Azalea Blossom — Image by kenne
A gulf coast shower
Moves on leaving behind drops
Nurturing new life.
— kenne
Archive for the ‘Houston Texas’ Tag
Azalea Blossom Leave a comment
Ben’s Den Tasting Room Leave a comment
Gulf Coast Distillers — Image by kenne
While on the Houston leg of our road trip, we had dinner at Ben’s Den Tasting Room
with Katelyn, Janie, and David — a food truck provided the food menu.
In 1998, the De Aldecoa family bought the then memorable Uncle Ben’s Rice manufacturing facility
on Clinton Drive. Now the facility has been turned into a world-class coffee plant and distillery, expanding the
beverage imperium with the creation of the Gulf Coast Distillers.
Yes, the whisky I had was excellent.
— kenne
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Houston Skyline Viewed From Buffalo Bayou Park Leave a comment
Houston Skyline Viewed From Buffalo Bayou Park (August 26, 2021) — Image by kenne
We are now nearing the final leg of our road trip that began on August 7th. We have been in many states from
Arizona to Maine and have taken hundreds of photos, many of which will later appear on this blog with my
observations.
We are now in Houston, our previous home, before moving to Tucson eleven years ago, visiting family and friends.
On Thursday of this week, we had lunch at Birraporetti’s, an upscale and lavish Italian restaurant/Irish bar in
the theater/business district for over 30 years. Because of the pandemic and especially the recent virus spike
in the Houston area, there were only two other customers in this large eatery/bar.
This was not surprising, however very sad.
— kenne
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Pond Slider — No Words Friday Leave a comment
Pond Slider (Lake Houston, October 25, 2013) — HDR Image by kenne
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My Little Girl 2 comments
Katelyn Turner (03/13/11) — Image by kenne
Follow what you love! . . Don’t deign to
ask what “they” are looking for out there.
Ask what you have inside. Follow noy your
interests, which change, but what you are
and what you love, which will and should
not change.
— Georgie Ann Geyer
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Down In Houston Blues Leave a comment
Houston’s Little Joe Washington (April, 2008) — Image by kenne
“Personal inconvenience, experience, and environmental impact notwithstanding, a willingness to drive all over
and beyond Harris County has its rewards for the Houston blues aficionado wanting to make the rounds.
Not only is that travel necessary to access the various widely separated business establishments featuring live
performances on a weekly basis, but for those in the know, it’s also the key to experiencing some unique
presentations of the music — both of which evoke an earlier era.”
— Roger Wood (Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues, 2003)
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Houston’s Shakespeare Pub Leave a comment
Texas Johnny Brown at Houston’s Shakespeare Pub — Photo-Artistry by kenne
(Click on Texas Johnny Brown to see archived blog posting on TJB)
Texas Johnny Brown is a major talent who simmered on the blues scene longer than all the beef stew cooked in the ’40s, the decade when he first began playing and recording. Like pianist Johnny Johnson of St. Louis, Brown is an artist who did not get a chance to record a full album as a leader until he had been in the music business more than half-a-century. Also like Johnson, the results of coming in so late in the game have been a pair of highly acclaimed, prize-winning albums including the righteous Blues Defender. Brown can take plenty of the credit, since he has taken over almost complete control of his ow arranging, production, and mixing, as well as the string bending and blues moaning. He began his career as a sideman for the Duke and Peacock outfits in the ’50s about which discographers make comments such as “… the record keeping at that time was less than desirable.” As a result, some of Brown’s playing on releases by artists such as Lightnin’ Hopkins and Joe Hinton remains uncredited. The guitarist, singer, and songwriter began his professional career as an original member of the great Amos Milburn band known as the Aladdin Chickenshackers. Brown’s picking is killer on early Aladdin recordings by both Milburn, and on Ruth Brown’s first Atlantic sides. Atlantic allowed Brown to make a few recordings of his own in 1949, buoyed by the enthusiasm the label had for Milburn, who played behind his sideman on these sessions along with the rest of the Aladdin Chickenshackers. T-Bone Walker is the dominating force in Brown’s stylistic palette, an influence that was considered something of a driving permit for any guitarist venturing out of Houston during this period. Before finally getting the biggie recording opportunities in the late ’90s, Brown did an ARC session in Houston in the early ’50s that was never released. He also performed regularly with Junior Parker during that decade, remaining based out of Houston. As a songwriter, Brown’s most famous work is “Two Steps from the Blues,” a big hit for Bobby “Blue” Bland, with whom he also toured as a lead guitarist in the ’50s and ’60s. By the ’80s, he was considered only sporadically active on the blues scene, but this turned out to be only a temporary brown-out, so to speak.
