It felt like it will be a slow night at the jazz club. A favorite group was playing so I was looking forward to hearing them. They had learned about the gig just days earlier so I was curious to see if everyone in the group would be here. As it turned out, the incredible bass player was a no show. The keyboard player maintained the bass line while also playing his part. I had arrived early and was enjoying a cup of coffee with the bartender. A semi-regular regular showed and passed the cover to me through the tender. Another S-R R showed and sat down next to me at the bar and slipped me the cover. He's a technical guy who gets sent all over the world. Somehow we get talking about solid-modeling and reverse engineering--the conversation impressed him and frightened me, when I realized how much utterly geeky stuff I seem to know. I am, after all, just The Doorman. The band started playing and I felt bad that there wasn't a stronger showing. But they played like it was standing-room only at the Blue Note. The singer was as strong as ever. They did a jazzed-up version of a Mavis Staples' song, which this singer is the only one I know that could get away with that. At one point, we had five couples in the club (as well as a couple of small groups and the several lone wolves). Four of the five couples reflect a demographic trend supported by the last census: the increase of interracial couples. The 2010 U.S. Census reports 10% of married and 18% of unmarried couples living together are interracial. My best estimate for the jazz club: 31.7% of couples entering the club are interracial. Jazz could solve the race problem since those that love jazz don't see race as an issue. (Yeah, I know I’ve pointed out this whole rainbow of humanity thing out before, but it still is a very cool feature of the jazz club.)
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