Tonight I saw a glimpse of what's possible--being an open channel for direct expression by the source of life. Music flowing, but also erupting, struggling, squealing torrentially through every open crack & fissure of a saxophone. A trumpet so profound & true, honest. Playfulness & joy. Musicians communicating through gestures & eye contact but creating, channeling, simultaneously, such exquisite love & truth that could only have been the unified, uncensored voice of something else.
I recognized what I witnessed, too. I have felt this channel in myself at times, & seeing it again, I think I know how to open it fully. It's not hard, it's right there. It's not some difficult path to tread, it's simply a willingness to be led, swept away along a swift uncontrollable current. We'll see in the morning--when I can actually make some noise--what bursts.
comment (2)Played a wedding & reception tonight with the San Francisco Klezmer Experience. That band is about the funniest group of people I've ever met, (along with perhaps Adam Good & Timothy Quigley). Any brief period of space in a tune has equal likelihood of being punctuated by a quote from Wagner or the Chicken Dance. A particularly moving violin solo will elicit cheers of "tell your story white boy!" from the drummer. Meanwhile one member, unnamed to protect the guilty, quietly informs us exactly which women in the room he'd like to do exactly what with (in a remarkably non-sexist way).
Lost my wallet on the bus in the Mission. At the end of the gig, there's a message (how'd she even figure out my cell phone number?) from a woman who works at the Women's Building, who somehow found it on a street I wasn't even on tonight, & the money's there & everything. Incroyable.
A new meaning to the word producer.
Ok so here's the info:
New Year's Eve, starting 9 or 10pm, at Cafe Barbès (376 9th St near 6th Ave, Park Slope, Brooklyn). Max & Minka will be appearing with Members of the Zagnut Circus Orchestra Brass Band, & the Gonifs for a New Year's Eve Balkan Brass Band Extravaganza!
No cover & no free champagne at midnight. Barbès is a little Frenchy bar run by a couple of musicians with beautiful aesthetics.
Ha! I'll have the rare pleasure of playing in New York New Year's Eve, at Barbès Cafe with matt moran, timothy quigley, sarah ferholt, greg squared & rest of zagnuts crew, max & minka & now gonifs too. Once i find out where Barbès Cafe is, i'll tell you.