But then I started thinking. He has a good point. The tropical island-inspired Catamaran has everything a kid and his family loves. It offers a big, beautiful swimming pool, a sandy beach, spacious rooms and suites, bike rentals, a video arcade, an onsite restaurant, and lots of opportunities to make new friends. 

Our getaway to the Catamaran Resort began recently when we checked into a gorgeous Bayfront Suite overlooking San Diego’s stunning Mission Bay. Spanning 438 sq-ft, the room was highlighted by a large patio that is literally steps from the sandy beach. 

The suite also boasts a big private bedroom, with two queen beds and a large TV; a separate living area with another big TV, a pull-out sofa, a wet bar with a refrigerator, and a dining area. A large, spacious bathroom with a walk-in shower, completes the room’s layout. 

Beyond the suite, the rest of the property is just as impressive. Featuring 310 rooms, the sprawling Polynesian-themed resort is surrounded by palm trees, waterfalls, koi ponds, exotic birds and lush vegetation.

The hotel is located in San Diego’s Pacific Beach community and sits on the shores of Mission Bay, a large, artificial saltwater bay created for recreational activities such as wakeboarding, jet skiing, sailing, camping, cycling, jogging, roller skating, skateboarding, and sunbathing. 

One of my family’s favorite spots at the resort was Mission Bay’s sandy beach, located steps from our patio. Here the kids made sand castles and played in the water, while we relaxed in lawn chairs, soaking rays and admiring the coastline.

The beach was also where we rented a 21-ft Hurricane powerboat and cruised around the bay for a fun-filled hour. We got the boat from Action Sports Rentals (www.actionsportrentals.com/catamaran-resort-hotel-spa/), which has a booth on the dock in front of the Catamaran Resort. 

It was an epic voyage. After learning how to control the vessel and the proper speed for the bay, we cruised into the morning sun. Along the way, we waved to boaters and paddle boarders, sailed beneath an old bridge and past expensive condos and luxury hotels. The boat was easy to maneuver, had lots of seating and shade, and was a perfect family outing for the afternoon. 

After mooring the boat, we went to the resort’s large pool area, where my kids played in the water and made new friends. Secluded behind tall palm trees, the pool is a tropical oasis, with lots of seating, a Jacuzzi, and a bar. Each day, the pool area offers a free kids program for hotel guests. 

Next to the pool is also a video arcade, full of free games for kids and their parents. My son and I had a great time here, shooting basketballs, racing cars and playing foosball. 

From the pool, we walked along a lush, tropical path to Oceana Coastal Kitchen, the resort’s onsite signature restaurant. Boasting beachfront dining, with spectacular views of Mission Bay, Oceana serves creative, coastal California dishes with an eclectic flare. The restaurant, led by Executive Chef Paul Arias, won TripAdvisor’s 2023 Travelers’ Choice “Best of the Best” Restaurants for Everyday Eats, ranking 10^th best in the U.S. 

Our dinner at Oceana began with a delicious bowl of New England style clam chowder, with bacon, red bliss potato, thyme, cream, and steamed little neck clams on top and mixed in. I am a major chowder fan and this bowl had the perfect amount of creaminess, along with clam and potato ratio, making it one of the best I’ve had. 

The restaurant also specializes in sushi and when we sampled the Oceana House Roll, we fell in love. The rolls are exquisitely filled with eel, tempura shrimp, crab, nori, avocado and unagi sauce. This dish is a work of culinary art. 

We completed our dinner at Oceana with a succulent grilled prime hanger steak with smoked potato puree, watercress, cippolini and macadamia chimichurri; and  a tasty Hawaiian style pad thai with stir fried vegetables, tofu, pineapple, chili, macadamia nuts, cilantro and soy. 

After dinner we strolled along the beach and watched the sun fall into Mission Bay. 

The next morning we had potatoes and eggs, and a plate of Chilaquiles for breakfast at Oceana, and then rented a surrey bike from Action Sports Rentals. We then pedaled around the bay. Along the way we saw sailboarders fling over waves, and then stopped at a park for the kids to play. 

Back at the resort we watched a demonstration featuring the hotel’s exotic parrots,  

including vibrant macaws, beautiful cockatoos, and a lilac-crowned amazon. Some of the birds talk and can say things like “hi,” “hello” and “goodbye.” The parrots are available to view outside daily, between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. pacific time, depending on the weather.

We concluded the day at the resort’s Sunset Luau. Held on the shores of Mission Bay, the luaus are a festive celebration of Polynesian food, music, and dances perfect for family and friends. The party begins with a lei with real flowers and a delicious Mai Tai. This was followed by an all-you-can-eat buffet with Hawaiian-inspired rice and salads and various succulent meats, including pork, chicken and fish. 

Local luau group Pride of Polynesia provided authentic island music and dance, featuring hula and fiery torch dancers. Kids also got a chance to hula dance and participate in activities at the Kids Corner, where they made flowered leis, festive crafts, colored and played with stick-on tattoos.

Catamaran Resort and Spa is located at 3999 Mission Boulevard, San Diego Ca 92109. For more information and reservations call 858. 488-1081 or visit: www.catamaranresort.com

The post Polynesian Paradise at Catamaran Resort and Spa in San Diego appeared first on Traveling Archive.

The Grande Colonial Hotel in La Jolla has it all: history, charm and an incredible waterfront location. Add to this a walkable town with tasty restaurants, and beaches with seal lions and leopard sharks, and you know why the hotel is one of my favorites in the San Diego area.

The family and I recently escaped to the Grande Colonial for three days and two nights of fun and relaxation. Our getaway began when we checked into a comfortable suite overlooking the hotel pool and the Pacific Ocean a block away.

The 3rd floor suite came with two queen beds, an office desk with free Wi-Fi, large HD TV, a huge bathroom and walk-in closet, and a memorable view of the ocean from vintage windows. Just outside the room was another cool feature – a balcony a few steps away overlooking the quaint downtown district of La Jolla.

When not enjoying our room, we explored La Jolla’s stunning coastline. A block from the hotel is Children’s Pool, where sea lions and seals relax on cliffs and rock outcroppings. The area has a large seawall protruding far into the water, which visitors can walk along to get a close look at the animals and also get spectacular views of the ocean. This place was recently named by TripAdvisor as one of the “Top 10 Wonderfully Unique Beaches” in the world.

During our visit, the rocks were crawling with giant sea lions, sleeping, barking and grunting as waves splashed all around them. Besides these creatures, the spot offers picturesque photo opportunities.

Near Children’s Pool is La Jolla Cove, a popular spot for swimming, scuba diving and snorkeling. The cove is surrounded by sandstone cliffs and has a small sandy beach with lots of rocks to climb and investigate. If you arrive at low tide, you can also enjoy the clear tide pools. There is also a small rock island here that is habited by hundreds of large pelicans.

After playing at the beach, we headed back to the Grande Colonial and explored the 93-room boutique hotel and grounds. Opened in 1913 as La Jolla’s first hotel, the Grande Colonial started as an apartment / hotel. It soon added a pharmacy run by the father of actor Gregory Peck, who grew up in La Jolla. In coming years, the hotel would host notables such as Charlton Heston, Groucho Marx, Jane Wyatt, Eve Arden, Pat O’Brien and David Niven.

Throughout its 100 years, the five-story hotel has seen numerous upgrades and owners, but has always kept its signature Colonial revival-style architecture and prominent corner location, one block above the ocean. The hotel’s most recent renovation was to its signature dining spot, the NINE-TEN Restaurant & Bar (www.nine-ten.com), which is located next to the lobby.

Recognized with MICHELIN Guide 2023 distinction, the NINE-TEN Restaurant & Bar offers California cuisine that emphasizes a farm-to-table philosophy. Led by award-winning Chef Jason Knibb and Pastry Chef Jose Alonzo III, the menu showcases seasonal foods dictated by the local harvest and unique cooking styles. Current dinner menu highlights include hamachi sashimi, with marinated baby shiitake mushrooms, watercress and scallion vinaigrette; grilled prime ribeye, with roasted sunchoke, king trumpet mushroom, kale, amaranth sprouts and black truffle demi; and pan seared Maine sea scallops, with braised turnip, romanesco cauliflower, caper-raisin puree, meyer lemon sauce and herb oil.

Another great food option at the hotel is room service for breakfast. Our first morning, we ordered delicious Huevos Rancheros, with corn tortillas, Oaxaca cheese, ranchero sauce, Rancho Gordo beans, guacamole, sour cream, sunny-side-up eggs, and cilantro. We also tried shakshuka, which is two poached eggs baked in tomato sauce, onions, peppers, feta cheese, parsley and grilled bread; and blueberry and lemon pancakes, with powdered sugar & maple syrup.

While eating breakfast, a curious seagull landed on our window seal and wanted a bite or two, so I hand fed him some toast with butter. After this we drove a couple miles to La Jolla Shores Beach, a one mile-long sandy beach located near the San Diego La Jolla Underwater Park Ecological Reserve.

La Jolla Shores is not only great for swimming and scuba divers, but is also popular with leopard sharks. In fact while I was playing in the waves, about a dozen of these sharks appeared out of nowhere and began swimming next to people. Harmless to people, the spotted sharks are about 4 feet long and have all the characteristics of their larger, scarier cousins.

After swimming with the sharks and playing in the sand, we strolled through downtown La Jolla and found the Burger Lounge (www.burgerlounge.com), where we enjoyed great grass-fed burgers and fantastic dairy free ice cream. Back at the Grand Colonial, we swam in the hotel’s round pool and then watched the orange sun fall into the ocean from our suite.

