Samantha Brown's Places to Love

-I'm in a city where the year-round weather can be described as just about perfect.

It's a city known for getting outdoors to enjoy everything from its desert environment to art, to a five-star meal.

Its surrounding landscape and climate is so restorative that one of the world's most famous architects wintered here and designed his structures so you could always be a part of it, indoors and out.

But even indoors, this city's offerings shine brilliantly, from a one-of-a-kind museum dedicated to musical instruments... [ Gong rings ] ...to a 50-year-old theater company to a food-and-drink scene that comes from the heart.

It's the fifth-largest city in the United States.

I'm in Phoenix, Arizona.

I'm Samantha Brown, and I've traveled all over this world.

And I'm always looking to find the destinations, the experiences, and, most importantly, the people who make us feel like we're really a part of a place.

That's why I have a love of travel and why these are my places to love.

"Samantha Brown's Places to Love" is made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

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-All the untamed beauty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, experienced on a journey by rail.

Rocky Mountaineer -- proud sponsor of "Places to Love."

-My trip to Phoenix begins at the beautiful Desert Botanical Garden, a perfect place to experience the vibrant environment of the desert while also meeting up with a dear friend and fellow traveler.

-I'm Jack Maxwell, and you might know that I've been around the world -- 50, 60 countries, 6 continents.

But no matter where I go, I always come back here to Phoenix.

-Jack is host of the series "Booze Traveler."

He's also a proud member of the botanical gardens.

I didn't realize that people from South Boston could survive in an environment like this.

-Yeah, well, it took some getting used to.

-So, what is it about Phoenix and this desert landscape that really draws you to it?

-I don't know.

I'm not trying to sound overly poetic, but just a vibration here that vibrates at the same frequency as my soul, that just feels right.

I don't know how else to say it.

-Oh, no.

It was beautifully said.

I miss you.

-I miss you.

Oh, Sam!

Let me show you some more of this.

This place is great, has more than you think.

Actually, it has a -- snake right there!

-Aah!

Don't!

Okay, I still miss him.

This is a garden of 50,000 desert plants, from the Sonoran to around the world.

With five thematic trails, you can got lost in thought or conversation and not be worried about getting lost in the desert or snakes.

I always love how, to describe the absence of something, people use the word "desert," and yet look at us.

We're just surrounded by... -Lush.

-...by just -- it's just gorgeous.

I have loved catching up with you whilst walking through the cacti, but I feel like -- I feel like I'm not utilizing your true talents here.

Do you know what I'm talking about?

-Oh, I think I do.

-Yes?

-Yeah?

-You know where I'm going with this, right?

Listen, all the gin joints in Phoenix, and you brought me to a rum bar.

And not just any rum bar -- Jack Maxwell's favorite bar in Phoenix, which is saying a lot for a man who has literally drank with the best of them.

The Breadfruit & Rum Bar is owned by husband-and-wife team Dwayne Allen and Danielle Leoni.

So, you are from Jamaica.

-That's right.

-What made you want to open a Jamaican restaurant in the desert?

-We just wanted to bring a little bit of Jamaica out west.

We were -- I lived here for a number of years, and just had a very difficult time finding a place that felt like home.

-Making everyone feel at home is the rum punch of the day.

-Yes.

It's probably our best seller.

Folks show up specifically for the rum punch, and I think it helps to tell the story of this place, the idea that we want to demonstrate that a restaurant came be accessible, affordable, fun, and still be mindful of our ecological footprint, and that's what we demonstrate here.

So that allows the bartenders to be really flexible in what they do.

So they will walk through the kitchen and see anything that's going to waste -- bell peppers, for example, rinds from our citrus.

That ends up in the punch.

-Are you the cook, as well?

No, no, no.

-You're -- -Chef Danielle, my wife -- she takes all the credit for the food.

-Okay, but she's not Jamaican.

-No, but she spends probably more time than I do on the island, so she is well-versed on what it means to express Jamaican foods.

-This is phenomenal.

-So, you've Appleton Rum sea scallops, and these are a hallmark dish for The Breadfruit & Rum Bar.

