheted the populist rhetoric all the while spewing lies and half-truths, channeling the anxieties of Americans into fear and hate.

"We are not well served when in response to a terrorist attack we descend into fear and panic," President Barack Obama said last week. He reinforced his position during a joint press conference with Mr. Hollande at the White House on Tuesday afternoon.

As The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote in his Sunday column, "As anti-refugee hysteria sweeps many of our political leaders, particularly Republicans, I wonder what they would have told a desperate refugee family fleeing the Middle East. You've heard of this family: a carpenter named Joseph, his wife, Mary, and their baby son, Jesus.

"According to the Gospel of Matthew, after Jesus' birth, they fled to save Jesus from murderous King Herod (perhaps the 2,000-year -ago equivalent of Bashar al-Assad of Syria?). Fortunately, Joseph, Mary and Jesus found de-facto asylum in Egypt -- thank goodness House Republicans weren't in charge when Jesus was a refugee!" 

A Syrian father tries to comfort his two children /
 Together, they are refugees yearning for freedom.

So far, more than 200,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict. What is happening in that ravaged, Middle East war-torn country is one of the largest humanitarian crises since World War II. These desperate Syrian refugees should be admired for their courage and seen in the same yearning for freedom as refugees from any other war-torn or repressed country.

Instead, here in the United States, thanks to the Islamic State's terrorizing strategy of "creating a wedge in the West between Muslims and non-Muslims," according to Kristof, an anti-Syrian backlash has been created and many "fear mongers" such as Trump, Carson and Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz are looking upon immigrants and refugees as the enemy. They are effectively trying to de-humanize every Syrian person, branding them as "Not Like Us."

Listen, the problem is not the Syrian refugees, the ones who are fleeing persecution from the barbaric acts and twisted ideology carried out by murderous ISIS radical jihadists. As I see it, the problem in America is a political clouding caused by partisan politics that's more than just prejudiced -- it's become downright xenophobic, with a lot of finger-pointing aimed at all Muslim people. It's an insult to the more than 1.5 billion Muslims who peacefully worship Islam throughout the world.

While security within the U.S. borders is a legitimate concern -- and we can't rule out the slim possibility that a terrorist might slip in with the refugees -- let's take a moment and put things into proper perspective. Refugee admission into the United States is the most deeply vetted pathway, one which can take a couple of years for the process to be completed. So, do you really think a terrorist will wait two years to try to infiltrate our borders as a refugee? Not very likely. A terrorist who really wants to attack America would more likely be sent to this country by ISIS or any other terrorist organization as a student or as a tourist, and I don't see any of my country's political leaders calling for a ban on international students coming to study in our prestigious colleges and universities, or a ban on tourists coming to visit America's vibrant cities. As some have rightfully suggested, security must be permeated, but "with common sense and a bit of heart."

I am in agreement with Kristof and applaud how he summed up his feelings: "To seek to help desperate refugees in a secure way is not naïveté. It's not sentimentality. It's humanity."

Indeed, it's humanity, a moral responsibility.

Photos: Courtesy of Google images. 

Remembering Allen Toussaint: A great and good man

Allen Toussaint / A great and good man.

Over the past week, I've been reading many of the wonderful tributes that have been shared about legendary New Orleans musician and producer Allen Toussant, 77, who passed away earlier this month following a concert he performed in Madrid, Spain. It's given me a chance to reflect upon his music legacy.

A native of New Orleans, Toussaint was known equally for his masterful work as a pianist, composer, arranger and producer. Throughout his storied career, he embodied the traditions of New Orleans R&B music and was one of his city's most prolific and influential songwriters and producers.

David Simon, who created the HBO series The Wire and Treme, called Toussaint a "gentle, giving soul and one of the finest composers who ever created American music."

Toussaint could both compose and arrange music, and his piano-playing style was both imaginative and distinctive. As it happened, many of Toussaint's songs became familiar through versions by other musicians, including: "Working in the Coal Mine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)", "Southern Nights", "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky", "I'll Take a Melody", "Get Out of My Life, Woman", and "Mother-in-Law".

As a producer, Toussaint's credits include Dr. John's hit "Right Place, Wrong Time" and Labelle's "Lady Marmalade." Additionally, Toussaint contributed horn arrangements for the rock group The Band's 1972 'Rock of Ages' concert album, which is where I remember hearing of Toussaint for the first time. I liked what I heard.