The Grande Colonial Hotel is located at 910 Prospect Street, La Jolla, CA 92037. The hotel also offers 5,000 sq-ft of indoor and outdoor event space, in-room spa treatments, concierge-arranged ocean activities; airport shuttles and more. For more information and reservations, call (888) 828-5498 or visit: www.thegrandecolonial.com

The post History, Sharks, and The Grande Colonial Hotel in La Jolla appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Our bungalow looked at best rustic on the outside, but I was wowed once I opened the door. It was positively perfect on the inside with modern amenities and best of all with doors that open right onto an waterfront view.

My goal on this road trip adventure was spending quality time with my husband, seeking beauty, relaxation, fun and an attempt to switch off and tune out the world as my ever-busy brain is always on the move. So San Diego, Carlsbad, and Santa Barbara were on the agenda.

Paradise Point Resort and Spa was the escape that it promised to be with waterfront views, several swimming pools, a marina and delectable restaurants such as their signature restaurant Tidel, which was filled with international flavors.

Each day was filled with activities from relaxing massages to surfing lessons to romantic boat rides around the marina while watching the sun set and the seeing the firework rise high into the sky.

After a few days, we ventured onwards to San Diego proper and stayed at lovely property called Hotel Indigo which had an amazing beach vibe, casual yet elegant. Our room had a balcony where ocean breezes lifted the curtains and little birds chirped happily outside our window. Located in Del Mar it was central to everything such as the farmers market, outside shopping malls, parks and the beach.

The culinary choices in San Diego are endless. The Kitchen 1540, located in the L’Auberge Del Mar Hotel, is the place to experience its devotion to fresh local ingredients, organic produce and farm-to-table delicacies. One evening, we shared a delectable dinner with old friends Jeff and Lori and dined on an exquisite meal filled with steak, seafood and salads all bursting with taste and rich with vibrant colors. The desserts were spectacular and complemented by after dinner drinks. It was a feast filled with flavor.

While many might think of San Diego as simply a beach town, there are many attractions such as the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Pepper Grove Children’s Playground and Mission Trails Regional Park.

One of my favorite places was the Self Realization Fellowship Hermitage & Meditation Gardens in Encinitas which is both peaceful and beautiful. It is an oceanfront garden with colorful plants, meditation nooks and koi ponds. Visitors can walk through, study, meditate and gaze as the spectacular shoreline. It’s not widely found it guidebooks, more-so word of mouth type of place and it is worth a visit.

In my quest for scenic and serenity we headed to Rancho Valencia, which again is a short drive from the bubbling city, but an escape with a Mediterranean feel where we touched down in a hacienda-style-suite. Our room had a private garden, outdoor Jacuzzi and I must confess the most hilarious part was the Japanese style toilet. It opened up the moment one walked in the door, had a seat warmer and provided a myriad of other functions which were both hysterically funny and useful.

The property is filled with Spanish style courtyards, gushing fountains and boasts an uber-relaxing atmosphere where it’s easy to unwind and forget the world outside. I indulged with a massage and truly relaxed in the spa while enjoying cakes, fruits, specialty teas and an actual newspaper.

After just chilling out, which is something I don’t excel in, we headed to a sumptuous dinner which was a culinary masterpiece at the resorts signature restaurant Veladora which is run by Executive Chef Jarrod Moiles and Chef De Cuisine Josh Holt. Everything was mouthwatering from the Heirloom tomato salad to the pan seared salmon complemented by fresh nonalcoholic fruit infused beverages and over the top desserts that to this day make my mouth water.

Our journey continued driving up the coast to Carlsbad which is known for surfing, whale watching tours and the nearby Del Mar Racetrack. For families with kids Legoland is often the nearby destination of choice.

The streets were filled with wandering tourists and simply strolling throughout the city was entertaining as there are many art galleries, eclectic antique shops and of course ice-cream and candy stores. After all what city is complete without a good piece of chocolate!

A great place to stay is the West Inn & Suites, an 86-room boutique hotel that boasts creative excursions for its guests. One fun option is the Hops Highway Retreat, which is a four hour tour, a must for beer lovers (and it includes luxury style transportation) to the Stone Brewing Co., The Lost Abbey and Mother Earth Brew Company.

The hotel also offers a tour of its 3 acre farm, where the chefs use the seasonal vegetables in their extraordinary meals. Additionally it’s a fun place for families as there are pop-up beach parties, game nights and it makes every kid feel at home with cookies and milk at bedtime. It’s a thoughtful hotel which also offers free shuttle services in the area too.

Our next stop was the magical city of Santa Barbara. Perhaps it is the almost always perfect weather, the pristine beaches or just something in the air, but if nature, calmness, peacefulness and beauty is on the agenda, it is the city to visit.

The farmers market never ceases to delight with fancy fruits and unending colorful, fragrant flowers as well as vibrant vegetables filled with flavor. It is the perfect city to have a hotel with a kitchen.

While cooking was not on our agenda, relaxing was, and the beachfront view from the Fess Parker Hotel is the way to go if you wish to dreamily stare at the ocean. The hotel is centrally located so visitors can walk to the center of town and enjoy The Santa Barbara Museum of Art which always boasts great exhibits as well as a fantastic permanent one.

Another venue to explore is the Granada Theatre, which hosts everything from the ballet to top international touring acts.

Perhaps one of the most unique and special places we visited was Ganna Walska Lotusland, which located in Montecito, a short drive outside the city.

The 37 acre gardens were created over four decades by Polish opera singer Madame Ganna Walska, a fascinating woman who had been married six times She owned the property as a private residence from 1941 until her death in 1984.

Visitors need to make an advanced reservation and are taken on an incredible journey with a guide throughout the gardens which are phenomenal. There are species of plants from all over the world and one can see everything from cactus to Japanese gardens.

It reminded me of gardens in Europe. Lotusland was filled with colors, flavors, fruits and what made it even more special was the stories behind the woman and her massively beautiful creation.

Traveling is always full of surprises, and this trip seemed to have an international, exotic flavor without even needing my passport. A peaceful, perfect, relaxing vacation. In other words, my mind was cleared, I was relaxed – so yes mission accomplished.

Happy Traveling!

The post California Road Trip appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Some destinations have a way of putting you in vacation mode the second you arrive. San Diego KOA Resort is one of these places. The moment we pulled into the campground, the sight of shimmering pool water, luxury cabins, rustic tent sites, and colorful RVs put me in a state of happy relaxation.

My recent fall getaway to the KOA began when we checked into a spacious Deluxe Cabin overlooking the pool. With enough room to sleep six people, the cabin came with a full bedroom, a small room with bunk beds, a loft with a bed, a bathroom with tub and shower, and full kitchen with fridge, microwave, coffee maker, stove and oven, pots and pans, silverware, and a small bar with chairs.

The cabin, which was more “glamping” than camping, also boasted a large wooden porch with couch and chairs, and a side yard with fire pit and a gas BBQ with a full tank of propane.

When not relaxing in the cabin, we had fun playing around the 40-acre campground, which offered everything we needed for a mini, three-day glamping adventure. We enjoyed renting a four-wheel bike, jumping on a giant bouncy pillow, mining for treasures, playing in a kiddie playground, sipping local beer, and lounging by the huge swimming pool.

Located a few steps from our cabin porch, the resort swimming pool was an oasis. The area is surrounded by lush trees and features a shallow walk-in ramp into the water that is perfect for little kids. The area also offers private cabanas and two Jacuzzis. Right behind the pool is a playground with sand, slides and a big play structure.

Next to the pool is the Kids Club, where parents can purchase fun arts and crafts for the little ones. This is where we rented a four-wheel surrey bike to thoroughly explore the campsite. For an hour each morning, we pedaled around the property admiring beautiful, new RVs and stopping to chat with friendly fellow campers. The bike has a steering wheel, four sets of pedals and enough seats for four adults and two small kids up front. Not only is the bike fun for the whole family, but it is also a great workout for the legs!

Another exciting adventure at KOA San Diego is the Beach Treasure Dig, a realistic little mining operation where kids can hunt for treasures. As water rushes down two ming flumes into tracks filled with sand, kids use sifters to find precious gems and other valuables. In our case, I hid some coins in the sand that my son was super thrilled to find.

After mining, we walked a few feet to the Sand Castle Cafe for fresh pizza and cold local beer. Featuring al fresco dining with a farm-to-table Southern California flare, the cafe serves warm baked goods, pancake breakfast, breakfast burritos, burgers, gourmet pizza, farm fresh salads and treats.

While eating I overheard two gentlemen behind us talking about the campsite and its history. They turned out to be Ted Bell and his son Mike, the owners of the KOA San Diego. Ted, who is 92 now, founded the campsite in 1968, while working as a police officer for the City of Chula Vista. Back then the camp was five acres with only a few dozen sites.

“When we opened up in 1968 we were kind of an outdoor motel for tourists coming to San Diego,” says Mike Bell. “But in the late 80s into the 90 we started transitioning into recreation and family resort focused. And a lot of people that come to the campground these days come to stay and spend all of their time in the park. They are not going to Sea World or the zoo or the beaches.”

Bell says that his guests now come from literally all over the world to experience San Diego weather and KOA comfort and outdoor charm.

After talking with the Bell’s we walked across the campsite to the giant red and yellow bouncy pillow. Measuring about 30 feet long by 15 feet wide, the air-filled pillow is like a big trampoline that makes you feel like you are jumping on mars. Next to here is a basketball court where I played a pick-up game with fellow campers.

Back at the cabin, we fired up the BBQ that came fully-equipped with a tank of propane. For dinner we grilled baby back ribs, potatoes, beans and veggies. We then had a memorable meal outside on our patio. After dinner, we threw some wood in the firepit, grabbed some extra long skewers, and made smores with marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate bars.