They are day-boat scallops.

They're basted in Jamaican-style rum, Appleton Estate Rum... -Oh.

-...our house-made jerk rub, and they're seared hard in a cast-iron skillet, so you get the char on the outside but the sweet, really delicate center, kind of like a fillet mignon of the sea, you know?

-Oh, my goodness!

-But, also, she had to impress Dwayne's grandmother.

That was the standard.

That was the gold standard, was it not?

-That was the platinum standard.

-Oh, my gosh.

-When I walked into Dwayne's family's home, it wasn't until a couple of years of spending time and proving myself and even just having them let me slice an onion before I was really able to cook -- like, to cook a whole goat, to curry a goat.

We wanted to create just not a Jamaican restaurant but a space that houses Jamaican culture and cuisine and elevates it.

-That really encompasses what it means to have a Jamaican restaurant out west in Arizona, you know, to try to deliver this cuisine or this gastronomy this far from the island.

-I mean, really, Phoenix is so lucky to have you two.

Frank Lloyd Wright built hundreds of structures.

What makes you Taliesin West stand out from all of his other work?

-It was his home, his winter home, and it was a place where he could really experiment with materials and form.

He was really inspired by the Sonoran Desert.

He loved the geometry of the plants and of the stones and the mountains, and he's -- you know, he's pouring that all into the design of Taliesin West, really making it feel like it had almost been here for all time and almost just grown right out of the desert landscape.

So we're entering Frank Lloyd Wright's private living space.

He called it the garden room.

It was a space where, you know, he and his wife could, you know, have a little privacy, get away from the community of architects that were here training under him.

And then, on the weekends, it was a space where they would have what Wright called the "Taliesin evening."

They were formal evenings.

They said when you came to Taliesin West and joined Wright, you were to bring a tuxedo and a sleeping bag.

-[ Laughs ] Am I right in assuming that he designed everything within here, too?

-Yes.

-The furniture, everything?

-That's right, yeah.

-On tours, you'll be able to sit in an original origami chair created from a single piece of plywood.

Uh-huh.

At the time this was built, this room was completely revolutionary, right?

And yet, sitting here, it's still a phenomenally modern space.

-He was departing from the Victorian era, where you had, you know, what he termed "boxes within boxes"... -Mm-hmm.

-...where, you know, you walk into the Victorian home, and it's one room, and then you open a door, and you get into the next one.

He wanted to create an open and free space.

He didn't want to look back to Europe and, you know, copy the classical architecture of the Greek democracies.

He said, you know, "Why look back?

Let's look to the future.

Let's look to what America can be and have our own special architecture.

-And that belief in a distinct American architecture was created at Taliesin, here in the great drafting room.

-The last 20 years of his life, the 20 years that he was here, was the most prolific and most innovative.

The Guggenheim was, you know, worked on in this space.

-Is that right?

-I mean, you can just feel that great history.

It's a wonderful space to work in.

-Now you are -- or Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

It's an amalgam of a collection of his buildings.

And that puts him on par, I mean, here in Arizona, with the Grand Canyon.

-It's a huge honor.

The UNESCO World Heritage designation really highlights just how much he, you know, really inspired how we build and live in the 20th century.

[ Theremin playing ] -This is a theremin, a musical instrument that needs no physical contact and, in my case, talent to be played.

[ Laughs ] [ Hammering sound ] It's one of 15,000 instruments representing every country in the world here at the Museum of Musical Instruments.

-The mission here at MIM is to celebrate the diversity of music around the world using instruments, video, photography, and displays that really capture the meaning of music in countries all over the world.

I'm Daniel Piper.

I'm the curator for Latin America and the Caribbean at MIM.

-We are now in your neck of the woods, so to speak.

-Yeah.

-Dominican Republic -- you actually went there to create this display.

-Yeah.

Of course, everyone knows merengue and bachata as the really kind of popular dance music from the Dominican Republic, but a lot of people don't know about these really, you know, rich kind of Afro-Dominican ritual and ceremonial traditions.

