Date Night With Mr. Booker T. Jones!

Booker T. Jones and his magic fingers in Portland.

I have always been glib, and glibness can pay off on the PDX Pipeline website (pdxpipeline.com), where there are opportunities to win free tickets to events around Portland, simply by posting comments about your worthiness to win.

I’ve never considered myself lucky, thus I was not prepared in February of this year when I won a pair of tickets to see the Portland Symphony Orchestra playing “Music of Film” at the Scottish Rite Temple in downtown. The PCO honored legendary conductor, arranger and clarinetist, Norman Leyden, who was over ninety years of age. Singer Susannah Mars performed Moon River with Leyden that evening. (If I can still feed myself at age ninety I will consider it a miracle). There was also a drawing for a piano, which I might have won had I had five dollars to buy a raffle ticket.

It was a well-heeled crowd: women were in glittery gowns, some of the men wore tuxes. The orchestra played selections from cinema classics, including Moon River, Laura, West Side Story, Bridge over the River Kwai, The Magnificent Seven, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, as well as more recent films such as  Schindler’s List, Cinema Paradiso, Star Trek and several James Bond films. I would have added a few other songs, such as the soundtrack from the film, Vertigo, for example, or Bell Book and Candle, but then I am a big fan of Jimmy Stewart (and Alfred Hitchcock).

The highlight of the evening was when the crowd was encouraged to whistle along to Colonel Bogey’s March, (from the film “Bridge on the River Kwai”). My whistling caught the ear of a mother and her two beautiful teenage daughters, who complimented my whistling. They caught my attention by their speaking Romanian, which I mistook for German. During intermission in the basement the Romanians and I sampled free snacks and wine offered from staffed kiosks. 

Lightning struck twice weeks later when I won a pair of tickets to see Booker T. Jones and Charlie Hunter at Dante’s at 3^rd and Burnside on Sunday, April 14^th. It was titled the “Soul’d Out Music Festival.” This time around I had a date from POF, which stands for Plenty of Fish, http://www.pof.com/ one of the better free online dating sites. My date and I met at Powell’s Books, because it is only six blocks, (at 10^th and Burnside) from Dantes. I was the perfect date (or so I thought), arriving early to buy my date a rugelach pastry from Powell’s café display case. I also brought her an organic Guayaki Yerba Mate “Enlighten Mint” flavored drink. 

After talking for a few minutes we walked to Dantes. We passed groups of homeless men, many of whom were standing in doorways of run-down buildings. Now there is a wake-up call. But as long as you keep moving you’re safe in Portland. My natural tendency is to stop and make conversation with people who are down on their luck. It is especially heartbreaking to see young people who are homeless, standing in the rain in Portland.

When we arrived there was a line of several hundred people waiting to get in. I saw nobody over age 45 in the line. By the time we were inside there was no place to sit except the wide ledge by the front windows. It was very dark in Dantes, lit only by soft red and yellow lights, the glow of a faux tabletop charcoal fire near us, and the stage itself, which was framed by large red velvet curtains drawn back by large cords. My date and I seemed to hit it off, conversation came easily.

We were surrounded by young people who’d been lucky enough to seat themselves at the twenty of so small round tables. When the music finally started, nearly an hour later, we had to make our own dance floor by the table in front of us. My date was a reluctant and somewhat stiff dancer, (sort of like Elaine from the Seinfeld episode.) Booker T. and his two fellow musicians played a slew of familiar tunes, including Hip Hug Her, Pretty Woman, Born Under a Bad Sign, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Dock of a Bay, and Ain’t No Sunshine When You’re Gone.

That same night, on PBS, I saw Booker T. Jones and many other musicians performing at the White House for the Obama family and their guests. Jones' White House performance occurred the week before he performed at Dantes.  So, in a second hand way, I'd shaken hands with the President.