Whether you have an RV, a camper van, or a tent, or want to sleep in a deluxe cabin or a rustic hut, the San Diego KOA Campground is one of San Diego’s most popular camping resorts and is a top-rated destination for family fun. The campground is located about 20 minutes from major San Diego attractions such as Sea World, The San Diego ZOO and San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park. The campsite is also pet-friendly and boasts a 7000 square-foot dog park.

The San Diego KOA Resort is located at 111 North 2nd Avenue, Chula Vista, CA 91910. For reservations call 888-566-1165 or visit: www.koa.com/campgrounds/san-diego

The post Camping and Glamping at San Diego Metro KOA Resort appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Today, the whole world knows of the Caesar Salad – a salad generally consisting of romaine lettuce and croutons, dressed with Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce and black pepper.

Many people attribute its birthplace to the nation of Italy, a few others to Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace. Most dispute this, and credit the Caesar Salad’s creation to restaurateur Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant who operated restaurants in both the U.S. and Mexico. Cardini lived in San Diego, but also worked in Tijuana where he could avoid the restrictions of Prohibition. His daughter, Rosa, recounted that her father invented the dish in 1924 on the Fourth of July after a rush of thirsty and hungry American tourists depleted the kitchen’s stock in the wee hours of the morning. Cardini made do with what he had left in the restaurant’s refrigerator, adding the theatrical flair of the table-side tossing by the waiter.

Julia Child wrote that she had eaten a Caesar Salad at Cardini’s restaurant when she was a child of nine-years-old in the 1920s – thus making the creation world-famous.

“I am probably one of the few people around who saw the real Caesar Cardini making his salad. I was about 9 when my parents took me to his restaurant in Tijuana, just the other side of the border from San Diego. They were so excited when big jolly Caesar himself came to the table to make the salad, which had already been written up and talked about everywhere. And it was dramatic: I remember most clearly the eggs going in, and how he tossed the leaves so that it looked like a wave turning over.”

In her classic, “The Way to Cook,” Julia Child remembers: “According to Chef Caesar Cardini’s daughter, with whom I talked at length before doing this recipe for our TV show some years ago, the original contained no anchovies. However, you may certainly add them if you wish, mashing them into a puree with a bit of olive oil and tossing them in before adding the cheese. When Caesar Cardini first served his famous salad in the early 1920s, he used just the hearts of the romaine lettuce, the tender short leaves in the center, and he presented them whole. The salad was tossed and dressed, then arranged on each plate so that you could pick up a leaf by its short end and chew it down bit by bit, then pick up another. How-ever, many customers didn’t like to get their fingers covered with egg-and-cheese-and-garlic dressing, and he changed to the conventional torn leaf. Too bad, since the salad lost much of its individuality and drama. You can certainly serve it the original way at home – just provide your guests with plenty of big paper napkins. And plan to be extravagant.”

Julia Child’s Recipe for the Caesar Salad

This version is quite close to the original, and you can see it is really a very simple salad. Use small, tender whole leaves, real Parmigiano-Reggiano – none of the fake stuff – and the 1-minute egg for creaminess (though you can substitute 1 teaspoon of mayonnaise for the egg). But you don’t want herbs and anchovies and things like that – then you have adulterated it.

Yield: 2 or 3 servings

Ingredients:

• 18 to 24 crisp, narrow leaves from the hearts of 2 heads of romaine lettuce, or a package of romaine hearts (about 1 pound)
• 1 cup Plain Toasted Croutons (recipe follows)
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup or more excellent olive oil
• Salt
• 1 large egg
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 whole lemon, halved and seeded
• Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese, imported Parmigiano-Reggiano only

Special equipment: A large mixing bowl; a small frying pan

Preparing the salad components:

You will probably need 2 large heads of romaine for 3 people – or use a commercially prepared package of “romaine hearts,” if they appear fresh and fine. From a large head remove the outside leaves until you get down to the cone where the leaves are 4 to 7 inches in length – you’ll want 6 to 8 of these leaves per serving. Separate the leaves and wash them carefully to keep them whole, roll them loosely in clean towels, and keep refrigerated until serving time. (Save the remains for other salads – fortunately, romaine keeps reasonably well under refrigeration.) To flavor the croutons, crush the garlic clove with the flat of a chef’s knife, sprinkle on 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and mince well. Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil on the garlic and mash again with the knife, rubbing and pressing to make a soft purée. Scrape the purée into the frying pan, add another tablespoon of oil, and warm over low-medium heat. Add the croutons and toss for a minute or two to infuse them with the garlic oil, then remove from the heat. (For a milder garlic flavor, you can strain the purée though a small sieve into a pan before adding the extra croutons. Discard the bits of garlic.) To coddle the egg, bring a small saucepan of water to a simmer. Pierce the large end of the egg with a pushpin to prevent cracking, then simmer for exactly 1 minute.

Mixing and serving the Caesar:

Dress the salad just before serving. Have ready all the dressing ingredients and a salad fork and spoon for tossing. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the romaine leaves and toss to coat, lifting the leaves from the bottom and turning them towards you, so they tumble over like a wave. Sprinkle them with a generous pinch of salt and several grinds of pepper, toss once or twice, then add the lemon juice and several drops of the Worcestershire, and toss again. Taste for seasoning, and add more, if needed. Crack the egg and drop it right on the romaine leaves, then toss to break it up and coat the leaves. Sprinkle on the cheese, toss briefly, then add the croutons (and the garlicky bits in the pan, if you wish) and toss for the last time, just to mix them into the salad. Arrange 6 or more leaves in a single layer on individual plates, scatter the croutons all around, and serve.

Homemade Croutons

“Homemade croutons are essential for our Caesar salad and a fine addition to a basic green salad as well as soups. You can enrich the cubes with melted butter before toasting, if you like, or flavor them after with garlic oil, as in the Caesar recipe. It’s easy to make a large batch and freeze any croutons you are not using the same day. Reheat frozen croutons in a low oven until crisp.”

Plain Toasted Croutons (makes 4 cups)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the crusts from 4 or more thick slices of home-style white bread and slice bread into 1/2-inch strips and then the strips into 1/2-inch cubes, to make 4 cups. Spread the cubes in a single layer on a cookie sheet and set in the oven for about 10 minutes, turning once or twice, until lightly toasted on all sides. Spread the cubes on a tray to cool before using or freezing.

The Caesar Salad – According to the Hotel Caesar’s Recipe

• whole leaf romaine or cos lettuce
• olive oil
• fresh crushed garlic – often in olive oil
• salt to taste
• fresh-ground black pepper
• wine vinegar
• lemon juice or lime juice – fresh squeezed
• Worcestershire sauce
• raw or coddled egg yolks
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• freshly prepared croutons

Prepared table-side, natch’.

The post Caesar Cardini’s Iconic Caesar Salad appeared first on Traveling Archive.

I know what you’re thinking, how does that even happen?  “I ended up playing in Russia.” Sue says.  “Due to my friend, the fabulous guitar player Laura Chavez… Laura was Candye Kane’s last musical partner. Laura and Candye met The Jumping Cats (Russian musicians) in one of the Baltic countries and highly recommended that I get in touch. Through the miracle of Facebook, Vladimir Rusinov and I became friends and I eventually ended up with a gig in Moscow at the Roadhouse Blues Club, and one in St. Petersburg at the Port Arthur Jazz Club.”

And why Russia? “I was planning on just taking a vacation there, not really playing.” She says. “But my tour director Laura Barbanell, who is Russian, managed to connect me with several other groups, including a band called the Hot Engines and a world class vibes player, Alexei Chizhik, both who I sat in with. We also called all the swing dance groups we could think of in Russia and by the end of the trip, we had quite a following. It also helped that I was on the trip with a dozen swing dancers from San Diego.”

Tour dates in Moscow and St. Petersburg? That’s pretty impressive for a blues woman whose musical roots run so deep through the Texas panhandle. “I was a child of the cold war ‘duck and cover’ days, and to be in Red Square was mind boggling.”

Can you talk a little about your family? “My mother’s family was from Texas and they grew up in Chillicothe, Texas.” Sue says. “It was the depression and eventually all but one sister moved out West. The older brother went to New Mexico and all the sisters moved to California. So they entertained themselves by playing music. My grandfather played fiddle, like Turkey in the Straw kind of fiddle and was a square dance caller. And all of his children were in the swing dance era. My grandmother taught them all how to play piano, my mother played drums and my uncle played trumpet, and they all played piano.”

Sounds like you were destined to play music. “Yeah, you were expected to play or expected to participate, anyway. And that’s what the family did.”

It was a ten year old Palmer attending Vacation Bible School with a neighborhood friend when she first heard the boogie played on piano. Sue says that chance revelation rapidly became an obsession, “I played all the time, I did it for hours and hours when I was little, that’s the key. You have to do it so much that the left hand is mindless.”

With so many musical and generational influences Sue ultimately created her own “kind of swingy blues or bluesy swing” that continues to integrate and underscore her undying love of the big band era. “I really didn’t start thinking of it as a profession because my mother said it was a hard life. (laughing) And I think it meant you couldn’t go to the bathroom when you needed too, when you were on the bus, on the road. I mean, they didn’t really know what it was like. My parents didn’t understand self-employment. My mother was like Rosie the riveter. She worked at Solar and my father was in the Navy from ’41 to ’61. He was in Pearl Harbor.”

Who were some of your earliest influences outside the family? “Probably Elvis, I listened to his piano player over and over, like a hundred million times a day…and Ray Charles because he was really big in the early 60’s. When I was in the 8^th grade I started playing by ear. I took piano lessons for about 5 years, like from 7 to 12 or something. But then I started playing by ear and listening to things on the radio. I listened to Duke Ellington, Count Basie and everybody.”

************************

        “I’m basically a swing musician. I knew I was going to lose a gig once when she said,
‘Can you try not to swing?’ I couldn’t! So, I lost the gig. I couldn’t do it.”  

