As I walk through the old part of town on any weekend and most week nights I hear live music coming from many of the restaurants. This is another addition to the ambiance of the town. I have been lucky to have met 3 outstanding artists, James and Sylvia Kalal and Amy Hendrickson early on. The first time I saw Amy perform was at Rhett's, a brasserie with a piano bar. Amy was singing old style jazz like Nat King Cole and accompanied by Carl on the piano. I'm embarrassed to say that all I know about Carl is his first name and that he's perfect with Amy. I don't know anything about music except what I like so I shouldn't even try to describe this. However, I have to say that I love the pairing of Amy and Carl and the style of music that she does in Rhett's is so well suited to her voice and demeanor. Last night we had dinner at Rhett's with two great friends from Atlanta, +Stephanie Dodds and her daughter, Jo Jo. Take a look at these videos to get an idea of Amy's style and what a wonder she is to watch.
Jo Jo's first performance at Rhett's
As magical as Amy is though, there are other enticements for a five and a half year old girl. This next video is pretty cute.
Jo Jo's big decision
James Kalal describes their music as Spanish with an African flair. I take this to mean North African because it sounds to me like some Moroccan and Egyption rhythms are mixed in. I can picture Natacha Atlas singing to their music. They happened to be performing around the corner from us last weekend so we popped in and got this to give you an idea of their sound.
As we left Rhett's last night we received one final performance with some street musicians on Hypolita.
This is the sort of thing that St. Augustine does to you!
