SaratogaArtsFest!!

The annual SaratogaArtsFest is in full swing today and no amount of rain showers can dampen it's spirit!! Last night's performance by Triple Play was amazing, made doubly so with appearances by Chris Brubeck's dad, Dave, and Joel Brown's father, jazz clarinetist Frank Brown. This was my first visit to the Arthur Zankel Music Center at Skidmore College, completed 18 months ago....why has it taken me so long to get over there???

We've made the ArtsPass since it's inception 5 years ago, and this year I was really pleased to see so many people in one place wearing our creation. This year's color is turquoise, or as Pantone has labeled it "Lagoon".

Ken, Nan, Me, Sara, and Dave proudly displaying this year's ARTSPASS.

Close-up of the ARTSPASS -
designed by Christianne Smith of DesignsmithStudio
beads and silk cord from Linda Schrade's Saratoga Beads

Tonight we're headed off to

Delta Blues Night at Saratoga Arts

6:00 p.m.: Delta Rising (film screening)

Delta Rising is a fascinating film that documents the history of the blues, and more specifically, the birthplace of the blues, Clarksdale, Mississippi. With its abundance of blues clubs and museums, Clarksdale makes a legitimate claim for being the birthplace of the blues, a claim that is supported by the testimony of blues heavyweights. Featuring new interviews with, and performance footage of Morgan Freeman, Willie Nelson, Pinetop Perkins, Charlie Musselwhite, Mose Allison, Ruby Wilson and others.

7:25 p.m.: Dinner is Served!
Enjoy a box dinner of Hattie's Southern fried chicken (two pieces), cranberry cole slaw, and a biscuit with your Delta Blues!

7:45 p.m.: Delta Blues from Street Corner Holler (concert)
Street Corner Holler are traditionalists, but you won't find an academic bone in their bodies. With its raw, fearless, righteous mix of swamp boogie, buzzsaw blues and delta stomp, the street-corner sound of Mark Tolstrup and Dale Haskell has been honed to grab the audience as they try to stroll by. It's all achingly beautiful and haunting, music played with such honesty and abandon that you want to stay up til dawn.

9:15 p.m.: Open Blues Jam led by Saratoga Acoustic Blues Society
Bring your guitar or harmonica and stay after the concert for a round-robin jam session with Saratoga's own Acoustic Blues Society.

I'll let you know how much we enjoyed it tomorrow!!

But for now I'll leave you with a little of what we heard last night at the Triple Play concert - so good!!