                                                                                                        – Sue Palmer

 ************************

Did you start out in garage bands? “No and that’s one of my regrets. And that I didn’t join the high school band, I could’ve picked up sax or something real easily. But they were too dorky. (laughing) I didn’t like that. I was stupid. You know, I would play at my friend’s houses. But the boys didn’t want to play with me. They may have wanted to play with you if you could sing or were real sexy or something but I wasn’t really like that. (laughing) I just kept playing; I played all the time, when I was supposed to be studying.”

But you did stay in school… “I went to college out here at San Diego State. I was a political science major. (laughing) And it wasn’t until I graduated that I started meeting people and continued to go (to school) because the job I got was so… nothing… clerical. I had more status as a student. I started meeting people that were better musicians and because of the time it was, the late ‘60s early ‘70s people needed you for benefits. And the women’s movement started and I was really interested in that and all the talk of being free and the hippies…and I started doing benefits with this friend I met and that’s how I started developing. Then I got a band together called Ms. B. Haven with Sharon (Shufelt) and April (West) and we recorded a 45 in the late ‘70s.

Was that your first band? “Well, we had a little trio called Pearl Tapioca before Ms. B. Haven. That band was very democratic, there wasn’t like one style of music. We were all different; all right it’s your turn, okay your turn. It would be like practically disco and then country, it was funny. And then I had a band called Tobacco Road.”

Tobacco Road made you a household name, followed by critical acclaim and music awards. “It was a good band… April and Sharon were in it. We met in the late ‘70s. There was a band called Stones’ Throw which was a really popular, fun trio and Sharon started playing drums with them for a while and they did a lot of harmonies and vintage jazz. Molly Stone was in it and Phil Shopoff. And I was in Pearl Tapioca with Molly for a little while and my friend Dayna who lives around the corner… then I was in a band with Candye Kane.

You reach the end of Tobacco Road, what happened? “Well it probably would have still been going, but the real star of Tobacco Road was a guy named Preston Coleman, an African-American who was a hipster in the ‘40s and when he got with us it gave us total legitimacy. It went away because I went off with Candye and Preston had a stroke. It was a horn band, sax and clarinet, trombone and trumpet and no guitar, piano, bass and drums. We worked all the time, like three gigs a day on the weekend, one time I did four, I played all the time. I quit my day job and got a keyboard in 1987.”

How did you first meet Candye Kane? “I actually knew Tom Yearsley, Candye was married to him then and we all played at the Belly Up. It was a giant scene in the ‘90s and in the ‘80s too. He was playing in the Paladins and I was in Tobacco Road and we played every Happy Hour Wednesday for about five years or so and we all knew each other. So he had mentioned to Candye that he thought I would be a good person for her to hook up with. Her youngest son, Tommy was a baby so she was interested in getting a record deal and going on the road and doing the whole thing, but he was too little. When he got to be about three, she thought she could do it, so he (Thomas) suggested she check me out for part of the band. She invited me to play at a NOW benefit because she was a big feminist at Palomar Junior College. So I said yes and that was how we met and started becoming friends. She got a band together and we played at the Belly Up. The Sunday Happy Hour or something and it was like ‘boiinng’ as soon as we started… crowded! It was special, yeah.”

Did you and Candye hit it off personally as well as professionally? “We would have the most interesting conversations because she had come from a way different background than me. She had been a sex worker and I was this little middle-class girl from Point Loma. (laughing) The way we came to our beliefs, some we would disagree on, but some things we were like, ‘Oh wow, that’s interesting!’ We would agree on things, but she had come to it from a whole different place. Assumptions that weren’t true… we figured out things, it was really interesting. And we had a good connection on stage. And for almost 10 years, pretty much the whole ‘90s. And she was a fabulous performer and she brought it out in me. Because I wasn’t that much of a performer, I just played, you know?”

But your chemistry on stage literally took you around the world. “Oh God, France loved her, you know? And me too, because of the beehive, they liked all that. They do that; the state subsidizes art, performance art.”

Did you realize how special the shows were at the time? “It was huge. (laughing) My relatives always said if you went to Europe that was the big time. I mean one time we played for 20-thousand people, and there was a hill, and then another hill. Full… packed. Often we played for eight or nine thousand, and little tiny dives and everything, so you can keep making money.”

Those years must be very special to you? “Oh, fantastic, it made me look like I had a career, a defining moment. One of the stories we liked to tell, we used to play in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Zoo Bar.  This country is so huge and that guy gets so many great acts in this tiny little town, because you have to stop somewhere to sleep. It’s a tiny little place and they’re really nice people, they treat you well and it’s intimate. So we’re playing there and we’re on the road and she (Candye) would get jealous because I was getting so much attention for my beehive. So she got this little pastiche, a hairpiece, not as big as a beehive. We’re performing and she was a total nasty girl and we were doing ‘All You Can Eat’ or one of the long songs and I had on a short dress and fishnets and I was going to take a solo on the piano. While I was taking the solo she decided to do this thing where she pretended to put her head down between my legs… she wasn’t really doing anything she just had her head down in that area. And she’s not coming up. (laughing) And I’m going, ‘Uh, I’m just tryin’ to take a solo, Candye!” And she goes, ‘I’m stuck!’ (laughing) The pastiche thing got stuck in the fishnets. (laughing) So finally she got out and it was pretty funny.” (laughing) You never knew what was going to happen with her and we would all just play along.”

Good times. “I had her when she was still in her thirties.” Sue remembers. “I was only in my forties. She was fat and full of it. It was the beginning of her journey ‘on the road.’ We got the Antone’s record deal and slept on floors, it was exciting.”

How did the record deal come about? “She knew how to do this, I didn’t. I knew I could find gigs in San Diego but to get out… that’s why I wanted to hang with it because I could see she was driven. We went to SXSW and played and she had some connections because of the Paladins, so that worked, it worked. People come from all over the world (for SXSW) and that’s how we got to Europe because a guy from Norway saw us so we toured Norway a few times. And then a guy from France saw us. And that lead to an agent/manager that connected us all over.”

You leave Candye and take a break… “Let’s see I quit her band in July of ’99, I had given notice and she was mad at me, so it kind of came suddenly. It was coming and she knew it too. And then we got back together because I got breast cancer. She couldn’t handle that. I knew I had to take care of some personal things and I wanted to make my own album. I wanted to reintroduce myself and get a band together and the album ‘Motel Swing and Boogie Woogie’ came out in January of 2000. April and Sharon, Jonny Viau, Deejha Marie and Earl Thomas and it eventually morphed into a sound that I wanted. Steve Wilcox and I had played in different configurations even before Candye. After playing with him so much in that band, it’s like my left hand we don’t even think about it. We do duos even, little party things and stuff.”

************************

Guitarist Steve Wilcox concurs. “I’ve known Sue probably close to 30yrs.” Steve says. “In the 80’s I was playing with Kats Caravan. We played at Patrick’s a lot back then. Sue’s band Tobacco Road played at Croce’s Top Hat. On breaks we’d step out into the little alley behind Patrick’s to get air and watch Tobacco Road and they’d do the same thing. Sue & I really clicked. I was raised on Boogie Woogie. My Dad loved Boogie Woogie piano and we had lots of recordings around our home. Classics like, ‘Beat Me Daddy Eight To The Bar,’ other recordings from the great Freddie Slack on 78’s were played a lot! Boogie Woogie piano has always knocked me out, so getting to play with, hang out, and tour the world with the Queen of Boogie Woogie was great!! We had a blast!!! (STILL do for that matter). We also have very similar tastes when it comes to song selection and stylistically we fit very well together.”

************************

Let’s talk a little more about your style of play; can you describe Sue Palmer’s music? “Well, it’s kind of swingy blues or bluesy swing. I’m basically a swing musician. I knew I was going to lose a gig once when she said, ‘can you try not to swing?’ (laughing) I couldn’t! So I lost the gig. I couldn’t do it. (laughing)

You incorporate so many different styles of play in your performances. You do stride, boogie, barrelhouse… “I do twenties and a lot of thirties stuff and someone told me the Speakeasy thing is back in style, it’ll probably last five seconds but… I spent the whole ‘80s playing ‘20s music. (laughing) Tobacco Road did all that stuff and I love it. It’s very pianistic, and April likes it because the trombone was prominent. And we just did it on one of the Hornblower boats and we have a New Years gig doing it.”

Swing dancing has become very popular in San Diego as well as around the country, especially to your style of blues and swing music. “Yes, thank God for them because they’ve kept me in business for years now. It’s becoming door gigs. It used to be, we’ll pay you this much, now the poor bar owners can’t afford to put themselves out there. Like Croce’s went out of business, because she said people didn’t want to pay for the music.”

You said you took swing dancers to Russia with you but not your regular band. How was it working with musicians from Russia? “The Jumping Cats learned all my songs and arrangements and were fantastic.” (Authors Note: There are several You Tubes videos available online of Sue Palmer and The Jumping Cats) Sue adds. “I am hoping they will come to San Diego: Vladimir on guitar, Nicolai on bass, Ksenia on drums, and Olga on vocals.  This was the first time a band featured me and learned my material, which is somewhat of a turning point for me. I was there for two weeks.”

The current political climate between our countries is not really all rainbows and unicorns, what kind of reception did you get from the Russian audiences? “The audiences were fantastic – I have a picture of everyone in the room taking a picture…at the same time! One fan remembered me from the Candye Kane days and had me signing about 15 posters. I had to take pictures with fans afterward at the St Petersburg gig for an hour and a half!!!”

Sounds like you could become our new Boogie Ambassador to Russia; do you think you’ll go back? “Music is definitely an international, peaceful language of joy…Yes, I would go back. The music was wonderful and reminded me of our common humanity, not our reasons for being enemies.”

