Sunny with a Chance of Scotch and Strings

Although normally (so far) accompanied by howling winds and ice-slick sidewalks, this year's Scotch & Strings performance at Boyd's Jig & Reel in the Old City should be unimpeded by meteorological issues. S&S promises a tasteful and tasty cross-section of the scotch realm with the KSO's Principal String Quartet providing a handsome selection of drinking music for your Sunday evening.

Last year's installment of S&S included an arrangement of a tune by glam-rock forefather David Bowie, who had recently passed. Who knew so early in the year that a horrifyingly large number of pop/rock musicians would ultimately be claimed by year's end? In addition to Bowie Prince, George Michael, Merle Haggard, Keith Emerson AND Greg Lake from ELP and Leonard Cohen plus about 20 more MAJOR forces from all reaches of the rock world would be gone. As if to add insult to injury, New Year's Eve saw the passing of William Christopher, aka “Father Mulcahy” on MASH. I have taken it upon myself to arrange tunes by three such artists for tomorrow night's performance (ELP, Leon Russell and Dan Hicks), songs that work so well for string quartet even without lyrics that I couldn't pass up the chance and challenge. 

There will also be music of Mozart, Holst, Journey, The Charlie Daniels Band, and more, while the Jig & Reel will provide heavy hors d'oeuvres and a steady stream of scotch starting at 5:00. I know, that's when Bar Rescue is airing on SPIKE, but just this once, I suggest TiVo-ing that and coming on down to the Old City. Remember Humphrey Bogart's last words; “I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis...”