In 10 days I’ll be in Salvador, which is pretty much the blackest place on the planet outside of the motherland. Obviously, I’m very excited about this. I’ve been slacking on my Portuguese podcast crash course but I’ve been diligently assembling my digging target list and live music itinerary. Big ups to the homie Neal for the helpful tips.

Your boy’s got a gig too. More on that later.

To start the countdown to my departure, I’ve enlisted the legendary Bernard Purdie to translate my current mindstate.