I went on a pilgrimage, actually, for like five days, and they play all this wonderful music with, you know, a lot of different kinds of drums and scrapers and all kinds of songs.

So I took that photo there, thinking, "You know, let's have kind of a backdrop to capture the moment and kind of the experience of being on this pilgrimage."

-It's incredible to see the diversity not just in the instruments of the countries but within the countries themselves.

-These traditions are so interconnected, you know, from one country to the next.

What's really surprising -- when MIM guests come here and they go from the Africa gallery, right, and they see in Nigeria a drum like this, you know, with these kind of hourglass double -- you know, double-headed drum, and they come to Cuba and they see the same kind of thing, you know, and it's amazing.

"How did that instrument get there?"

And it's -- you know, it's a great story 'cause these were Afro-Cubans that were denied, right, their African heritage.

Then all of a sudden, like, in the late 20th century, you have these Latin jazz, like, Grammy-winning groups that are starting to incorporate this cool, you know, kind of African drum into their sound.

-So these instruments have ancestors.

-They've got ancestors across the continents and across history.

-Live music is also a part of the museum experience.

Most of you, did you grow up in a household where there were instruments and your parents played and your uncles and aunts played and they passed it down?

-And friends, yes.

-Family and friends, yeah.

-Friends?

So music was really important?

-Yes.

-I cannot believe the sound you got out of that.

How long have you been playing?

-Since I was 15.

I'm 43 years old.

-Uh-huh.

What is it like to play in this museum where people -- -Oh, it's great.

-It's a wonder for us.

-This is our place.

-This is your place.

-This is our element.

The people who come here are the people who are curious about the world and about different cultures and about music and about different instruments, so when we're here, we just feel very welcomed.

-The museum's message is most powerful when the instruments are at their most rudimentary -- a cello made from a discarded utensil and oil cans, a trumpet made of bamboo, and the lower jawbone of a horse with a nail all make a powerful statement of how vital music is in our lives and that people will stop at nothing to make music.

[ Rooster crows ] I'm walking, I'm looking, I'm seeing, and yet I'm not believing it.

-Considering that we're only eight minutes from Downtown Phoenix... -Oh, wow.

-...it's amazing that we're a little bit cooler.

We have this environment that the rest of the valley doesn't necessarily enjoy like we do here.

The fact that we can grow abundantly for 10 months of the year is a shock to a lot of people.

-Just outside of Phoenix, you'll find a true oasis in the desert.

With acres of greenery, tall trees, and organic gardens, The Farm not only represents this area's agrarian past but also, perhaps more audaciously, its future.

[ Chickens clucking ] Your mission is to have a sustainable landscape that then feeds into restaurants.

-Mm-hmm.

-And this is a vision that people wouldn't think possible in the desert.

-South Mountain is becoming such an important part of Phoenix.

-Mm-hmm.

-And we are really striving to be an integral part of that.

We are reaching out.

We're doing a lot of community outreach.

We have Gather and Grow, which is our sustainability arm that goes out to schools.

We also bring school tours here.

-Mm-hmm.

-We teach kids how to plant things.

-Mm-hmm.

Now, of course, helping you with this massive vision of The Farm is your own son.

-I know.

Isn't that amazing?

-You can't fire him, though, can you?

[ Laughing ] -He is such an artist with food.

Sometimes you just have to be in awe of that, and he does an amazing job.

And I'm very, very proud of him.

-Proud mom?

-Yep.

I am.

-Tucked away in an almost hidden corner is one of the three restaurants on this property.

Quiessence has been farm-to-table before that was even a thing.

It is just explosive in its beauty.

-Absolutely.

-And yet, as the chef, I would think you would feel a little intimidated by people's expectations of continuing that beauty onto the plate, which you do.

This is exquisite.

I mean, just -- it's beautiful.

-Thank you so much.

It's about the synergy.

It's not just one person's ideas.

I like to kind of group everybody together and see what we can come up with.

-I'm just gonna dig in.

-Absolutely.

-So this is farfalle.

