What made Joe the best boss ever, he didn’t insist on you always agreeing with him. He once said to me, “Kenne, you know what your problem is, you’re too damn argumentative.” A characteristic that may have created some enemies, but not with Joe. He was one of the most self-assured, understanding people I’ve ever known. We both continued to work together after retirement — a true friend.
Ken & Mary’s Blues Project — The Last Waltz
Computer Art by kenne
Down the east Texas road, there is rain in the wind as the musicians’ setup for an evening of the blues with friends gathering the last time at Ken and Mary’s Blues Project,
the best house concert ever.
In recent years we’ve missed some of the concerts in
the woods having moved
to the desert southwest, then last February we received word of the “Last Waltz” for the Blues Project — plans were made to immediately.
With Coleman cooler,
yard chairs and
cameras in tow we walked over old
bottle caps toward the Blues Project stage, to be greeted with hugs and kisses — Welcome!
Mary announced the food
was ready and Ken shared some
background on the beginning
of what became the Blues Project.
Not long after the music began, lighting lit up the darkening clouds with thunder adding to
the magical evening.
Other than an occasional drop or two, the music played on until, as if the plugged was pulled, the dark sky began to fall. A rain delay was called as the tarps were brought out to covered the equipment.
Using our smartphones we could see radar showing the rain would be lasting for an hour or more. As has happened in the past, the musicians gathered inside to continue an evening of music.
Most of those who remained were inside or on outside porches, knowing the best of the evening was yet to come — jamming the night away on a hot, humid night in the piney woods of east Texas.
It may be the last waltz
for the Blues Project
but that don’t mean
the party is over,
the music still plays on
and on, and on — may
we stay forever young.
We’ve got to go, but our friends will stick around.
Jonn Del Toro Richardson and Diunna Greenleaf — Image by kenne
Tonight, two of our favorite blues musicians, Jonn Del Toro Richardson and Diunna Greenleaf, won awards at the 2017 Blues Music Awards in Memphis — Jonn for Best Emerging Artist Album and Diunna for the Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female Artist). Congratulations to Jonn and Diunna, we love you both!
— kenne
Do You Want Be To Stay — Diunna Greenleaf, Jonn DelToro Richardson and Bob Corritore Video by kenne
Those blessèd structures, plot and rhyme– why are they no help to me now I want to make something imagined, not recalled? I hear the noise of my own voice: The painter’s vision is not a lens, it trembles to caress the light. But sometimes everything I write with the threadbare art of my eye seems a snapshot, lurid, rapid, garish, grouped, heightened from life, yet paralyzed by fact. All’s misalliance. Yet why not say what happened? Pray for the grace of accuracy Vermeer gave to the sun’s illumination stealing like the tide across a map to his girl solid with yearning. We are poor passing facts, warned by that to give each figure in the photograph his living name.
The Double Bayou Dance Hall, “The Place”, where you could get good smoke brisket
and local women offered homemade pecan, lemon meringue and sweet potato pies. (October 19, 2002) — Image by kenne
Break Between Sets at the Double Bayou Dance Hall, “The Place” (May 25, 2003) — Image by kenne
But the most dangerous thing in the world is to run the risk of waking up one morning and realizing suddenly that all this time you’ve been living without really and truly living and by then it’s too late. When you wake up to that kind of realization, it’s too late for wishes and regrets. It’s even too late to dream.
Ray Bonneville at Ken and Mary’s Blues Project, November 18, 2009 — Images and video by kenne
I believe that all the little things in life add up to one’s life. So, it’s important to get them right, otherwise nothing else matters. I’m here to tell you that Ken and Mary Harris have been getting it right for a long time.
They love people and they love the Blues, and for years now have been doing a lot of little things that have been adding up in the form of the “Blues Project.”
Several times a year, Ken and Mary open their home to friends and their guests to experience the best in blues music this side of Texas. Sadly, many have no idea what they are missing, and sometimes it can get lonely in the promise land by yourself.
One of the many musicians who have appeared at Ken and Mary’s Blues Project is Ray Bonneville. Just as Ray may write about a place he has lived, e.g., New Orleans, he is not from there. He is a traveler in other people’s reality, writing stories that serve as a portal to his existence.
“Firefly comin’ this way
a flickering light is to say
time ain’t but this long
here tonight, tomorrow gone.” — from “Goin’ By Feel”
As a fellow traveler in the reality of others, I hope our paths will cross again soon.
April 12, 2009 Dave had friends and family over for a crawfish boil, after which he played guitar and sang some of his songs. One of the songs was the recently written, “You Can’t See Main Street from Wall Street.”
Chorus
You can’t see Main Street from Wall Street, any more.
The wolves of Manhattan keep us Standards, Poor.
A trillion more dollars, just borrowed on time.
But who signed your name, on the long dotted line ?
This giant saguaro cactus is easily over 100 years old. Located on the steep Milagrosa canyon wall, which may have served to protect it over the years.
La Milagrosa Canyon Panorama — Image by kenne
Ken & Mary’s Blues Project — The Last Waltz
Ken & Mary’s Blues Project (On a humid east Texas night the rain forced everyone to move inside) —
Memories of East Texas keep drafting
Original Stage at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project (August 2005)
Jonn Del Toro Richardson and Diunna Greenleaf — Image by kenne
Music Under the Moonlight — Grunge Art by kenne
Time past, Time Present — Image by kenne
Hikers at Leopold Point signing, JOY, to my wife who is recovering from surgery — thanks for the kindness. (June 24, 2016)
The Double Bayou Dance Hall, “The Place”, where you could get good smoke brisket
Break Between Sets at the Double Bayou Dance Hall, “The Place” (May 25, 2003) — Image by kenne
“Friendship” (Summit Rock, Sedona, Arizona) — Image by kenne
100 Year-Old Cliff Dweller — Image by kenne
