The last few days
Jun 25, 05:06 PM
The last few days have been full of amazing musical experiences. I’ll report in order:
Something I forgot to mention in advance was a show by Jason Lindner and his Big Band last weekend at the Jazz Gallery. Michal Levy premiered a new animation set to one of Jason’s tunes as well. If you haven’t seen Michal’s work you should check out her website. Jason’s band sounded amazing. The new album is not “officially” released yet but can be purchased online at the Anzic Store. Jason’s tunes had me dancing (and no doubt annoying the person beind me) in my seat.
The ACQ had a great gig at the GVB on Saturday night. We made a lot of new friends and tons of friends came out to say goodbye to Ernesto. Ernesto is safely back home in Canada – in case you were wondering.
On Sunday afternoon I had the pleasure of singing with Ms. Matana Roberts. She is an amazing talent and you should all check her out. Such a creative being. It was so great to be able to share energy with her.
Last night I saw Melissa Stylianou at The Jazz Standard. Wow. You should have been there. Not only to check out the band (full disclosure — i have a HUGE music crush on Matt Wilson, I have trouble taking my eyes off of him when he plays…Melissa fought an amazing fight for my eyes. I think she won – not an easy task) but to hear Melissa. She is really amazing. Also, as I discussed with the photographer, she is the kind of girl that you root for to succeed. She’s a good human. Doesn’t happen as often as it should. Please go see her next time she has a show. There weren’t nearly enough people there for the second set. There are a million things to do in NYC this week in terms of music so I get why there weren’t more people but where were all the singers? Maybe there was another show last night that I missed. Possible.
Okay, enough. Multitasking today…Orange Grove…ACQ...Wedding…More….
Count Down
Jun 20, 10:34 PM
We (the ACQ) are counting down the days until our drummer and other miscellaneous instrumentalist leaves us for love. Okay…I’m being a bit dramatic. He is moving back to Toronto to marry the love of his life but he is not leaving us. He (and I, actually) have both recently received our O1 Visas allowing us to continue working in the States. Yay! Ernesto will be back and forth regularly to NYC to play with the ACQ and all the other bands who would be insane not to hire him. We are all making the trek up to Toronto for the wedding in a few weeks which should be great fun as well. To celebrate Ernesto’s big move we are going to play a “see you soon” gig at the Greenwich Village Bistro this Saturday (24) from 9 – 11. Hope to see you all there for songs, beers and tears.
When Ernesto moves to the Great White North, the ACQ will continue to work up new material and get ready for our next recording — date to be determined by bank account status and appearance of big fat manager to take us “places.” I will also be trying out some new bands. No, not as replacements, as additions. A girl’s gotta sing. Been batting around a few ideas and will share as soon as they become concrete.
Updates on the music seen so far this week:
Alice was so great! It’s such a creative vibe and the instrumentation seems so natural (voice, accordion, guitar, cello, violin, winds (sax and flute) bass and tablas) even though it is not your regular combination. The tune selection and the arrangements were really beautiful. Seth Fruiterman is sounding amazing. What a voice. Made me think of lots and lots of boy-girl duets…Seth and Amy…hmmmmm.
Melissa Stylianou and Avishai Cohen next…stay tuned.
Music Recommendations
Jun 13, 10:07 AM
These are some shows that I will be going to in the next few weeks. I highly recommend checking them out.
My good friend Seth Fruiterman will be playing at the Living Room on Monday June 18th at 7PM with his group “Alice.” I haven’t seen them live yet and am very excited to check it out.
Melissa Stylianou will be at the Jazz Standard on June 24. She’s amazing — beautiful voice, delivery…the whole package.
Avishai Cohen (trumpet) is celebrating the release of his new CD at the Jazz Standard on June 27. If you can…check out this band. It’s really beautiful.
In some self promotion business: The ACQ is playing at the Greenwich Village Bistro on June 23rd. It’s Ernesto’s last night in town before he goes back to Canada to get married, should be fun and emotionally draining! Don’t worry though…Ernesto will be back and forth on a regular basis and we already have our next ACQ hit set up for September 27. The next day (24) I will be singing in a project by Matana Roberts with some of the greatest singers in the city. More information is on Matana’s website: www.matanaroberts.com
Hope to see you around town.
The Black Hole of Self Employment
Jun 7, 10:45 AM
Endless hours sending email messages out into a what seems to be a black hole where no one gets or reads email have left me feeling a bit defeated. Statistically it just doesn’t seem possible that you can send out 30 emails and not get one…no not one…response. Not even a “Thank you for your inquiry. We are unable to blah blah blah…” I’ll even take that at this point. Not to be discouraged, your friendly New York-based Canadian chanteuse battles on and will send out another 30 emails into the abyss today.