The post Sue Palmer – Unleashes Boogie Détente appeared first on Traveling Archive.

My recent getaway to San Diego Mission Bay Resort began when a friend and I checked into a beautiful King Waterview Studio overlooking the city’s iconic Mission Bay. Boasting 670-square-feet, the Southern Californian-styled room featured bright and festive hues and came with a huge flat screen TV, comfy king bed, small sleeper sofa, lounge chair and sophisticated, beach-chic furniture. The room also featured a large, spacious bathroom; microwave; small refrigerator; bar and sink; coffee maker; and super hi-speed Internet.

But the suite’s best feature was its patio overlooking a large green lawn, a walking/biking path, and Mission Bay a few steps beyond. From the patio we could scan the beautiful bay, watch kayakers, kitesurfers and stand-up paddle boarders go by, ducks and seagulls play in the water, and the sun set into the horizon.

When not in our room, we spent much of our time at the outdoor, Mediterranean-inspired pool area. Here we relaxed in a shady cabana, laid in deck chairs to get some rays, and swam in the crystal clear water. The 4,000 sq-ft, family-friendly area offers a large adult pool and a small kiddie pool for toddlers. There is also a serene pond and waterfall where ducks like to hang out, and a giant lawn chair for taking fun pictures in.

From the pool we explored more of the property. San Diego Mission Bay Resort officially reopened in July after completing a $32-million renovation of the expansive 18-acre property.  Located in the heart of San Diego on the scenic Mission Bay Park waterfront, the lavish 357-room, year-round resort is ideal for guests seeking to explore the region’s vibrant culture and nearby attractions.

“Our transformation captures the essence of everything this luxury coastal playground has to offer, and we are excited for guests to experience this iconic Southern California resort and to enjoy the true ‘soul’ of San Diego,” says Douglas Rucker, general manager of San Diego Mission Bay Resort. “We embody the genuine San Diego way of life, connecting the easy beach lifestyle to the surrounding cultural vibrancy through creative programming and thoughtful, regionalized design.”

The reimagined resort also features a full-service spa and fitness center, five tennis courts, basketball courts, gift shop, restaurant and poolside grill. Additionally, the hotel provides over 16,000-sq-ft of interior meeting and function space, and 9,600-sq-ft of outdoor meeting space.

After touring the property we headed back to the room and relaxed on the patio. While here a friendly duck waddled near us and led us to the sand. She then hopped in the water and floated away with her friends. Since it was a hot afternoon we waded in the water, admiring Mission Bay.

Mission Bay Park is the largest man-made aquatic park in the country. It is made up of two islands, lots of coves and numerous points jutting into the water. Sandy beaches are scattered about the shoreline and because of its geography, there is lots of protection from ocean waves, making it perfect for kayaking, paddle boarding and even swimming. Surrounding Mission Bay are beautiful family parks with BBQ’s, benches, restrooms, and showers, playgrounds for kids, and swimming areas.

A highlight of the park is a12-mile-long paved path for runners, bikers, skaters, and walkers. Next to the bay is SeaWorld San Diego and Belmont Park Amusement Park.

For dinner we experienced Covewood, the resort’s signature restaurant. Inspired by Coastal California, the restaurant serves up woodfired pizzas, local beef, poultry and seafood – all ready to be paired with fine wine or food-friendly cocktails.

 Our meal began with crab cakes with roasted corn salsa and old bay remoulade; Tuna Tartar with avocado mousse, seaweed salad and chile vinaigrette; and Salted Caramel Brussels Sprouts with gorgonzola cheese. For the main course I devoured pan seared diver scallops with sunchoke puree, bok choy and smoked tomato vinaigrette. My companion enjoyed Achiote-grilled skirt steak with corn, purple potato hash and grilled scallions with chimichurri.

After dinner we sat on the sand beside one of the resort’s fire pits and roasted gooey, tasty s’mores as the sun fell behind the bay. The next morning we rented bikes and rode the Mission Bay bike path. After a few miles, we found a shady tree by the shore and had a picnic. Besides bikes, guests at the resort can rent kayaks, paddle boards, peddle boats, sail boats and more.

The resort is currently offering a “Work by the Bay Package” for those who want to get away after being cooped up during the lockdowns. With this exciting and relaxing package, guests can upgrade their home office setting with luxurious, waterfront accommodations, fine dining, poolside relaxation and sweeping views of the bay. With newly installed Wi-Fi throughout the property, Mission Bay Resort is an ideal place to reset and get inspired while you “Work From Hotel.”

The Work by the Bay Package includes:

• Luxurious guestroom accommodations with a private patio or balcony to work in peace
• $25 daily food and beverage credit to the resort’s all-new dining options, with outdoor seating areas and ample shade
• Complimentary parking to come and go as you please

San Diego Mission Bay Resort is located at 1775 East Mission Bay Drive, San Diego, CA 92109

For more information on current specials and reservations, visit www.missionbayresort.com or call 619-677-1161

The post Relaxing at San Diego Mission Bay Resort appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Never-the-less you are determined and focused, and find yourself in a band full of grownups “playing lead” guitar and you get gigs opening for the very players you so admire. Suddenly, you’re hanging backstage with Johnny Winter, Joe Perry, and Elliot Easton. Your band releases a regional hit and local radio WBCN invites you in to talk about your music… sounds like a fairy tale, something that only happens in the movies, right? Yet, that is exactly what happened to San Diego guitarist, Jimmy Zollo.

Although he is rarely thrown out of clubs anymore, Zollo’s resolve and ‘never say die’ attitude is still apparent. He continues to play with different musicians in multiple bands and actively generates new music and original material. So, when we finally had a chance to sit down and talk, we started with those early years.

Was your family musical? “My dad played saxophone a little bit.” Jimmy says. “And my mom was an artist and she’s responsible for all my musical influences. She was actually a graduate of UC Berkeley and was double promoted from high school. She went to college really early and was up there during the Monterey Pop festival. Her main thing was abstract art but she did all of it and then became an art teacher in the school system. Once we were old enough to go to school, she went back to work and became an art teacher in the high school that I attended. She used charcoal and paint and she sold a lot of her pieces in La Jolla.

She took me to my first concert; Boz Scaggs, the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac back in Foxboro. Thanks to her I got to see Queen six times, Thin Lizzy and there were many concerts I missed because by that age I had already been playing and had a band. She tried to get me to go see the last tour that Bon Scott did through Boston and I said, ‘Mom, I’m playin’ a party.’ Even though I wanted to go… I missed that, and then he was gone. She took me to go see Prince on his first tour, and then she told me about this guitar player from Texas that you need to see… Stevie Ray Vaughan! She was a major influence on my direction and my biggest supporter.”

How about siblings? “My younger brother Drew is a great bass player. We’ve played together in the past. When growing up he would snatch my guitar away from me.” (laughing) “I would beat him.” (laughing) “I finally got hip one day and said, ‘if you’re going to keep doing this, then you’re going to play bass.’ I gave him my guitar and showed him some bass lines and got him going on that. And I have a sister, too. She never played professionally, but she can play the drums.”

************************

“That’s the thing about blues music, it’s all based on the love of the music
and the people we revere the most.”

– Jimmy Zollo

 ************************

Originally from the East Coast, you must have known early it would be music? “I grew up in Boston and left when I was twenty. When I left that area, I was already a veteran of that scene. I played professionally from the age of fourteen and I opened up for Johnny Winter, Gregg Allman, Frank Marino, Metallica… Hanoi Rocks and a lot of others I can’t remember. I was in a little band and playing with some guys from high school; ‘Scorcher’ and we had our own little regional hit song, ‘Dreamers’ and ‘Let the Nation’s Burn.’ It was kind of hard rock stuff and we got airplay on WBCN-Boston and did interviews on that station.”

WBCN is nation-wide exposure… who else were you running into around Boston at that time? “When I was young, around 1978, I got to meet the Aerosmith crew, the Cars… I met Elliot Easton, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler. Where I grew up, there was a super high bar for guitar players. Even as a kid, you knew there were kids that were already pro players.”

The Northeast is known for its outstanding guitarists. Did you ever run into Duke Robillard? “Yeah…Roomful of Blues! They used to play within walking distance of my home so I would go over and stand outside and listen and then sometimes sneak in and get thrown out… Ronnie Earl, too!”

So you leave the East Coast in 1985… “I went right to Hollywood! It was a great time to be in your twenties and be in Los Angeles. I had just turned 21 and was just kicking around in a couple of bands with some of the guys that I moved out there with, and then eventually my brother and I stumbled into some other guys that came from the Pittsburgh area and we formed the group called ‘the Betrayed’ and we got picked up by EMI. It was a rock band and we were really into the Stones and blues stuff. Basically what happened, we got signed to a big record deal with all these plans and ‘Nirvana’ came out and everything changed!” (laughing) “That was the story for a lot of bands during that time, everything shifted towards that. The people that signed us… they were gone! The next thing you know, we just have a deal on a label with people that don’t know us or have any background with us… and that’s how that went.”

You started playing professionally so early, it sounds like you really didn’t play in that many garage bands. “Well, at 14 I started playing and about six months in, I was in a band with grown-ups… playing lead. It was pretty wild because I didn’t know keys or chords, I just played by ear and nobody could understand how I could learn and play. When I tried to go back and figure out what I was doing, it just ruined it!” (laughing) “You know what I mean? It stopped me from growing, because I started thinking about it instead of just playing intuitively. I could watch friends play… I had some neighbors and their dad was a Bluegrass and Dixieland Jazz musician, so they had instruments. And his son was my age and the drummer. We would play and I’d get tips on how to tune it up, how to make bar chords and cowboy chords and stuff. So that was kind of how I started.”

