IonHartford

Never was jazz more needed than this past Wednesday evening.  After a long day at city hall which ended with the quintessential political submarine attack, myself, Mercy and Angelito went home and prepared to call it a day.  We had plans to meet friends for an evening of food and literature at a reunion meeting of Living and Learning in el Barrio but I just wasn’t up for it.  Than I remembered that my bud Ed Fast was playing his first evening at The Firebox down on Broad Street.

That’s right…Broad Street.

The Firebox is a swank, new restaurant that has opened up at 539 Broad Street between Russ and Capitol.  Some might remember the previous restaurant, a local watering hole named Mamacita’s.  Their claim to fame is that the menu is comprised of local ingredients.  “From the icy coastal waters of Stonington, to the pasture lands of Old Lyme.”  I haven’t frequented much due to the hefty (for me) price tag applied to the CT born delicacies.  Mercy and I decided to  suit up Angelito and walk down for a monthly splurge and to support a good friend.

Ed Fast is a wonderful human being who is to Hartford what Tito Puentes’ was to NYC in his time, a gifted musician who has a knack of grabbing good to great players and bringing them together for one night of magical music.  He is a band leader extraordinaire!!  Tonite, Ed brought in a bassist from New York and a young pianist on the Fender rhodes who I’ve never met before.  The rhodes was a tad on the low side volume wise but the bassist ate up each solo given and was more than competent setting the pace for all.  Ed, who’s a multi-percussionist, chose to play a smaller variation of timbales in the back and brought his evil twin Siamese Jorge Fuentes on congas.  Jorge is the most humble rockinist conguero out there and don’t let him tell you any different.

On horns Ed brought two guys who I would’ve never pictured together due to differing styles….but it worked big.  Obie Jarreau (sp?) a sax prodigy straight from the McLean school of hard knox came out and while he seemed a little nervous at first, warmed up impressively with some sweet, yet strong solos.  But, by far,my night was made with the verocity of Stephen Haynes.

Stephen is a cool cat from the Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman school of play whatever the hell you want and let the rest sort itself out school of jazz.     A fierce horn who tested the acoustics early with some loud ass pipes and then settled into a sweet constant which felt right as rain.  These two guys were obviously playing with the music sheets for the first time, hence missed some early cues, but all in all they were a treat to see and hear. The first set was standard in a bitchin way, but was surpassed in the second half when an all star cast of Hartford world musicians joined in for the jam.  Alvin Carter, Sr., Carlos Hernandez Chavez, Carlos Claviho, Tito Ortiz, and a flautist to be named later were some that I caught, but I saw Margaux Heyes there and I wouldn’t be surprised if she jumped up and tested those pipes up there.  This was the first of what will be a weekly, Wednesday night Jazz regular at this hangout and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

I know what you’re thinking, enough about the music what about the foood, man!!  Well, I’ll tell ya, it banged like a can of ham spaming some lamb…that’s cool jazz talk for it kicked ass.  We ordered the “TWO GUYS FROM WOODBRIDGE” MIXED BABY GREENS SALAD Sherry Vinaigrette with Grilled Baguette, a ROASTED HALF CHICKEN with Crushed Fingerling Potatoes, Asparagus, and Gremolata as an entree, and an extra order of Crushed Fingerling Potatoes.  We asked for everything to come out together and shared everything.  The half chicken and extra order of potatoes was just enough for the two of us and the chicken was exquisite.  I washed it down with an Argentinan 2005 Malbec Grand Reserve by Agua de Piedra and I could feel the days tensions melt away with each sip.

The funkily named salad was cool in that you didn’t necessarily need the forks.  We just picked up the spears of greens and put in our mouths.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening.  We walked back down Capitol (we came in via Russ St.) and saw the woman’s rugby team hanging at Kenny’s Red Rock.  THAT’S when it hit me…I live in the best friggin neighborhood in the city.  Where else do I have walking access to a great place like Kenny’s, a 4 star restaurant like The Firebox, an independent coffeehouse in La Paloma, and all the Latino eating establishments on Park?  No doubt, North Frog Hollow (or NoFroHo as I parody NoSoDo) has definitely got it going on.