"The horn arrangements he wrote for The Band became a staple of our sound from the Academy of Music/Rock of Ages concerts to The Last Waltz,"said Robbie Robertson, guitarist for The Band, in remembering Toussaint last week on his Facebook page. "He was not only a brilliant songwriter, record producer, piano man, arranger and performer; he was also one of the finest gentlemen I have ever known. I had the honor of inducting Allen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and I couldn't find enough kind words to express how strongly I felt about him and his music."

Personally, I had the joyful experience of seeing Toussaint perform in concert twice: first, at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California, on June 20, 2006, as part of a tour he did with Elvis Costello in support of an album they collaborated on following Hurricane Katrina called 'The River in Reverse'; second, in a solo show he gave on May 11, 2007, at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Both were extremely joyful occasions, and I'm grateful for having had the chance to see Toussaint perform live.

On his Facebook page, Costello spoke eloquently of Toussaint: "I have been so lucky to spend even this little time with Allen Toussaint. Allen was unfailingly gracious, elegant and musically curious.

"We last shared the stage at the Civic Center in New Orleans in February of this year. As always, he was thoughtful, bringing a late Mardi Gras gift for my wife (the jazz musician Diana Krall) and asking after the well-being of my sons and my mother, who he had once visited on a trip around Merseyside.

"He signed off every note and phone call the same way; 'Looking Forward'.

"I will miss him very much."

In his recently-published memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, Costello devoted an entire chapter to his friendship with Toussaint and the recording of 'The River in Reverse' album. It is defintely worth a few minutes of your time to read:

http://www.elviscostello.com/news/the-river-in-reverse/775

A day after learning of Toussaint's death, I listened to 'The River in Reverse', an album which came about following the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. One of my favorite songs from this album is "Ascension Day." I came across a lovely video for "Ascension Day," which features inspired vocals by Costello and the soulful -- and at times rollicking -- but always harmonic playing by Toussaint on piano.

Allen Toussaint was a great and good man, who left this world much too soon. The world has lost a musical treasure that can never be replaced. Fortunately, his music and recordings live on. Like Elvis Costello and many others, I will miss him very dearly.

God rest your soul, Allen.

Learn more about Allen Toussaint:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Toussaint

Photo: Courtesy of WWNO/Google images. 

Video: Courtesy of YouTube.

Wendell Pierce: A soaring and eloquent voice speaks out about the redemptive and healing power of art

Wendell Pierce's memoir, 'The Wind in the Reeds:
A Storm, A Play, and the City That Would Not Be Broken'
is about the redemptive and healing power of art and
about New Orleans, a city he loves so dearly.

From his leading roles in HBO's The Wire and Treme to his feature film appearances in Selma, Ray and Waiting to Exhale, I've admired the work of the Tony Award-winning actor and producer Wendell Pierce for many years.

When I learned a few months ago that Pierce would be coming to the Bay Area to speak at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco on October 30, I marked it on my calendar and bought tickets to this Arts & Ideas lecture. For more than an hour last Friday evening, Pierce spoke in both a soaring and eloquent tone of voice about the redemptive and healing power of art and about New Orleans, the city of his birthplace and the origin of his creativity. It is a city that he loves so dearly.

Pierce has written a new memoir, The Wind in the Reeds: A Storm, A Play, and the City That Would Not Be Broken, that is truly a page-turner.

'The Wind in the Reeds' is truly
a page-turner.

Both poignant and redemptive, in The Wind in the Reeds, Pierce tells the stories of his family, his city and his creative journey in the arts, and how they are all connected to one another. And, just as importantly, how they are "precious and worth saving, and how art has been critically important in revitalizing this unique American city."

On the back of the book's dust jacket, James McBride, author of The Color of Water and The Good Lord Bird, writes:

"This is more than a memoir. It's an adventure in history, encompassing the timeless elements that propelled this fourth-generation grandson of a slave into one of the most important dramatic actors of our age: family, art, truth, religion, and of course a mother's love. This is a story of sacrifice and blood struggle, of victory and selflessness, told with deep humility and grace by one of the most important American artists of our generation."

