Well we spent two nights in St Augustine Florida on our way home from Fort Myers. It is a nice place and I would come back.
On Wednesday we were looking for some music / dancing and a place called the Oasis was recommended. We went there Wednesday night and found a small band upstairs in the bar area. A drummer, keyboard, electronic upright base, and a saxophone. There was a nice singer and as the night went on there was a guest trumpet player and another saxophone player that stood in. There was also a guest singer for a couple of songs.
Well the place was packed and it was a seat-yourself situation. So we stood around waiting for a table to open up. There was no dance floor, but there was some room between some of the tables.
A family of 7 got ready to leave and we stood ready to pounce; so did about four other couples. Well we took two chair and a couple from Ohio took the other two chairs at our table. The other table was also instantly consumed. We ordered some beers and food and managed a few to dances in the open space behind the table.
During the break C asked if the group would be playing anywhere Thursday night, and in fact they were going to be playing at a place near the campground - Amici's. Well the Ohio couple left and another couple sat down. They had some friends who pulled up some additional chairs. It turns out that one of them was a keyboard player for another group that was also playing Thursday night in a nearby place - Panama Hatties.
Thursday night we went to Panama Haddies first and when we walked in the folks we met at Oasis waved to us. We took seats at the bar and noticed that there was actual space for dancing - not much, but real space. All in all there were about 6 or 7 couples that danced. We did some swing and fox trot ( as best as we could in the available space).
We left there and went to Amici's which turns out to be an Italian resturant with an actual dance floor. The group from the Oasis (E.T.) was there. The resturant was full, but we were seated at a table just outside the door with a good view of the band. Well the singer recognized us and waved. After the set the drummer came over and asked if there was anything in particular we wanted. We asked for a latin - Their first song of the next set was Besame Mucho - a nice ChaCha - So we danced to that and a number of other songs during that set; We also had a nice dinner.
After that set the drimmer ( Eddie) again came over and we talked about a number of things. He again asked if we wanted anything in particular - I asked for Take Five. He said that it was a challenging piece, but they would do it for us. (It is different in that there are 5 beats to a measure rather that the typical 3 or 4 of your more traditional dance music.)
They played it and sounded very good, so C and I got up and danced to it. We took a Milonga approach and had a good time. When the song was over the keyboard player said that he had never seen anyone dance to Take Five before - so now you know why this post is called Dance To The Music.
BTW you can also listen to Take Five by Dave Brubeck.
