I’m going through my morning checklist. I have not finished the only other item, wasting time, but I’m going to start blogging anyway. That might seem like a silly joke but it tells you what goes on in my head.
The Sasha Papernik trio played yesterday at the New Utrecht branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, aka Deepest Darkest Brooklyn I haven’t seen Sasha in far too long so I didn’t want to miss it. I checked Google Maps and getting there was not too bad at all; take the D train many stops, then walk two blocks. Google said it would take an hour and twenty-one minutes. The show was at 2:00 and I left here at 12:25, plenty of time. Google and the MTA failed me and I failed myself. The D train was running in two sections, from the Bronx to 34th Street in Manhattan and from Atlantic Terminal to Coney Island. That meant transferring to the Q then back to the D. That should have added maybe 15 minutes to my trip. The MTA laughs at should have. It added 45 minutes. I made the show with only 20 minutes to go.
This was hellish but an interesting lesson in economics. By the time I got to 59th street I knew I would miss at least 20 minutes. I could have turned around and gone home rather than travel for an hour more. I had to balance my sunk costs, the hour I had already spent traveling, to the future gains. I was planning on being all adult and just going food shopping and turning around when I recalculated. I really wanted to see Sasha, even if it were only for half an hour. So I went forward. As I said, it ended up being only 20 minutes. But I was right, it was worth it. There was one other benefit that I hadn’t mentioned. I would get to hang out with Sasha and her husband Justin after the show. I love them not only as musicians but as people.
Sasha is a classically trained pianist with an affinity for music from her ancestral homeland, Russia. Her shows usually include music by Irving Berlin and George Gershwin. Sadly on his 100th birthday she included nothing by Leonard Bernstein, she often does. She has a double connection to Lenny; his family was from Ukraine and he lived in the same town she grew up in. Did I get that right? She often plays instrumentals from West Side Story, but not this time.
I asked her about it after the show, I thought I might have just missed it, and that led to a great convo about Bernstein. I always have great conversations with she and Justin. The third member of the trio is a base player that has a name that I was told. He fit right in with them, smart and funny.
Sasha plays music I love that I don’t often hear by anyone else. Who else is going to play, Bacharach and David’s The Look of Love. Did you know that love Bacharach and David? Their music doesn’t have the teeth of most of what I listen to but it has platonic perfection. There’s more than one way to make great music. As for teeth she also played Leonard Cohen’s Dance Me To the End of Love. I half expect Sasha to comment; “That’s not the Cohen song we performed.” But she’d say it with a smile. She already knows that I’m an idiot so it won’t change how she feels about me.
I usually hear Justin playing Americana music with his band Silver City Bound, formerly the Amigos, formerly the Tres Amigos. They have identity issues but play great music. He also plays Irish Swing music with Tara O’Grady. Sasha sometimes accompanies Tara too. It’s a small world. Musicians are far less fixated on one genre of music than their fans are.
A fun thing about a library show in Deepest Darkest Brooklyn, I think I was the only native English speaker in the audience. The others weren’t Russians and Ukrainians, this wasn’t Brighten Beach. The rest of the audience was Hispanic and Asian because there is nothing that says you can only like music from the culture you were brought up in. Cultural appropriation is a GOOD thing. Artists shouldn’t face restrictions on their art and audiences can appreciate whatever is good. Right before I went to sleep I listened to Bob Marley. That made me want to listen to this brilliant piece of cultural appropriation.
Now you know that Reggae needs uillean pipes. I wasn’t in that audience but I sang along to this song with Larry Kirwan many times. It’s not Jamaican, it’s not Irish; it’s New York and it’s America. So is this.
One problem I’ve had since living in the Bronx is that lack of Asian groceries. Those were never lacking in Queens and Brooklyn. There was one right by the subway and I made sure to go in to get some MSG. I got a big bag for the same price as a small shaker of accent. I’m going to Katherine and Deb’s birthday party today. I picked up Asian party snacks. I don’t even know what they all are; some of them only say it in Chinese. I figure Katherine and Deb’s friends are culinary adventurous. I’m not but I’m the exception.
The ride home went smoothly, that was a pleasant surprise. The D even ran express in the Bronx. I was out of the house for over 5 hours and only 20 minutes of that was listening to music, but it was still the right decision. Sasha and Justin’s duo, Our Band, is playing the Cornelia Street Café on Labor Day. To make it even better, they are being joined by David Amram who will follow with a set of his own. Sadly I can’t go but if you check it out; Cornelia Street Café Performances.
I better get ready for the aforementioned party. The MTA is promising me a not that long trip, less than an hour and a half. The rerouting doesn’t even hurt me as I would normally take the D to the F but today I’ll take the D to the A running on the F line. I’m happy I remembered to map it out before I left as navigating the subway on the weekends requires a deep and arcane knowledge. Eldritch might be appropriate.
Wise Madness 