Pierce, 51, writes in his memoir: "We know who we are by the stories we tell about ourselves and our world. We know who we are through the family and community of whose stories we are a part.

"We make our stories. And our stories make us.

"I am not sure the stories of my family are art, exactly. After all, they came down to me not as objects to be admired for their beauty. Then again, they contain so much truth and goodness that they cannot help being beautiful as well. Their trials, their triumphs, the virtues that gave them the strength to overcome -- all of these things live in the stories my family shares as an inheritance that grows as we invest in it each successive generation.

"I draw creative strength from my roots buried deep in south Louisiana. Until the storm, I did not appreciate how much those roots were the veins connecting my heart to the body of historical experience that gave birth to the man I am today, and the man -- and the artist -- I am becoming every day."

Since Hurricane Katrina devastated his native New Orleans in 2005, Pierce has devoted much time and energy helping to rebuild the flood-ravaged Pontchartrain Park, a black middle-class neighborhood which became the first African-American post-war suburb, where was raised by his parents -- his father retired from the military and became a photographer and his mother was a school teacher. "In my family, we have a motto: Don't ever tell me you can't do something."

Throughout the evening, Pierce kept returning to the themes of a love of family and community in describing what brought him back to his roots and the need to do something positive to help in the city's recovery, to pick up the pieces. He so very much wanted to see his city to come back. So, he became a community rebuilder.

Wendell Pierce (right) performing in 'Waiting for Godot'.
The actor said it was a cathartic experience for him
and it reminded him of the power of art.
"It was an awakening."

"After Katrina, there were miles and miles of destruction and nothing there, nothing was right. And yet, we stagger onward rejoicing," said Pierce. One of the ways the actor helped his community rebuild -- and by extension his city -- was by performing in what became a legendary production of Waiting for Godot, which was staged in two of the neighborhoods that were most damaged by Hurricane Katrina. It became a chance for the city of New Orleans to come together and to celebrate "the human capacity for resilience."

In a recent NPR interview, Pierce said performing Waiting for Godot was a cathartic experience for him and it reminded him of the power of art. "It was an awakening. Waiting for Godot, this existential play about two men in this void with only a tree and a road, with no sense of who they are, where they've been, where they hope to do -- a real sense of desperation and loss, awaiting for something to help them something to guide them, to find who they are. They're waiting for Godot. They don't even know what or who Godot is.

"And it's in that moment that they come to the realization in this play that the power that they truly have is within themselves. And Vladimir says, 'At this place in this moment of time all mankind is us.  Let us do something while we have the chance.'"

In his book, Pierce writes of the "collaborative potential that art has to heal ourselves, our families and our communities." On Friday, Pierce reminded us of this, saying: "We reflect on who we are as a society and community. The legacy of New Orleans can be seen through the arts. Everything comes together as we deal with life."

Photo of Wendell Pierce at JCCSF Arts & Ideas: © Michael Dickens, 2015.
Photo of Wendell Pierce in 'Waiting for Godot': Courtesy of Google Images.

Elvis Costello: A master of high fidelity and storytelling, too

Elvis Costello / Charming crowds with his music and storytelling.

Elvis Costello knows how to charm the pants off an audience. He's done it successfully for the past 40 years as one of his generation's greatest songwriters. Now, with a simple wink, a friendly smile, or just the right choice of words and upbeat tone of voice, the bespectacled and iconic English musician who was once described by a critic as a "pop encyclopedia," is delighting crowds with his good-natured manner and geniality of conversation. He's become a master of the craft of storytelling.

Last Thursday evening's City Arts & Lectures event at the Nourse in San Francisco provided Costello with a forum for talking at length about his new memoir -- 'Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink' -- that (at a hefty but very readable 670 pages) shows Costello to be an intelligent, thoughtful, witty and lyrical writer.

In conversation with Dan Stone, editor-in-chief of Radio Silence, Costello showed why he's a wonderful conversationalist and gifted storyteller. Costello stood and read several passages from his memoir that recalled a mostly happy childhood growing up in a musical family in Liverpool, England, and the special relationship he shared with his father, Ross MacManus, who was a professional singer in a popular dance band. The younger MacManus recalled with clarity watching his father play afternoon dance gigs at the Hammersmith Palais in the 1961. By the end of the decade, Costello had gone into the family business, following in both his father's and grandfather's footsteps, and he took the popular music world by storm by the age of 24, replete with his black-framed Buddy Holly glasses.

