Tournament Time
Simon the Fiddler, Art's Delicatessen, Sarah Jarosz, Anthony Edwards, Bathtub Bambino
Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week’s issue includes female folk/country trios, a post-Civil War novel, a Studio City deli, one third of one of those trios, the Ant-Man, and the Western Wet Bandit. I hope you like the picks and pics.
This week marks the start of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments. I will be glued to the TV tomorrow through Sunday catching all of the action. My dream Final Four this year is Northwestern (where I attended freshman year), Michigan State (where my daughters graduated), Oakland (from metro Detroit), and Creighton (where Bob Gibson played baseball and basketball, located in Omaha where I grew up). If UConn (where my dad was a professor) doesn’t repeat as champion, I think this could be the first year since 2000 when a Big Ten team cuts down the nets. I hope that Michigan State wins its third, but if not, Wisconsin’s second or the first for Purdue, Illinois, Nebraska, or Northwestern would all be nice.
You can join my son Roger’s annual friendly competition as follows:
Go to ESPN
JOIN GROUP: Garfield & Friends '24
ENTER PASSWORD: jalen
Send your name and email address to Roger at rlouisgar @ gmail.com
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Fave Five 77: Tournament Time
Rebel Rouser (Simon the Fiddler), Studio City Sandwich (Art's Delicatessen), Grammy Grabber (Sarah Jarosz), Punishing Posterizer (Anthony Edwards), and a Bathtub Bambino.
Fave Five Lists: Female Folk/Country Trios
This week’s Marvelous Musician is Sarah Jarosz. She is a member of the occasional trio I’m With her. Here are ten trios that I like, taken from my playlist with 87 of them.
Trios with no sisters
Trio (Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris)
The Sweet Water Warblers (Rachael Davis, Lindsay Lou, May Erlewine)
Red Molly (Abbie Gardner, Laurie MacAllister, Molly Venter)
I’m With Her (Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan)
The Rebel Eves (Katie Pederson, Grace Theisen, Jilian Linklater)
Honorable Mention: Voices (Priscilla Herdman, Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen)
Trios with two or three sisters (real or faux)
The Chicks (Natalie Maines, Martie (Erwin) Maguire, Emily (Erwin) Strayer)
The Roches (<the late> Maggie, Terre, Suzzy)
The Burns Sisters (Annie, Marie, Jeannie)
The Quebe Sisters (Grace, Sophia, Hulda)
The Chenille Sisters (faux: Grace Morand, Connie Huber, Cheryl Dawdy)
Book Best Bet
Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles
I previously featured News of the World by this author. I decided to try another of hers, and I was not disappointed. I liked the characters, the musical details, and the slow-developing love story.
From Amazon: The critically acclaimed, best-selling author of News of the World and Enemy Women returns to Texas in this atmospheric story, set at the end of the Civil War, about an itinerant fiddle player, a ragtag band of musicians with whom he travels trying to make a living, and the charming young Irish lass who steals his heart.
In March 1865, the long and bitter War between the States is winding down. Till now, 23-year-old Simon Boudlin has evaded military duty thanks to his slight stature, youthful appearance, and utter lack of compunction about bending the truth. But following a barroom brawl in Victoria, Texas, Simon finds himself conscripted, however belatedly, into the Confederate Army. Luckily his talent with a fiddle gets him a comparatively easy position in a regimental band.
Weeks later, on the eve of the Confederate surrender, Simon and his bandmates are called to play for officers and their families from both sides of the conflict. There the quick-thinking, audacious fiddler can’t help but notice the lovely Doris Mary Aherne, an indentured girl from Ireland, who is governess to a Union colonel’s daughter.
After the surrender, Simon and Doris go their separate ways. He will travel around Texas seeking fame and fortune as a musician. She must accompany the colonel’s family to finish her three years of service. But Simon cannot forget the fair Irish maiden, and vows that someday he will find her again.
Incandescent in its beauty, told in Paulette Jiles’s trademark spare yet lilting style, Simon the Fiddler is a captivating, bittersweet tale of the chances a devoted man will take, and the lengths he will go to fulfill his heart’s yearning.
Review: Paulette Jiles’s New Novel Goes Deep in the Heart of Texas by S. Kirk Walsh of The New York Times
Paulette Jiles
From Wikipedia: Paulette Kay Jiles (born April 4, 1943 in Salem, Missouri) is an American poet, memoirist, and novelist. She attended college at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, graduating in 1968 with a major in Romance Languages. Jiles moved to Toronto, Canada in 1969, where she worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and, subsequently, helped set up native language, FM radio stations with indigenous peoples in the far north of Ontario and Quebec for the next 10 years. In the process, she learned the Ojibwe language spoken by the Anishinaabeg peoples in Ontario and elsewhere.
