Up 8:30. Glad I can forget the 27 songs I learned to play last week. Email etc. at E77, 10-ish to noon – getting ducks in a row for Nov. session. Came back and wasted time, to be honest. Finally did an hr. or so, not much more, of tasks, organization, etc. Left for movies at MoMa w/ Bree. False Faces (Lowell Sherman 1932) – Sherman, a Warren William type (bulkier) in this case playing a crooked plastic surgeon with no redeeming qualities, also directed. Quick break, then The Sin of Nora Moran (Phil Goldstone 1933) – I can’t go into it, but you could use this one to teach the syuzhet/fabula distinction. Back in neighborhood by 9, had a bite + got home by 10. Bought a download of an instructional video on card magic (by John Carey) b/c I was curious about a trick on the demo, watched some of that. Lights out midnight.
10.26.17
Day flew by. Not sure when I woke up, but I spent the mid-morning at E77 reading Jim Crow. Came back around 1 and worked on Tom Petty parts, devoting far too much time to the elec. piano solo in “Breakdown.” Super-glued a broken Bb on the keyboard, packed it up and got a car to Hi-Fi around 5:30: unusually, the driver had some kind of Beatles-y sattelite channel on, w/ “Little Child,” Peter & Gordon’s “World w/o Love,” and, more distantly, Bob Lind’s near-forgotten “Elusive Butterfly of Love.” Got things set up, realized I didn’t have my keys, called Bree who found them on the floor near my desk. Once that was squared away, walked around the neighborhood, and came back to watch the other bands/singers for the Petty tribute. Faithful. Went on w/ Murderer’s Row around 10. Felt generally competent, esp. given the amount of material and rehearsal time: didn’t nail everything, but neither did everyone else, and I didn’t fuck up anything integral. Full set for the record: Rockin’ Around With You, You Don’t Know How It Feels (a highlight, I thought), Breakdown, Room at the Top, Listen to Her Heart, Yer So Bad (a boring song), American Girl (did nail the piano break), Same Old You, Can’t Stop The Sun (interesting deep cut), Even the Losers, Too Much Ain’t Enough, You Wreck Me. (Not in that order.) Talked to the bassist, Tom Shad, about poetry. Saw/chatted w/ Richard Baluyut, Dave Derby, Beth from Bird of Youth, a number of the Hi-Fi regulars, a woman who goes by DJ Catskillz, and of course Mike Stuto, who is going into tour managing now that the bar/club is closing. Glad I could be there – I’ve played in that space off and on since it was Brownie’s in the ‘90s. Fats Domino on the jukebox most of the evening. Car back, got Bree up to let me in around 1. Lights out 2.
10.25.17
Up 8:30. Coffee 10-11, caught up in daybook. Started working on “My Old Man” w/ Bree. I think I can get the piano part down. Spent early afternoon getting Laura’s set together, met her and Thirsty Dave at Euphoria to run a few songs, headed to Sid Gold’s. Had time to get dinner at the West African/Carribean steam table place nearby, and a coffee at Variety. Started reading Jim Crow, but got slightly involved in a strange situation – a guy w/ cerebral palsy wanted to use my phone (his was dead and his computer was dying, he said), w/ a complicated story about calling his dad for a credit card number. He called 3 times and left voice mails. It wasn’t a scam, but something else was wrong – a woman came in and told me that he’d been talking about hurting himself on the train, and that she’d been staying w/ him for the past 2 hrs. So then my phone rang, and I gave it back to him; the woman told me to write down the number because he wouldn’t give it to her – she wanted to call her dad himself to see if he was ok and find out what to do. But when he gave me back the phone, he’d already deleted the number. But I guess he got what he wanted, b/c the woman left and he sat down for a while – that was the end of my involvement. Went back to Sid’s, played the set w/ Laura, Mark S., Jeremy C., Kenny Kosek, and guests Thirsty Dave, Smokey Hormel, Dahni Clermont, and Julia Greenberg.
Driving Nails in my Coffin (Ernest Tubb)
Half A Mind (Ernest Tubb)
Beaumont Rag (Bob Wills)
Cow Cow Boogie (Ella Mae Morse – Raye/DePaul/Carter)
The Gold Rush is Over (Hank Snow – Cindy Walker)
I Almost Lost My Mind (Floyd Tillman – Ivory Joe Hunter)
Right or Wrong (Milton Brown)
Blue Skies (Bob Wills – Irving Berlin)
Maiden's Prayer (Bob Wills)
I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me By Your Side)(Ray Price)
You Don't Know Me (Eddy Arnold – Cindy Walker)
Bubbles In My Beer (Bob Wills – Cindy Walker)
Sad and Lonely Texas Dancehall Girl (Ernest Tubb – Justin Tubb)
Big Iron (Mary Robbins)
Born to Lose (Ernest Tubb)
Waltz Across Texas (Ernest Tubb)
The bridge of Jeremy’s double bass flew out from under the strings at the end of the 1st song – none of us had ever seen that. He fixed it in a couple songs. My comping is pretty good at this point, but I thought a couple of my solos were wack – hard to keep it together on the fast 2-beat rags. Sang “Still Crazy After All These Years” at piano karaoke afterwards, got a ride back to Queens w/ Laura. Home 12, lights out by 1.
[Interrupted the A-Z playlist for Fats Domino, R.I.P.]
10.24.17
Up 8:30, but very slow start. Involved in email, show logistics, etc. until afternoon. 3:30 or so by the time I got to the library across from MoMa – couldn’t really get started, then remembered I’d told my dad I’d call. Result – no writing before the movies, though I did read more of The New Jim Crow. (I don’t have substantial comment on it here. What can you say – her case is compelling and upsetting, but not to me surprising.) Watched Drums of Jeopardy (William Seitz 1931), a completely satisfying programmer: Clara Blandick (Auntie Em) steals the show. Short break – oddly, was made to check my bag and umbrella between movies – before Damaged Lives (Ulmer 1933), a Canadian/American production that barely deserves to be called “directed” or “a movie”: It’s a 61 minute venereal disease PSA w/ a storyline of sorts. More disturbing than entertaining – best that Bree stayed home. Back in neighborhood by 8, stopped in E77, chatted w/ Rebecca Gopoian and a friend, worked on a paragraph for until they closed – maybe 45 min., 200 words. Home 10, ended up watching boogie-woogie instructional videos. Lights out midnight.
[Eddie Bo, “Ain’t It the Truth” to Gil-Scott Heron, “Ain’t No New Thing”]
10.23.17
Up at 9, out 10:15, read The New Jim Crow on the train. Therapy. Lunch. Bought a copy of Solomon Northrup’s Twelve Years a Slave from bookseller’s table on B’way – I need to write to Lara Cohen to get her talk about the song he prints at the end. Stopped in Lincoln Center library to look for Tom Petty sheet music – ended up checking out a greatest hits collection and taking chord notes on a few other songs (and “Handle Me With Care”). Got home about 3, rested for a bit, worked through Petty songs from about 4-6, got through half the set. Packed up the digital piano, called a car, got to rehearsal on 30th St. early. Rehearsed 8-11 w/ the “Murderer’s Row” band and some guest singers. Acquitted myself reasonably well (after getting called out for adding extra notes to the elec. piano riff for “Breakdown.” Will still have to work on a few parts on Thurs., after I’m past Laura’s show. Home by midnight, lights out 1.
[Orquesta de Pablo Valenzuela, “Agapito Ven, Ven” to George Jackley, “Ain’t It Great to Be Bloomin’ Well Dead.”]