this past weekend, i joined my sister in san jose for the san jose jazz festival, where she was performing with gerald clayton, alan hampton & kendrick scott. i drove up on a friday, arriving in the evening to see a much bigger festival than i imagined. there were 8 stages around town during the day, and 13 clubs participating in jazz crawls at night, blocked streets and people walking everywhere.

gretchen played at the repertory theater on saturday in the 2pm slot. it has been really fun watching my sister’s career develop, but there’s something special about being out of town at a festival where you can hear people talking about her all around you. it’s an odd feeling, it makes you want to say HEY EVERYONE you’re talking about my sister! after an oddly-public sound check [weird decision on the part of the venue], they started in on a set mostly of tunes from in a dream, interspersed with favorite brazillian and traditional standards. i’m not a music reviewer, so i’ll leave it at this: she rocked it!

they played to a packed house, though some people rotated in & out to see other acts. the lights were low and my camera has a tough time with stage lights like this. i heeded the no flash photography sign, and really had to work around a shoulder to get a picture of kendrick.

after the show there was a standing ovation! it was exciting! then people went out to buy the CDs she brought, and she sold out of everything she brought. then they lined up to say hi and get them signed. this was really fun to watch.

once all the festival action subsided for the day, we took our well-deserved jacuzzi break, and gretchen prepared to meet some of the sponsors. most of the band picked up tacos at our new favorite place and we all watched some well deserved wind-down tv.

in the morning we got up early to make it out for breakfast before getting to the airport on time. we chose a cute crepe place in pacifica called high tide. our smoked salmon & cream cheese followed by banana & nutella crepes were amazing! after all the dropping off was complete, i took a spin through paso robles wine country on the way home. shady lanes & oak trees!