Up at 6. Went out for coffee at 7, finished The New Jim Crow (the last chapter goes pretty far on a limb in criticizing affirmative action as a “racial bribe”), caught up in poetry daybook. Got back in bed for an hr, went out w/ Bree at 10 to see an Italian company’s shadow puppet play, A Sky For the Bears, at the New Victory Theater with a bunch of 4-7 year-olds and their parents. Charming, well-performed, intriguing techniques. Went closer to MoMa for lunch, had time before movies to spend an hr. in the Is Fashion Modern? Learned a fair bit about, e.g., guayabera shirts and cheongsam dresses. Also poked around the museum stores. Saw The Vampire Bat (Frank Strayer 1933) and The Crime of Dr. Crespi (John Auer 1935), worth it for the respective creepy-doctor-with-God-complex performances of Lionel Atwill and Erich von Stroheim. Walked Bree to train, finished the George Starbuck collection while waiting for the next movie. Careful writer, but I read this w/ such gaps that I probably missed the book’s thematic movement – registered the different tones created by straight and slant/off-rhyme as much as anything. Watched White Zombie (Victor Halperin 1932), which, despite Lugosi, is more effective visually than dramatically (though the explicit reference to Haitian zombies as, in effect, slaves created to “work in the sugar mills and fields at night” was interesting; does this aspect of the colonialist subtext show up in Lewton?) Back in JH by 9, looked in at E77 – crowd for a band that actually bills itself as “dad rock,” couldn’t hack that, got a bottle of water in Starbucks instead and read first 50 p. of Ingrid Monson, Saying Something (started on train). Came home, lights out around midnight, put on You Must Remember This but fell asleep quickly.
10.27.17
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”]