It's about time!

Whoa! I have not updated this thing in forever. I've gotta keep doing that. So I'll just give you a quick run-down of everything that's happened to me in the past month or so. Well, there were really only two big things. But still.

National Record Store Day
So a few Saturdays ago, it was National Record Store Day. So I gathered up the $25 in my wallet, plus the $50 I had gotten for Christmas to spend at Shake It, and I hopped in the car with my fellow musical freakazoids Fritz and Ryan, and we went on a tour of the record stores of Cincinnati. Now, since Cincinnati is a lame town, there were only two to speak of. The first was Everybody's Records in the P-Ridge, right by Ryan's house (which is across the street from my old house). I picked out an album called ( ) by my sexy Icelandic band, Sigur Ros. Next was Shake It Records in Northside. By Fritz's. Here I had a lot more money to spend. I eventually picked out Nick Drake's Pink Moon, Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, The Stooges' Fun House, The Moody Blues' Days Of Future Passed, and Tom Waits' Swordfishtrombones. It was a great day.

Jazzfest
This weekend, my dad took me on a trip down to the Big Easy, where being held at a racetrack was the New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival. We flew from Cincy to Atlanta to Mobile, then we drove to our quaint little Holiday Inn in Slidell, Louisiana. It was about an hour from there to Nawlins, and we went over a bridge that had to be ten miles long. Anyways, we went to the festival Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The food was delicious. The best food I had down there was a fried oyster po-boy (that's like a New Orleans style sub), crawfish bread (crawfish, melted cheese, and spices on a piece of French bread), a grilled steak pita (traditional Gambian taco thingy) and an incredibly refreshing glass of strawberry lemonade. There were also many great acts:
Nicholas Payton (jazz trumpeter with an incredible drummer and a great bassist)
Trombone Shorty (trombone player, singer, and incredible performer, full of guest acts and stuff)
Galactic (beasty jam band, combination of funk, rock, hip hop, and jazz)
Alan Toussaint (classic R&B singer, king of Nawlins funk?)
The Radiators (okay, they kinda sucked)
Yeah, there were a lot of great New Orleans kinds of acts. I loved it all. But there were also plenty of big-namers:
Earth Wind and Fire (classic funk band, played all their hits, also went into a really surprising blues jam. The singer blew my mind, and they even made one lady cry)
Pearl Jam (yes, one of the greatest rock and roll bands ever was performing there)
Jeff Beck (best guitarist I've evver seen, hands down)
B.B. King (well, I didn't really get to see much of him, but he was still there and I've seen him before anyway)
The Ohio Players (mostly great for their incredible bassist)
The Dead Weather (Jack White's mind-blowing new blues ensemble. I only got to see one song due to rain, but boy was it shocking, in a good way)
Wayne Shorter Quartet (saxophonist who played with Miles Davis, now leader of four of the greatest musicians I've ever seen. I'll seriously never think of jazz the same way again)
Van Morrison (it was a wonderful night for a moondance)
The festival ended with The Neville Brothers, who traditionally end the festival. They're like the worshipped New Orleans musicians. Overrated though. Except they were still amazing. Yeah.

Sorry about that. I'll try to be posting reviews of those albums, plus any others or movies I've seen or books I've read.