Yesterday, while drinking a coffee and enjoying  music…

(Domenico Scarlatti piano sonatas, Ivo Pogorelich

Everybody Digs Bill Evans, the Bill Evans Trio (Sam Jones (b), Philly Joe Jones (d)); I especially enjoyed Night and Day, Tenderly, and Peace Piece

Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet (Johns Coltrane (ts), Red Garland (p), Paul Chambers (b), Philly Joe Jones (d))

West Coast Jazz, the Stan Getz Quartet (Lou Levy (p), Leroy Vinnegar (b), Shelly Manne (d), along with Conte Candoli (t)); in particular, A Night in Tunisia)

…I suddenly recalled the best coffee I’ve ever tasted: from the 5enses cafe, which was on the ground floor of the Hotel Georgia (sadly, the Hotel has been replaced with condos, though the builders had the sense to include some of the original façade in the new building’s design). 5enses was a purveyor of wonderful sandwiches, the finest chocolates, danishes, and the most delightful coffee I’ve ever sampled (I can create a mean cup o’ joe, but 5enses’ coffee was an elixir that I cannot aspire to recreate: strong, smooth, and dark as fuligin): they lovingly brewed each cup individually, like an espresso. I miss the days when I’d take the Sky Train downtown on a sunny day, get a large, 5enses coffee to go, and walk to Stanley Park.

Occasionally, a long-pour, quad-grandé Americano from one of the ubiquitous Starbucks’ franchises will suffice (I don’t really enjoy their ‘coffee’, which often has a burnt-bitterness that their espresso-shots usually don’t have — though some Starbucks’ locations create a better Americano than others); better yet, a trip to Granville Island, where JJ Bean’s original store  serves a much better large Americano (equivalent to my absolute best attempt); and, a walk around and through the market and shops at Granville Island is always pleasant, even when it rains. Brynne, my youngest daughter, is so fortunate: she is in her second year of study at Emily Carr University of Art & Design, and can get a JJ Bean coffee any time she wants…

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