For the Community Music Hangout, #13 was a lucky number! For the thirteenth gathering, we met on Sunday May 7th at Carly i.e. the west piano. Some rain during the week conspired to render the upper register of the piano unplayable. Nevertheless, with the right attitude and a bit of improvisation, together, we were able to create 4+ hours of musical joy! For #13, the weather had improved and we were treated to an absolutely glorious day of Northern California sunshine. This week featured an excellent cast of players and singers. First of all, Rikki, my beautiful and lovely partner in all things helped us launch the day's events. Thank you, dear Cynthia returned again this week and we tried some sax-led versions of songs. Steve came back with his family and his congas! Brian popped back into the Hangout once again to add his soulful, energetic voice to the mix. Sage and Alice returned to the hangout as well! It's so fun to list these folks and realize we're building a little community of repeat offenders. 😉 Thank you to everyone who came back! It's so great to look up from the piano and see familiar faces! Chad stopped by to play a jazz standard on a tablet he had with him. That's just the kind of energy the CMH is looking for! Hope to see you again, Chad! And Josh made it to the CMH for his first time! And #13 had spectacular contributions from the youngest participants of the week: John & Fehren. These two fellas were both around 10 years old and blew the doors off of every other player from the day! Seeing the next generation of players is one of my favorite parts of the CMH. They are so great! We also had Tate turn up and play Blue Bossa while I made a valiant effort to remember the melody on sax. Finally, John played some of his first piano ever! All told, we were out there making happy sounds for more than 4 hours. Rikki and I left the piano with hearts full of musical love and community sentiment. We'll see you next on Sunday, May 14th at the west piano from 11 until at least 2!