Capt. Mondo's World o' Mondo-ness

Beaches Jazz Festival Begins Tonight
Oh joy... Lots of extra traffic, impossible TTC service, crowds crowds crowds, and people parking everywhere (there's a reason why our street is lined with concrete triangle "tank traps" on our front lawns).

Okay, I know I'm sounding like a party-pooper, but let's just say I'm glad we live in the Triangle region of The Beaches, away from the main hub of activity, bounded by Woodbine and Wineva (though it seems to be inching eastward). Erika's mother lives on Wineva, and quite often they we flee the city on this weekend in favour of the peace and quiet of the cottage in Deloro.

That's not to say I've never attended it -- am just glad I live on its fringes, rather than in the heart of it. After many years of wandering through the festival, experience has taught me that the most fun is to be had by watching the street-festival bands, which have often been tones more fun and often better musically-speaking than the acts on the main stage. For many years the "Jazz" festival featured pseudo-fusion Jazz bands on its main stage, who would noodle on their instruments for interminable lengths of time. Compare that to a Dixieland Jazz band, or a group from Chile playing pan-flutes and guitars, or small jazz trios playing a funky groove, all playing on the street, and you can see why I've learned to largely stay away from the main stage bands.

Having said that, the acts for the main stage this year seems to taking an upturn and are livening things up, with some fun-sounding swing bands, blues-influenced and Latin jazz bands turning up. Death to fusion! ;-)

The plan this evening is to wander down into the fray and take Vanessa along. Those with young kiddies are best advised to head down on the Thursday or Friday evenings, as everybody piles into The Beaches on the weekend.