Connecting Thru MUSIC

PLEASE take a moment to visit this important campaign. My friends at Statement Arts have developed wonderful programs for New York area youth. This summer they have teamed up with the legendary Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center to run a free music and college preparatory program for 50 underserved kids. This is a much-needed program and will be a life-altering experience for these very deserving kids. 

How about a song...

Inspired by a post on one of my favorite blogs, The Simply Luxurious Life, I am spending my Saturday indulging in a few simple, formal and classic ideas to put a bit of flair into my life. 

I have taken down my old set of china and intend to start using it more often. Today I've started by having my morning coffee in that lovely little cup you see above. Is is not sweet? I've had this enormous (it serves 12!) set of china for  twenty odd years (yes, I got it when I was an infant) and really do not enjoy it enough. It has followed me from city to city, apartment to apartment, and held up quite well. So, today I will take some pieces out of the quilted storage bags they live in and let them breath and be put to good use. Even inanimate objects like to be needed. 

Jazz...sigh. I adore Jazz. Today the music will be ever present and drifting through my apartment via Jazz Radio, possibly my favorite app on my iPhone. Jazz Radio offers up all genres of jazz - classic, blues, bossa nova, and my favorite Paris Cafe. Heaven.  

Sorting out my bulging dressing room does not seem very 'luxurious' but it will be the means to an end of simplicity. There is a 5-tiered shelf in my closet that is so full it toppled over in the middle of  the night. A clear sign it is time for serious purging. As with most of us, I wear basically the same 10-20 items of clothing in an average week. So why do I have so much surplus? Well, this blog is called the JENsonian -- I tend to get sentimentally attached to most things, probably because I have moved around and traveled so much in my life. And that is wonderful, but these saved pieces need to be either  given to someone who will actually where them or stored away properly. That is the goal for today. To take a hard look at every little thing and decide where we go from here. (Hmmm...am I only talking about my closet here?) 

via The Simply Luxurious Life...I found this terrific blog from author Jennifer L. Scott -- (LESSONS FROM MADAME CHIC: THE TOP 20 THINGS I LEARNED WHILE LIVING IN PARS)

I found this album at a street vendor's table on Broadway last night. I love the colors and of course the divine Edith Piaf. Might have to dust off my little turntable and have a listen.

Trav'lin' Light

Anita O'Day. One of the foremost jazz singers of all time. She was the first woman to record for Verve, enough said. This woman's voice is incredible. I wish I had a pile of money so I could run out and scoop up every single one of her albums - on vinyl.

If you have never listened to her and are a fan of excellent jazz vocals - go out and get one of her albums immediately!! I am currently obsessed with 'Live in Tokyo 1963'. Heavenly.