Up 7:30
Listened to a couple of Echo and the Bunnymen songs, off a facebook thread.
Went for coffee at E77, worked about 9:30-noon on final touches on sample chapters for grant submission. Also daybook poem.
Came back while Bree was out, kept at same, expanded one graf, probably wasted too much time trying to shoehorn one more example in.
Bree came back and went out again for acupuncture.
Made lunch, put in some laundry around 4. Kept working.
Dried/folded laundry, took out recycling and office trash, left for Jazz Standard around 6
Finish RthR on train. Ch. 4 on non-human rights; afterword by Astra Taylor, by admission far more Marxist than Arendt. Black disenfranchisement finally mentioned. Listend to the rest of Code Girl. It is so in my wheelhouse, esp. “Accurate Hit” a guitar-vocal piece on a ‘50s progression. Will take a while to get a grip on the lyrics.
Met Brad San Martin and his gf Amber at Village Standard for said band’s 7:30 set. He’s working as the Apollo Theater’s first in-house archives, which sounds pretty effin’ cool. Talked about hanging out for Amateur Night rehearsals, and seeing the dramatization of Coates’ Between the World and Me (which, whatever my reservations, is significant). Amber works in student services at a tiny art college in Greenwich Village. Had some collard greens, a biscuit, and 2 stouts.
Code Girl set very satisfying - the rare band where the guitarist-leader could turn up. They didn’t do “Accurate Hit,” and I don’t know the material well, but everyone’s playing is on point, and the vocalist Amirtha Kidamba has something special going on in her own right. Wrote ahead one day/page in poetry notebook. Spoke briefly to Tomas Fujimara (drums) to i.d. a tune (“Drop the Needle”), said Thumbscrew (this band minus trumpet, vocals) has a week at the Vanguard in June; loved their “standards” set at the Stone in Feb., will go. Seeing jazz, as opposed to indie-rock/singer-songwriter stuff, is great — I have no envy or bitterness, b/c the musicians are so much better than me.
Started listening to Coxsone’s Music 2: The Sound of Young Jamaica, comp. of 1959-63 ska/proto-reggae/jazz. The Fats Domino influence is clear, apart from the well-known connection to “Be My Guest”; there’s an accordion-led version of “Swaneee River Rock,” and a lyric nod to “Blueberry Hill.” Straight-ahead jazz tracks w/ no discernible Jamaican feel next to, say, Delroy Wilson’s “Lion of Judah” - nice mix, would make a good party record.
Started reading Paul Hoover, Viridian. No particular reason except I picked it off the shelf while looking for something else. Mainly 1-2 page lyrics, Ashbery minus some density/escape velocity at times, but nice moments (“what is a stone but a theory of change?”). Longest/clearest poem so far is about baseball.
Wrote a little more on the Queensboro Plaza platform. Felt like/had a donut on the way home - not typical.
Home a little after 10. Winnowed some email (not enough). Mason.
Lights out 1.