Kev

Last weekend I went home for Labor Day, and because it was when Leslie and I were going to celebrate my birthday (even though it is today). She told, “Kevin, just come to my house at 2:30 on Sunday, because I have a surprise for you.” So I showed up at 2:30, and she had a picnic blanket, portable chairs, and cooler ready to load into my family’s Passat. By 3:00, we were on the road. Now one of the wonderful things about this is that I had no idea where we were going, even though I was driving. Les would just tell me, “OK, next turn is 88 West” or what not. And the whole time I am guessing, “We are going to Matthiessen State Park… wait, no, we are going to Millenium Park… what, no, we are to Illinois Beach State Park, wait…”I did not know where we were going until we got off at Lake Cook Road from 294 N, and I was asking myself, “what is here?”, I saw a sign for Ravinia. Ravinia is a big music festival arena, basically, and is an extremely popular place for outdoor venues. The next question was, “who are we going to see?” Thanks to Leslie’s dad telling us a great place to park before we left, we were able to park pretty close. We then hopped on a shuttle bus that would take us to the actual event. As we were on the shuttle bus, the only other people on their was a couple. We started talking a little bit about the weather and how nice it was, and then, I found out the big secret Leslie had been holding for the past two months. The lady remarked on the weather and stated, “Oh, I know! And Diana Krall is also just so good.” Diana Krall! Diana Krall! For those of you who don’t know, Diana Krall is one of the all time great jazz artists and arrangers currently alive in the whole world. She is an excellent pianist, and her band and orchestra are usually on Broadway or in Europe at fancy theatres stockaded with multi-millionaires and their women dressed in Leopard furs and wearing diamonds the size of brussel-sprouts. But tonight, she was at Ravinia, and we going to go see her.Ravinia is split into two parts. The first is the pavilion, and it houses a few hundred people right by the stage in an amphitheater type arrangement. The farthest back row of seats is at ground-level, and then they slope down below ground-level to the stage, which rests about 2 stories deep. The second part of Ravinia is the lawn. After the last row of seats, the lawn begins, and stretches back to an area about 10 times the size of the pavilion. The people who seat in the pavilion are the rich and fur wearers, those who can afford $95 a ticket. The lawn is only $20, and as a consequence of the price and the way the pavilion is arranged, you cannot actually see the stage. The lawn is the home of families and friends who bring tables, blankets, chairs, wine, cheeses, home-made dinners, card games, coolers, and candles. Of course, those on the lawn have to get there 3 hours early so we get a seat. To be honest, I loved the lawn, and I’ll tell you why.Les and I got there and set up our little spot on the lawn, consisting of a blanket, two chairs, and our cooler. We started our 3 hour wait till the 7 o’clock show with our favorite card game Flinch. Then we read Shel Silverstein’s book “Runny Babbit” which Les gave to me as a gift in addition to the splendid surprise. Eventually the mosquitos got hungry so we lit a citronella candle to keep them away before realizing that we ourselves were hungry. Leslie had dinner ready to go, and we enjoyed BLT Roast Beef sandwiches (which we dubbed RBBLT sandwiches), veggies, and basil chips. Our dinner was fresh raspberries and Dove Milk Chocolate. We started another game of Flinch about the time that the show started, which began with trumpeter Chris Botti opening.Chris was excellent. A fine trumpet player and certainly a good entertainer. His band (pianist, drummer, bass player) were phenomenal. He played a variety of music, from modern jazz to Miles Davis. To see a little taste of his music, check out this video on YouTube.After Chris Botti was, of course, Diana Krall and her band (Jeff Hamilton on drums, Anthony Wilson on guitar, and usually John Clayton on bass, but a different bassist was playing). To say the least, and not just being biased because she is one of my all time favorite artists, she was simply amazing. Even knowing 95% of everything she played because I know it from her CD’s, it was awesome hearing live. Maybe that’s because I was with one my favorite people Leslie Bretsen, we sitting on a picnic blanket with a citronella candle, outside under some oak trees at night listening to one of my favorite jazz artists. She played some of my favorite songs:

• Deed I Do (from All of You)
• S’Wonderful (from The Look of Love)
• I Don’t Know Enough About You (from Love Scenes)
• Devil May Care (from When I Look In Your Eyes)
• Let’s Fall In Love (from When I Look In Your Eyes)
• I’ve Got You Under My Skin (from When I Look In Your Eyes)
• I’ll String Along With You (from When I Look In Your Eyes)
• I Love Being Here With You (from Live in Paris)

This is most of them. I loved the evening I had with Leslie. It was so special, and so thoughtful of her. I loved the music, and I just want you all to know that I have the best girlfriend in the world.