Our little soirée last Saturday night.

[Queequeg]

The first time I stood in the patio after Sally put the bedroom addition on to the house back in 2007 I thought  to myself, "Oh, I know what to do with this space".
There was never a lot of enthusiasm on Sally's part and needless to say, she had a vote in all of this. Not just the vote, she had veto power.
But the vision never went away, and I persisted.

And now let me say a few words about violin virtuoso Grant Flick.
Sally & I first heard Grant Flick as a founding member of Westbound Situation at Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan about 10 years ago.
Since then we have seen and heard him several times.
Grant Flick is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator, and he holds a Master's Degree in Improvisation from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.
He plays bluegrass, jazz, newgrass, gypsy jazz, swing and chamber music.
Grant believes that instrumental music is a medium of thought that has the power to express ideas that words cannot define.
Among his many awards including 2024 finalist of the Concert Artist Guild Competition, the 2023 Henry Mac Award, the 2022 International Bluegrass Music Association Momentum Band of the Year, First Prize at the 2022 Telluride Bluegrass Band Competition, First Prize at the 2018 Briggs Chamber Music Competition, finalist at the 2017 Freshgrass Fiddle Competition, finalist at the 2015 Walnut Valley Festival Fiddling Competition, and a 2013 recipient of the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin.

In addition to performing, recording and writing, his performance portfolio includes Billy Strings' Renewal Festival, Cole Porter Festival, Grand Ole Opry, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, the International Society of Bassists' Convention, Michigan Jazz Festival, Midwest Gypsy Swing Fest, Savannah Music Festival, and Telluride Bluegrass Festival, among others.
He has appeared on stage with artists such as Darol Anger, Frank Vignola, Julian Lage, Mike Marshall...
Here's a short video of Grant just to give you an idea.

And Sally really loved Grant's music as much as I do.
So I spoke with Grant after one of his performances last winter and asked him if he ever did house concerts, and he replied, "oh we love doing house concerts".

It all coalesced when we learned that her niece Linda and Linda's friend Suzanne were coming up for the Ann Arbor Art Fair in July.
Anyway, I rang him up (Grant) and I asked, "What are the chances that you would even have any evening during Art Fair week free?" and he said, "the only free spot we have is Saturday night." I could barely contain my enthusiasm.
Grant assembled a string jazz Quartet for us from his connections in Detroit.

Then I contacted the Washtenaw Dairy; Ann Arbor's best loved and oldest ice cream parlor.
They delivered the ice cream sundae bar, together with all of the toppings, which we set up on the dining room table.
I set up an open wine and beer table out on the patio.

And although Sally remained somewhat skeptical, everything fell together, and a good time was had by all.
Earlier in the week, rain had been predicted for Saturday. And then you may have seen in the news that we were under a huge and dangerous cloud of smoke from Canadian wildfires.
But by the time Saturday rolled around, the smoke had cleared, and predictions of rain were no longer in the forecast.
We had 20 guests on Saturday, family, friends, and neighbors.

This was 90 minutes of fabulous swing music, newgrass, 'hot club' style gypsy jazz.
Everyone had a great time.
Afterwards, a couple of people said to me (half joking, I guess) "Oh, you should do this every month!"

I said that wasn't really in our budget.
And here are a few pictures.

[Queequeg]

A few more of Saturday evening shots...

[teh]

Grant Flick has certainly achieved some amazing results. Looks like a great evening with an Ice cream bar, wine and beer; what's not to like?

Thanks for sharing.

[Silence Dogood]

Lovely setting, and beautiful home!  Looks like a great time. 

[B0WIE]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing!

[Riverbend]

Reading this was a very nice way to start my day! Kudos for such a positive undertaking!

[jazzereh]

Ah, now that's a great Saturday party!  Thanks for the pics.