Zoukfest, Day 02

Morning of the second ("the morning after the night before") day. Great stuff yesterday afternoon, many very happy students. Food continues excellent in the "Bon Appetit" cafe--service hours are short but the service is great, and there's a lot to be said for having all the "resident" (e.g., "non-commuting") campers in the cafe for that 30 minutes, rather than the trickle-in/trickle-out syndrome.

Very heavy cloudbursts yesterday afternoon--weather we associate more commonly with the Taos/Santa Fe "monsoon" season of mid-to-late July. But, middle of June, here it comes: overcast in the morning, clearing to blue skies and hot sun by midday, then clouding up and raining heavily in the mid-afternoon, followed by a much cooler and clear evening. Makes for nice walks back from late-night seasons, and great New Mexico stargazing.

Concert last night was a split bill: Connie Dover, Mason Brown, and Doug Goodhart playing a program of cowboy and Appalachian songs, with a wonderful song setting of a Shoshone poem by Connie, some great fiddle/frailing guitar duets from Mason and Doug, and great bit of Beat-inspired buzzword-spewing comic poetry from Connie's new book. Dharmonia and I batted cleanup and took advantage of the legendary ZF receptivity, critical discernment, and welcome to eclecticism to present a program of medieval Italian laude spirituali (sacred songs), Irish and English trad song, Scottish marches and reels, and Piedmont and Delta blues. O Shaughnessy performance space (affectionately referenced as "The Garage" by CSF folks, for its quasi-"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" remote-controlled wall which opens to expand setting) is a great, intimate space with good acoustics, and so the ZF instrumentarium, from lavtas to lutes and gambas to National steel guitars, could all be heard fine.

After the concert, sessions popping up around and about the campus, and some of the most pleasant sort: some folks playing, some listening, and some, in the corners of the room, "visitin'", as we say in Texas. The nicest sessions are those in which everybody present is glad for the music, but no one is anxious about whether they'll get to play or whether they're playing enough. ZF sessions are friendly enough (and frequent enough) that nobody need feel anxious--everybody will get their tunes in eventually, and instead of anxiety we can all just be glad of each others' company.

Off to breakfast and Class Meeting No. 2!