All That Jazz

I've been catching quite a few shows and concerts lately, which has been fun. I love this time of year, when comps flow a bit more freely.

A couple of weeks ago, a good friend of mine and I caught Dave Brubeck and his quartet. Having a few occasions where he was either sold out before I knew about the show, or the last time, when I had tickets and he canceled, it's been a long time coming. Luckily, we got tickets way back in September and it all came to fruition this time. What fun! Great music, of course. He's a legend for a reason. And you have about 400 years of cumulative experience on the stage, which is always fun to watch.

Last night, we saw the Billy Taylor Trio. Wow. This was in the same series as Brubeck, but I wasn't nearly as familiar with his work (outside of his work with Coleman Hawkins). He's truly amazing. And his trio is equally as exciting, musically. Within the first few bars of the first tune, I leaned over and whispered to my friend "I want to have access to that drummer!". The drummer and bass player (Chip Jackson) each got jaw-droppingly more amazing as the evening progressed.

Theatre-wise, I haven't seen that much of note lately. I did get to go to the final dress rehearsal of the "Collected Stories" revival. It's very much worth seeing, if you're able. Linda Lavin gave a remarkable performance, perhaps her best yet. If she doesn't get a Tony nod, I'll be surprised. Of course, attending a dress rehearsal for a Broadway show was pretty cool on its own.

I'm looking forward to the Tony announcements, but it's been kind of a lackluster season, so I'm curious to see what will come out of it.

Lots of upcoming jazz shows, though... Karrin Allyson and Kurt Elling are both playing this month, for starters. We'll see what the comp gods bring to the table, too.

Feet, Don't Fail Me Now

I hurt my foot on vacation, which is really unpleasant. So even long walks in new places aren't as exciting as I'd like. I can walk okay, but it hurts and shoes seem to keep tearing at the wound, regardless of how tight or loose the shoes are. As much as I like winter and spring, I'd be okay with it being straight up flip flop season for a week or so to give this thing some full-on healing time. Otherwise, it's tempting stick to my barefoot-friendly apartment (which, of course, would drive me completely bananas, so not really an option). Of course, it's also on the foot that already has bad circulation, so it's taking foreeeevvvveeerrrr. Should I go to my podiatrist? Probably. Am I trying to hold out until our already-scheduled appointment so that he doesn't put me on crutches? Absolutely.

In the meantime, I have a new writing project and some music I want to dive into. Luckily, the foot is fine with the pedals on my piano. I have a few irons in the work fire, as well.

Down in Birdland

Things are picking up again on the post-holiday scene. I just snagged some tickets for Tierney Sutton at Birdland next week. I love seeing her live. She's not only a very fine singer, but a remarkable musician, so very fun to watch (and hear). I really dig her drummer, Ray Brinker, too. He can do some crazy magic with brushes. Then again, the whole band is fun. I'm thinking I need to hit Cleo's again soon, as well. It's been a while.

I'm thinking of a vacation in February, but haven't booked it yet. Warmth? Sand? Water?... Bueller? (notice I left out "sun", ha ha)

I have to say, so far, 2010 pretty much rocks. There are some things that are less than ideal, but when isn't that the case for anyone? Overall, we're in the black.

I've lost some weight, I've had a ton of energy, exercising regularly, good friends are having babies, others seeing some fresh starts, I'm spending time with people I care about (though very much missing some who aren't here), and I just have that overwhelming sense of good things ahead. Those things that were more daunting near the close of '09 just don't seem as weighty.

Color me optimistic.

Heat Wave

Sometimes it takes the tiniest spark to rekindle a flame. Next stop: conflagration.

I recently reconnected with a bay area friend to whom I haven't talked much since moving to NYC. We met through a mutual teacher and several friends, but very close to the time I moved to NYC, so we weren't very close. We were definitely in the same circles, though-- working with the same musicians, singing in the same venues, etc. Her latest note talked of her gigs (past and future), musical travels and soon getting into the studio. I can't even fully explain how much that filled my heart with joy-- both for her and for myself, living a bit vicariously. It did give me the slightest kick to get out there again (it may have been as blatant as her saying something along the lines of "you need to get out there").

Last night, I cleared off my piano bench, leafed through my book of charts, sang out loud. It surprised me how my body instantly felt a lift. The day-to-day frustration was gone and it felt like an old friend was sitting here with me in my apartment-- the friend was my own self, immersed in music.