Over the course of about 80 minutes, there were many funny and good-natured reminisces about Costello's coming of age, including: one of his first jobs as a data-entry clerk for cosmetics giant Elizabeth Arden; the influence of the Beatles on both his and his father's musical careers; coming to play San Francisco for the first time in his early twenties back in the 1970s; and his infamous TV appearance on Saturday Night Live. Costello punctuated his fluid storytelling by sharing many candid family photos that were projected overhead on a giant movie screen for the audience to delight in.

While 'Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink' doesn't adhere to a linear chronology, what I have read thus far has been a fun and enjoyable read, and each chapter presents colorful highlights in Costello's remarkable life. The New York Times called 'Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink' "some of the best writing -- funny, strange, spiteful, anguished -- we've ever had from an important musician."

Throughout last Thursday's conversation and later, during a Question and Answer period with the house lights turned up, we learned why Costello, 61, is truly a music fan and delights in championing the works of other musicians such as country star George Jones, jazz pianist Allen Toussaint, pop composer Burt Bacharach, rock guitarist and producer T Bone Burnett, English singer/songwriter Nick Lowe, former Beatles icon Paul McCartney, and hip hop/neo soul band The Roots, to name just a few whom Costello has collaborated with over the years.

But wait, the best part of the night was yet to come. Without any prompting, Costello asked the audience: "Hey, you wanna hear a song?" The sold-out audience at the Nourse responded by amping up their already enthusiastic applause. Before the cheering could fade, an acoustic Gibson guitar was brought out and handed to Costello to play and, quickly, a stool, microphone and music stand were in place for "the show" to go on.

Thus, Elvis began an impromptu "mini concert" by performing a very meaningful and moving -- and slowed-down -- version of "Every Day I Write the Book" from 1983's Punch the Clock, followed by "I Hear a Melody," originally recorded in 1977 for his debut album My Aim is True. Finally, a medley of "Radio Sweetheart/What Jackie Wilson Said," the former penned by Costello and the latter composed by Van Morrison, brought the crowd to its feet. The night was complete.

Photo images: Courtesy of 'Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink', 2015.

This "Hamlet" needs to be seen and not just heard

National Theatre Live: Coming to a cinema near you. /
Benedict Cumberbatch in "Hamlet."

Ever wanted to experience the best of British theatre without having to trek to London? Now you can, thanks to National Theatre Live, where all the world's a stage even if the stage is on a big movie screen.

One night recently, my wife and I drove to the Century 14 cineplex in downtown Walnut Creek, Calif., about a half-hour's drive from our East Bay home, where we thrilled to an enjoyable evening of London West End theatre come alive on the big screen.

For just $20 a ticket, we were treated to the National Theatre Live's cinematic presentation of the critically-acclaimed "Hamlet," Lyndsey Turner's monumental Barbican production of the 1603 iconic William Shakespeare play about the melancholy prince of Denmark, that was broadcast to a global audience of more than 225,000 on 1,400 movie theater screens in 25 countries around the world.

I was one of those near quarter-million experiencing one of the greatest moments of theatre I had ever experienced. Yet, what I was watching was more a film than a play, but without any compromise to the live appeal of theatre.

That total represents the largest global audience for a live broadcast of any title in National Theatre Live history. Not to worry if you missed out on the excitement. Additional encores of "Hamlet" are scheduled to be shown in movie theaters later this month.

Since its debut in 2009, among the National Theatre Live presentations beamed to theaters include: "Frankenstein" with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternating between the title role and Dr. Jekyll; "King Lear," produced by Sam Mendes; and "A Streetcar Named Desire," which starred Gillian Anderson.

Throughout, "Hamlet" had plenty of "visual swagger" and, of course, there was an infinitely touching prince, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, whom U.S. audiences have grown to love from his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in "Sherlock" on PBS's Masterpiece.

"If there's one good thing about the avalanche of hype surrounding the (Hamlet) production, it's that it made Shakespeare seem sexy. That's quite a feat," wrote Lyn Gardner in The Guardian, one of London's pre-eminent newspapers and news websites.

