Was talking with one of Kelly's co-workers Sunday night re: the recent performances at UNC's Memorial Hall. I'm pretty sure it was the best - or at least most personally entertaining - run of shows at the venue since the 2005 re-opening:
- Sonny Rollins - the Saxophone Colossus is 90 years old, can barely walk, can't straighten his back beyond 45 degrees...but he can still blow. He only showed brief flashes of his brilliance, though it was amazing nonetheless to see/hear such a titan of the genre.
- Ravi Shankar - another aging master I feel fortunate to have seen. He can still shred a sitar - no joke. And his daughters - Anoushka and Norah Jones - are hot. (Which reminds me to ask Kelly if she'll still love me when I'm in my hanging-out-with-Ravi-Shankar phase.)
- Bela Fleck/Edgar Meyer/Zakir Hussain - probably the best in the world in the respective instruments - banjo, double bass, tabla. Really inventive set and jaw-dropping virtuosity. Plus - they're nice guys.
(I think there was actually a 4th show somewhere in there...but I didn't see, so it doesn't count.)
The 2nd best string of performances I can think of are the back-to-back Wilco performances in 2006.
Oh yeah - or maybe the 4 nights of Bolshoi Ballet. :)