Babette’s favorite living pianist was the American artist Awadagin Pratt. We traveled together to see him perform in Yakima in 1999, where my professor memorably led a standing ovation by shouting at the audience “Are you dead?” Next came��an amazing coincidence, twelve years later, that formed the final chapter of my book. I had randomly met��the famous musician at a Sitka dive bar after being��stormed into port while commercial fishing in the Gulf of Alaska.

Pratt playing the White House in 2009. Not who usually hangs out at the P-Bar in Sitka.

After the book came out, I wanted to give Pratt a copy. But being��a celebrity who constantly travels between international��concerts, meeting him again��presented difficulty. Then I discovered Pratt��scheduled to play Bach Fest 2015 in Spokane, Washington on March 7th, 2015.��My partner and I made the six hour drive from Portland earlier in the day and checked into our hotel.

The night of the concert, I was amazed to discover the venue for Pratt’s performance would be the Barrister Winery, a venue with seating for only about a hundred. We arrived early and picked��a table just fifteen feet from the grand piano. What good fortune!

���Zuill Baily, MC for the evening

Pratt was introduced by Zuill Baily, the event’s artistic director and a renown cellist, who I’d also met in Sitka. Then everyone quieted as Pratt settled down at the piano. He began softly with Variations and Fugue on a Theme Of Handel, Op. 24 by Brahms but soon his fingers thundered across the keys. Tears sprung to my eyes at his passion and the shared proximity. I could even hear his breathing between notes. At one point, Pratt’s glasses slipped off his nose and fell to the floor, yet he continued playing as if nothing had occurred.��

The barrage continued with a selection from Partita No. 2 in D Minor by J.S. Bach. It appeared Pratt possessed no fewer than ten hands. The piano trembled at his onslaught and it seemed no human being could maintain such pace. At last he unfolded the final piece, Sonata in B Minor by Franz Liszt. The audience sat immobile through it, stunned as surely as salmon by the blunt end of a gaff. I looked over at my partner. Her eyes were closed, cheeks relaxed blissfully. When the last noted faded, everyone leapt to their feet, hands clapping in exultation.

Pratt’s glasses take a dive.

Afterward, Pratt sat before��a table to greet admirers and sign autographs. I joined the line, but noticed Zuill Baily standing off to one side. I approached and introduced myself, mentioning our previous meeting. At this Baily grabbed my arm and brought me over behind Pratt’s table.

“Awadagin!” he cried out, “this is Ross from Sitka!”

Pratt actually dropped his pen mid autograph and rose, giving me a bear hug. “It’s so good to see you!” he enthused. “How are things going with your book, and wasn’t it about a strange professor who loved my music?”

Nobody seemed to mind I was a total line cutter here.

I confirmed his memory was correct and presented a copy of the book to him. Smiling, he looked the text over. “Thank you so much. If you don’t have plans, would you like to join myself and some friends at a restaurant nearby to celebrate?”

Awadagin Pratt and Ross Eliot at Churchill’s in Spokane 3/7/15

How could I refuse? We joined him, Zuill Baily and several others for food and drinks that lasted until well after midnight. Pratt eventually confessed the previous day had been his birthday, and at this revelation, Baily insisted on buying him a chocolate desert that we all passed around. Before leaving, as the festivities wound down, I asked my partner to snap a photograph of myself and Pratt together. What a night! Johann Sebastian Bach and wine. . . . travels across the Eastern Washington plains and chocolate. . . . then sharing Babette’s story with others who understood her passion for music. Truly, an evening she would have absolutely��enjoyed.