"The production has been accused by several critics of being overly cinematic, but its visual swagger,  with its indigo hues, comes into its own on the screen. It would be worrying if this production set a precedent for stage shows that are directed and designed with an eye to the live screening and a global audience rather than those seeing it in a theatre," added Gardner.

On the night we watched "Hamlet" -- October 15 -- the audience was comprised mostly of middle-aged suburban adults. There were the curious fans like us, who were eager to see Cumberbatch tackle the title role of Hamlet -- both as a prep-school misfit and as a toy soldier -- and to embrace and enjoy outstanding theatre. In addition to Cumberbatch, there were stellar performances given by Ciarán Hinds as Claudius and Sian Brooke as Ophelia.

The only thing missing that would have made our night more complete -- and something that makes attending West End theatre unique to an American -- was a vendor selling ice cream cups in the stalls during intermission.

Seeing National Theatre Live's "Hamlet" reinvented for a 21st Century audience reminded me of this: "Hamlet" needs to be seen and not just heard. And, seeing a larger-than-life Cumberbatch up-close and personal for three hours added up to one hell of a wonderful night of theatre on the big screen.

Photo: Courtesy of Google Images.

In 'Fast Forward', Joe Jackson continues his restless pursuit of musical adventure

Joe Jackson / His new album Fast Forward was recorded in four different cities.

Sometimes I look at the Moon

And I think I know just how she feels

Going round and round us again

As we go round the Sun

Watching us as fools and geniuses rush in

And you and me age disgracefully

And have way too much fun.

~ From Fast Forward by Joe Jackson

Fast Forward is Joe Jackson's
 first album of original material
 since 2008.

Fast Forward is British singer/songwriter Joe Jackson's first album of original material since 2008. The album was developed out of an idea to record a series of four EPs, each relating to a specific favorite city of Jackson's. The final product is comprised of 16 songs -- four sets of four songs each which were recorded in the cities of New York City, Amsterdam, Berlin and New Orleans.

Each set includes a different group of supporting musicians and each takes on a slightly different tone. In addition to the 14 new songs penned by Jackson, there are two covers, including a remake of Television's "See No Evil" and a rendition of the 1930s German cabaret tune "Good Bye Jonny." Collectively, Fast Forward is reminiscent of Jackson's Night and Day. From start of finish, this group of musical compositions blend together like a song cycle.

Jackson told Salon.com that he had spent a lot of time accumulating songs. "I was sitting on a big pile of songs, and I was looking for a way to organize them. (When) it started off, the idea was rather than doing a whole album was to work on three or four songs at a time, maybe do a series of EPs. The idea grew from there."

Joe Jackson debuted new material
during his recent concert at
the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
Festival in San Francisco.

I had the opportunity to see the 61-year-old Jackson debut some of his new material ("If It Wasn't For You" and "Ode To Joy") from Fast Forward as well as perform some old favorites ("Is She Really Going Out With Him", "It's Different For Girls" and "Sunday Papers") when he played the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival earlier this month in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Jackson's slick urbanity on keyboards and vocals stood out front and center throughout his 50-minute, 10-song set, which was was greeted with enthusiastic applause by thousands of fans who packed the Towers of Gold Stage on the western edge of Lindley Meadow.

In a recent interview published by Stereogum, Jackson discussed Fast Forward, saying it "has more words than anything else I've written.

On 'Fast Forward', Joe Jackson said:
"I imagined having a time machine,
and hitting 'fast forward' until I'm far
enough in the future to look back at
the present and make sense of it."

"It just kept growing and growing. I imagined having a time machine, and hitting 'fast forward' until I'm far enough in the future to look back at the present and make sense of it," he said. "We've got the past all figured out (or think we do) -- and we can imagine the future as anything we want. So it's only the present that's baffling and maddening. And I think we're living in a confused and anxious time. The commentary out there is extremely divided, either 'we're living in a golden age' or 'we're all screwed.'"

Jackson said he started with the chord changes, "which constantly cycle through different keys until they end with there started, only to start again.

"That triggered thoughts about how things are always changing, yet in some ways stay the same, or go backwards. The lyrics are full of ironies and contradictions."

Throughout 'Fast Forward', there is
strong musicianship and diverse,
well-crafted songs.