— Eugene Chadbourne Source: allmusic.com
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A Christmas Family Album 12 comments
(Click on any image to see in a slideshow format.)
Christmas Over The Last Couple of Decades — Images by kenne
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Time To Rest The Feet 1 comment
Time To Rest The Feet (FotoFest 10/24/02) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
The female is fertile, and discipline
(contra naturam) only confuses her
Who has, head held sideways
Arm out softly, touching,
A difficult dance to do, but not in mind.
Hand on sleeve: she holds leaf turning
In sunlight on spiderweb;
Makes him flick like trout through shallows
Builds into ducks and cold marshes
Sucks out the quiet: bone rushes in
Behind the cool pupil a knot grows
Sudden roots sod him and solid him
Rain falls from skull-roof mouth is awash with small creeks
Hair grows, tongue tenses out – and she
Quick turn of the head: back glancing, one hand
Fingers smoothing the thigh, and he sees.
— from Praise for Sick Women by Gary Snyder
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COVID-19 Is Killing Live Music Venues 2 comments
Until COVID-19, gentrification was the big enemy of live music venues.
Now many these of these venues have closed forever because of the pandemic.
Maybe it’s time to bring back the old fashion bandstand in public parks.
People getting together to experience live music is a necessary
part of developing and maintaining a sense of community.
— kenne
Blue Door Texas Ice House On A Sunday Afternoon In East Texas (10/26/01) — Photo-Essay by kenne
Gene Kelton at the Blue Door Texas Ice House
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Sunday at The Blue Door
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Gene Kelton at the Blue Door
Dancing to the Music of Gene Kelton and the Die Hards
(Gentrification Killed the Blue Door Years Ago.)
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Gary Clark Jr. (09/21/01) 1 comment
Gary Clark Jr. (09/21/01) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
We first saw Gary Clark Jr. in Humble, Texas at the Cactus Moon at age sixteen (November 2000).
The original image for the above art was taken the following September
at the Miller Outdoor Theater in Houston where he appeared with Diunna Greenleaf.
— kenne
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Texas Johnny Brown at The Shakespeare Pub 2 comments
Texas Johnny Brown at The Shakespeare Pub In Houston (11/15/09) Photo-Artistry by kenne
“We used to have guitars sessions,
guitar battles on Sunday out there at Club Matinee.
And there’d be about four or five of us there,
and man, guitars would be ringing like everything!
It was wild!”
— Texas Johnny Brown (Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues)
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All I Have Is A Voice Leave a comment
Sherman Robertson (Houston, TX, 05-11-04)– Image by kenne
All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.
Defenseless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
— from September 1, 1939, by W. H. Auden
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“Original Pat Green” 3 comments
“Original Pat Green” (2004)– Photo-Artistry by kenne
Like so many people the past St. Patrick’s Day, we were sheltered-in-place and missed celebrating the 17th the only way it should be, with friends. So I turned to the many photos of St. Patrick’s Day I have taken over the years, and I have many.
At first, I was thinking about doing a collage, but then I found this one of a friend, Patrick A. Green. Starting in 1995, Pat and his friends would meet on the Court House Square in Conroe, parade around the Square, and party at the Corner Pub on the Square.
Pat practiced law in Conroe for 43 years, retiring in 2015. The “Original Pat Green” gave freely of whatever he had to whomever he met, a man of limitless generosity. With unbridled enthusiasm for his Irish and Cajun heritage, Pat could host a party unlike any other. Through his generous spirit and disarming humor, he possessed an extraordinary ability to bring people together.
Pat died on July 12, 2016. He was an original, and I’m blessed to have known him — somewhere in the universe, he is still partying!
— kenne
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Holiday Season Flashback #2 5 comments
Katelyn Turner, December 21, 2005 — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 