Spirited and Delicious World-beat JazzQueens College Professor Neil K. Friedman Ph.D. was the host to a neighborhood jazz outing for nephew Adam Kassell Hoffman of Londonderry, New Hampshire and college gal friend Lyz at Cleopatra’s Needle to introduce The Spirit of Life Ensemble’s world-beat to the youthful neophytes.
Beginning at 8:30pm the first tune Bradford Hayes on alto sax established a prominent presence by shoving the bell of his brass sax directly over the Mic to overplay the amplified acoustic baby grand piano played by Michael Cochrane on “Samba 2 Step”. Our drinks came just in time to chat a little before a thoughtful piano solo attracted my ear backed nicely by Sipho Kanane’s drums and Calvin Hill’s acoustic bass on “Sue’s Summit” a composition by tonight’s trombonist Bob Ferrel.
We ordered the Alexandria Delights appetizer first to go with our drinks so as not to be rushed into eating too quickly. For dinner my wife Cassandra ordered Kibbeh Sinaya - a baked ground beef loaf smothered with pine nuts and shallots with chunks of tomato served with assorted al dente vegetables, Neil choose the Spinach Lasagna, my choice was the Broiled Blue Fish unadorned accompanied by the same veggies. Adam just wanted a Caesar Salad and a Rolling Rock and his companion selected the Meat Lasagna which she said was surprisingly “spicy, Mexican flavored.” The gals washed down theirs with gin Cosmopolitans served in cocktail glasses. During the intermission Daoud gave me a CD titled “a little oasis”, recorded in February 2004 that was released by Cristal Records as a DVD in France with a 48 minute video. Under the name Rise Up Productions he has produced recording sessions, events and a few CD’s available on Amazon.com.
Go to www.cristalprod.com for a listen.
Dan Kassell March 18, 2004, All Rights Reserved
