photos and descriptions of what makes our world a pleasure
emphasis on Florida and the Tampa Bay area but also far beyond

From the category archives:

MUSIC

Behind the scenes at the Arbors Records Invitational Jazz Party

January 24, 2010
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Gary Baldassari, Incorporated Magi audio engineer, instructing Full Sail interns on microphones
Teachers and students
 
The tagline for Inkwatu is “Delights, near and far.” Less poetically put, that simply means that this blog is about things that I find delightful: people, places, things, food…and also the good I see some people do. One such instance is the [...]

Vintage Sheet Music Covers

December 28, 2009
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My sister and I were fortunate as kids because our parents were good amateur musicians who, in the days before TV, would often play together as a way to end the evening: our mother on violin, our dad on piano. I have multiple memories of falling asleep on the couch as a child listening to [...]

Oktoberfest

October 3, 2009
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If you are looking for something fun to do tonight—especially if you’re a family—go to the final night of the German American Society of Pinellas County OKTOBERFEST! (8098 66th St. N., Pinellas Park, FL 33781). They serve food from 6 pm-8:30 pm and the event (and beer!) continues until 11:30 pm. Admission is $6, [...]

Echoes

July 10, 2009
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Long ago, big downtown department stores would let you take a record (these big old things) into one of a number of small soundproof rooms. In there would be a record player and a set of headphones. Those devices were nothing like the sophisticated gadgets we have today. There was no foam on the headphones, [...]

SPIFFS 2009 International Folk Fair

April 4, 2009

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This past weekend, March 27-29, was the St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society (SPIFFS) 34th annual International Folk Fair at the Vinoy Park on the waterfront. The weather was beautiful but very breezy, but that just made for great surf to watch when taking a break and feasting on some of [...]

Arbors Records

February 25, 2009

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FIRST ANNUAL ARBORS RECORDS INVITATIONAL JAZZ PARTY
 
Recently, I had the opportunity to photograph backstage at the Arbors Records First Annual Arbors Records Invitational Piano Jazz Party at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort on Clearwater Beach. There’s a lot of jazz in Florida and a lot here in the Tampa Bay Area. [...]

Yule & Saturnalia Feasts

December 27, 2008

Please see definitions for Yule and Saturnalia. Two brief quotes: “Yule is a winter festival identified with Christmas in modern times. The pagan Germanic peoples celebrated Yule from late December to early January on a date determined by the lunar Germanic calendar. When the Julian calendar was adopted in northern Europe, Yule was placed on [...]

Season’s Greetings

December 24, 2008
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As if you haven’t already endured an unrelenting lashing of holiday music in stores and from the media, here’s three more free selections from my pipe organ mp3 album on Amazon of carol arrangements of mine published by Concordia, “Cherry Tree Carol”, “What Child Is This,” and “Oh Come All Ye Faithful.” Hope you enjoy [...]

Quick Breads

December 20, 2008
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BANANA BREAD

A couple weeks ago I caught the holiday spirit and started making quick breads to give friends as gifts. I’d never really made them before and I was delighted to discover that they’re very easy to make. They make the home smell terrific and people love it when they [...]

Cafe Mozart German Bakery

November 15, 2008

Cafe Mozart Bakery (6754 4th St N Saint Petersburg, FL 33702; 727-521-1333) has a long history and an excellent reputation in St. Petersburg. It’s a quality bakery. It’s difficult to discipline oneself to eat only small portions of their black bread—pictured above—which is marvelous. I can’t recommend this place and their baked goods highly enough. [...]

St. Petersburg Wednesday Mid-day Market

November 12, 2008

WEDNESDAY MID-DAY MARKET
A week ago today, the Wednesday Mid-Day Market opened for the 2008-09 season. It’s in Williams Park, downtown St. Petersburg, every Wednesday during the season from 11 am until 2 pm. According to that wiki, Williams Park was “Founded in 1888 and originally named “City Park,” it was changed to Williams Park in [...]

Music!

August 31, 2008

The Inkwatu Store
At the bottom of each post are a series of links to various sub-pages of this blog site. One is Store. In the “real” world, I’m a musician. There are now MP3s of some of my music available through Amazon.com. If you click on the Inkwatu Store link, you’ll find links to the [...]

The Saint Petersburg Opera Company

June 18, 2008

History & Past Productions
St. Petersburg has surprised itself by evolving into a city were fine arts is the focus of its high quality of life. Within walking distance of downtown condos there are well over a dozen galleries, more than four museums, three major performance venues, equity theater, and innumerable small businesses that support the [...]

Unless specifically attributed otherwise, all Inkwatu content (text, photos, music, media, etc.) Copyright © 2008-2010 Hilton Kean Jones