From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2010 #250 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Archives: http://www.smoe.org/lists/onlyjoni Websites: http://www.jmdl.com http://www.jonimitchell.com Unsubscribe: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe onlyJMDL Digest Wednesday, September 8 2010 Volume 2010 : Number 250 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: report on Pazfest [Mark-Leon Thorne ] Re: report on Pazfest [Gerald Notaro ] Re: report on Pazfest [Anita G ] Pazfest Report Part 1 [Bob.Muller@Fluor.com] Pazfest II report from Laura [Laura Stanley ] Pazfest II, Part II - Friday [Bob.Muller@Fluor.com] Pazfest II, Part III - Party at Paz's Place & Sunday [Bob.Muller@Fluor.co] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 18:32:53 +1000 From: Mark-Leon Thorne Subject: Re: report on Pazfest Thanks Lieve for the report. It does make me envious though. You gave a wonderful account. I always suspected the Paz family to be special souls. Maybe one day I will get to experience all the love at a JoniFest. Mark in Sydney NP Other Stuff - Soul Family Sensation ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 08:27:07 -0400 From: Gerald Notaro Subject: Re: report on Pazfest It really is the special Paz family that is the heart and soul that make Pazfest what it is. And now that number one son, Mikey is so grown up, we add him and his brother Julian for being so gracious and hospitable. There is never a concern for any change and chink in any plan. Just a quiet we'll handle it and move on. And always with the spirit of Michael's mother, Freda's mother-in-law, and the boys' grandmother smiling on the proceedings. We were blessed with very unusual dry and cool (for New Orleans in the summer) weather, as well as the company of all the wonderful JMDL people. I won't go on about the details. I'll leave that to the far more able hands of people like Lieve and Bob. I just wish you all have the chance to join us someday and enjoy the unique experiences that every JMDL gathering offers. Jerry On Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 4:32 AM, Mark-Leon Thorne wrote: > Thanks Lieve for the report. It does make me envious though. You gave a > wonderful account. I always suspected the Paz family to be special souls. > Maybe one day I will get to experience all the love at a JoniFest. > > Mark in Sydney > > NP Other Stuff - Soul Family Sensation ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 16:47:30 +0100 From: Anita G Subject: Re: report on Pazfest I have to say, Jerry, that I have only met Paz the once at Full Moon in 2003 and I knew that he did lots of fund raising and was an all round egg, rising to challenges whenever they arise. However, reading the piece that Brian posted the link to earlier this week reallu underlined that both MIchael and his family seem to have made a difference to the world. It doesn't get much better than that. No wonder he likes Joni! And I guess Joni would really like Paz and his folks. Anita x On 7 September 2010 13:27, Gerald Notaro wrote: > It really is the special Paz family that is the heart and soul that make > Pazfest what it is. Jerry ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 12:47:54 -0400 From: Bob.Muller@Fluor.com Subject: Pazfest Report Part 1 Firstly, I have to give a HUGE thank-you to Michael for all of his hard work and preparation to put together what was a wonderful time. His endless energy, enthusiasm, sincere love, and musical skills are almost beyond my comprehension - like I said when I introduced him at The Howlin' Wolf, I will never be anywhere near as cool as Paz and I've made peace with that. But I also have to acknowledge the efforts of Mikey, Julian and Freda, as well as my fellow JMDLer's in making the weekend so memorable. This was also a very special event for me as it was the first time I took along a companion to a Jonifest - my 24-year-old son Nathan, who wanted to go as soon as I mentioned that a New Orleans Pazfest was in the making. I knew that he would fit right in, love all the music, fellowship and fun as much as me and also knew that all of my fellow festers would greet him with open arms, which they did. Our flight to New Orleans was uneventful and right on time. We were supposed to meet up with Jerry and Frank (Jerry's friend) and Cassy, but Frank cancelled at the last minute and Cassy was running later than scheduled, so it was just the three of us in Mikey's truck as he drove us to the Astor Crowne Hotel. Paz had scored us an awesome low rate, and the location of the hotel (right on the corner of Canal and Bourbon) made it a prome location for anything you wanted or needed to do. They even had a balcony for watching all the crazies strolling up and down Bourbon Street. We spent several late-night hours out there. We had just enough time to grab a little snack and drink at a pizza-by-the-slice joint before it was meet-up time for all of us to shuttle to the Ogden Art Museum for a Howlin' Wolf preview. The Museum was really nice, it was a former library and the architecture was lovely and acoustically very nice. Many of the performers who played at the shortened show on Thursday also played Friday, although (for the most part) their sets were totally different. It was a great show, featuring some old