Zippy Gets Jazzed!

It is with great pleasure that we have a guest post here at Tomatilla! My lovely spouse, Doc Gurley, has a wonderful medical blog (it helps to be a doctor – just imagine if I had a medical blog…OK, don’t, let’s just say it would be bad) and she has been doing her bit this past week to support research and healthcare for pediatric brain tumors. How? well read on – and then go visit her blog and Zippy’s. And yes, there is something food related at the end…

Zippy got down with the beat at the famous Lafayette Summer Music Jazz Workshop for kids. Hundreds of kids came to the workshop from around the country, including New Orleans.

It made Zippy’s heart swing with the rhythm of happiness to see all these kids,

learning, growing, and joyfully playing together. Here is Zippy on-stage, getting ready to count off the next combo set. There were 24 small groups of young musicians, showing off all they had learned in the five days of the workshop.

Zippy got a bit of cold feet when he met just a few the famous jazz musicians from across the country who were teaching in the workshop and as dedicated to kids as Zippy is – Wayne Wallace (whose latest CD just hit #1), Dan Pratt, Kristen Korb, and, of course, the heart, soul and leader of the whole jazz extravaganza, a person so phenomenal that Zippy just had to give him a hug…

the incredible Bob Athayde.

Zippy decided that if he makes it back to next year’s Lafayette Jazz Workshop, he’s going to snap his feelers in time to the kids’ amazing improv. Bob believes Zippy can do it, and Zippy has a year to learn how – do you think Zippy can?

Zippy’s got a thing for coffee – it makes him even more perky about

spreading the word to stamp out pediatric brain tumors. At the Doc Gurley home, Zippy got a special treat – a chance to roast his own coffee. Doc Gurley’s husband is an avid roast-your-own man, and he and Zippy spent a morning bonding over the grill. Zippy was surprised how pale and soft the green coffee beans looked -kind of like a lobster after it’s molted its shell.

Wow, look at those beans – roasted in a simple modified Jiffy-Pop popper! Zippy was stunned at how much smoke and chaff comes floating off the beans as they roast. Now he understands why Doc Gurley hides in the house during the roasting.

Zippy smelled like coffee the rest of the day – he kind of liked that. Zippy and the Mister Doc had a bit of a discussion about whose beans these were – both wanted to give them to each other. Then Zippy remembered the best thing to do is share – it doubles the fun. They both headed inside to grind a cup and taste it. It was yummy – and Zippy got jazzed all over again!

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