-Yeah, that's farfalle right there.

So we make that in house, and you have fairytale pumpkin in there and a little house-cured pancetta and some goat cheese, as well, so the fairytale pumpkins are grown on the property.

They're absolutely fantastic.

It's a great representation of what's going on on the property right now.

We don't set the stage for the menus.

We set the stage for the garden, and the menu follows that lead.

So we like to kind of come up with some new ingredients that maybe we haven't worked with before.

I challenge my growers, say, "Hey, see if you can grow this in Arizona."

And if it comes around, then it's gonna make its way onto the menu, and we'll develop a set based off of that ingredient.

It's definitely -- this is highly sustainable, it being on the property, but it's -- in my mind, it's about supporting the people of your region, you know what I mean?

And that's what I really thrive off of.

And then, all of a sudden, you look at your menu, and you're just like, "Oh, my goodness."

-"Oh, my gosh."

-"This is like 90% to 100% local."

-"We did it."

-"We did it."

Exactly.

-If it can happen here... -Mm-hmm.

-...it can happen everywhere.

-Mm-hmm.

[ Bells ringing ] -So how long have you been making bells here?

-Oh, well, we started making bells in 1955.

-1955?!

-Yeah.

-Well, you weren't there then, were you, Mary?

-No, no, I hadn't quite -- I was only 10 at the time.

-[ Laughs ] But you've been here a long time.

-I've been here -- I'm working on my 50th year.

-This is your 50th year?

-Yeah.

-You know, I've been to many foundries, especially in Europe.

None of them look like this.

-Well, it's open air.

It's exposed to the beautiful sky and the sun.

It's also in that beautiful apse that's designed that shade it in the summer and be a sun trap in the winter, so it's a passive solar building.

-And in a perfect place to showcase bells that are made from earth... -That's right.

-...and fire and heat.

-And the product of this -- the human intervention in all those materials to make an object that's truly beautiful.

-At Cosanti bells, 400 to 500 bells are created here every week.

And at the foundry, you can even watch a bell get its start.

-Monday through Friday, we pour in the foundry and two or three times a morning.

And it's a fascinating process.

It's 10,000 years old.

You can see they're using tools that were probably invented centuries ago.

-Ah!

-Isn't that incredible.

-Oh, my.

-So they're putting it into a shank so two guys can take that 125, 150 pounds of bronze and pour that hot bronze into the sand molds.

-Oh, my goodness.

-And the bell shape that's inside is going to be solid and a made bell in 45 seconds.

This is a real collaboration of effort, and, in fact, this whole apse shape here -- it provides kind of a theater of work.

It frames this sort of ballet of work that goes on in each of these foundry pours where everyone has their role.

The people closest to the hot, dangerous bronze have their wonderful leather protective costumes.

Others wield the shovels to be heat shields or to have sand at the ready in case there's a problem.

-And with a performance, there's always a finale.

Oh, my goodness!

-Yeah.

Look, he got a bell.

He's gonna hit it with a hammer.

That's solid.

-Ah.

-This was just poured -- whatever -- three minutes ago.

-It doesn't need to cool?

-Well, you're gonna see he's going to treat it carefully.

He's gonna use tongs.

He's not gonna hold it with his glove.

-And, with that, a bell is born.

Right now I am standing on a beautiful stage in a state-of-the-art theater, gorgeous lightning.

This was not the true beginning of the Black Theatre Troupe, was it?

-No, our true beginning was in a little -- a little church, a Mormon church.

My name is David Hemphill, and I am the executive director of the Black Theatre Troupe.

And it's very important that we continue our obligation in the city of being the people that reflect the African-American experience.

-The Black Theatre Troupe was founded in 1970 by Helen Mason.

A Parks and Recreation manager for the city, she saw the need for poetry, song, and dance as a means to be expressive against the racial injustice that was tearing other communities apart.

-So Helen asked the city for $100 to do -- to have rap sessions.

Not the boom-boom-boom rap, but the -- -Poetry rap.

-Poetry rap, yeah.

