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Monday, November 03, 2008 Stumbling into Music After weeks of non-stop work, Friday night seemed like a good time to sit in a cafe and catch up on reading for a few hours. As long as you're not looking for internet access, Julius Meinl is the perfect place to spend a laid-back weekend night--they have live music and are open later than any of the other coffee shops in my neighborhood. (To my knowledge, the only 24-hour coffee shop in Chicago is Starbucks. There's only one other place that comes close: Pick Me Up Cafe. In a city this large, that's kind of sad.) A jazz duo was wrapping up their first set when I walked in, and I think I was the only person actually paying attention to them. When they took a break I returned to my book, perking up when they started playing again. In the middle of the first song, the pianist looked over and asked, "Hey, are you a musician? Pianist?" How did you know? Delighted at being correct, Ken Shiokawa talked me into playing a couple of songs. I, of course, was wonderfully dressed for the occasion: He and Lou Marini, the bassist, were both in suits, whereas I was dressed more casually than I normally would be to walk around town, much less perform in any setting. But Lou and I played together, and it was a lot of fun. I ended up making two new friends. And as a testament to how small the Chicago music scene is, I know Ken's other bass player and the band that Lou regularly gigs with. ^ Top | 1:15 AM | | | 
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