I was in the kitchen, preparing dinner, thinking about how it summons memories. I was cooking chicken with capers, artichokes, and mushrooms with oregano, basil, and parsley. Garlic and shallots. Yum. Thinking about my Mom, who always made sure to serve an appetizer course: melon in summer, grapefruit in winter; tomato juice if the fruit wasn't worthy. It was a three course meal every night. This also makes me think of my son, who learned early to use a French Chef's knife to slam garlic cloves. And who acquired a deft sense for seasoning, and is not afraid of the creativity. The decades march with skills handed down, food as connective tissue between the generations.
I am listening to perfect food prep music; Eric Brace and Peter Cooper doing the song "Suffer a Fool," which is from their new Master Sessions CD. It is an album that has an authentic 70's sound in the very best way, that honors the tradition being true to the flavors, the textures and the composition. And oh, the glorious pedal steel, provided by instrumental hero Lloyd Green, and the incredible Mike Auldridge on dobro. Oddly enough, though both these guys were admirers of each other, until this album, they had never been together on one. This is one of two CDs that have just come out, Eric and Peter putting their names on the first, Master Sessions, and Peter Cooper with Lloyd Green on the second, The Lloyd Green Album. I just cruised through that, too. Pay special attention to "The Last Laugh," a co-write between Peter and Todd Snider. Hell, buy 'em both!
When we are in the force field of the same event, or the general geographic city or region of Eric Brace and Peter Cooper, they have a standing invite to come before the Music Fog cameras. We like them to bat clean-up. Though this time, we had to settle for it being just on the last day, not the very last set. It was Saturday morning at the Sweet Suite in the Sheraton Nashville Downtown, during Americana Fest. They didn't bring the gang, just their enigmatic selves, and that is always a treat in itself.
- Jessie Scott
