I’m working on Autumn Leaves. Why working on this PhD when I could instead right now hit the Holiday Inn lounges. I hope they have real pianos. The first time I met Lianne Fournier she was playing standards in one of those places. I don’t remember what it was called but her perfect singing and humour are vividly in my memory banks. The last time I saw her we took Tammi out from the assisted living apartment she has and walked around Portage Avenue with Noreen who I had not seen since grade 8. Coffee at the Northstar Inn. For my father’s generation, amazing was returning to Oscars delicatessen and perhaps ordering a sandwich, but for me in grade 5 the Northstar Inn (with two movie theatres) was the height of modernity, returning there was impressive. Tammi played in the Welfare Starlets. I produced their first record, how could I not considering they asked me with their demo in a letter containing sparkles that fell out upon opening? I didn’t realize Autumn Leaves was originally a French song. Didn’t realize playing standards would be as much fun as I’m currently finding. Didn’t realize Lianne would be gone before Tammi. Better learning happens from the dumbfounding pauses over what you didn’t know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"