Premier concert

Dimanche soir. I'm excited - it's 6 pm. Time for the first real concert. Someone gave us the advice of trying the balcony for good seating. So we head for level 2 - aka. the lower promenade deck - to the Vista lounge. We make our way past the Queen's Lounge and Culinary Arts Center (I'm not making this up!), the eerie Northern Lights night club, the tables and slot machines of the casino. Then, we face two choices. There is a very long line for the entrance on the right, and a minuscule one for the entrance on the left. We opt for the left - wondering if we are smarter than everyone else or if they know something we don't. Ask the lady who's manning the door. She says there is no difference; that we need to wait behind the rope. A few more people arrive and are directed to wait - outside the rope... Who ARE those people? So I go back to the lady and take out my gold card, to see if it changes her attitude. And, oh, yes, miss, you should wait here - meaning in the line of people who are not in line... When they finally open the doors, we get a seat on the first row of the balcony. The room is HUGE. 

The first act is a trio of kids led by a prodigy pianist, Eldar. It's really Eldar Djangirov, an Oscar Peterson-inspired transplant from Kyrgyzstan, who was nominated for a Best Album Grammy last year, and will turn 22 during the cruise. His technique is dazzling - his hands incessantly moving as waves over the whole range of keys. Those compact muscles subtly bulging under his T-shirt and narrow hips swaying on the piano chair don't hurt either... The drummer is unremarkable. And the bass player plays well, but looks ill at ease when he's not playing, not sure how to handle himself during the long moments when he is not the center of attention. But when he finally puts away the electrical bass and switches to the real thing - man... he comes alive and the two kids start duetting madly. Wow.

After the youngest act on the cruise, we get the oldest. Legendary (I don't exaggerate  - when he got married 20 years ago, his best man was... Dizzy Gillespie) sax James Moody will turn 84 in March. He still plays like he's 25. His drummer is awesome. Should play with the previous trio. What a night.