24 September, 2007

two bass hit

ron carter and christian mcbride at the blue note






after a shipwreck, the survivors drift onto the beaches of a desert island. the island appears to be a veritable paradise. there's a white sand beach, clear water, blue skies, coconut groves, fresh seafood, and a rope hammock already set up. but there is an ominous pounding of drums in the background, coming from over the horizon. the threat of warlike natives and the ominous drums leave everyone nervous, despite the islands natural beauty.

after a day or two, one of the natives wanders out from behind the nearest coconut grove. the shipwrecked survivors are scared at first, but the man turns out to be quite friendly and speaks english. he assures them that the island will provide for all their needs and that his tribe is quite friendly. except for one thing 'you'll be fine as long as the drums keep playing,' he warns. 'but if the drums stop, terrible things will happen.'

'if the drums stop, beware.'

this makes the castaways nervous. but seeing as the drums have been steadily pounding for the last couple days, their nervousness abates.

in another day, the castaways have figured out how to fish and distill water. the weather is good, and the drums keep playing in the background as they begin to settle in.

another day later, they've built shelter and are quite enjoying themselves as the drums pound steadily in the background.

the following day, the castaways have totally settled in and are enjoying a game of beach vollyball when suddenly the drums stop. everyone looks around nervously. its dead silent. all of a sudden, there's a violent rustling in the conconut grove, and native who originally welcomed them comes running out. he's flailing his arms in the air and screaming, and looks utterly panic stricken. as he runs towards the castaways, they are able to make out what he's yelling

'aaaaaaaaaagh!!! bass solo!!!'

wrap up

jazz party was a hit. as usual. my camera battery died, so no photos. but a bunch of people came out, and afterwards, we went to eat oysters. it was hot.

just got the schedule figured out with pianos. looks like we'll be monthly with the next date friday, nov. 2. promotion to come.

as an aside, went to fat cat last friday to play scrabble. had always avoided fat cat because i was never a big fan of smalls when it first opened. but the vibe was cool. its like a 6000 sq. ft. rec room with tons of ping pong and pool tables and tons of young people hanging out. didn't catch the name, but the organ trio was kicking ass (i think it was ehud asherie). real fun vibe. five stars.

10 September, 2007

jazz party III



jazz party III
thurs sep 13
seven to eleven
upstairs pianos


we've got the next jazz party coming up this thursday, sep. 13th, upstairs at pianos on ludlow st. a slight change in the schedule due to us getting old. we'll be running from sevenish to elevenish, leaving the late night for music the kids like. hope to see you there.

this isn't really about jazz, but was too crazy not to post. shoutout to jon who sent it over.

08 September, 2007

my summer vacation



okay we're back from summer vacation. missed all the festivals in new york, which actually had pretty good shows. this is a shot of thelonious, the jazz spot in la paz, bolivia.

new posts coming. jazz party three this thursday, the thirteenth at pianos.

to get back into the swing of things, the e and i took in ron afif's regular monday night gig at zinc bar. for those who don't know, zinc bar is a great venue- also check out the brazillian band sunday nights. roy hargrove showed up and bounced around the place. he was chillin in the back room and would scuttle forward to join the band whenever it was his turn to play. the e and i had different takes on hargrove. i thought he played well- the atmosphere was loose, convivial, and accessible and hargrove gets around with style and confidence. the e felt like he didn't really have any one to get in his ass, and so he played safe and unexceptional. either way, check out ron afif mondays at zinc.

will be back shortly with more material.

26 July, 2007

lazybirds



wtf, its summer. more hot action coming soon.

20 June, 2007

Jazz Confessional: It'll Feel So Much Better Once You've Said It.

I've never really been into Thelonious Monk. I've got all of zero albums of his on mp3. I don't dislike him, or have some pretentious schtick about him being overrated. I'd just almost always rather be listening to something else. I'm tired of smiling and nodding when people talk about how brilliant he is. I mean, look, I'm sure he is, the same way I'm sure Yo Yo Ma's nice on a cello. I just wouldn't know personally, cause I never really listen to his stuff.

Kind of Blue left you Kind of Confused? Bored by Coltrane? Hot Fives leave you cold? Wanna talk smack 'bout Bird?

Sure, you're wrong, but you might as well let the world know.

18 June, 2007

The New York Times vs. Francis Albert Sinatra












Last year, Stephen Holden of the New York Times had this to say about Ol' Blue Eyes:

"... Sinatra’s journey from skinny, starry-eyed ‘Frankie,’ strewing hearts and flowers, to the imperious, volatile Chairman of the Board roughly parallels an American loss of innocence.... Following a similar arc, [the U.S. of A.] grew from a nation of hungry dreamers fleeing the Depression and fighting ‘the good war’ into an arrogant empire drunk on power and angry at the failure of the American dream to bring utopia.”

Well that stuff might fly at the Times, but those are fighting words 'round these parts. Fine, during the second half of the last century, America lost its innocence and turned into an arrogant, angry and drunken empire. But what's that got to do with Frank?


In response to our inquiries on the subject, representatives from the New York Times and the Sinatra estate have agreed (after much rather childish negotiation) upon the following three exhibits to submit to the Mudslinging Birds worldwide in order to help us come to a conclusion on the matter.

We put it to you:
Does Sinatra change over the years? Is there a recognizable difference in body language, subject matter and other intangibles - such as, say, number of people sharing the stage? Hell, even IF there is a difference (and that's a big IF) does it at all parallel the country's foreign policy? The Times says 'yes', Sinatra's people say 'no'.

Now it's time for the Truth.

The New York Times vs. Francis Albert Sinatra: Exhibit 1 of 3

1943.

The New York Times vs. Francis Albert Sinatra: Exhibit 2 of 3

Late Sixties. (w/Antonio Carlos Jobim).

The New York Times vs. Francis Albert Sinatra: Exhibit 3 of 3

Closing out the 20th Century.