Your music is so diverse, all the bands you play in… styles and genres, you literally play a little of everything? How did that come about? “Well, I’m glad you noticed that!”(laughing) “It basically goes back to my mom, because she had her record collection and I learned all the stuff in it. From Van Morrison, Rod Stewart, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin… I mean everything that everybody had out in the late 60s and early 70s, Creedence Clearwater. And then my things; I was listening to Sabbath and Zeppelin, and Queen, you know? The Beatles, Rolling Stones.”

Who were some of your blues influences? “Oddly enough, it would have been the second generation of players, Jimi Hendrix, the rock stuff. Some people might not associate that with a blues thing, but then I worked backwards.”

Bet mom had something to do with it? Jimmy smiles. “She was the one who told me to go back and listen to Howlin’ Wolf, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and all that stuff, Chuck Berry. I’m like, ‘who are these people you’re talking about?’ And she would get me the records and that’s how I got into it.”

I think most musicians have been influenced in some way by Wolf and Robert Johnson… Muddy. “Clapton is a good example, he plays everything. He plays hard rock, pop and deep blues and all that stuff and she (mom) literally told me ‘if you can emulate Clapton’s career as far as the range of music…’ I was 14 but it didn’t take long until I realized what she meant and just how much Clapton and the Stones did for the blues and for all those people.”

Sounds like you followed her advice? “You realize everything came from that (blues). All the roots of everything rock & roll was laid in that era. Take Johnny Shines who traveled with Robert Johnson and Johnny could emulate Robert’s playing and singing and the next thing you know it’s virtually like Robert Johnson had a band because there’s a drummer and a piano player and now there’s a back beat… and it’s rock and roll!”

The first band I remember seeing you play in was the Red Lotus Review with Karl Cabbage, Pete Fazzini and Kurt Kalker. How did that band come together? “I had been out of the music scene for a little bit because I had recently been married and had a child coming, so I kind of dropped out to concentrate on that for a minute. And then my wife at the time told me, ‘you know you can go back and start playing music again if you want.’ After my daughter was a year or two old, I started playing with Chillboy (Raffesberger) and he had a little cast of revolving musicians who were available and always great. A woman Charmaine Tam, a bass player was playing with Karl in another band and she mentioned that I should meet him because he would love my playing. In Chill’s band we were playing blues and I was playing a little more traditional style. He was great at what he did but I had a different style, maybe more primitive compared to what he was doing. Charmaine thought that would fit in with what Karl was doing. The first thing I played for him was a Robert Johnson song and he was hooked.”

After Red Lotus Review you started another band with Karl, ‘Holla Pointe.’ “When Red Lotus was like six or seven years in, we actually had a record deal with the Rip Cat label. I was putting together material and we were getting ready to record and a couple of the guys didn’t want to continue in that direction, unfortunately. It was a great lineup and very unique: two guitars, no bass, drums, harmonica and vocals. We wanted to inject original material into that format. I decided to still do these songs and I asked Karl, ‘I’m going to do this band, ‘Holla Pointe’ if you want to be a part of it and he was like ‘Yeah, I’m in!’

Musically, how was it different from the RLR? “It was similar but what happened, we added a bass player and a few different rhythms and I tried to incorporate a hill country and more of a Delta feel, amped up a little bit. Trying to save that traditional vocabulary but adding a twist to it.”

You’re playing with so many people and in so many bands currently… Joe Wood and the Lonely Ones…”It’s basically the same lineup as ‘Change Today.’ It’s Joe’s nightclub act, his working band. I wasn’t really interested in doing more night club acts. I’ve been in maybe 20 bands over the past 10 years and worked hundreds of days a year. But I said I was really interested in getting in to his (Joe Wood’s) back catalogue and maybe writing some new stuff, so we agreed on that and that’s where we are…with ‘Change Today.’

You also played with vocal dynamo, Casey Hensley. “At that time I was playing in the Six-String Outlaws and that’s where I met Evan Yearsley. He and I clicked musically and we had the same interests… so let’s do something together, you know? He said, ‘Well, I’ve got this girl singer, Casey.’ At the time I didn’t realize, but I had met Casey four or five years before when she was like… 14! She sang on a concert that I was playing with Chill (Raffesberger) for ‘the Best of San Diego’ or something. She came in and sang an Aretha Franklin song and I was all, ‘this girl’s good!’ So, I ended up being in the first rendition of her band.”

Are you spending any time in the studio? “Yeah, I’m making this ‘Change Today’ record right now which is really great. It’s a pretty wide-ranging sound, Joe’s a great songwriter and I got to contribute. It was a chance for me to collaborate with someone who’s a proven, great songwriter.”

How did you meet Joe? “Well, it’s funny I met him in ’89 and he says he remembers… but I know he doesn’t.” (laughing) “But I’d been working for different record producers as an assistant in the studios. When they make recordings, I would go in and basically take care of all the guitars; insure they’re strung up and intonated, tuned up and working properly. I would go to the studio at nine in the morning and stay till midnight. I worked on a lot of sessions while I was pursuing my own career. I worked in every studio in L.A… Capitol, MCA. Everything from Rod Stewart, Robert Palmer, hard rock records, I was very busy and made a lot of money. Most musicians don’t make a lot of money when they’re struggling. What was nice is that it didn’t interfere with what I was doing. After doing that for a couple of years, I ended up being in those same studios recording my own stuff. Most of the people working there said, ‘Wow! It’s great to see you here and now you’re working on your own thing.’ And that’s how I met Joe. One of the producers working on one of Joe’s last records with his band TSOL, caught wind of me and was interested in hearing me play. So, when he did and I introduced myself to Joe and he said, ‘You can join my band, anytime!’ We did a couple of gigs together and I pushed the ‘Change Today’ thing and that’s really taken off.”

I remember seeing you play with Rod Piazza at one of his birthday bashes in Riverside. “Rod Piazza” Jimmy says. “I look at him with the same amount of reverence that I do with all the blues originators because of his dedication and the purity of what he does. He recognized something and took me aside and gave me this heart-to-heart about what I was doing. I just gained so much respect for him because he encouraged me… who am I, to him? But he heard something in me and gave me some wind in my sails to believe in myself. It’s hard to explain to people who don’t know who he is or the genre and express the feeling and the depth of what that meant to me. That’s the thing about blues music, it’s all based on the love of the music and the people we revere the most.”

It seems blues is more personal; the music and stories handed down generation-to-generation. “I was just watching a Muddy Waters interview and the man interviewing him was Pete Welding. He was a record producer and blues/jazz historian and was very close with Muddy.” Jimmy says, and as to prove a point. “I was taught Robert Johnson songs by Pete Welding, who learned from Muddy, who learned directly from Robert.”  

Details! This was in your studio years in L.A.? “Yes, I was very young when I met Pete, he heard I was into the blues and took me into his office at Capitol and gave me a music and history lesson that day. That was huge in my life at that time. I also had a chance to meet Les Paul there and had my picture taken with him. He was a very nice man and made me feel like I was his friend, even though we only talked for a few minutes.”

Let’s talk about ‘Change Today’ and collaborating with Joe Wood. “Joe isn’t a kid anymore and he’s fully aware of that. And the songwriting that he’s doing now is very deep and he’s really gifted at it. When you hear this record… there’s a couple of edgier tunes on it that will make his fan’s of earlier material feel good and there’s some darker stuff that they’re gonna’ love too. But there’s also some stuff that can stand next to Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, its real songwriting. Roots-y, pure soul music, and it’s all originals. I just add my texture and color to it. I get credit for arranging some songs but for the most part all the stuff was there. I did contribute two tracks and Joe put it in his blender. Anytime you write something, it’s always a better result when there’s other minds involved that are creative and add to it.”

Sounds like a fun environment. “These bands with Joe Wood and Mark Campbell and Chris Ogard… we all get along so well, it’s almost comical. I’ve never been travelling with a band ever, where it was so light and easy. It’s so much fun because we just laugh all the time and we can’t wait to play. Everywhere we play people are just like, ‘Wow!’ they feel the energy because we’re so excited. We’re finishing up this record, we’ve got all the basic tracks but I have to put my stuff on it and the vocals and we’re trying to put May 30^th as the release.”

Any reflections about life or the road you travel, to this point? “I just go where the music tells me to go.” Zollo says. “I’ve never pursued or pushed myself; I just do my part and make sure I’m ready when that intersection comes. I’ve had the opportunity to play with so many people; I got to play with Jimmy Bain before he died. A bass player and songwriter, he wrote ‘Man on the Silver Mountain’ he was in Ritchie Blackmore’s band with Ronnie James Dio and he wrote all the Dio stuff for ‘Holy Diver.’ I got a call to do a session and I’m standing in the control room with him… didn’t know that was gonna’ happen!” He smiles and shakes his head. “What am I doing there?”

So your message is be prepared and try not to freak out? “I met Cash McCall last time I went to Memphis and he actually performed two songs with me and shook my hand and goes, ‘I really like your playing.’ I was like, ‘That’s enough for me!'”

The post Jimmy Zollo: How Bad Do You Want It? appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Nena Anderson is in constant motion. She has to be. She has a garden and confesses “I like to cook out of it.” There are also two dogs, three chickens, teen-agers, a husband and five on-going, musical projects. Six, if you count her collaboration on Alex Woodard’s, For the Sender. “I always have something to do!” Anderson laughs. “I’m doing something constantly until I’m literally falling into bed. That’s just how I am. It’s exhausting!” (laughing)

Exhausting maybe, but extremely productive. The Anderson music catalog added two new discs last year with the release of the ‘live’ EP ‘Lonesome Nights’ and just before the holidays, ‘Christmas with Nena.’ Both projects co-produced with guitarist-husband, Deane Cote. ‘Lonesome Nights’ Nena says was a “completely live” learning process recorded in “one shot” and “really fun!” As for the Christmas album, she says. “It’s a throwback to a simple jazz combo with an Ella Fitzgerald, Julie London feel.”

