Diane and I traveled to Kleinhans Music Hall to be part of a sold-out Just Buffalo Literary Center final event in their Babel series. Each year, four writers are invited to Buffalo to engage with students and meet hundreds of fans in a performance and Q&A session.
Diane’s Book Club had read McBride’s best seller The Color of Water. Recently, she read McBride’s latest book, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. James McBride is a multi-talented writer and performer. He performed on his saxophone accompanied by George Caldwell on piano, Charles Brown on bass, and Preston Brown on drums. During his musical number, McBride would periodically pause and read a selection from The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.
During the Q&A session, McBride discussed how his early career as a journalist helped him become a novelist. President Barack Obama awarded McBride the National Humanities Medal. McBride has also written songs for Anita Baker, Grover Washington, Jr., and Gary Burton.
The evening ended with a rousing round of applause for James McBride. Diane and I signed up for the next season of BABEL writers: Colm Toibin, Hernan Diez, Tara Westover, and Imani Penny.
Sounds good…obviously a protean talent. I’ve been vaguely aware of his work…my misstep.
Todd, I’ll be reading some James McBride soon. His event was impressive!
Sounds like it’s going to be a great series. I read THE COLOR OF WATER some years back, but I never realized McBride was so multi-talented.
Deb, Diane’s Book Club loves James McBride’s works. Diane was very moved by THE COLOR OF WATER.
Nice. THE COLOR OF WATER was fascinating – a religious Jewish mother, growing up in Brooklyn’s Red Hook housing project, etc.
We’ve seen him perform in the Rock Bottom Remainders, with Dave Barry, Stephen King, Amy Tan and Mitch Albom, one of the few real musicians among the writers.
Jeff, I was surprised and delighted by James McBride and his musical group. The music was great and McBride’s snarky humor lit up the audience!