I have an idea… wouldn’t it be fun to travel across the country -and back- stopping every night at a different place, at least one per day/night, to sample whatever the local scene might have for music? The goal could be: live music every night in a different venue, for a full year and a complete lap around the continental 48. The reason this comes to mind at the moment, is that I figure it’s pretty likely that a good number of those stops would be in places just like this one, with an atmosphere and entertainment offering much like what we have here tonight…
And yes, by the way, I am right back to where I was last night. The Collegian Court in Chicopee, it turns out, has music several nights of the week. Eavesdrop wowed ’em in the lounge last night, of course; but they more often have something a little more ‘subdued’ (I know, right?), and they usually put such a solo singer (who comes equipped with music tracks) into the main dining room. Lynn, the lovely and welcoming, freshly off-duty Manager when I came for Eavesdrop, told about this young lady who had ‘residencied,’ more or less, every Thursday/Friday/Saturday through the month of December. It sounded nice enough and, well, if one wonders- Lynn seemed really nice too. Mandy Langois, from right here in Chicopee, is but a wee lass, being a mere sixteen years of age, but when I first heard her singing, I quite naturally assumed her to be 28 or 30.
With a voice that can certainly be called full, lush and very classy, and all the seeming skills of any sopisticated professional, this young lady delivers tonight’s holiday-heavy repertoire with all the aplomb of an advanced-level lounge singer, but one who does this as side-work to supplement her ‘real-life’ activity. In more conventional cases, that other activity would doubtless be a full-time gig as a jazz vocalist, probably with some touring ensemble of much repute. Really, she’s good. But this starlet-in-process is probably still in high school- unless she’s one of those amazing ones who finished school at age 12 and is now nearing completion of her first (or second) Bachelor’s (or Master’s) degree.
Now, about the house… The Collegian Court has been a Chicopee mainstay for most of its many years, having reopened two years ago after a five-year hiatus. I had hoped to get a refresher in the establishment’s timeline and history, but coming in as I did at ‘prime time’ on a Saturday is not the best way to get ‘quality time’ with Hospitality staff… maybe (hopefully?) Lynn will come back to me before I leave. What I remember from my few visits here ‘way back when a girlfriend went to Elms College just up the hill, suggests that it is much nicer now, without having changed. Everything looks the same as ever, but one might guess that a lot has been done by way of refurbishment or restoration. The lighting is quite (but no too) bright; my recollection is of a dark, maybe even ‘dank’ atmosphere- although, in fairness, that could have been my own state of mind at the time. Some years later, coming in for dinner with another friend, I found the dining-room to be tending toward a certain aspect of over-the-hill roughness, as in almost dingy or ‘tired’ and ready for an overdue scrub.
Not so anymore; everything is clean and shiny; the place has the look and feel of a classic tavern or country inn such as one might happen upon out along the back-roads of who-knows-where in New England- say, out on Cape Ann or up around the North Shore; or out among the upper-crust Berkshires, like Sturbridge and Lenox. It’s nice to experience the sort of warm and welcoming comfort that comes with such subdued and sophisticated old-world surroundings, and with appropriate lighting levels so that ambience is enhanced. Too bright would work against the decor, losing the feel and charm; and too low would be dimly oppressive, as inadequate lighting will be swallowed up by an otherwise enveloping, lower-spectrum scheme.
The food looks great, too. I loves me some golumpki and pierogi, kielbasa and kapusta, as much as the next native boy of partial-German descent who grows up in a largely-Polish small-town setting. The plates I’ve watched go by have all been pretty ones, arranged as a chef would insist, and without any stray smears or splatters on the old-school, wide white borders of the mostly round plates. None of those odd-ish, oblong dishes here, the ones that force a limited arrangement and actually make for awkward eating. Soon’s I got some green to go ’round, I’m gonna be back here, that’s for sure!
Jimm O’D ~ The Dusty Turntable
The Dusty Turntable 