In other, more inspiring news…my brother and I held a joint recital for our piano/drum/voice students last night. They were adorable and so good. We try to make the recitals (and lessons) fun and full of experimentation as well as learning. Improvisation and making improvements to the written pieces is – mostly – encouraged. I had to draw the line at “improving” Bach. All the kids were amazing and it was so nice to see the pure joy in the performers and the audience. That’s what it’s all about.
Ok. I should be writing a new tune but instead I’m procrastinating here. I’m trying to write a tune based on lyrics by Shel Siverstein. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Life in NYC
Jun 4, 10:54 AM
Before I get started, I wanted to mention that I will be going to check out Mr. Peter Eldridge at the Living Room tonight at 8PM. He is a tremendous singer and songwriter and if you have a chance I suggest checking him out. Also, Keren Ann is singing tonight and my friend Avishai plays trumpet with her so hopefully I can go check a bit of that out as well. Their chemistry together is beautiful and I can listen to them play for hours.
Last night I went to the funeral for Take. It was so sad and moving and I was emotionally exhausted by the end. I didn’t even really know Take all that well so I can hardly imagine the grief and pain that my friends and colleauges around me were feeling. I was also moved by the outpouring of love and support that came from our community (please read Matana Roberts’ blog on the same subject here — Matana and I have actually spoken about this topic in the past)
New York is a crazy place to be…crazy good and crazy hard. It sometimes feels like everyone is out here for themselves and there is little to no sense of community. A night like last night reminds me about how important it is for us to support each other in whatever ways possible. I know that I am often tired after my own daily hustle and can not imagine going out (financially or otherwise) to support my fellow musicians but it is so important. I think that being able to feel like there is a network of people out there who are behind and around you is important and reassuring. I know that I often feel like the community of jazz singers in NYC can feel a bit cold and unsupportive. Not everyone, don’t get me wrong. But there is sometimes this feeling that I’m out there alone and it just doesn’t seem right. But last night, seeing old friends and feeling the energy and love in the room gave me a renewed sense of community. It was very inspiring and made me hopeful.
I am newly determined to check out as many shows as I can and support as many friends as possible; to just check in with people, make music with as many people as possible. Love has great strength.
Sad News
Jun 3, 11:06 AM
I learned this week that a friend and fellow musician passed away suddenly. It’s always so hard to come to terms with the passing of someone who is loved but especially when there was so much more for them to say. Take Toriyama was a beautiful musician and although I didn’t have the honor of playing with him I heard him play with many friends and know how important he was to them. There is a service today and a march in Brooklyn. More information at the Barbes website.
I went to see Dominique Eade last night and turned out to be just the thing to start the healing. The band was great and the combination of Jeremy Udden and Dominique was even more genius live than when I heard it in my head! My plans for tonight have changed and I probably won’t be able to go see Jack Donahue because I want to be at the service for Take. But you should definitely check Jack out. Later tonight my friend Ashley Paul will be at The Stone and hopefully I will be able to make a bit of that after the service.
Thought I’d include another live ACQ track today. It’s what I call a “palate cleanser” — like the sorbet between courses at a big fat Italian wedding. Hope you enjoy and that it brings you a smile.
The More I Go Out
Video from 55 Bar Gig
May 31, 01:31 PM
Holiday
Enjoy the Silence
NYC Shows
May 31, 10:03 AM
Since the ACQ doesn’t have a show until next month I thought I would let you know what other shows I’m going to be checking out in the next few days. Lots of great singers coming up in NYC...Melissa Stylianou has a last minute show tonight (Thursday) at the 55 Bar from 7-9. Dominique Eade is in town this weekend on Saturday night at Cornelia Street Cafe with one of my favorite saxophone players Jeremy Udden. That should be a great combination of minds and music! On Sunday night Jack Donahue is celebrating the release of his latest CD at Birdland. He’s got a great band and on top of singing the pants off these tunes he makes me howl every time I see him. I’m going through the video from Sunday’s 55 Bar date and will hopefully have something to share later today or tomorrow.
Tracks from Sunday's 55 Bar gig
May 29, 09:54 AM
Here are a few live tracks from the ACQ’s gig at the 55 Bar on Sunday. I was shocked that so many people came out! Thanks to all our friends (it was a record night for vocalists coming out to catch the ACQ – more on that later) and also all the new folks that came out! I have lots of live tracks from past shows that I’m going to be posting here on the blog. We also got some video from Sunday that I’ll check out and see if any of it is worth posting. In the meantime, I’m trying to set up a few tours for the ACQ and working on getting someone to work with us to get us “out there” a bit more. We’ll see.
Comes Love
Sliding Down
