warm jazz on a winter's day

A couple of weeks ago - somehow, it seems to have been much longer ago - I was at a jazz concert with my 40+ Women's Social Network, at the newly opened Bonaventure Chapel.
At the event, I again became a member of the Coastal Jazz Association.
My membership has been lapsed for at least a year, probably longer. I have no particular reason why I had allowed it to fall to the wayside. It simply came to pass that it expired and I didn't get around to renewing it.
Time to start fresh!
CJA offers a free jazz concert every month. Let me restate that: the concert is free to members, but others pay twenty bucks each.
For the small sum of $30 for an annual single membership, I am granted access, gratis, to $240 of concerts by jazz pianists, jazz combos, jazz orchestras. What an incredible deal!
This evening's music was provided by "V", a Brazilian jazz group headed by Vic Varner of Charleston, SC. In the photo above, he's the one in the middle, strumming the guitar and singing. From the left, Bill Aycock is on the keyboards and George Sheck is handling the double bass. From the right, Thom Chambers mans the saxophone while the time is kept by Robert Moring on drums.
I came in just before "The Girl From Ipanema", a lament of an older man ignored by a beautiful girl. Perfect timing for me to dance along as they played!
Then Vic talked a little about the South Carolina Jazz Festival, held in the hometown of - wait for it! - jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie!!! I didn't even know the festival existed. I pondered future travel plans while I listened to V perform Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts".
A few songs later, they took five. (Get it? A little jazz inside joke based on the Dave Brubeck 1959 classic, "Take Five".)

During the intermission, a raffle was held. Each of us had been given a free raffle ticket as we entered, as is the custom at these concerts. I had stuck the ticket in my pocket, but I dug it out to peer at the number. "786", it read.
"786" was the third ticket drawn!
Wow! I was a winner?! When I looked through the stack of cd's available as prizes, I espied this one.
Wow! An artist I knew!
This was a (bootleg) copy of the classic from 1957, but that was okay by me. The music would be just as sweet as on the original!
What a coup!
By the time the band returned to the stage, I was sitting across the table from Ron Kent, a very kind older man and widower. He had been a member of CJA for the past 14 years. We talked about his son (retired from the Air Force, married with children, living near Sandusky, Ohio) and his daughter (single, working in Los Angeles), as well as about my travels in the Navy and life as a chemistry teacher.
V played a couple of tunes I recognized. "Norwegian Wood", "Wars of March", "I've Got Your Number". I half-listened to them, tapping my feet under the table. The group also played several songs I did not know, allowing me to focus on the conversation at hand.
In all, a very good evening. Good music, good winnings, and good company.
I look forward to the March concert!