Then Annie moved in.

November 20, 2019 4:14 AM

Artist in Residence (SL Guernica) An essay by Lawrence Levi about Annie Ross, adolescence, New York City in the late '80s, ADD, and living with a jazz legend somewhat unawares.

We didn’t cook together in our apartment’s narrow galley kitchen, but if we had she might have told me she’d once written a cookbook. The title was Annie Ross Says ‘Come On In!’ and Try Her Favourite Recipes. On the cover she’s sitting on a kitchen counter in a black evening dress holding a very full goblet of wine, her auburn hair exploding into a massive shag.

 
(Disclosure: Lawrence Levi is a friend of mine.)

posted by miles per flower (5 comments total)

beautiful story - i only knew Twisted from the Joni Mitchell cover and now i'm discovering a wonderful new-to-me voice - thank you for sharing this
posted by kokaku at 4:35 AM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]

I've been just getting into Annie Ross lately, this article is coming at a very opportune time. Thanks!
posted by SPUTNIK at 5:33 AM on November 20, 2019

This is a wonderful essay.
posted by OrangeDisk at 9:26 AM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

My dad is a major jazz lover, and growing up I really hated all the dissonance and seeming randomness of the music he liked best. He finally won me over when he introduced me to Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Laughing over the lyrics of the most accessible songs -- like Twisted -- was the thing that cracked open the world of jazz for me. (My absolute favorite of theirs was Gimme That Wine, though she's not the lead on it.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:06 AM on November 20, 2019

This was fantastic.
posted by Mchelly at 10:15 PM on November 23, 2019