favorites like Bryan Thomas, Beth Patterson, Leslie Smith, and some new folks too. I'm not going to do a very good job with names, should have taken notes I suppose, but I was having WAY too much fun to do that. Probably the most memorable performances were the guy who came out with a small ukelele singing "Morning Morgantown" and encouraging an audience sing-along, then sat down at the piano and turned in an amazing cocktail piano take on Judgement Of The Moon And Stars - it was incredible, Kakki and I were both flashing out big OMG faces the whole time. Leslie Smith did a great version of "Nothing Can Be Done" but more about that later as she also performed it Friday in her Howlin' Wolf set. It was so good to see Bryan Thomas again, and to hear his wonderful Prince-inspired take on "Black Crow". Beth Patterson performed "Amelia" and "Ladies Of The Canyon" on bouzouki, our very own Sue Tierney McNamara did "Who Has Seen The Wind" and "Song To A Seagull" and I have to say that she was in superb voice. Her confidence has really taken off since the first time I saw her and I love her passion for the early unreleased Joni stuff. There was plenty more music at the Ogden, all of it outstanding except for poor Lucy Burnett, who sang BSN with the words in front of her and botched them terribly. Very painful to listen to her struggle through missed line after line. After the music, we all made our way to dinner, a great family-style seafood dinner at Rio Mar that Mike had arranged. The food was wonderful and I had am embarrassing pile of mussel shells in front of me. After the restaurant we headed back to the hotels and the first of many all-night parties in Suite 629 (Michael's place). It had been a long day for Nate & I (and we had consumed many libations), so both of us fell asleep in our seats, much to the delight of those with cameras. At least we made it back to our room and called it quits for Thursday. - ------------------------------------------------------------ The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain proprietary, business-confidential and/or privileged material. If you are not the intended recipient of this message you are hereby notified that any use, review, retransmission, dissemination, distribution, reproduction or any action taken in reliance upon this message is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of the company. - ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 10:19:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Laura Stanley Subject: Pazfest II report from Laura My son Peter and I drove down from Little Rock and shortly after settling into our room at the Astor Crowne Plaza, I got a call and heard that deep, smooth Paz voice on the other end asking, "Laura where the hell are you?!" I felt instantly welcome! Paz was the best host!!! New Orleans is like one big band with the sound of cars and people. Movement and lights were everywhere in all directions like a dance floor. Perfect place for a jonifest. Paz had a huge suite in the hotel where we all gathered late Thursday night. "You can sleep when you are dead" is what Paz lives by, and so did we. He was really an incredible host with angels on his side, led by his mother no doubt. I can't tell you how many times things worked out so we could all be together in one place at the same time. I walked around the French Quarter with my son Peter Friday. Our first stop was Cafe du Monde for Beignets and coffee. Then we went to the aquarium and got to feed the sting rays, see jelly fish, and sea horses, etc. We went to the River Walk Mall and ate lunch before going back to the hotel to meet up with people to go to the Joni tribute concert at the Howlin' Wolf. Kate and Jeff and Sue rode with me early to set up for their performances. The Howlin' Wolf was the perfect venue with plenty of space and a good sized stage that easily held a full band. I met Paz' wife, Freda, at the t-shirt stand. She is so dear! A friend of mine named Scot who lives north of New Orleans loved the concert. He was very impressed and glad he came. We sat in a row of wooden chairs, front center stage. JMDLers were up first and made us proud!! Sue, Kate, Cassy, and Paz all did a wonderful job!!! After them came a waterfall of performers, and toward the end, Sherelle showed up and sang Edith and the King Pin beautifully after a day of riding Amtrak and having grabbed a suitcase that wasn't hers and having to return it. A few performers who stand out in my mind are a guy who played a twelve string guitar with the ease of playing an electric guitar... he was all over the fret board with such speed and feeling that he put out the sound of at least three guitarists playing at once. Then there was a trumpet player who made sounds come out of the trumpet I've never heard before. He was such a natural that it was as if he had been born with a trumpet attached to his lips. He was with a pint sized woman of color whose vocals filled the room with powerful charm. She warned us she might contort like Joe Cocker as she sang... and she did! I had met Bryan Thomas the night before in Paz' suite, and he was quiet, but on the stage he was like a whirl wind!!! His voice is so crystal clear and his guitar playing moved!!! The songs he played came to life!!! There was a lady who played a 6 string bass