The artistry of this composer, gardener, mom, foodie, graphic designer, writer, painter and chicken farmer, seriously has no boundaries. Her creativity and inspiration comes from others; family, friends and the people that mean the most to her. The songs she writes and the music she performs, reflect that. So our conversation started with her diversity in both style and presentation. How do you describe the music of Nena Anderson? “I don’t really.” She says. “It’s all music, it’s all music. I grew up listening to and being influenced by any and all styles. And I’m lucky enough to be able to sing most styles. I try not to worry about what style it is but our society needs a place to put it, you need a category for ITunes. Unfortunately, you have to pick a category and I struggle with it every day, still.

My second or third band was blues and I loved it so much, it was so easy and natural for me. But I felt that the genre and the people within it were so insular and so unwilling to accept things outside of that and it really turned me off. I’m one of those people that don’t want to be told what to do. I don’t want to feel confined. Now you’re a blues artist and now I’m stuck being a blues artist my whole life. And I was in my early 20’s! No, I don’t want to do that! I mean, I love it and I was very deep into it, why would I only want to do that? I think my solo band is the best thing for me right now, I feel like I can do all the genre’s and not worry about it fitting into Rock or Blues or anything, I can just do whatever I want.”

Speaking of multiple genres, how many different projects are you currently involved in? “So, I have my solo band – Nena Anderson.” She says. “It’s a four-piece band, with Deane Cote on guitar, Jefrey Kmak on bass and Tim Petersen on drums and we play about everything; we say it’s Americana, Americana rock, maybe even folk rock. The solo/duo thing is kind of an evil necessity. I actually don’t like playing solo, ever. I do occasionally but it kicks my butt, I can’t lie. I just don’t enjoy it. I can do it and its fine but it has to be a short set. I’m not a person who will play for three-hours by myself…I get sick of me. I hope everyone else does. But I’ve always played music to play with other people, to interact with other musicians. I’ve never, ever played it to play by myself or to play my songs. It’s always to have that collaboration. To me, playing solo is just not fun.”

Is it a social thing for you? “It’s not even social, though. When you interact with artists and you collaborate to create a bigger whole…it’s Magic! You can’t explain it and it doesn’t always work. But when it does and you can work with artists that understand that language, it’s fantastic. Deane and I have been doing some duo shows and it’s forcing me to stretch a bit as far as being a better guitar player. And it’s fun in a different way because it’s still interacting with another musician and not a whole band.”

Okay, that’s three. “Then I have Brawley which is the honky-tonk band and at this point we only play a few times a year. And have a great time, so much fun.”

You have a regular thing called Jetset out in Palm Springs. “So Palm Springs is jazz and a little Western swing and it’s Adrian Demain, myself and Jim Austin from Brawley and then we have a fiddle player, Bobby Furgo and he is fantastic. He was Leonard Cohen’s main guy for like 15 years or so. He lives in Yucca Valley and does a lot of session work in L.A. It’s a fun combo for sure!

So solo, duo with Deane, Brawley, Jetset and the Nena Anderson band, that’s five different projects? “And all of those we play originals as well as covers. My solo bands…it’s mostly originals with a sprinkling of covers, the other two are standards with a few originals. Adrian and I both write for Brawley and Jetset.”

When do you sleep? “I’m still doing other projects, too.” She laughs.

************************

“I used to sneak into clubs to see the Beat Farmers!”

– Nena Anderson on influences

 ************************

Tell us about the For the Sender project. “About 2011 a local songwriter, Alex Woodard, put together a group of songwriters in a collaborative project. He had asked his fans to send him letters to write songs about. And he got all these letters that were so fantastic, mostly stories of tragedy, hope overcoming hardship…and he picked a handful. So happens, he was living with Sean Watkins at the time and they wrote a song together based on one of these letters. He came up with the idea, why don’t I bring all my friends…and we had these family dinners where we’d all meet at his house and eat! The question was posed, ‘Why don’t we all collaborate and write songs about these letters?’ It came together very organically and I was lucky to be a part of that in the beginning. We ended up making an album and doing some shows. Alex ended up writing a book! It started out as liner notes and it became a book!” (laughing) “And then it got picked up and so we did two more. All of the (submission) letters picked a charity, so when we do these concerts all the money would go to these chosen charities. Now every Christmas we do this For the Sender show and we do some of these songs. For any audience to experience somebody’s story, like a letter being read and then the three songs that were written inspired by it and that immediate connection of music to a story is so powerful… and healing. The idea being that we all feel the same things. We all share it and you don’t feel so all alone.”

Did you have a musical family? “No!” (laughing) “My parents loved music. I took my mom to a concert once; I took her to see K.D. Lang. She said, ‘this is kind of cool. I’ve only been to three concerts, ever.’ I was like, really? So, I asked her what they were. ‘Oh, the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl!’” (laughing) Turns out the three shows were “…the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin! And I’m taking her to see K.D. Lang, whatever, sorry.” (laughing) “Excuse Me!” (laughing) “My mom was into pop music and we always had a lot of music around the house. My dad, and it tortured me as a child, my dad loved ‘old-timey’ music. It was PBS radio, which I thought was the bane of the earth. It was banjo’s, bluegrass, Carter family and later a little bit more of Hoyt Axton, Merle Haggard and all that stuff. It’s so funny because it’s almost like osmosis, I hated that so much growing up and now it’s some of my most favorite. And we did have music around all the time, but neither of them were musical, and I grew up wanting to be the opposite of that and I grew up in the era of punk and ska and new wave and I was into all of that. I did take some lessons when I was a kid and they were horrible.” (laughing) “I had guitar lessons and that was awful and I hated it. I didn’t last very long.”

How about other influences or training; vocal, theater? “No vocal lessons but in high school and in school at UCLA, I was a DJ. I was really into music and records and putting things together. And I did some musical theater when I was a kid, and I think that’s where the jazz thing comes from, my dad loved old movies and I STILL love old movies. Constantly, I watched old movies, musicals, noirs, Hitchcock films, science fiction, dramas, murder…everything! I loved all old movies and I particularly loved the musicals and the music from it. As I got older I realized, oh, that’s because they’re all the old standards. I get it! (laughing)

Your roots, it was ingrained in you. “When I first started singing blues…I sang in a rock band in college and did some session work with some people singing Electronica and dance music stuff. But none of it really fit. But when I started singing blues and jazz, it was just natural, there was just zero effort involved. I remember people asking me, ‘How long you been doing that?’ I just started last week, you know?” (laughing) “Well, maybe you should do more of it!”

I first discovered you through your blues roots. “You’ll love this; I started singing blues with Billy Watson and Joe Jazdzewski and Nathan James and a group of guys playing at a little coffee shop in Carlsbad called the Art House. I think Nathan may have been touring, but he was in and out.”

Billy Watson says he remembers those days. “The Art House was a coffee shop that had monthly art exhibits.” Billy says. “I hosted a Tuesday night open mic for two years around 93’and 94′. Nena had great talent right outta’ the gate. She’s also a great graphic designer. She was kind enough to do the art on my first and second CDs. She worked for a hip company called Red Sand. They were all friends with the Paladins and she did one of their covers too. She worked with all the guys we know like Eric Lieberman. She knew everyone and grew up a native here in San Diego. Her Dad is an old-school surfboard builder…before that term was even invented. He had a shop in Encinitas called Agua. He is still at it to this day. I am hugely honored to know Nena, she’s a pal.”

************************

Tell me about Lucky Scandal and some of your early bands… “It started out,” Nena says. “As ‘Lucky Scandal and the Many Shades of Sin’ and I can’t lie, we were pretty awful.” (laughing) “But we were good enough to play some local gigs. It was rock-a-billy and blues and at some point I met Eric (Lieberman) and I was looking for a guitar player. I sang and had been sitting in with the Juke Stompers and it was great. He and I ended up putting together a different band and doing a lot more of what I was interested in…jump blues, early R&B, and blues. We did that for about seven or eight years. It was still called ‘Lucky Scandal’ and I used to do the whole pinup girl look, high heels, big hair, the dresses and the whole thing. And we did really well, and at one point I had an eight-piece band, a horn section with Jonny Viau and we played big shows at the Catamaran Hotel, Humphrey’s and the Belly Up. It happened to be right in the middle of the big swing dance craze and we were already established. It was nice; we had lots of great gigs and a lot of people would come out and dance to our band. We were playing once or twice a month at the Derby in Los Angeles. About four or five years in, I changed the name to ‘47 Combo’ because 1947 was a good year for music of that style. We were mostly playing as a five-piece at that time, sometimes a six-piece. And I was working full time as a graphic and product designer and playing four or five nights a week and when I finally stopped, I nearly had a mental breakdown. I didn’t even know how exhausted I was and when I finally stopped I had about three months of complete… I was brain-dead. I was a mess.”

What about the Never Out and the Mules? “The Never Out was a rock band that I had for a few years around 2010, that had my friend O (Otis Barthoulameu) who had a band ‘Fluf’ and Bill Driscoll who’s actually April West’s son. He plays trumpet, drums and guitar, he’s a fantastic musician, and Mike Butler on guitar. We played my songs in a more rocked out way. It was super fun and I just wanted to play loud, I’ve been playing quiet, I want to play loud. And ‘the Mules’ which was a predecessor to my solo band, now. It was Nena Anderson and the Mules and that was the band I recorded the album ‘Beyond the Lights’ with.”

We talked about influences, but who else do you think made an impact on your direction? “I used to sneak into clubs to see the Beat Farmers!” (laughing) “I was going to the Belly Up when I was 15!” (laughing) “Because my parents had so many varied influences, I grew up with an open mind. I can honestly say the only thing I’m not a real fan of is Pop Country, New Country. I can listen to Heavy Metal; I can listen to Jazz and Country Rock. I love it all, but for me it’s about honesty, so regardless what the genre is I gravitate toward artists that are honest and who bring that to the show. And I love the song writers…Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard and John Prine.”

