Back from the great northwest with Ed Johnson and Novo Tempo

Part One:
Last week Susan and I went up north to visit some friends and to play a couple of gigs with Ed Johnson and Novo Tempo. We planned to visit my friend Farren who lives in Port Townsend, WA for two days and were planning on seeing Jennifer and Rene in Vancouver BC for the next two days but Susan came down with Sinusitis. Farren was the most gracious (Sweet Potato Queen) hostess and let us stay at her home for four days while Susan tried to recover. I finally had to take her to a hospital in Poulsbo so she could be seen by a doctor. After a couple of days on antibiotics, she was fine and was able to enjoy her last vacation day.
Here are some highlights of that trip.
Port Townsend is a beautiful place! Farren is so lucky to live there. From the natural beauty to the quaint downtown area, it's a totally happening place to be. I jammed with Farren and her friends a couple of times. I'm so bad with names so I won't mention them at this moment but as soon as Farren reads this I'm sure she'll remind me. Farren has a beautiful, alto voice and one personal highlight is scat singing with her and trading fours. Everyone there had a very personal style of playing. From the woman playing tenor by ear and gliding thru the changes with great instinct and feeling (she reminded me of Pee Wee Claybrook) to the cornet and vocal ballads by a gentleman who is a chef and makes a special type of seasoning, these folks were into it.
Susan and I saw a couple of beautiful towns, Gig Harbor and Poulsbo. Gig Harbor is a small place with a coffee bar/pottery studio that serves kick ass lattes and folks make pottery there. We met a guy who lives on a sail boat with his wife and she’s a writer. She is working on a children’s book and he's taking a puppet (of a ground hog?) and photographing it in all the places they're traveling to. Gig Harbor is also the home of Novo Tempo drummer Mark Ivester and a old friend from high school, Janice Sartain, aka Gigi Yob. It was great to see Gigi after all of these years and to meet her husband.
Poulsbo is a cute Norwegian fishing village where you can get a smooth latte at a dozen or so places on the main drag and some happening Italian food and wine. The wine cat used to play trombone (6 months) and knew his stuff. Poulsbo would be a fine place to retire. Susan also met the wife of the fire chief and she works in the local stamp store. Susan’s way into stamping for those who didn’t know.
Next: part two