Among the musicians who contributed to Fast Forward are longtime Jackson bassist Graham Maby as well as jazz musicians Bill Frisell on guitar and Regina Carter on violin. Throughout, there is strong musicianship and diverse, well-crafted songs.

One of the great things I like about Jackson and what continues to draw my attention to his music is his restless pursuit of musical adventure. In "Kings of the City," Jackson crafts a lovely pop song complete with wit, style and undeniably meaningful lyrics:

We're the A Team -- the White Knights
And we want it all
We got the big dream
And the bright lights
But we don't see the stars any more.

While the Berlin song quartet turned out to be the darkest of the four, it yielded one of the album's loveliest tunes, "The Blue Time," which highlights Jackson's soulful vocals and supreme keyboard stylings coupled with the tender guitar work of Dirk Berger and an understated trumpet solo by Dima Bondarev.

You come to me in the Blue Time
Between the night and the day
Always too soon for the sunrise
Always too late for a second chance.

Fast Forward is Joe Jackson's return
 to pop songwriting. The album is
filled full of bittersweet songs that
are tight and melodic.

While many of the songs on Fast Forward are bittersweet, they are tight and melodic. One is even unambiguous, "Ode to Joy," which has become a favorite of mine. It's the final song on the album and it features three musicians from the New Orleans funk troupe Galactic, plus a horn section featuring Donald Harrison, Jr. on alto saxophone.

"It says, don't forget, there really is such a thing as Joy, even if it's not always there when you want it," Jackson said during an interview with music magazine Relix. "I wanted to get some New Orleans flavor in the context of something that really isn't New Orleans music. There's also a little altered quote in there from Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' from the Ninth Symphony. Everyone steals; I reckon you may as well steal from the best."

We can all be joyful for Jackson's return to pop songwriting -- and he does it with a clear voice and a conscience. "A few of the songs could've been done anywhere, to be honest, but you know, I ended up dividing them up and in the process some things happened that I didn't expect to happen," Jackson told Salon.com. ... But I really like them all equally. If somebody just asked me which was my favorite, no way I'm gonna answer that."

All photos: © Michael Dickens, 2015.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass: The wonderful sounds of autumn return to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass / One of the premiere music festivals
in the country -- and it's free, too!

The first weekend of October holds a special significance for my wife and me because it's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass weekend. What has become one of the premier music festivals in the country over the past 15 years has become an annual highlight of our San Francisco cultural calendar.

Oh, by the way, did I mention Hardly Strictly is free, too?

There's no place better to be in San Francisco on a gorgeous, beautiful autumn weekend than in Golden Gate Park at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, the late Warren Hellman's gift to The City. Although the Bay Area billionaire investment banker and benefactor -- himself a spirited banjo player and a lover of bluegrass music -- died in 2011, he left an endowment to ensure its existence for many years to come. There are no corporate sponsors.

Larger than life / Likeness of Warren Hellman
looks out over the Banjo Stage at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.

In 2012, one of the meadows used for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass was renamed Hellman Hollow to honor Hellman's memory. On the Banjo Stage at Hellman Hollow, a giant likeness of Hellman's smiling face is included on the stage's backdrop scrim-curtain.

Last weekend, the 15th edition of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass returned to the western half of Golden Gate Park spread out over seven stages with its usual eclectic mix of talent -- over 100 live acts -- including Punch Brothers, Gillian Welch, Ry Cooder, Boz Scaggs, Joe Jackson, T Bone Burnett, Los Lobos, Neko Case, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Steve Earle and perennial closer Emmylou Harris.

Americana singer Lera Lynn / Her music has been
featured in the HBO series "True Detective".

For the estimated three-quarters of a million of music lovers who were expected to descend upon the Park over the festival's three days, filling the lawns, crowding into the hills and even dotting a few treetops, HSB 15 offered a little something for everyone's music palette: traditional bluegrass (Cinch Mountain Boys), progressive bluegrass (Punch Brothers), country (LeeAnn Womack), folk (Laura Marling), Americana (Felice Brothers), and roots rock (Steve Earle). Add to the mix some English pop and soul (Joe Jackson and Paul Weller), American Chicano rock (Los Lobos) and Celtic rock (Flogging Molly) and it all added up to a treasure trove of great music riches at this year's festival.

