If you want to see ageless joy and celebrate the universal language of music, the chain that keeps us all together, you should treat yourself to a Baba Ghanooj set.
If you’re really lucky, you’ll get to see their whole show, which is especially perfect under the Edison lights at the historic Fox River House.
And, if you hit the jackpot, you’ll enjoy the night with your lovely daughter while she visits you from Los Angeles.
That’s what happened to me Friday night and I’ve been smiling and humming ever since.
Baba Ghanooj has been playing together almost as long as their namesake snack has been around. (That’s a long, long time. I Googled it.)
Still, they play with the same infectious joy they did when they were children sitting around Rosie and Ron Reynolds’ living room back in the super cool seventies.
Siblings Ric, Rod and Marci form the heart of the band, together with Marci’s husband Fran, drummer Johnny Baldus and singer Jeff “Romy” Romenesko.
They play the classics in a way that makes you want to travel back in time and also makes you grateful to be exactly where you are.
Are you reelin’ in the years? Maybe. But music lasts forever and sometimes you have to let yourself be grateful for the moments that let you celebrate it.
I’m sure I was grinning like a lunatic as I watched them play, but it felt so good to hear live music again and to see such a talented group enjoying themselves up there.
When Hillary Reynolds, daughter of Ric and Trina Reynolds, jumped up to join the band, you could see both nature and nurture at work. Grandma Rosie, the Grand Dame of the clan, was a concert pianist and Trina was a singer as well. Hillary is a Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter who performs as Peridot. She and her husband Ted Toussaint, another talented musician, are in Wisconsin to visit family and it was fun to see them Friday night too.
Baba Ghanooj plays tonight in a rain-rescheduled set at South Park Beach in Waupaca. You can follow them on Facebook to see other shows.
I’m so glad I got to hear them play live Friday night and I’m looking forward to lots more live music this week.
