Roosevelt Jazz Band

My last photos from the trip…

The underground tour in Perusia; Umbria Jazz Festival

And the trip home, including the bus ride to Milan via Parma (our late lunch stop) and also a few photos from the airport in NYC.

Hello all!  Most of you know we made it home okay, but if you didn’t, now you do!  We had two long travel days, one by bus from Perusia to Milano, and then the flying day (yesterday) which lasted a looong time (with 9 time zones gained for a day lasting 33 hours).  Plus we got up at 4 am local time… (!). (more…)

Phenomenal concert tonight.  Mr. Brown told the seniors they could come up with the final set list, which they did while swimming in the hotel pool.   Fans in the thousands, all the kids played their hearts out, a marvelous set and conclusion to the band.  A young Italian man came up to me after the performance and expressed his heartfelt gratitude for hearing it and for what these young people have achieved — strong from start to finish, he said.

And the photos for the day trip to Bologna and more Modena photos are here.

Long travel day to Milan tomorrow.

Heading out in a sec for dinner and the final concert of the tour.

Here are a few photos from recent days:

Cinque Terre

Modena (and 1st concert in Modena)

It’s 7:30 pm in Modena, and yet the day seems only half over.  To come:  a picnic arranged by Daniela at 8:00 pm, and then the youth concert at the same park where our kids performed so enthusiastically last night.  It promises to be a beautiful evening again, since the sun will set on the stage just before Roosevelt Jazz Band performs, and that will drop the temperature down to, oh, say about 80 degrees perhaps.  Such is life.  Most of us are getting used to living in this hot climate, no thanks to Seattle for preparing us!

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Hello armchair travelers!  We made the transfer from La Spezia to Modena, Italy earlier today.  We arrived a bit ahead of schedule, and our team of Johan and Daniela arranged for a group visit to a world famous balsamic vinegar maker called Aceto Balsomico Tradizionale Di Modena.  The husband and wife duo who spearhead the small, excellent operation gave us a great presentation of the history of the vinegar and a tasting of four varieties, the first 12 years old and the final 32 years old.  It was hard to believe how complex and incredible these vinegars tasted.  They make very little per year, about 200 liters as I recall, so it is indeed a small and excellent operation.  All of us enjoyed the samples and marveled at the taste sensations, unlike anything we’ve had before.  They mentioned that Michelle Obama received a bottle of the 32-year old vinegar and responded with a very kind letter.

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I got back to the hotel too late for uploading more photos last night — kind of a slow connection in the lobby of the Hotel Firenze Continentale.  But they are flying across the Atlantic right now.

Transfer day from Montreux, Switzerland to Aix-en-Provence, France

Morning and early afternoon in Aix-en-Provence

Afternoon in Toulon and concert in the evening.  An absolutely amazing setting and experience!

Happy July 5th from Europe! Last evening  we arrived in La Spezzia to the most amazing July 4th Independence Day dinner a USA jazz band in Italy could hope for. Our wonderful tour guides, Danyella and Johan had organized a special dinner for us at a restaurant a few blocks from our hotel. We were ALLLLL at a long table–Italian Style–33 of us with students, chaperones, tour guides and our dear bus driver Andrea (he is amazing!). The staff had decorated the tablecloth with hand-drawn American flags and they had a giant flat-screen tv with American flags on it. We enjoyed a 5-course dinner over 3 hours, from pizza to quiche to pasta to tirami su.  Molto bene!

Today Roosevelt Jazz spent 12 hours in Italian Heaven–Cinque Terre, the Five Lands. We took the train from La Spezzia, south of Cinque Terre, to the northernmost town, called Monerosso al Mare. The students spent the day hiking, swimming in the Mediterranean, kayaking, paddle boating or taking the tour boat from town to town. Did I mention eating? Seafood, gelato, pasta, more gelato, focaccia with tomato, mozarella and olive oil. Everyone had a fabulous day “off” on the Italian Riviera. Until next posting, Caio!

Very quick post… we are meeting for dinner in 10 minutes.  I prepared a lot of photos, but the upload is slow so I’ll upload most after dinner.  Very scenic drive today along the coast with frequent views of French coastal cities and all of the tiny, wealthy Monaco.  Short story of our little drama:  our bus had a blowout just a few kilometers from our new hotel.  The driver, Andrea, handled the situation extremely deftly, getting us to the shoulder, popping out with orange vest to place cones on the roadway, and calling the police who soon arrived to close the right lane.  After an hour, a temporary bus arrived to take us into town, and within thirty minutes, the original bus was repaired and arrived with our luggage.  Terrific handling by the driver and our guides, Johann and Daniela.

And as promised, more photos.  These are Betsy’s covering approximately the first half of the trip.

Betsy’s photos are here.

I have two or three more galleries ready which I’ll upload later this evening.

(This is Andy)

Aix-en-Provence is a small, traditional French city that lends itself to puns in English.  We spent four hours there this morning walking around downtown.  The groups mingled and wandered.  Tuesday was market day as well, so one of the squares was filled with vendors offering fresh cheeses, vegetables, meats, fish, and the like.

During the afternoon we drove about an hour south to Toulon on Mediterranean coast.  Place de l’Opera is a good-sized public square in the middle of town with several cafes around the perimeter.  Dominating the scene is the spectacular 19th (?) century facade of the theater.  At one end of the square, the festival had set up a big stage, complete with lighting and sound-board.  After a sound-check, the festival hosts set up a pasta dinner for us outside a restaurant on a narrow street in the old part of town.

Tonight’s crowd was the biggest yet, close to 500 according to our highly accurate fan-counting methodology.  The festival asked for a long set and got it, 90 minutes, with an encore and a standing ovation.  The weather was perfect — a warm, clear night, a full moon, and an enthusiastic crowd.

Tomorrow is a long day on the bus as we head into Italy.