Day 22-Day Off, Night On

Today, I decided to take the day off from work and interviews (plus I had nothing scheduled so it seemed appropriate). I made plans to have lunch with my cousin David and his wife Anne. What a fantastic time! I have never met this part of my family (David is my grandfather's brother's son). It was sooo great to finally meet David and Anne and to share stories about the family and to hear their perspectives on Miami and other topics. After lunch, I came back to my hotel and relaxed for a bit, did some reading, watched a movie, and then made dinner. After dinner, I decided to go to the Ritz Carlton on Key Biscayne, where I had gone the second night I was in Miami. There is a band that performs Cuban music that plays in the lobby from 8-11 Thursday-Saturday. When I showed up this particular evening, I found a seat very close to the band, and started enjoying the music. The lead singer recognized me from coming a few weeks earlier, and asked if I would like to sit in with the group and play. I said I would love to play and they invited me up (the piano player stepped aside for a few tunes). I suggested a few Cuban numbers, but they wanted me to suggest jazz standards that we could turn into Cuban tunes. So....we ended up playing Autumn Leaves (Son) and Take The A Train (Bolero). After this, I retired back to my seat in the audience and continued to listen to them play for the rest of the set. On the set break, I ended up talking to all of the musicians, one of which who is actually Cuban (the rest are Columbian). We talked about some musical topics specific to Cuban music, he gave me a piece of sheet music to keep (a Cuban tune that illustrated a concept he was trying to explain to me). Before I left, the lead singer told me to come back any time I want to sit in with the group and hang. I told them I would try to come back again on Saturday night.