I have so much to write about and limited time. I could have said that each of the last three days when I haven’t written. Over the last three days I’ve seen three concerts and a basketball game. The reason I haven’t written is trouble sleeping at night and therefore sleeping late in the mornings. The main problem is my nasal congestion. In the aftermath of my cold I have not been able to breathe freely even with the breathe right strips. I hope things return to normal. Enough small talk. Let’s get down to reviewing the action.
Friday usually means therapy but I got a call from my therapist that she was sick and had to cancel. It came when have my phone on “do not disturb” so she left a message. I love my relationship with her. She said, “I have a virus, I blame you!’ I had a bad cold last time I saw her. That’s totally my sense of humor.
Friday night I went to see Joe Crookston and James Downes at Rivergigs, a house concert series new to me. It’s in Washington Heights, theoretically not hard to get to, two trains. Practice is not theory, that’s why we make the commutes. There was a signal problem on the D train. I texted while I was stuck in a station that I might be late and to save me a seat. The 40-minute trip took 80 minutes. Of course I leave a large margin for error so I was there in plenty of time for the music, I just missed some of the pre-music eating and socializing. Who was there that I know? Ellen, Peter, and Shelley.
James didn’t open. He played with Joe and did some of his own songs interspersed in the set. That’s unusual but worked out quite well. I only know him as one third of The End of America, a harmony trio. Playing solo is quite different. He songwriting is quite different, and weirder, that what he writes with the band. Weird is a good thing. I gained appreciation for his songwriting and guitar playing.
Joe is one of my maximal musicians. It’s not that he’s better than everyone else, it’s that nobody is better than he is. The first thing I think about with Joe is his songwriting. This weekend, I saw him on Saturday too, he did a lot of covers, especially when he was collaborating. That highlights his performing skills. He plays the hell out of the guitar, both fingerpicking and slide, and the fiddle. His cigar-box banjo was broken so I didn’t hear that. He’s a great singer and a great entertainer. There is never a dull moment, his patter doesn’t just fill time. It’s part of the experience. He can talk and sing about very serious things, he can also be damn silly. I’d have to work very hard to not love Joe. I even love his facial expressions.
Joe has a new project, Male Ally; It’s an organization of men striving to treat women in the music world better. You’ve all heard about Ryan Adams but the problem has even hit our close-knit folk community. Ian Fitzgerald did much the same things as Ryan Adams to a string of women, one of which is a good friend of mine. The goal of Male Ally is to make the music world safer for women.
I have become a shameless ride hustler. I live in the Bronx and Peter lives North of me so I asked him for a ride home. I didn’t have to worry about the trains.
On Saturday I saw Joe once again, this time with Pat Wictor at Jalopy in Brooklyn. That is less inconvenient that I usually think of it. Sure it’s two trains and a bus, but it takes “only” and hour and twenty minutes to get there. I once more had train trouble and didn’t have time to get poutine at the Mile End Deli on the way. That was very disappointing. It ended up that I could have because Joe had to work things out musically with Pat so the time I had scheduled to talk with him I spent eating next door at the Jalopy Tavern with Perry and Beth. A lot of my crowd was there, Coco & Bruce, Jeff & Carol, Richard & Viki, Ellen, Pat’s wife Ellen, and Su.
This was a unique performance. Joe and Pat played together and the entire show was improvised. There was no set list and nobody knew what would happen next. Pat is part of the New York improvisation singing community. Other members were there and three women even joined them onstage for one song. This worked because both Pat and Joe have the musical chops to pull it off. I got to see lots of Joe fiddling, I always love that. I have not seen Pat nearly enough of late. This was a home game, two people I love as both artists and musicians, with friends in the audience, at a place I’m on a first name basis with the staff. Jalopy might be my favorite venue. Almost forgot, Lauraly, who I have known for years, is now working as a waitress at the Jalopy Tavern where I ate. I know her from the musical world.
Sunday I was back to Brooklyn, Coco and Bruce’s house to see two more friends and favorite artists, Jean Rohe and Rachael Kilgore at the home of two of my favorite people. Ellen was there, that made three days in a row that I saw her. It was two days in a row seeing Richard, Viki, Coco, Bruce, Jeff, and Carol. Erika & Arthur, and Sharon were there too. Does it get more home game than this?
Rachael went on first. She is someone I have an evolving relationship with. She is not in my wheelhouse. Her last album was about her emotional reaction to her divorce. I’m not a fan of the personal singer-songwriter genre. But here’s the thing. I could always see the talent there and on a personal level she’s is in my wheelhouse. The more I see her the more I love her. I’m up to love, not just like. Like jazz I had to acquire the taste. Her telling the nuances of her relationship with her ex through one song about a rabbit in the road is genius.
I feel I shouldn’t have to explain Jean Rohe to my Gentle Readers. Not only is she a maximal element, she lives in New York so I see her often. It’s a rarity for me to miss any of her shows in the area and I always sing her praises. The grass never grows under her feet. She’s always works on something new. She started with the song that is usually her finale or encore, National Anthem: Arise! Arise!. As you can tell from the title it’s anthemic. She totally reworked it. She started with the chorus and removed the exclamation points after the Arises. It was so musically different I thought this would be a totally new song that simply references the old one. But it wasn’t. it was just exploring what else was in the original if you interpreted it differently. I told her it was the best cover I’ve heard of the song. Bob Dylan often does the same thing. He sings a song so often that he feels the need to rebuild it.
The timing worked out well. Bri called as I was getting ready to leave and I got to talk to them for the first time in ages. Talking to Bri is very good for my mental health.
Then I was off to the Knick game. A miracle occurred, the Knicks won! They had lost their 18 previous home games. To make it even more shocking they beat a good team, San Antonia. Alan and I couldn’t believe it. We predict the scores of every game and we both had San Antonio. The Knicks are such a mess the main reason I go is to hang out with Alan. My conversations with him are unlike those I have with anyone else.
Now I have to hurry up and make and eat breakfast. I have to leave in 49 minutes for my first infusion. I’m starting a new treatment for my Crohn’s disease. I’m not sick now but it’s to prevent future attacks. My small intestine is the aftermath of a war between my immune system and my cells.
Wise Madness 