11/4/2008 11:52:00 AM LETTER: Jazz comes to Blythe
On an unusually hot Nov. 1, the Spring Street fair was half over. The city doesn't have much live entertainment to offer for a small unknown desert town.
A gas and fast food stop with motels between Arizona and California is about it, although some old-timers would disagree for sure.
I had to make a trip to Ace Hardware for a nearly finished project and decided to take a quick detour to Spring Street. I was purposely not carrying any cash and only expected to take a few minutes to survey the booths. I ran into a surprise that made the detour a memorable one.
I had grown up in this small town, not much changed from 1960 when I left it and swore never to return because of the perpetual heat. So there I was, walking north on the east side of the street when I heard this relaxing, easy going, laid back music coming from the shaded sidewalk in front of the floor tile store.
It was captivating, but no one seemed to be listening. There was no audience.
I continued to the end of the block, turned around and headed south on the west side of the street. The music was leading me, pulling me back to the east side. I found some shade far enough away from the performer and foot traffic in the center of the street.
As the notes filled the air, seemingly unnoticed by anyone except me and the performer, I had one of those copasetic moments where a period in my life flashed by in seconds.
In earlier years I had studied piano under an octogenarian named Erna Soder. She was the mother and grandmother of generations of musically inclined performers. Her son was a jazz teacher, band leader in the East Bay area of San Francisco.
Bob was very proficient at piano and reed instruments until a stroke ended his performing days. He continued to teach as did Erna until she took her upright piano to a rest home. Music lived in these people, these people lived music.
The spirit of the young performer on Spring Street reminded me so much of this Soder family. Mist filled my eyes on that hot autumn day as memories flowed randomly across the present. I had to find out who this person was and what brought her to Blythe as she seemed so out of place.
Grateful that she had touched my soul with her music and awakened experiences I thought were silent forever, I had to make another detour past the ATM. Her music is called Smooth-Jazz, a contemporary form of jazz.
After returning home with her latest CD, "Almost that Time of Year" I browsed the Internet to her Web site (www.shannon-kennedy.com) and listened to mp3 clips from her earlier CD's.
Particularly moving is "Never My Love," highly recommended for the sentimentalist. I wondered if the VFW will be sold out tonight where she will have an attentive audience. I wonder if she will find the hospitality of this unknown desert town sufficient to visit again.
Bob Roeske, Blythe
Reader Comments
Posted: Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Article comment by:
Shannon Kennedy
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