The Blues is the only music I can listen to all day.
I like many other styles, yet it is only the blues that will bring me on home. Take me through a timeless ride of Happiness, Sorrow, Pain, Remembering lost love, Playing the Fool, Betrayals or just time pasted by.
Switch it on and go about my business and enjoy yet never tire of.
Slow backbeat a Searing lead and a scratchy Smokey vocal.
Even in a downtown L.A. bar you can feel that Mississippi juke joint vibe with that simple two line verse cutting into your soul.
Bluesmen don’t play for money there isn’t much, or fame.
Long Van rides, cheap food and small Clubs.
Yet, even today long after this music has pasted it still persist…. like an old beauty queen long past her prime she refuses to let go of the past.
Great Blues albums come around generationally from Eric Clapton’s “From the Cradle” back to BB Kings “Live in Japan” and “Live at the Regal” to Texas Bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” and all the way up north to Buddy Guy’s “Sweet Tea”
From the beginning of Albert King’s “Crosscut Saw” you can feel the emotions of a simple riff and exactly what he means to be a Crosscut Saw.
The Blues in life sometimes overwhelms you and you think all I need now is to hear songs reinforcing what I am feeling, but it has almost the exact opposite effect. By reassuring you that you’re not alone, how could they know exactly what I am feeling, yet what he was singing about , a crosscut saw explained exactly how I was feeling and I understood it all and how applied to my life.
The state of Blues today is good. Festivals pop up all summer. Great new artist arrive and old artist grow old gracefully. The British invasion may be over but the American renaissance has reemerged. When trendy music comes and disappears The Blues have remained, gotten stronger, bolder even prospered.
Mario Batali’s Carnevino in Las Vegas is a beautiful restaurant. Located inside The Palazzo near the Grand Canal Shoppes right off the main gambling floor. Its biggest feature is the millions spent on the interior. The carved bull in the main dining room alone is a work of art. Along the walls are glass cases filled with thousands of the best wines from around the world. White table cloths and tall ceiling and handcrafted wood works fill in the rest.
The Antipasti at Carnevino goes from Lamb Sausage to Duck Eggs to Mussels and more, very good yet very small portions . Prices 16-21$. The Itaiian sides also very good yet very small go from Ricotta and Egg Raviolo to Beef Tortelloni.
The dinner dishes serve Lamb, Fish, Poultry and Pork, but if your coming to Carnevino your coming for the Beef. According to Carnevino all their beef is “all natural BBL beef is hand selected and aged in our meat chamber by our man Adam Perry Lang. BBL beef is often beyond regular USDA prime standards for marbling and flavor and is hormone and antibiotic free. We rub all of our beef with sea salt, black pepper and fresh rosemary to get a delicious and slightly charred crust.”.
We order the Dry Aged Bone-In Ribeye at 152$ for two people. It was a delious steak cut and prepared at the table. The char on the outside of the steak was perfect and the seasoning of just salt and pepper with a little olive oil was great. A fine steak. I would rate the steak at about a 7.
The dry aging did not really add any extra flavor to this steak nor make it any more tender. I have had as good or better at other steak houses in Vegas at half the price. For example even at the steak house at Circus Circus (laugh but any local knows that this steakhouse was voted best steakhouse in las Vegas for over ten years running) serves a ribeye that is more tender and just as big and just as well served at half the prices and it come with sides included. The steak at Carnevino seemed to be in the realm of say Ruth Chris. An excellent steak but twice as expensive as even Ruth Chris’s.
What other attributes does Carnevino have that justify these Rich People only prices. Just one…The atmosphere of the dining room which is stunning.
If you come here for dinner and get a antipasti with a Pasta side and a Steak and a Bottle of Wine expect to pay with tip a minimum of 325$
Carnevino serves a fine steak in an amazingly beautiful room but is it worth the money……
Since I am originally from Las Vegas I get asked a lot ” What do I need to know before I go to Las Vegas”. Here I will lay out a few tips and thing you should do before you go to Las Vegas. I hope it helps.
Great Tacos. Expensive and crowded. Been around for a long time and just keeps getting more popular especially with tourist. If you can deal with the lines and tons of people, you will enjoy some damn good tacos.
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