Odessa Harris

continued

By the middle of the second set, a young woman in a sparkly skirt toddled to the small space before the stage area and began dancing, joined a moment later by a guy in a retro shirt. In the middle of the song — Buddy Johnson's "Since I Fell for You," I think it was — the band took the instrumental, and Harris just stood looking out into the dark. Suddenly, the dancing woman reached out her arms to her. Harris welcomed her into a long, hard hug. The girl wandered back into her dance, and Harris tucked into the next verse, her smile wider than ever. Hope, as they say, springs eternal . . .

Odessa Harris returns to Goodnite Gracie on Saturday, November 22.   

[Originally published in November, 2003.]