Archives, Blue Note concert junkie Foodventure

Blue note jazz festival counts as a foodventure too

Aug 12, 2023

East Bay Yesterday and Oakland Puzzle Company have partnered for the Long Lost Oakland map puzzle. In my Oaklandside piece, podcaster and journalist Liam O'Donoghue talks about creating a historical map of Oakland and how he wanted to make sense of the ever changing landscape in Oakland.

I also learned another fun fact while doing this article. Oakland Puzzle Company partners with artists to make their art into puzzles.

Concert Junkie Chronicles

For those who have never experienced my IG reels (and now my Tik Tok), you should know I love concerts. I also love to explore what food options are available whenever I go to a music festival.

I got to experience the Blue Note Jazz Festival at Silverado Resort in Napa, Ca.

But it’s also the 50th anniversary of hip hop so this year’s emphasis shifted in celebration. I missed out on Nas on Saturday but for good reason, I swear! I was in Half Moon Bay having a completely different foodventure experience. Fortunately, I got to see Rakim and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

This was also the first time that I’ve used a camera during a festival. I’ve been taking a class and this was the first time I’ve been in the photog pit. Pretty sure some of the seasoned photogs were giving me dirty looks but I was still there.

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I took so many photos but here’s some highlights from the festival:

There wasn’t as much jazz as I thought there would be. There was definitely more hip hop and R&B, which have roots in the genre.

Of course there’s wine! Dwayne Wade premiered Wade Cellars at the festival. McBride Sisters served their wine along with a host of other Black vintners.

**No matter where I go, I will find a piece of art.**

Artist in residence Robert Glasper led the way on the main stage as host.

I actually got to witness Gabrielle Union-Wade body roll and sing Oaktown 357 songs. She at some point also sang MC Hammer’s “Humps N a Bump”.

Arin Ray decided to wear a shirt on Sunday lol

I am now officially an Arin Ray stan. Mostly because he gave me a kiss on the cheek and was seducing cougars. Also he seemed to take the jokes about his shirt being open to the navel in good humor. I hope that he keeps that.

Tisha Campbell and Brandee Evans were partying during Rakim

One of my favorite moments was meeting Brandee Evans of P-Valley. When I called her by her character name, she was nice about correcting me and then when we realized we had the same name with different spelling, there was a good chuckle. I realized immediately she gets frustrated with everyone calling her by her characters name“Mercedes” and really hope she realizes how iconic she made that character and embodied it.