Last night we drove from Tucson up to Phoenix.

Who are we?

Marianne Dissard - Voice

Clay Koweek - Guitar

Andrew Collberg - Drums

And myself, of course.

It was good to return to Phoenix.

Downtown Phoenix

We played at Modified, a venue in the Arts District on Roosevelt Avenue .

Roosevelt Avenue - Arts District - Downtown Phoenix

I used to play Modified on a regular basis about a decade ago.  It was good to be back.

I hooked up with my old friend John who fed me at his restaurant, Carly’s Bistro.

John and I.

It was good to reconnect with him.

I also got to reconnect with my friend Greg who owned The Emerald Lounge and currently owns The Ruby Room.  Both he and John want me to come play their venues next time I come through.

The show was fun.  Not a huge crowd, but very attentive.

Marianne Dissard on stage

After the show we hopped back in the car and drove back to Tucson to sleep.

I got up early this morning and went for a walk through the Armory Park and Barrio neighborhoods of Tucson.

Here’s what the sky looked like when I stepped out the door:

Sunrise in Armory Park - Tucson.

I walked to El Tiradito – The Wishing Shrine.  It’s a favorite spot of mine.  Here’s why:

Synthetic flowers.

Prayers written on paper and tucked into the wall.

A prayer.

I found this prayer on the ground.

I flew into Tucson tonight to meet up with my old friend and new collaborator Marianne Dissard.

Before I left my house in S.F. today, I spontaneously took a photo of a segment of a painting of mine entitled “Cacti”.  At the time I didn’t register how apropos it was.

"Cacti"

I’ve learned over the years to never check my accordion.  I put all my clothing in a soft bag that I put in my accordion case for the flight then carry my naked accordion on to the plane and put it in the overhead storage.

I did have a mild scare when I noticed that the overhead compartments on this plane were smaller than I’ve ever seen, too small to accommodate my accordion.  So, I stowed the accordion beneath my feet and sat with my knees at my chest all the way to Tucson – a sacrifice I was happy to make as many accordions have suffered serious damage at the hands of baggage handlers.  Hence the adhesive pleas for mercy on my cases:

Fragile!

That’s my baritone sax next to my accordion case (which as I mentioned was full of clothing).

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This is what I saw when I stepped out of the Tucson International Airport:

"Cacti"

Marianne arrived in her 60′s VW bug shortly and we drove back to her house:

Marianne's House

The red and green began to show up.

We decided to walk downtown.  Now this is remarkable,… We walked for 20 minutes and did not cross paths with a single automobile or human the whole time!  Coming from San Francisco this was shocking

We walked through the Barrio (my favorite neighborhood in Tucson) to El Tiradito, a beautiful shrine near downtown.  I’ll go take some photos there tomorrow.  Along the way, I saw more green and red:

Tucson Barrio

When downtown, Marianne and I hooked up with her friend Shana Zimmerman who is quite the painter (as you can see from her website).  We went to The Grill, drank soda water and talked about the craziness of Bisbee, AZ.

On the way home, Marianne and I established that we’ve been friends for 12 years.  We met on my first tour of the Southwest all those years ago.

It’s good to be back in Tucson.