My wife and I ventured out from our East Bay home across the Bay via BART and rode the N Judah Muni Metro train out to 19th Avenue and walked a mile or so to the Park for the first two days of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass -- and we were thrilled by what we heard. On Friday, we arrived early afternoon in time to camp out on the Marx Meadow grounds in front of the Rooster Stage to enjoy the pleasing sounds of the Felice Brothers and Laura Marling.

Chris Thile of Punch Brothers / Spirited and spontaneous.

Then, we sprinted across the grounds to catch the exciting Punch Brothers, led by the very spirited mandolinist Chris Thile, who lit up the Banjo Stage with their progressive bluegrass sound. How best to describe them? I'll defer to The Times of London, which once described the Punch Brothers' sound as "bluegrass instrumentation and spontaneity in the strictures of modern classical" as well as "American country-classical chamber music." Included in their set list was "Passepied" by classical composer Claude Debussy, which was warmly received by the overflow crowd, and they closed with a medley of "Magnet/Alone, Together" by the Strokes.

I later learned that there's a wonderful story behind the band's name. It comes from a critical line of an earworm jingle in the Mark Twain short story "A Literary Nightmare." In it, the chorus of the jingle consists of two lines, "Punch, brother, punch with care, punch in the presence of the passenjare," that are said to be the mantra of railroad conductors.

An American rocker / T Bone Burnett sang protect songs.

Finally, we arrived at the Swan Stage in Lindley Meadow by late afternoon to catch the beginning of a tremendous set of Dylanesque "protest" rock by the innovative American songwriter-producer T Bone Burnett. He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue band of the 1970s and later went on to unparalleled acclaim for his work with artists like Elvis Costello and for producing the Grammy Award-winning "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack. Soon, the sun faded out over the nearby Pacific Ocean, and it was time to return home.

On Saturday, we eagerly returned and camped out on the far end of Lindley Meadow at the Towers of Gold Stage, the western-most stage on the festival grounds for much of the afternoon, listening to Lera Lynn, whose work has been featured on HBO's True Detective crime drama series while awaiting for Joe Jackson and Boz Scaggs to take the stage. Toting a picnic basket full of food and beverages, we unfurled a large beach towel on the Lindley Meadow grounds and soaked up some sunshine and good sounds.

Fast forward / Joe Jackson still steppin' out in song.

"Thank you music lovers," Jackson said early during his set of rich and rewarding old faves ("It's Different For Girls", "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" and "Sunday Papers") and new songs ("If It Wasn't For You" and "Ode To Joy") from his first new studio album in seven years, "Fast Forward," which was released a day before his Hardly Strictly Bluegrass appearance.

"We're soldiering on. We learned 40 songs for this tour. If I f*ck up the words, blame the sun!" the ever-restless Jackson joked.

In his defense, Jackson was blinded by the bright sun, despite wearing shades, and his ability to rely upon an iPad that contained song lyrics propped up on his grand piano was all but stymied. Still, the dapper Jackson remained a good sport through it all, and his 50-minute, 10-song set was much enjoyed and appreciated by all.

Boz Scaggs / Having a lot of fun with music, more than ever.

Later, it was time to enjoy the legendary guitarist and vocalist Boz Scaggs, whose hour-long set showed a willingness to wander in several musical directions, including rock, jazz, soul and tango. As Scaggs closed with his mega-hit "Lido Shuffle," the sun began to fade just a bit on what was a lovely afternoon of music that passed much too quickly.

On our way out of the festival, we paused for a few minutes on the periphery of the Banjo Stage grounds to catch a few songs by iconic roots rockers Steve Earle & the Dukes.

As much as we would have liked coming back for a third day of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass on Sunday, we were both musically and physically spent. But it felt good. Instead, from the comforts of home, we caught portions of sets by Neko Case, Los Lobos and DeVotchKa via the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass live stream to whet our music appetite.

Paul Weller / His ever-changing moods.

Year after year, the HSB festival organizers out-do themselves and make it one of the most outstanding -- and uniquely satisfying -- music festivals in the country. It keeps getting bigger and better without becoming commercial.

We look forward to returning next year and doing it all over again.

To see a complete list of artists who performed at the 2015 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival as well as to link to the webcast archive of selected performances:

http://www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2015/

All photographs © Michael Dickens, 2015.