Wine like jazz depends as much on the time and place as the product. How many times have you enjoyed a bottle of wine on vacation and thought it was the most amazing juice to cross your lips. You return home, buy the bottle, pour the glass and what you taste is worlds apart from what you remembered. But the memories are still there so you don't just toss the bottle in the recycling bin. You sip and savor and experience it in a new way.

I hadn't been to the Jazz Kitchen at 54th and college in years. Not as dark and small as I had remembered and I mean that as a good memory. But the vibe is still alive. Just enough lighting to see what you are eating or drinking as you partake from the menu. Tables close enough to lend a festive, party like atmosphere but not too close. You still feel as if you are having a one-on-one experience with the performer on stage. The stage itself is just a step up from the tables so once again more of that feeling that the musician is one with the people and vice versa. Which is another reason this place has presence. Everyone is open to share. There are no strangers in a room of jazz lovers. A nod, a smile, it's all done in rhythm to the performer. It truly is all about time and place.

Hearing Freddy Cole and his Quartet last weekend was case in point. The 82 year old jazz pianist/singer has led a long and productive career on his own. His brothers were Nat King and Ike, and his son Lionel and niece Natalie have all shared their family talent in the music world.

Freddy was having FUN on Saturday night. His fingers and voice still dexterous. He shared his life experience in a mischievous way as he delivered over an hour's worth of standards. Half silly, half serious, Freddy's phrasing of the familiar songs of love brought a NEW sense of joy and appreciation for everyone in the audience. His band was an enchanting mix too. Elias Bailey on the bass, head nodding, fingers moving, setting the groove. Randy Napoleon who looked like a teenager but is in his 30's played the guitar with the verve and vigor of Eddie Van Halen riffing with 21st century energy but tucking notes tight so as not to out shine Freddy's elegant, inspired piano melodies. Drummer Curtis Boyd was in it for fun as well. I watched with delight as he used different sets of sticks, brushes, and a baton to punctuate the playful presentation.

Freddy took time to meet the audience and sign CD's after the show. We had a lovely chat about Indianapolis and the fact that he grew up on the south side of Chicago. Though he's lived in New York for most of his life, his heart is still with the midwest.

I met some friends after the show and sipped a bottle of Gascon Red Blend. This too was another time and place experience. I visited the Argentina winery 11 years ago and remember this bold, lush blend of Bonarda, Malbec, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Enjoying the 2011 bottling took me back to the wild, rugged, purity of the Mendoza wine region as I shared it with some of my neighbors. The Gascon Red Blend is widely available and in the $15 or less price range. The Jazz Kitchen is just down the street.