Eleltea, I owe you one ... I loved the spray-painting remark you made in my post about plans for the weekend ... that one will keep me laughing for a long time to come. The fact is, MrsS and I enjoyed ourselves immensely; We attended jazz performances almost non-stop ... the music and the food/drink were fabulous ... this is an event I look forward to every Memorial Day and it is one I highly recommend to any of you ... now, regarding the cigars ... in addition to smoking without incident while walking on the streets, there were three outdoor venues in which I was able to light up in smoking areas ... at the first, I lit a Punch Rare Corojo ... not only did no one spray paint me, I didn't even get a single soul waving their hand under their nose or even give me a dirty look ... in fact, several folks smiled and even commented on the nice cigar ... at the second venue, I lit a Partagas Black ... again, no spray paint or remarks, but I did notice a number of folks who'd been standing downwind who moved quietly away (a fantastic group called the Ophir Prison Band was playing here and it was a really rocking good time) ... at the third venue, I lit a nice Mayorga that I got just this last week from CB and not only did I get no spray paint or any other negative reaction, but again, drew smiles and several friendly hellos ... MrsS joined me in the smoking area at this site and lit a small Leon Jimenez which DID get a reaction, howerver ... a rather elderly woman approached MrsS and commented that before her doctor made her quit, she used to "enjoy those cigars too ... aren't they just WONDERFUL"? ...

Sounds like you had fun. Was Brubeck or any of the old garde there?

Fact is, I DID have a good time ... I've been going to this event every Memorial Day for about 10 or 12 years now ... in answer to your question about Brubeck (damn, it's been a long time since I saw him), no big-name traditional groups are there ... when it began 20 or 30 years ago, it was a Dixieland event but it has morphed into a more all-encompassing event ... groups from all around the world have appeared and it's really cool to hear a Russian version of Dixieland, or a Japanese version of a big-band sound. One of my personal favorites is Zydeco, a rockin' old back-bayou cajun style of music, which is anything but traditional sounding jazz ...

here's the website for the Jazz Jubilee ...

www.sacjazz.com

Sounds like klezmer would fit in. Thanks for the url.

Zydeco is great! Charlie