and did Goodbye Pork Pie Hat with just the bass. That was courageous, and she nailed it! Several of the women singers blew me away, especially the Bee Hive lady from SNL who sang Both Sides Now. The brothers who played classical Spanish style guitars did a remarkable musical version of Urge for Going. Tom Marron singing Tea Leaf Prophecy was life changing for me. Unbelievable! The world should hear him sing this song!!! Well, I don't remember most of the names of singers and the songs they sang so I'm not a good one to report on details of the concert, but I hope this gives you an idea of the night. It was truly magical!!! Saturday at Paz' house was like going to visit grandma. We were made to feel at home. Just to the left of the door we entered was a black grand piano; to the right, a set of drums; and straight ahead were microphones. Later we had a sing along there of the Beatles, Elton John, Sarah McLachlan, Heart, Joni, etc. The kitchen is a step up from the living room and is open above the counter so we could see Jody cooking with Freda as we walked in and got a good whiff of the gumbo. There was salsa and two kinds of hummus waiting for us on the table. Jody made a vegetarian jambalaya-type dish to die for! Paz' house is very open with all the rooms connected by open spaces. Even the upstairs room where we rehearsed had a small triangular opening connecting it to the open staircase. His backyard is so big that I thought he had two back yards when I looked out of the windows on different sides of the house. He has an awesome studio out there with all kinds of Joni memorabilia on the walls. Cypress trees and Spanish Moss formed a canopy above us while we sat on the back porch where we had a small sing along with Sue playing songs, Harry's House stands out in my head, while Paz grilled shrimp. Sunday my son Peter and I finally got to ride in the big, white Pazfest van. You'd be amazed how many JMDLers could pack in there!!! After dropping Kate and Jeff off at the air port, we went to a fish restaurant traveling over bayous where cypress trees grow. We saw a huge eagles nest at the top of one of the trees. We ate outside on a covered porch, and the food was excellent!!! After eating, Paz drove Jody and Steve to the airport just in time to board their plane. Later that night was went to Mulates for drinks and to hear a Cajun band one of Paz' friends plays in and met up with Jim and Ed which was fun. For dinner, Paz took us to a restaurant in the middle of what looked like a college town neighborhood. We practically filled the little restaurant. It was a bring your own bottle place and had tapas that were the best! The visiting at all these places and in the van was priceless!!! We ended up back at Paz' suite where we visited until late the last night. It was funny when Cassy turned to me at about 1am and asked, "do you think I should go to sleep or not? I have to leave for the airport at about 3am?" It was the only night we didn't play music. We were too into talking and had some good laughs at the you tell me your's, I'll tell you mine stories. You'll have to ask Paz to tell you the cat story himself. Even though we talk about anything and everything on this list, I would be way out of line to write it here. Thanks everybody, especially Paz, for the best time!!!! I love you all!!! Love, Laura ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 14:33:30 -0400 From: Bob.Muller@Fluor.com Subject: Pazfest II, Part II - Friday OK, so Friday, like all days, we slept in and it's just as well...New Orleans is pretty darn quiet if you pop up around 8 or 9 and hit the streets. It doesn't really start waking up until around 11AM or so and that was just fine with us. We wandered into a nice breakfast spot and had a nice bacon and eggs, coffee and juice breakfast in the French Quarter and then wandered all over the French Quarter to Jackson Square and the Riverwalk, getting back to the hotel in time for a great lunch at the restaurant attached to the Astor. They had a $20 special, which included an appetizer (I had the crab bisque, they also offered alligator bites) and an entree. We had a LONG table and the poor server was having a hard time keeping up but it was great. I sat with Bryan, Kakki, Jerry, Phyliss, Jody and Nate - it's always tricky trying to juggle 3 or 4 conversations and the time always goes by so fast. Since I knew that the Howlin' Wolf was going to be another long night we decided it would be a good idea to catch a quick nap before heading that way, and I'm glad we did. After getting some refreshing sleep we were ready to load into the van and head to the Wolf. Let me interject here and mention "Gentaman" Jim, a lurker from Houston who was just one of the nicest dudes I've ever met. I figured he was a friend of Mike's as he was instrumental in organizing transportation and going above and beyond what was required to make sure that everyone got from the airport to various hotels, restaurants and other venues. Hopefully we'll hear some more out of him as he has so much to offer. We got to the NEW Howlin' Wolf (Katrina claimed the one we attended at Pazfest 2000) and hung out in the VIP area which featured some really great catered food and drinks. Like Laura said, Cassy got things started and Sue added a stunning version of "Cara's Castle" (likely