Lakeridge Winery Winter Music Series.

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It is a bit of a drive up to the Lakeridge Winery and Vineyards (19239 US 27 North, Clement, Florida 34715), but the Winter Music Series made for a relaxing afternoon of music and wine.  It was chilly the day Pam Schwartz and myself went so we made our way inside the winery first thing when we arrived.  There was a wine tour in about half an hour and there was music upstairs in the Wine and cheese bar.  Joe Hand was performing cover songs on an acoustic and then electric guitar. Between sets he walked between tables talking amicably with member of the audience.  

Each Saturday afternoon during the month of January, Lakeridge Winery holds its famous Music Series, featuring live music on the outdoor stage, and inside at our Wine and Cheese Bar upstairs. The musicians selected are all fantastic performers, hand-picked from the wealth of talent located throughout Central Florida. Lakeridge wine, beer, soft drinks and a variety of food is available for purchase, along with complimentary Winery tours and tasting. This is a free event for all ages.

We did the wine tasting next, trying 10 different varieties of wine.  My favorite was the Pink Crescendo which is a sparkling wine with a fruity aroma and long lasting aftertaste.  Most of the wines were on the sweeter side rather than dry which I like.  The wines are made from Muscadine grape varieties which are Noble (red) along with Welder and Carlos (bronze) that flourish in Florida because of their disease resistance and adaptability to our warm, humid climate. The rows of vines  grow right behind the winery on the rolling hills leading down to a lake.  The vines were largely bare because it is winter and they will be full of grapes and ready to harvest next August.  A huge harvester rolls over the rows of grapes scooping them up for harvest.  The grapes are then crushed strained and the juice is fermented.  A short 10 minute film outlined the science behind the fermenting process.  The “Tour” however just involved our standing on a walkway staring st stainless steel storage containers and then standing on an empty patio.

The winery uses corks which have the advantage of expanding as they soak up the wine. Each cork costs ten cents. Much of the wine industry is moving towards synthetic corks for cost reasons not because they are better for preserving the wine.  The wines from Lakeridge are meant to be consumed within a few years.  I have always wanted to consume a wine from the year of my birth, but that might just taste like a sour mess that needs to be poured down the drain.  In August there is an annual gape stomp competition which sounds like an event I have to sketch. 

BAND SCHEDULE:
OUTDOOR STAGE

Jan 13, 2018 NOON – 4pm The Nightly Grove Band 

Jan 20, 2018 NOON – 4pm Shawline 

Jan 27, 2018 NOON – 4pm Mike Quick Band 

WINE and CHEESE BAR 

Jan 13, 2018 NOON – 4pm Bobby Koelble

Jan 20, 2018 NOON – 4pm Bobby Blackmon

Jan 27, 2018 NOON – 4pm Jeff Whitfield

Benoit Glazer at Avalon Island

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On the third Monday of each month, The Gallery at Avalon Island (39 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando Florida), hosts the In Between Series, a music series before the art goes on the wall for Third Thursday. June was a bit different because the nude photos by Yuri Maiorov  stayed on the walls until a fee the concert. Benoit Glazer usually hosts concerts in his custom built acoustic living room in the White House, he works at Cirque Du Soleil in Downtown Disney as the composer. He was on the trumpet along with Dan Jordan, Doug Matthews and Bobby Koelble some of the
greatest jazz musicians from Central Florida.

There were lofty sounds from flutes and clarinets, African flavors, and funky
odd meters, with a touch of sad ballads and angry mobs. The music related the story of a storyteller. It was about 2 boy named Abu, and his muse Lela. The music ebbed and flowed with intensity. The event was catered by Maxine’s on Shine.

A Taste of Jazz

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Every Monday starting around 9pm there is free jazz at Taste (717 W. Smith Street, College Park). When I arrived, the drum set was just starting to get assembled. I ordered a beer at the bar and started sketching the empty stage and the paintings on the walls. All the paintings were of celebrities. Who actually hangs a painting of Marilyn Monroe or Marilyn Manson above their couch? As more musicians arrived, the buzz began to build in the room. A tall African American man, named Zion, entered the room with a leopard skin cap and an open jacket with no shirt underneath. He was shouting and happy. He shouted, “I will be throwing money on the stage tonight!” He had been given a watch by his woman and he wanted the world to know. He showed me his watch and it was as big as a saucer covered in gold and silver.  The inner gears were exposed. He shouted out, “look how beautiful she is!” as he gestured to the woman in the doorway, and she smiled. Then, as suddenly as he appeared, he was gone.

I heard the drummer say that all The Jazz Professors from UCF were going to perform. Jeff Rupert, the program director was on tenor sax, Bobby Koelble was on the guitar, Per Danielsson on the keys, Richard Drexler played bass, and Marty Morell, the band leader, was on drums. Flying Horse Records put out a live recording from the UCF-Orlando Jazz Festival of this group, The Jazz Professors remained on the Jazz Week charts for 17 weeks, peaking at 19. The music began and my lines danced as I tapped my foot and swayed to the beat. These guys were great! I had stumbled upon an amazing performance. People were shouting and clapping in appreciation. Everyone was lost in the free flowing adventure of smooth improvisation. The air was electric. With my beer and sketch finished, I decided to leave after the first set. On the drive home, I realized I was hungry for another taste.

Buzzcatz

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On Saturday, Terry and I went to the 5th Annual Baldwin Park Art & Jazz Festival. The festival looked very much like every other festival I have been to in Baldwin Park. Vendors arts and crafts tents were lined up down the length of New Broad Street. There are always a wide assortment of dogs being walked in this Celebration like “Leave it to Beaver” neighborhood. Our first order of business was to find some lunch. We decided to eat at La Bella Luna which was an Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria. Terry ordered a chicken Caesar salad and I ordered Lasagna. The chicken in Terry’s salad was dry, overcooked and she couldn’t eat it. My lasagna was tasteless except for the excessively salty sauce. I however can eat anything, although my stomach sometimes complains. The waiter asked how everything was and he got an earful from Terry. She said she was doing him a favor since the restaurant wouldn’t be around for long if this is what then were passing off as food. He would be better off finding a better restaurant to work in.

After lunch we ran into Hal Stringer who was displaying his colorful paintings. He relaxed in the shade of a tree and watched as people examined his bold landscape paintings. He applies the paint thickly with a pallet knife. My favorite painting was an abstract that resembled liquid fire. Hal pointed out the program to us and told us where the two stages were set up. Terry and I wandered to the end of the streets and were drawn to the music of the Buzzcatz. Terry and I spotted Carol Stein, a wonderful pianist, song writer and composer. She grabbed a table and I sat down to sketch. While I worked, Terry decided to shop and explore the arts and crafts tents. Carol and I ordered margaritas. Carol said, “These people don’t realize the world class caliber of musical talent they are listening to!” I had seen the guitarist on the left, Bobby Koeble, at a Rollins College Faculty showcase concert and he amazed me. The classic jazz, motown and rat pack era music kept the audience swaying. Several couples started to swing dance while children ran in circles on a patch of lawn. Behind the band people relaxed in the grass looking out over Lake Baldwin.