In therapy Friday I complained that I had nothing to do this weekend. Then things turned up, Friday night I went to Lincoln Center and last night to Carnegie Hall. Like the woman in front of me on the line to see Shakespeare in the Park in 1980, I am a culture vulture. She spoke with Larchmont Lockjaw, think Thurston Howell III. Yes, I am mocking a stranger I encountered almost 40 years ago. Be careful what you say in front of a blogger, 20 years before blogging was invented.
Last night’s adventure was seeing Kaia Kater and Karine Polwart at Zankel Hall, at Carnegie Hall. I discovered Kaia as a teenager at NERFA. Carter had recommended her but my first interaction with her was when I spotted a young woman looking in need of help. It was Kaia trying to find David Amram for a mentoring session. As I knew David by sight I helped her look. Can I make believe that session inspired her to greatness so that I am directly responsible for her genius? You’re giving me that look again.
Kaia rarely plays New York or goes to NERFA so I know her mother, Tamara, who goes to every NERFA, better. Tamara is the one that provided me with my ticket. Thank you Tamara.
It was the late show, 9 PM. That works out perfectly for me. I can make dinner and eat a home. I always prefer my own cooking and I save money. Did I have anything special? It was just a burger with mac & cheese but the way I season the burger, it’s special. At least to me. The most important ingredient is always garlic. When in doubt use more.
After growing up in Eastern Queens and years on City Island commuting from Bedford Park seems like a breeze. The 50 minutes to Carnegie Hall is nothing. On my third try I found the right place to pick up my ticket. I knew the right entrance but there were two places to pick up tickets; neither was the right one. Mine was at the office near the second.
When I got to the auditorium lobby I saw James, I had spotted him the night before at Lincoln Center but that was across the room and didn’t get to say hello. This time I was close enough to call his name and when I did I saw that he was with Jean. I love unexpectedly to run into friends. I never asked them which act or both they were there to see. Feel free to answer in the comments on Facebook.
When I got to my seat I sat down next to some very nice people. The I saw Tamara and discovered that she had left me her seat and my seat was even better, but not next to the nice people, who are her friends. My seat was almost dead center of the parterre. I ruined a good joke with bad photography. I took a picture of my ticket and posted it on Facebook with the caption. “Carnegie Hall is such a classy place, they have a special section for the rowdy element. They even use the French spelling of partier!” When I looked on my computer I saw that it was so out of focus you would have to struggle to read “parterre.”
This show was part of the New York Migrants series curated by Rosanne Cash. She introduced the show. The last show I saw at Zankel was also curated by Rosanne and had one band I love, Anna and Elizabeth, and one I didn’t know well, the Low Anthem. That was a strange show as the Low Anthem was so bad they didn’t even get proper applause at the end, just a few polite claps. I was hoping for better from Karine Polwart. I got my wish. Karine, I love her. She’s a Scottish singer/songwriter with a varied repertoire that ranges from spoken word to Robert Burns and traditional music. Her first song started as spoken word then moved to bardic tale. It told of the ancient exposed bedrock of a Scottish Isle to the return of the scion of the clan McLeod, Donald Trump. That’s enough for many of you to love her, but there is so much more. I would have enjoyed just hearing her speak in her captivating Scottish burr. Her songs were beautiful and deep. Her singing mesmerizing. Her personality charming. She was joined by her brother on guitar and a woman on percussion and accordion.
That reminds me, we are officially in the end days. On Friday I heard banjos at Lincoln Center. Last night I heard accordion and Kaia’s banjo at Carnegie Hall. When America’s two most prestigious temples of musical high culture feature accordion and banjo on the same weekend the end must be near. Borrow as much as you can and spend it all while you can. I hope atheist Jews can be raptured.
Back to Karine. I now follow her on Instagram, liked her on Facebook, and added all her music to my Amazon Music library. She’s the real deal.
I knew Kaia was delightful from moment I met her, I discovered she was a brilliant musician as soon as I heard her play. She’s a very different musician as a 25-year-old than at 19. Then she played in the Appalachian tradition. She could have been in the Anthology of American Folk Music, even though she’s Canadian. She still carries that tradition with her but she’s added layers. Her father is from Grenada and her recent release Grenades is inspired by the recent history of her paternal homeland. Her father was there during the American invasion and left shortly thereafter. The concert was a dialogue between recordings of her father’s memories and contemporary news casts and Kaia. Her singing on it evokes more Nina Simone than Maybelle Carter. The transformation is remarkable as she still also sings in the Appalachian style. She denies efforts to put her in a box. She looked like an elegant chanteuse dressed all in black. Then she breaks the fourth wall and gushes over a Swedish feelgood vampire movie. She radiates both gravitas and youthful exuberance.
The show ended late, not long before midnight. I looked around a bit for Tamara, Jean, and James to say goodbye, didn’t see them and headed to the subway. When I got there I turned my phone on. There was a sign asking us to turn our cells off, not just silent, and I respect that. That proved unfortunate. Just as my train came I saw I had a message from Tamara asking me to join them for a post-concert gathering. There is nothing I love more than eating with friends after a concert. I haven’t had a chance to hang out with Kaia in years. I see Tamara only at NERFA and when she’s in town for APAP. Quality time with them would have been great but as the weekend already had so many unexpected good things happen I can’t complain. I got to see the show. I told Tamara to tell Kaia that she was magnificent. She was.
I could use some quality time with friends but I’m very happy at the moment. It reminds me of two of my favorite quotes.
Happiness is a virtue. No one wicked is every truly happy; triumphant perhaps, but not happy. – T.H. White
The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy – I mean that if you are happy you will be good. – Bertrand Russell
Maybe there is hope for me yet. Good thing as the world is coming to an end. See you after the rapture.
Wise Madness 