Before I could make excuses not to (it's like I know myself), I sent a quick note to a friend in town who's been after me to sing. I committed and put a date out there.

As if the world knew, after sleeping more soundly than usual, I woke up this morning, had lost 1.5 more lbs (been trying to break through that plateau for a couple of weeks), got a note in my mailbox I've been waiting for weeks to appear, and my day progressed from there. I'm guessing my blood pressure was down. Oh, right, this is kinda' what it felt like when I used to do this stuff every day. Hey la, hey la, my boyfriend's back.

Uptown Girl

I'm so glad this week is over. I could use a day to myself. It was lots of hard work, but there was some fun in there, too.

The launch went well. There are always little follow-up things and it'll be a bit before the dust settles, but with it all being public now, I have more resources to help. It's bound to be an interesting ride for a while, though.

This weekend, I plan on leaving all thoughts of work behind. Sunday to Monday was pretty much one big 24-hour day with a couple hours of sleep wedged in there. I left late Sunday and was back in at 5am Monday, then chugged along with the week. Wednesday night I slept nearly 12 hours-- what a relief! I don't really feel like I've caught up fully yet, though. That's for the next couple of days.

Tuesday night, despite the exhaustion, I went to the Vince Guaraldi tribute at the 92nd St Y. It was so much fun! I met my friend Rick for dinner at a great little Italian spot near the theatre. I'm rarely on the upper east side, outside of doctor appointments, so it's fun to explore new neighborhoods. Amazingly, not only did they have food I could eat, but delicious food I could eat-- and more than one choice! Especially for an Italian place, it's a rarity. I did have one small warm-from-the-oven biscotti with my bowl of perfectly-ripe fruit and it was heaven, but I figured id I ate one, it wouldn't be so tempting to have something worse later. A little perfect bite of vented steam. Maybe some day I can try the lemon spaghetti, which is supposed to be absolute perfection. I'm not quite there yet.

The concert was fantastic. The evening was part of their Jazz in July festival, directed by Bill Charlap. I didn't know his music before that night, but I'm definitely a fan. He captured Guaraldi's style perfectly, right down to the accents and his solos were great.

Joe Locke was on vibes-- wow. Wow. He's a true master of his instrument. He and Charlap did "Skating" in perfect sync. That's not an easy task. It was like they fused together as one instrument several times that night. I'd seen Locke play before, but he seemed especially in his element. Since we were up in the balcony, it was interesting to watch him play from above. I was mesmerized much of the time.

Each of the musicians that night was remarkable. The percussionist did this amazing solo that gave me absolute chills (not my first of the night). I need to look up his name again and post it later. Brilliant. And to hear Carol Woods sing "Woodstock" was a lot of fun. If you saw, "Across the Universe", she was the gospel singer singing "Let it Be" (she also did Smokey Joe's on Broadway).

Here's a bit of Charlap playing at the Village Vanguard:


Let it Be (warning- if you haven't seen the film, there's a spoiler here):


Joe Locke, doing his thang (I really wish I could have captured "Skating"-- I've been thinking about it all week!):


Here's the song "Skating" anyway, so you can understand the intricacy. Who doesn't like watching Snoopy?

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

For me, it's "walk a few blocks". Have I mentioned lately how much I love this town?

Anyway, tonight was my first time there and it was pretty damn spectacular. I saw Jamie Cullum and he was the absolute best induction to the place, although he's now set the bar pretty high. I only wish I'd had my camera, though there were about 2000 other people there who did, so decent photos won't be tough to find. Yeah, they have a strict "no photo" policy, but when the artist encourages it (and encourages crowding around him as he got intimate and unplugged with the audience -- a-w-e-s-o-m-e), they'd need a whoooole lot more security people to control that one!

Not feeling well was somewhat frustrating, but I tried not to let it distract me from the performance, which was nothing short of spectacular. For the most part, I succeeded there.

Three of my most favorite jazz vocalists have all been in town at once this week-- Jamie Cullum, Kurt Elling and Curtis Stigers, two of whom I'd never before seen live (thanks for coming back to the States so I could finally catch you, guys!). I tell you, I would love to be any part of a triple-decker jazz sandwich with these three (note: I said JAZZ sandwich-- minds out of gutters, please). Between a trip last week and schedule juggling, I had to give Kurt a miss (which was a tough choice, especially when I was offered comps), but I'll see him next time around.

I only wish there were several more sets tonight, but I suppose that would be asking a bit much. Rock on, Jamie. You're even more inspiring live than on recordings.