You must take the A train if you want to get to Sugar Hill in Harlem.

I have reestablished my reputation as the best jazz and blues singer in town, albeit the only one, as Hubby and I performed to a packed Java last night (I do mean packed, people came and left because they couldn�t find seats, even after we�d told them to come early *sigh*), full of townies, university students, profs, and our kids and their friends. We opened the show with All of Me and closed it two hours later with See See Rider. We never did get to do Tuxedo Junction which was advertised in the paper.

We started late (since when are we ever on time for anything, I ask you?), which meant I commenced entertaining the crowd with my dulcet tones at 10 p.m. instead of 9:30 as advertised, but no one seemed to care. It gave the patrons more opportunity to load up on their beverages of choice (this is a caf� without a liquor licence, folks) before settling down to listen to their favourite tunes. Two gray-haired ladies were seated close to the performance area, one of them (90 years old!) is a resident of the manoir and she was just in raptures throughout. She was singing along with all the songs, wreathed in smiles. She and her companion didn�t stay to the very end (which is understandable), but she told us at the break that she was having a wonderful time.

This followed on the heels of a concert at the music department, the chamber ensembles presented the material they have been working on since last term (this concert was supposed to have taken place last November, but you know how it goes). There is one young man in the department, a flutist, who plays incredibly well. I�m not overly fond of the flute as a solo instrument, and yet he has a beautiful tone, he plays in tune and very musically, and it was just a pleasure to hear him. I have a �date� to have lunch with him on Thursday (this one is actually sanctioned by Hubby) because the boy needs to talk to someone. His grandmother, who partially raised him, died recently, and he is grieving.

One disappointment: Only one of my own students came to the show afterwards, and then only for the second set. What am I going to do about these kids?

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