the first time THAT song has been performed in over 40 years) to her list of solid performances. Michael really outdid himself with the lineup - again, I wasn't taking notes but nonetheless thoroughly enjoyed the entire night. Some of the highlights: Beth Patterson's version of GPPH that Laura mentioned along with "The Priest" on bouzouki. Ingrid Lucia's set included trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and he was jaw-dropping fantastic. They did standards that Joni had also performed, but they sounded so super I won't fault them for that. In a similar vein, Michael lined up Charlie Gabriel, Joe Lastie and Rickie Monie from the PHJB to back a jazz singer who was also excellent, playing "Comes Love" and "You've Changed". I really loved Kristen Diable's set; she was not very familiar with Joni so her songs sounded very fresh - she did "Rainy Night House" and "Furry" and reminded me a lot of Jolie Holland with a bluesy jazzy twang in her voice. I kept going back to the merch table to buy CD's! And of course I picked up my official Pazfest 2 T-Shirt with a beautiful logo designed by Freda, with monies going to the Ruth Paz Center. Hopefully Michael will offer what he has left to those who couldn't go. Anyway, back to the music. Christine Ohlman (from the SNL band) had a really nice set doing "Be Cool" and "Both Sides Now" (redeeming Thursday night's performance of the franchise). Laura has already mentioned the WOW performance of Tea-Leaf Prophecy on guitar and violin. So I have to talk about Leslie Smith's set which was also off the charts...she did "Sunny Sunday" and wrenched every ounce of emotion out of it. It moved me to a bit of the watery eye I have to say - she just totally emoted the desperation and frustration of the woman pointing the pistol to the streetlight. And as amazing as that was, she topped it with her take on "Nothing Can Be Done" (not to be confused with "Comes Love"). Now I've never been a big fan of the song but Leslie sang it with such an edge and a jealous rage that I REALLY felt it. The last time I had heard something to compare it to was when Bettye Lavette transformed "Last Chance Lost" at Carnegie Hall. I had the pleasure of talking to Leslie afterwards and sharing my feelings about her incredible performance which was very cool. The electrifying Bryan Thomas introduced a couple of new ones to us; his funky soulful treatments of "Cold Blue Steel" and "Don't Interrupt The Sorrow" that blew all of us away. These will be on Pazfest II CD's when they come out and believe me you don't want to miss out. Bryan is so talented and such a sincerely nice guy, I loved re-connecting with him. DJ G-Cue (Michael's son Mikey) did a fun set of DJ'ed Joni...armed with a laptop and a turntable, he spun "I's A Muggin" and "Empty, Try Another", sampling and adding beats and snippets of other songs - it was brilliant and I know Joni would have loved the creativity and fun elements that Mikey put into his performance. Mikey also backed up his Dad, along with Julian on drums and Mikey's friend on lead guitar and they did a blistering, scorching "Sex Kills", replacing "sex" with "BP" on several occasions. The family Paz really pulled out the stops on this one and rocked the house. Randy Jackson (of 70's band Zebra fame) did "Carnival In Kenora" and a couple others, we also heard a version of "Brandy Eyes" - the guitar tabs on JM.com are really making the rounds! OK, so in case you can't tell, the variety of performances was astounding and there was lots of late-period Joni featured which was very cool. Joni herself would have been beaming with pride from this incredible night of music, and trust me I didn't even touch on half of it. Laura mentioned Roman Street, a group of classical guitarists and percussion that closed the night with a Gypsy Kings/flamenco take on "Urge For Going" and adding one of their own as we wouldn't let them off the stage until they gave us one more. Post-Wolf found us back in Suite 629 and on the hotel balcony, keeping the party and music going until the wee hours. At 4AM Nate and I called it a night, and I was very grateful for the nap I had taken earlier. And Pazfest is still not half-way done! - ------------------------------------------------------------ The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain proprietary, business-confidential and/or privileged material. If you are not the intended recipient of this message you are hereby notified that any use, review, retransmission, dissemination, distribution, reproduction or any action taken in reliance upon this message is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of the company. - ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 15:14:02 -0400 From: Bob.Muller@Fluor.com Subject: Pazfest II, Part III - Party at Paz's Place & Sunday Obviously Saturday morning was mostly spent sleeping! Nate and I met up with Jerry and toured the French Quarter, did a little shopping in the French Market, snapped some photos, and enjoyed the gorgeous day. We really were blessed with beautiful weather the whole time; warm of course and a bit humid but nowhere near what I was expecting. Outside of Jackson Square they were preparing for the Saints first game with a big stage (for Dave Matthews and Taylor Swift) and a parade so it was a busy