-Phoenix is one of the largest cities in the United States, fastest growing.

-It's the sixth, yeah.

-I'm sure people are still pretty amazed when they hear that you have an all-black theater troupe.

-Yeah, they are.

-But that's really saying something.

Do you have a large African-American community, in general, here?

-No, we have a very small African-American community, but our audiences reflect the city.

It's maybe 25% Latino... -Mm-hmm.

-...then African-American, and then white audience members.

-And what production are we on the stage of right now?

-This is "Blues in the Night."

-Uh-huh.

-And it was developed as a vehicle to give three wonderful singers, women singers, the opportunity to sing some of the greatest songs in the American Songbook.

-Well, can I talk a walk backstage and meet the actors and the musicians?

-Let me show you around.

-Appreciate it.

-Now, back here, we have the heart and soul of the production.

This is our band.

-Oh, my gosh.

You have a full band.

-We have a full band.

We're very lucky in Phoenix.

Some of the greatest musicians live in this city, and we're lucky to have a lot of them here.

A lot of them play the clubs... -Nice.

-...and that sort of thing, so we're lucky to have them in our show.

-Is this a fun show to play, "Blues in the Night"?

-Very.

-Absolutely.

-Oh.

How long is the show?

-About two hours.

-Two hours?

And there's no talking.

It's all music.

So it's all you guys.

-That's right.

-Have a great show.

-Well, thank you.

-Thank you.

-Now, back here, this is the... -Oh, here we are.

-...this is where the sausage is made.

-[ Laughing ] Yeah, exactly.

-We have all the props and wood and... -Fantastic.

-...all of that.

Oh, look.

They're warming up.

-There's dancers in the show?

-Yeah, two dancers.

We added them.

They're not traditionally in the show.

-Wow!

Oh, my gosh.

-But we added them.

-Yeah, I'd have to practice that before the show, too.

That's fantastic.

Oh, gosh, all right.

Can we go into the dressing rooms?

-We're going into the dressing room.

-All right.

Wow.

-This is the entire cast.

-Hello.

-They're all getting ready for the show.

-Sorry to interrupt.

I know you're getting ready.

This is so exciting.

David tells me this is your last performance.

-Yes, we're so excited.

-12 performances altogether?

-Yes.

-What I love about live theater and about actors is that you are absolutely acknowledged onstage, right?

No one can take their eyes off of you and what you're doing.

And that's such power.

-Right.

-How do you hope the audience feels your power?

What do you hope from them?

-I think our hope for our audiences is that they leave touched, moved, and inspired.

so... that's what we hope for our audiences.

-And you are an inspiring troupe... -Yeah.

-...the Black Theatre Troupe.

Learning about your history and how long you've been here... -It's our 50th season.

We're so excited.

-Do you feel that up on stage?

-Part of history here.

-Exactly.

It's a wonderful history.

We cannot wait.

I can't wait to see the show.

-It's gonna be great.

-All right, everyone.

Places for top of show.

Places for top of show.

-Okay, everyone.

-Now the magic starts.

-Break a leg!

[ Cheers and applause ] -I know there's a misconception about what the desert is.

Arizona -- arid zone -- it's dry, it's hot.

Well, you don't have to shovel sunshine.

It's beautiful.

-One of the things that makes Phoenix very exciting is the diversity of cultures here.

Not only are our cultures diverse, but the arts community is a very, very, very diverse community.

-The thing I love about Phoenix is the sincerity of its people, the beauty of the land here, and just the sense of, you know, many people that may have come from other countries, other parts of the United States, that all bring their own story, all bring their own food, music, and just enrich this beautiful place.

-When a city surrounds you in a climate of warmth and sunshine, when you are reminded of that one thing we all have in common, when you get to meet people who are challenging and changing what it means to be a city in the desert, that is when we share a love of travel, and that's why Phoenix, Arizona, is a place to love.

For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com.

"Samantha Brown's Places to Love" was made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.

-All of the untamed beauty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains experienced on a journey by rail.

Rocky Mountaineer -- proud sponsor of "Places to Love."