Justin and I returned to our hotel for a quick lunch before heading to our next event — a Blue Note Records panel discussion moderated by author Ashley Kahn.
Once again, The Heathman Hotel delivered what we had discovered was their usual customer satisfaction experience with prompt service and absolutely superb food. For me, a bowl of world-class bean soup with freshly baked bread was just right. As usual, the pepper grinder was never far from Peppercorn Thorne, as you can see in the photo below.
After lunch, we walked back to the Portland Center for the Performing Arts and entered Brunish Hall, the large space housing the upcoming discussion. The room was nearly full, so we felt very fortunate to find two seats in the front row, where we also had a great vantage point for photos.
The Blue Note panel was a distinguished one, to be sure ... with recording artists Joe Lovano and Diane Reeves alongside Blue Note executives Michael Cuscuna and Bruce Lundval. We experienced a wide-ranging discussion of the jazz music business, from Blue Note's perspective, including specific artist and recording date experiences , packaging, photography, graphic design, liner notes, etc. What a wonderful historical perspective was provided by Mssrs. Cuscuna and Lundval in this special year ... Blue Note's 70th Anniversary. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of current Blue Note president Bruce Lundval's re-launching of the label back in 1984 — another significant milestone.
After the discussion, moderator Ashley Kahn opened things up to the audience with a Q&A session where I seized the opportunity to ask Joe Lovano to share some insights into his history with the late saxophonist Jim Pepper. Joe's remembrances were warm and nostalgic, and his respect and appreciation for Pepper's music was evident.
It was a special treat to meet the panelists as well as moderator Ashley Kahn following the floor discussion. When I suggested to Bruce Lundval (in a teasing manner, of course) that he was costing me a lot of money with the Mosaic box set series, he smiled and said ... "Good!".
An unexpected bonus for Justin and me was meeting singer/composer Judi Silvano, Joe Lovano's wife. We were to experience some of her considerable talents later in the festival.
What a thrill it was to be in the midst of such a wonderfully approachable, friendly group of extraordinarily talented people. And, all of this pleasure and enjoyment before attending the 1st concert!
