Sultry Jazz Under the Stars and NPR

Posted by missjunebug on Monday August 24th,2009

missjunebug and Mr.JB finally decided it was time to pay their own way.  Instead of freeloading off all the other generous listeners to their local (and excellent) NPR radio station KCLU (88.3), this year they ponied up the money for their own donation!  Why the change of heart?

Two words: Mary Olson. She cajoled, poked, prodded, enticed, and finally, guilted them into it during the week long spring fundraiser. As the human dynamo station manager, her twice yearly fundraising efforts on behalf of KCLU are prodigious indeed. The true payoff is the terrific programming the station provides thanks in part to the generous donations of its listeners. missjunebug’s personal favorite? Marketplace!!

So what does all this have to do with “Sultry Jazz…”? Just this: missjunebug’s and Mr.JB’s donation was a nice little quid pro quo. In return they received tickets to see Diana Krall at the Santa Barbara Bowl for her August 23 performance. The best part of all was that day marked 29 years of (mostly) blissful marriage for missjunebug and her Mr.JB. On the way down to the concert, missjunebug said to Mr.JB she couldn’t believe two things: A. That’s it had been 29 years, and B. That they’d made it that long!

missjunebug is pretty funny when she wants to be. Mr.JB laughed a good laugh.

The reception KCLU hosted in the Glen for its patrons was a pleasant prologue to a lovely evening. missjunebug spotted Mary Olson instantly. She was welcoming each and every person as they entered the reception area. Of course, the sound of her voice confirmed it, but missjunebug knew that was just the kind of thing Mary would do. missjunebug and Mr.JB enjoyed chatting with the irrepressible Mary, factotum Jim Rondeau, tireless reporter-in-the-field Jim Palminteri and the other faithful KCLU adherents. All this and a concert, too!

The lovely Ms. Krall glamored the crowd with her rich, textured vocals and accomplished jazz piano. The stars twinkled above and missjunebug could still see a twinkle in Mr.JB’s eyes!