place. Back at the hotel, we all loaded up in the respective vehicles with Mikey driving the van to Paz's house for the Saturday musical and culinary extravaganza. We made an alcohol stop and of course it had to be at the Winn-Dixie since we all were a bunch of highway hand-me-downs. It was great to see the additions on the Paz household; lots more gathering spaces, a bigger kitchen, a better setup for music performances and a nice outside/deck area. I munched on guacomole and sausage and grilled shrimps, and bounced from group to group talking Joni topics as well as NJC. A big thanks to Jody, Jim, Cassy, Freda, Mike and everyone who chipped in on the kitchen work to make a spicy scrumptious meal. Of course it didn't take long for song for music to break out, and the talent in the room was pretty unbelievable. Mike already had all the setups with microphones, drums, keyboards etc so it was just a matter of jumping in and playing and singing. There was some Joni (and I had a lot of fun singing "Coyote") and also lost of NJC including a really nice Beatles set of deep cuts like "Sexy Sadie", "Strawberry Fields", "Do You Want To Know A Secret" and so on. I got to sing "Amie" for the umpteenth time and that was a fun singalong. I also got to sing with Sherelle which was a real highlight for me. It was soooo good to see her again, she looked positively radiant and sang, well, like Sherelle can sing! Loved her version of "Shades Of Scarlett Conquering". Jeff Bisch treated us to a little Tom Waits and he and Kate sang his wonderful song "Daddy Swing Me Higher" which I always love to hear. Nowadays, there are so many technological devices that finding song lyrics and tabs is pretty easy, so the group was basically taking requests and pumping out one great tune after another. And I have to add that it gave me a perma-grin to see my son in the middle of the fun, playing percussion and having a blast. I couldn't tell you when we made it back to the hotel but I was spent and called it a night while Nate took in the late-night sights of Bourbon Street and the French Quarter. Thanks again to Mr. Notaro for being a tour guide - this weekend was "Southern Decadence" weekend so the drag queens and punks were out in full regalia. Sunday was originally an open day on the schedule, so Nate and I decided we wanted to head back to the Riverwalk area and see the Aquarium and Imax while many of the others headed off for lunch in the swamps which Laura referred to. The Aquarium was much much more than I was expecting, so many uniques exhibits and informative displays of seahorses, jellyfish, penguins, sea otters, some huge sea turtles and of course a ton more. We were there for several hours, took a Po-Boy break at the Harbor Bar-N-Grill (I picked it for the Joni-themed name) and then caught a fun and amazing Deep Sea 3-D movie at the Imax. We hiked back through the French Quarter, and since Sunday had been the big Decadence Parade there were plenty of barely-clothed guys wandering around (cowboy boots and a leather jockstrap kind of thing) and of course it being New Orleans was no big deal. We saw lots of street performers playing real good for free and re-grouped at the Astor to head to Mulate's for drinks and to see Mike's drummer friend Kevin Aucoin who was playing with a waltzy cajun band. It was fun, but as Mike says a little of that goes a long way. As we were heading out to dinner, I pointed out to Lieve the guy in front of us who had a T-Shirt on that said "Smurf" and I felt like Murphy's spirit was there and joining in the celebration. Dinner was at Baru, a Tapas place that barely could house us and was not expecting such a big crowd so late; still, the food was delicious - we had Portacello, a chopped Portabello mushroom mixed with guacamole and spices, some grilled corn, steak and scallions on a skewer and pork and spiced plantains which was really good. Luckily I was able to get back to the van without the aid of a wheelbarrow! Sunday night found most of us (Jodyand Scott, Kate and Jeff, Sherelle, David and Bertha and Bryan had gone by now) back at party central, Suite 629 with Michael holding court. Laura and Sue brough guitars but the evening was more recapping the great times we've had over the years and finally about 1:30 Mike was ready to turn in as were the rest of us. And that's pretty much the blow-by-blow of Pazfest II for me. Sorry to blabber on and on, but Lieve asked me to write in great detail, and I've learned that life is just a lot easier if you do waht Lieve says to do. Anyway, I love these get-togethers and enjoy writing about them. I hope I've helped y'all to get a feel for the event and maybe make a pledge that dagnabit you're gonna bite the bullet and come to the next one. - ------------------------------------------------------------ The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain proprietary, business-confidential and/or privileged material. If you are not the intended recipient of this message you are hereby notified that any use, review, retransmission, dissemination, distribution, reproduction or any action taken in reliance upon this message is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of the company. - ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2010 #250 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe