Harleys, Cars, Girls & Guitars

So What?

I passed this flugelhorn player on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 39th street in Manhattan yesterday.  He was playing Miles Davis' "So What?"

The guy was well equipped, with a portable speaker and a microphone coiled over his music stand.  He used a CD to play the song minus the trumpet solo.

He reproduced Davis' solo admirably. I should have dropped a couple of bucks in his tin can, but I was in a hurry to visit a client. (Well, that's not much of an excuse.)

The guy switched between a trumpet and the flugelhorn. You can barely see the trumpet on a stand near his right knee.

“So What?” was on the “Kind of Blue” LP, recorded in New York City in 1959, not so far from where this guy on the street was playing.

This was probably the most important record in the history of Bebop. The drummer on the record, Jimmy Cobb, lived in Woodstock for a long time. Might still live here for all I know. Back in the day, I played in a jam session with Jimmy. Woodstock used to be good for that. I played with everybody, just for the thrill of playing, before I became a cynical old man.

My first instrument was the trumpet. Well, to be precise, it was a cornet. My high school music teacher introduced me to Dixieland and jazz. I drove my parents nuts with that cornet, sitting up in my bedroom playing along with Miles Davis records. God bless them, they didn't complain unless I played too far into the night.

My neighbors had to wonder what in the hell it was all about... Bebop floating out over the cornfields of central Illinois on a hot, humid summer night.

Loony craigslist Music Ads

I was looking through craigslist yesterday. Might be a decent band out there that needs keys. Or, so I figured. This ad says it all:

I think that I qualify on all counts.

Lately, I've been thinking that playing in a bar band just doesn't hack it. Why bother? That scene is mean as hell. The bar owner is liable to stiff the band if business is bad. For the thrill of playing to an audience of a few disinterested drunks, the musicians stab each other in the back as if they were playing at Madison Square Garden.

The worst part for the keyboard guy in the tribute or oldies band is that he's a backup player who's supposed to support the egos of the front guys.

All this for, at most, 100 bucks. Subtract 20 bucks for gas. What a deal!

This next ad is not, per se, a music business ad. It's an ad for web design services, posted by a “Grammy-nominated producer!”

One of the oldest gambits of the music biz, or any arts biz for that matter, is the “work for me for next to nothing because I'm glamorous” BS. Works for kids, but not for an old fart like me. I don't need to know another “Grammy-nominated” asshole.

Note that this asshole wants his website to be “spectacular and beautiful!” For 500 bucks! Oh well, if you've slapped up dozens of identical websites and you've got a ready-made template for this jackass, you might make a few bucks doing his job. Fill in the blanks and upload.

At least this asshole isn't advertising for an “intern who wants to supplement his portfolio.” That's become a common theme on craigslist during the recession. “Work for me for nothing! Because (a) I'm famous, or (b) I'm Saving the World!” Sure. I'm gonna do that.

The V-Twins at Taste Budd's

Big Joe Vaccarino and Shouting Thomas (aka, The V-Twins) will be performing at Taste Budd's in Red Hook at noon on Sunday.

Big Joe ain't so big any more. He's smaller than me! That's the result of his regime of counting calories and exercising.  

Drop by and say hello.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Ah, the good old days of civil political discourse!

The Utter Futility of Politics

I voted twice for Bill Clinton. When he was elected, I was 42... still young enough to think that politics and politicians really mattered. I'm sure you've all seen Bill dishing up this load of crap:

So, Clinton wants us to believe that the Tea Partiers are encouraging terrorism. And his proof: right-wing rhetoric caused the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Problem: Timothy McVeigh said that his attack in OK City was in retaliation for Clinton's assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco in 1993.  Clinton, bastard that he is, wants to blame other people (political opponents) for a catastrophe that was, in fact, of his own making.  He's a cynical, conniving, lying son-of-a-bitch.  On a good day.

You've got to love Bill Clinton. Sure, he's a fucking lowlife.  The old Bozo sticks his hands down the pants of every woman who stands next to him. He's a complete scoundrel.  Everybody loves a complete scoundrel... especially women.  

(Note to stupid young men everywhere.  Women are full of shit when they tell you they want you to be upright, square and virtuous.  Don't believe them.  They all yank down their pants immediately when they run into a con artist like Clinton.  If your goal in life is a blow job from a different floozy every day, you might want to study Bubba's act.)

Incinerating those religious kooks and their kids at Waco was the absolute low point of Clinton's clown act. Well, getting disbarred in Arkansas wasn't so great either. Lying before a federal grand jury.  Priceless!  Getting blown by a young big-ass intern in the Oval Office... what can I say? The guy is trailer park trash.  Although the Karaoke Queen disagrees with me, I think that Clinton really should have been convicted at the end of his impeachment trial.

As I said, I once believed that politics and politicians really mattered. Thank you, Bill Clinton, for showing me the truth. I will never again fool myself into believing that some asshole politician, Republican or Democrat, is anything more than a thief and con artist.

I don't look to politics or politicians for anything. I just want the bastards to stay out of my life as much as possible.

I am... officially I think... a disillusioned and cranky old fart.

Willie Nelson... 9/11 Truther!

I love Willie. Really I do. But, he's a nut.

You listen to this. I tried to, but it's too crazy for me to get all the way through.

The 60s fashion of musicians adopting political causes... please, God, let it be over. Please, Willie... shut up and sing.

That's about all I can say about this.

Obama Resorts to Thug Tactics

The economy is improving a little. I'll give President Obama some credit for that. I hope that the economy continues to improve, and that people return to work. If that happens, Obama will probably be re-elected. I can live with that. I don't really care much who's president.

The preferred tactic of the Obama administration for dealing with dissent is now well established. Anybody who disagrees with Obama is a racist. What a low life, thug tactic!

I've lived in leftist communities all my adult life. Woodstock and liberal New York City screamed about “repression” throughout the Bush administration. You would have thought that Bush was rounding up dissidents and throwing them in concentration camps. Except... that didn't happen. President Bush was actually quite gracious with his opponents. He never slandered opponents, and nobody was prosecuted or went to jail for opposing Bush's policies.

Obama began slandering his opponents during his election campaign, and he hasn't stopped. Accusations of racism can cost a person his or her job in this era of diversity mania. Obama is demeaning himself and his office by stooping to these execrable tactics. He needs to stop now.

The left would be outraged, justifiably, if a Republican president resorted to these thug tactics. You know... dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

President Obama needs to stop using this tactic, right now. He's disgracing himself and his office. Show a little respect and tolerance for your opponents, President Obama. Show us the decency we learned to expect from President Bush.

Big Apple Gets a Little Sleepy

At 9 a.m. yesterday, my Trailways bus cruised through the Lincoln Tunnel and into the Port Authority with nary a pause for traffic. I was en route to visit a new client in Midtown.

I took this picture on Fifth Avenue at 39th Street at about 1 p.m. Perhaps this picture doesn't show it that clearly, but both pedestrian and vehicular traffic were pretty light.

With 10% of the workforce unemployed and 20% under-employed, the Big Apple has lost some of its famed energy. The crowds aren't quite as bustling as they once were. It's a lot easier to get around town.

I don't know the name of this relatively new skyscraper. Perhaps, one of my readers can tell me. Building has continued throughout the recession, although rental rates have declined. I took this shot over the top of the NYC Public Library. Non-rectangular designs have been the rage for the past 15 years.

Always, returning to Manhattan brings back haunting memories of my days with Myrna. I walk the streets that I once walked with her. She was so exciting, so beautiful and so adventurous. And, funny.

”I'm just a mischievous soul,” she would often say.

Thank you, God, for giving me Myrna. I don't understand why you had to take her away. I sang "I'll Be Seeing You" to myself as I walked the streets of Midtown.  

I'll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces
All day through.

In that small cafe;
The park across the way;
The children's carousel;
The chestnut trees;
The wishin' well.

I'll be seeing you
In every lovely summer's day;
In every thing that's light and gay.
I'll always think of you that way.

I'll find you
In the morning sun
And when the night is new.
I'll be looking at the moon,
But I'll be seeing you.

Tears have to fall.  I'll have to record that song, although I don't know whether I can sing it without crying.   Maybe that doesn't really matter.  I'm working on my piano bar repertoire. I'd like to find a Friday night gig in a hotel in Manhattan. I miss being a part of the Big Apple.

Like everybody else, I've struggled through this recession. Let's pray that it's over and that everybody gets back to work soon. Next time I'm in the Big Apple, I want to fight to push my way through the pedestrians on Fifth Avenue and listen to the wild honking of the taxis fighting for position.

Yes, "I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps." Play it again, Sam... one more time.

Arrest Obama for Treason?

Such a beautiful day today. I decided to put aside work and ride the Harley around one of my familiar routes. Along the way, I encountered this sign.

Now, I'm not exactly an Obama supporter, but I think that arresting him for treason might be a little extreme. Besides, he's the sheriff right now and he does the arresting. Right?

I was a little shocked by this. The sign was just on the periphery of what is thought of as Woodstock. Officially, it's in Saugerties. Die-hard Democratic Party and Obama territory. You expect Republican sentiment once you reach, say, Kingston. And, in fact, Tea Party demonstrators were out picketing around the malls today.

I felt a very slight urge to stop in to talk with the sign poster, to find out why he or she believes that Obama, Pelosi and Reid are committing treason.

On reflection, I decided it was too nice a day to waste in political discussion.

So, I rode over the Hudson at the Rhinecliff Bridge, took Route 9G up to the Rip Van Winkle Bridge and returned to Saugerties on Route 9W.

V-Twins Cover “Old Time Rock & Roll”

Here's another pic from our home recording session on April 3rd. In the back, from left to right: Big Joe Vaccarino, Cranky Fred, and Toastmaster Ken Briggs. Kneeling: Shouting Thomas.

And, here's another cut from the V-Twins' session. This time, we cover Bob Seger's “Old Time Rock & Roll.”

Old Time Rock & Roll

We recorded these tunes right in my tiny front room. Fred's drum set was so close to the refrigerator that he could have opened the door and pulled out a cold one.  Big Joe was stationed right outside the bathroom door. I was crammed into the corner with the TV set and the sofa. Ken, the guest of honor, had the best seat in the house, right next to the wood pellet stove. Thankfully, the stove wasn't running because the temperature outside was in the 80s.

In the great Woodstock tradition, these are “basement” tapes.

Recorded live and direct... no frills, no add-ons. Just good, old-fashioned rock & roll.