After marrying Jim Johnson, she moved with him to San Antonio in 1991. After several years of travel, including living in Mexico, the couple resettled in San Antonio in 1995, buying a house in the historic district. Since her divorce in 2003, Jiles has lived on a 36-acre ranch near Utopia, Texas, about 80 miles west of San Antonio.
Restaurant Recommendation
Art's Delicatessen 12224 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604
Barb and I met my brother in LA recently for a movie (Cabrini) and a meal. Both the movie and the meal were excellent.
Barb and David each ordered a half-sandwich and a cup of soup. The half-sandwiches appeared to be full ones (with two full halves) and the cup of soup was more like a bowl. The waiter said that each cup came with half a matzo ball, but it looked like a full one to us. For those with a lighter appetite, splitting such an order would not be a bad idea.
I ordered the lighter portion of a pastrami Reuben sandwich with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing on grilled rye. It came with delicious coleslaw.
From the restaurant: The Art’s Deli Family
Your Hosts: Sandy Ginsburg and Harold Ginsburg
"Every Sandwich is a Work of Art"
We are a second-generation family-owned business, serving traditional Jewish deli fare. We consider every customer a member of our family.
Our suppliers handpick only the highest quality food products that meet our high standards. Most of our menu items have been created from old family recipes dating back to the early 1900s.
Marvelous Musician
Sarah’s concert at The Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara on February 29, 2024 was deeply satisfying. She featured songs from her fabulous new album, Polaroid Lovers, accompanied by three talented supporting musicians.
Previously, I saw her open for Nickel Creek at Interlochen Center for the Arts on July 10, 2014, at The Ark in Ann Arbor on September 5, 2014, on Cayamo 2017, and with I'm With Her at Interlochen on July 16, 2019. I was rooting for Silver Skies Blue by Ari Hest and Judy Collins to win the Best Folk Album Grammy in 2017, but when Sarah's Undercurrent won, it was certainly deserving.
From Wikipedia: Sarah Jarosz (born May 23, 1991 in Austin, Texas) is an American singer-songwriter from Wimberley, Texas. Her first album, Song Up in Her Head, was released in 2009 and the tune "Mansinneedof" was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Country Instrumental Performance. Her second album, Follow Me Down, released in 2011, received a Song of the Year nomination from the Americana Music Association's 2012 Honors and Awards. Her third album, Build Me Up from Bones, was released on September 24, 2013 through Sugar Hill Records. Build Me Up from Bones was nominated for Best Folk Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, and its title track was nominated for Best American Roots Song. In 2016 Jarosz released her fourth album, Undercurrent. The album won two Grammy awards (Best Folk Album and Best American Roots Performance for the song "House of Mercy").
On June 5, 2020 she released the album World on the Ground, her first solo album in four years. It was nominated for two Grammy awards (Best American Roots Song and Best Americana Album) with Jarosz winning in the Best Americana Album category. Her sixth studio album, Blue Heron Suite, was released on May 7, 2021 The previously-shelved collection was originally written and recorded between 2017 and 2018 and received a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album in 2022. Polaroid Lovers was released on January 26, 2024.
Leslie Dinaberg of The Santa Barbara Independent
Review: Sarah Jarosz Busts Out of Bluegrass and Broadens Her Reach
Interview: Sarah Jarosz Brings the Dreamy Sounds of Polaroid Lovers to Santa Barbara
Ring Them Bells
Runaway Train
Blue Heron
Broken Record Podcast
My Playlist
Sports Star
This year, Ant is averaging 26.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists, while shooting 46.7% overall, 37.1% on threes, and 83.6% on free throws. He has led the Minnesota Timberwolves to third place in the NBA Western Conference with a record of 47-22.
He is one of the rising young stars and MVP candidates in the league. His monster dunk on Monday over John Collins of the Utah Jazz was so emphatic it left both players injured.
From Wikipedia: Anthony Edwards (born August 5, 2001 in Atlanta, Georgia), nicknamed "Ant-Man" or simply “Ant,” is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A shooting guard, he played college basketball for the University of Georgia Bulldogs and was selected with the first overall pick by the Timberwolves in the 2020 NBA draft.
Edwards finished his high school career at Holy Spirit Preparatory School in his hometown of Atlanta, where he was rated a consensus five-star recruit and one of the best players in the 2019 class by major recruiting services. As a senior, he earned McDonald's All-American and USA Today All-USA first team honors. He committed to play college basketball for Georgia, becoming the highest rated recruit to do so, and was named SEC Freshman of the Year after his freshman season with the team.
Posterizing John Collins
Picture Pun
The return of the Wet Bandit.
