Today is my and Satoko's 22nd wedding anniversary--and yesterday was her parents' fiftieth (yes, they were married the same year as Akihito and Michiko). Both occasions are being marked quietly, esp. since yours truly is still laid up on crutches.

Yesterday was also the 110th anniversary of Duke Ellington's birth. The current version of his orchestra, led by Duke's grandson, celebrated by taking the A train. Literally. We'll do our bit to mark the occasion next month: we have tickets for a performance of "New Orleans Suite" (one of Ellington's highly underrated later works) and "Black, Brown & Beige" by the Chicago Jazz Ensemble.

Next month the Dave Brubeck Quartet will be coming to town, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the release of the legendary Time Out album. I smiled wistfully when I saw the flyer: it means I'm getting on in years. Probably the first real jazz concert I ever went to was back in 1974 at the then brand-new Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis: the 25th anniversary tour for Time Out, featuring Brubeck and Paul Desmond. I grow old, I grow old, I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

I suppose reunions are something akin to anniversaries. The just-announced new additions to this summer's Fuji Rock Festival include two that I would give my right crutch to see. Sunny Day Service, one of my all-time favorite Japanese bands, will be making an appearance. And Panta will be doing the Zuno Keisatsu (Brain Police) thing one more time: it's a chance to see one of the most influential underground rock bands of the 1970s in action.

And then there's a "first 100 days" thing that seems to be happening, too.

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