Lee Ritenour at Blue Note: Getting older isn't so bad, from hell to heaven

Music is wonderful
Today was the Lee Ritenour concert, for which I had booked tickets a long time ago.
It was at the usual Blue Note.
Why was it "hell"?
There are two reasons.
The first is that when I made the reservation, I didn't have any plans to work.
I had easily booked a weekday performance, but work was suddenly scheduled.
With a body that isn't used to it, I have what I call 'sixty-year-old shoulder' instead of 'frozen shoulder.' My arms won't go up, and my whole body is exhausted.
"Oh, I shouldn't have booked it if it was going to be like this..."
I arrived at the venue feeling a little gloomy.
The other hell was the stairs at Blue Note.
For someone like me with bad knees, those wide stairs are quite a difficult obstacle.
To say I tremble just looking at them... is a bit of an exaggeration, but it requires resolve.
Still, I managed to clear them and take my seat.
I ordered a delicious meal and wanted to have a light drink... but I could only manage a 350ml beer.
Is this also because of my age?


Finally, the performers appearThe star, Lee Ritenour, perhaps a bit frail in his legs, took the stage with a little help from the staff.
As someone who worries about my own legs, this isn't someone else's problem to me.
I couldn't help but worry and watch him.
However, once the performance started, he was a true professional.
He captured the atmosphere of the venue in an instant and wrapped us in music.
At first, perhaps because I was still tired, the sound felt like it was just flowing past me, but gradually my spirits began to lift.
It's a little different from the overwhelming number of notes and sharpness of his younger days.
But this time, he skillfully entrusted himself to the keyboard, bass, and drums,
creating deep music by covering for each other.
It was somewhat reminiscent of Yuming's 'coexistence with AI',
an expression that only comes from having aged.
As you get older, the number of things you can't do definitely increases.
Even so, music of a different form is born.


A fusion of experience and challenge. Even as it withers, it is wonderful.
He also performed nostalgic, difficult songs using the keyboard.Voices from the audience said, 'That brings back memories.'
Ah, I truly feel that everyone gathered here has lived through the same time.
Even so, one of Ritenour's charms is that smile while playing.

It's a genuine smile of someone who loves music.
It's not the time for me to give up yet either. That's the beauty of a live concert—my spirits were revived.
Before I knew it, I was swinging along with just my upper body.

--Wait, if I can get this into it,
can't I enjoy it even if I'm in a wheelchair in the future?
Come to think of it, a friend who loves Blue Note secretly told me, 'There's an elevator for carrying equipment.'
I might be able to go.
...That's still a story for the future, though.

Monologue
Actually, my late husband had a best friend who absolutely loved the drummer Harvey Mason.
The drummer who was sessioning with Lee Ritenour this time was exactly that person.
My husband was deeply moved, remembering the passionate music discussions he had with his friend all night long. When it ended, he suddenly ran to the aisle and shook his hand. On behalf of his friend.

Ritenour's MC was, of course, in English.
I was only good at English tests. However, when I went abroad on my honeymoon,
I was asked 'Coffee or tea?' on the plane, and even though I desperately said 'tea,' it wasn't understood.
With that small setback in that moment, my confidence in English collapsed all at once,
and since then, I have come to hate English.

Recently, I started Duolingo. I started it like brain training, imitating a friend.
My current level is probably that of an elementary school student.

But on the way home from Blue Note,
I suddenly received a LINE message from that friend.
'Follow me'
Just before that,
while watching the audience burst into laughter after hearing Ritenour's MC,
I was feeling a little bit of guilt, thinking, 'I envy those who understand.'
This is not a coincidence.
I find myself thinking that again.
So today, I'm feeling just a little bit motivated. The benefits of LINE!