Would you call yourself a singer-songwriter? “No!” (laughing) “In the standard definition of it, yes, I am. Growing up in the San Diego music scene I always felt like singer-songwriter meant mediocrity and I didn’t like it. It was the coffee shop, open-miker who had a fifteen minute song and held every note out as long as they could. From day one, that was never my thing. Although I wrote my first song when I was 19, I never considered myself in that world. The first three bands I was in, I just started bands. I didn’t really play that much but I put together players and I had a band. I wanted that interaction of people so I bypassed that whole singer-songwriter thing that a lot of people start with. I did my first open mike, I think I was 34. I didn’t learn to play guitar until my early 30s. I went to East County and started doing an open mike thing out there on a weeknight. I have to kick my own ass, basically. If I don’t play out…like a show in front of people, I need the pressure of having to do it; that’s my motivation. So I started doing these open-mikes, solo with a guitar to learn something new.”

Is Southern California home? “Oh yeah! My parents moved here in 1971, my mom was from Indio and my dad was from Huntington. My mom used to ditch school and drive to the beach where she met my dad. They moved down here and my dad wanted to be a surfboard shaper, so in the early 70s he started doing it. I haven’t always been here; I went to college in L.A. but always Southern California-based, I lived in LaJolla and moved around. I’ve toured, I’ve travelled, and I love to go places, I’m actually not a static person but growing up here, I’m really spoiled and I hate the cold.”

You’ve been involved in Art and Music, you Blog about food…“I love food!” She giggles. “I’m half Chinese and I grew up in a family where everything is about food, everything. There was food to heal you, food for social gatherings, food because you’re too skinny and food…because you need more!” (laughing) “Everything was about food, all the time! I love food because it’s delicious; I love flavors, but also because food brings people together, you can share a meal with someone, you can cook for people and it makes them feel good. I have a garden and I like to cook out of it and a friend of mine, a native American man who works in Palm Springs, he’s always telling me, ‘food is special when you grow it yourself and you cook it for someone and you share it, there is power in that.’ Power in a happy, healing connection and I believe that.”

What inspires you? “Everything inspires me.” She says. “I went to school to be an industrial designer. I’ve been doing graphic design and building things, coloring and painting things since I was 14. Part of that world, and it’s the same for music to me, I cannot shut off my brain. And people will go, ‘oh, you’re not working on that now, or let’s work on this song, right now.’ I’m not that kind of person. I’m working on it for weeks, months; I’m stewing on things for a year and then it comes out. Inspiration comes to me through the people I’m around and I try to surround myself with people that are doers. People that have something to say, and opinions, whether I agree with them or not that’s irrelevant, but people with opinions and ideas and outgoing interests.”

You worked with Jack Tempchin. “I love Jack!” She smiles. “Jack loves lasagna!” (laughing) “He loves home-made lasagna! (laughing)

Everything IS about food with you, isn’t it? (laughing) “I’m telling you, food is the great connector.” She grins. “I got to work with Jack on the For the Sender project and people don’t understand. He is such a fantastic writer but he’s just the most regular dude on the planet. You can go down to Swami’s on any Friday night and he’s playing with the hippy drum circle. He’s awesome and every once in a while he’ll send me something and say, ‘I wrote this song, you wanna’ sing it?’ or I’ll poke him a bit and say, ‘what are you doin’? Come over and eat some food and hang out’ and he loves the way Deane plays guitar and we just get together and kick around songs. He’s such a great guy and so talented.”

Let’s talk about your catalog of music, it seems to be growing? “I actually have a lot of projects that I’m on but that aren’t necessarily MY projects. There are all these jazz compilations that have been distributed all through Europe and Asia that I’m on. They’re available online. They are all jazz compilations and it’s so cool because I’m on there with you know, Quincy Jones and Michael Buble and Cesaria Evora and all these famous people…and Nena Anderson. (laughing) “And it’s real funny. But those are cool because that’s how I met pianist, Danny Green. He’s a monster, he’s so great. A composer, jazz pianist, does Latin, everything. I worked with him on some jazz stuff way back in the day and he said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this publisher that wants some songs. Do you want to come in and sing some vocals on a few of these tracks?’ And I get there and he says, ‘Do you have any original songs?’ Yeah, I’ve got a couple. I played one for him and he says, ‘We’re just going to record that now.’ So we recorded one and the publisher loved it and I sold my first song. I was like, ‘people buy songs? I can sell a song? I get a check for that?’” (laughing) “Oh, maybe I should write more songs.”

You’ve spent a little time in the recording studio over the years, for Nena Anderson projects and for others. “My own records, I have ‘Beyond the Lights’ released in 2011. I’m on the For the Sender CD and an EP I put out early in 2019 called ‘Lonesome Nights.’

‘Lonesome Nights’ was an experiment for us because I wanted to record completely live. To decide if that’s the way I wanted to record the entire album. So we did the EP completely live all in one shot in the studio. Considering that, I think it’s really fun and really good. But I think I learned from it that I don’t want to do that for my full album…maybe do a combination. And then at the end of 2019, I released the ‘Christmas with Nena’ album.”

Something I’ve long admired about the Southern California music scene is the support musicians give other musicians. I know I’ve seen you both out in support of other players. “We love it. Sometimes I need a night to recover and rest my ears, but we go often. A lot of it is, we believe in supporting the scene as much as possible. I’ve worked really hard, and still work really hard in our music community to try to support and bring people together. I’m the connector to people; you can ask anyone. I get calls from booking agents around town as well as musicians. Emails ‘can you recommend somebody for this? Do you know if so-and-so can do this?’” (laughing) “I’m free with information, too. I believe it helps us all. Deane and I have started mentoring younger artists and I’m very opinionated. I’m not mean about it, it’s supposed to be constructive and there’s the thing about pushing the community to grow a little bit. Even with the young artist, ‘No, you don’t play that gig for free. Ask for money. It affects all of us. It doesn’t have to be a lot of money.’ Just those basic kind of things that are so important.”

Your life is pretty full, with family, animals, gardens, art and your vast assortment of musical projects… “I always have something to do!” (laughing) “I don’t like to sit around. I don’t watch TV, I go all day long. I’m cleaning the house or working in the garden. I’m doing something constantly until I’m literally falling into bed and passing out at night. That’s just how I am. It’s exhausting!” (laughing) “I admire my husband because if he needs a brain break during the day, he’ll read for an hour or something, and I’m like, Oh, I wish I could do that! I can’t do it.”

The post Nena Anderson – Without Limitations appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Gems: Volume 2 is composed of what Sue refers to as “personal favorites” recorded by several of her bands dating back to the 1980’s. The most recent track recorded just this past summer with old friends and special guests at the Thunderbird Analog Recording Studio. It’s a wealth of material that truly reflects her lifetime in music. So I asked if putting together this project made her a little nostalgic. “Yes.” Sue says. “Most of the time, over the last 70 years really, I was always looking forward to the next project. I’m still like that now, but I guess I’m old enough to want to write my memoirs, musically speaking. I find it interesting to figure out why I came to be playing a certain way. They say everything you do is just preparation for the rest of your life, forever preparing. I have found that everything I have done musically, I have eventually used.”  

Time and space prevent a complete description of the total project, but to whet the appetite let’s examine a few nuggets. Songs that jump out at you… “Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere” is a beautiful and loving homage to Hadda Brooks. Vocalist Deejha Marie spells it out and the lushness of the Motel Swing Orchestra adds so much texture, its music you can feel.

“Freak Lover” is a little different, reminiscent of the Prohibition/Speakeasy era, with Candye Kane at her bawdy best. ‘Come and see about me, Daddy!’ The violin of Eric Hokkanen gives you some Papa John Creach attitude in this uptempo romp.

No big band can call itself a ‘big band’ without some Ellington and this fresh take on “East St. Louis Toodle-oo” from 2015 is ageless. The muted brass of Phil Shopoff and April West make Sue’s piano shine all that much brighter. It’s like stepping back in time. Speaking of which “Fish for Supper” is my absolute favorite track. The legendary Preston Coleman has that Louis Armstrong growl as he laments over his gastronomical woes. Watch out for bones!

“Ladies Shoes” is a slow blues where once again, vocalist Deejha Marie takes it to the street. The track also features the unrelenting and masterful blues guitar of Steve Wilcox. Add the rest of the orchestra and you grasp the true meaning of ‘smoke-filled room!’

That’s just five of the 20 tracks available on this star-studded album. Sue says, “I have played with some wonderfully talented and charismatic people over the years… Preston Coleman and Candye Kane definitely among them! AND I still do!!” An incredible rotating cast of musicians but a long-time core rhythm section of side players like sax man, Jonny Viau and rock solid time keeper and drummer, Sharon Shufelt. Vocalists Deejha Marie and daughter, Sharifah add even more depth and emotion to the big band songbook. Bass player Pete Harrison, guitarist Steve Wilcox and the trombone of April West round out the current lineup and all have been instrumental in Sue Palmer’s musical journey. And Sue is the first to recognize it. “I always remember that Duke Ellington considered his orchestra his instrument… and I feel like that too. If one has a wonderful band, you want to highlight them!!!”

Sue will highlight her entire Motel Swing Orchestra with guest vocalists, Sharifah Muhammad and Laura Jane Willcock at her upcoming ‘Gems: Volume 2’ release party January 7, 2020 at Tio Leos, 5302 Napa St. San Diego. More info is as close as www.suepalmer.com

The post Sue Palmer Doubles Down — Gems: Volume 2 appeared first on Traveling Archive.