Sunday February 13, 2005

Great Music and Great Food

Last night as our Valentines gift to each other we went out for live Dixieland music and dinner. We saw Mal Sharpe's Big Money in Jazz New Orleans Band, with Lady Memphis (vocals) at the The Downtown Restaurant in Berkeley. What a wonderful restaurant. We were sitting right in front of the stage. And when I say stage I really just mean a 12 inch platform at the back of the restaurant. So we were right there!

The food was great. We started with salad and a plate of fried olives stuffed with anchovies. I think they are a specialty but boy were they good. They had some special Mardi Gras menu items so I had the spicy fried catfish and Duke had the Gumbo. They each had just the right amount of spicyness and were perfectly prepared. I would recommend the restaurant even without the music.

As we started to eat the Dixieland music started. All I could do was smile at the combination of great music and great food. The vocalist Lady Mem’fis was sitting at the next table. Even before she got up on stage and started singing you couldn’t help notice what an elegant woman she is. They started with a couple of songs featuring the band members. I especially liked the pianist, Charlie Hickox. And then Lady Mem’fis started singing. What a performer and what a voice. I love blues and jazz. Her rendition of the song "Dream" was special. After the break and some more Dixieland music, the guitarist (Whose name I’m sorry I can’t remember.) sang the song "She talks too Much". He said it was because his ex-wife had just called. Mal Sharpe gave him a hard time that "She talks too Much" is a politically incorrect song to sing in Berkeley.

Then Sharp pointed out that three of the musicians who had just finished performing across the street at The Jazz School were at a table behind us. He invited them to join in. So the last song had these three additional awesome musicians. Steven Bernstein played something that looked like a cross between a trumpet and a trombone. Ben Goldberg played the clarinet. And Jeff Cressman played the trombone. There we were, right in the middle of it all - ten guys and Lady Mem’fis making this amazing music. As we left about midnight all I could do was smile. What a wonderful evening.