I had another very good day yesterday; it’s hard to meet dinner with a great friend and hearing great music. There were only two flies in the ointment, I was a half hour late meeting the friend and there were no doughnuts with the music. Those amount to rounding errors.
The dinner was with Katherine. She’s on a really tight schedule so we met by her house. I kept her informed of my progress so she didn’t have to wait for me. I was traveling from the North Bronx to Brooklyn and I have to learn to plan on the D train running slow. That’s where I lost my time.
We ate a new burger place in Ditmas Park, Pasture Burger. I wrote Pasteur Burger at first. I have a feeling that most people don’t think of Louis Pasteur more often than they do pastures. The kids at my elementary school went to three junior highs or intermediate schools, I went to Nathaniel Hawthorn, the other two were Marie Curie and the aforementioned Louis Pasteur. I was mad that I went to the one not named for a scientist. I don’t know if I’ve ever told anyone that.
I had the Wagyu burger. Is that better than a regular beefburger? I don’t know but they were all the same price so I went for the one I don’t usually get. They also had a bison burger but I just had one of those. Katherine went for the impossible burger. I think that means that it’s its own grandfather.
As expected the conversation was even better than the food. There are few things I enjoy more than sitting and talking with an intelligent friend. We talked of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings; why microwave photons can’t alter DNA and the art of music mixing. I need more of this in my life.
From there I was off to one of my favorite venues, The Owl Music Parlor. The show was Lily Henley and her fiddle camp friends. This is how she described it:
Friends and Music Lovers in NYC!! I’ll be playing and collaborating with long-time string camp buddies this Saturday, at one of my absolute favorite spots, @theowlbk! Luke Price is a multi-time National fiddle champion and has a brilliant duo called Dean! with gorgeous singer/songwriter Rachael Price, Elise Leavy is a freakily prodigious singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, and Ben Krakauer is a phenomenal banjoist and composer. I’ve been busy recording all spring, and this is a chance to hear some of my new music live, before I fly away for the summer. It is going to be a really sweet show…and I might even bring fancy donuts 😏. Come eat them with me! 🍩 May the 4th be with you!
I’m a big fan of Lily and put it on my calendar before I saw who she was playing with. I don’t know the well but I know Elise and Ben. I was sure I knew Rachael Price but I was wrong. This was Rachael Price not Rachael Price. The Rachael Price I know and you probably do to is the singer in Lake Street Dive. This Rachael Price is the singer in Dean, Her duo with her husband Luke Price. Just to make things more fun Lake Street Dive played at their wedding and Rachael Price told Rachael Price not Rachael Price that she was marrying Luke just so she could steal her name. Can you parse that sentence? I’m not sure I can.
This was such a fun show. They all know each other from the Shasta Music Summit. That’s one of those music events I’ve heard about for years. Many of my friends have attended. Even though everyone calls it fiddle camp people play more than fiddle. Luke plays guitar. While primarily a fiddler and singer Lily also plays tenor guitar. Elise plays piano and accordion, and Ben banjo. You come for the fiddle but stay for the accordion and banjo. Or is that, run out screaming? The music was remarkably diverse. There was trad, bluegrass, pop, jazz, and Lily sings and writes songs in Ladino.
Elise escaped from music school to play jazz. She asked, “Is it time for jazz yet?” I responded, “It’s always time for jazz.” Because it is. It’s not the intricate instrumental jazz I expected but original jazz standards. The well-kept secret is that you can write an original jazz standard. You have to pay close attention to the lyrics, there’s a lot of irony and subtle humor. Her songs remind me of Dave’s True Story. Elise you’ll have to listen to them. It’s high praise.
If you want intricate listen to Ben’s banjo instrumentals. You have to use the Bach part of your brain to catch it all. It’s chamber folk for solo banjo.
I loved Dean but can’t capture what they do in words. Rachael is a powerful and beautiful singer. Luke, who I keep wanting to call Dean, is a brilliant guitarist and singer. What do they play? I don’t know. It’s great music. I’ll have to here some more.
I always forget what a beautiful singer Lily is, my first thought is always of her playing. Her sensibilities come from her own place. They aren’t sensitive singer songwriter songs and they aren’t story songs. They are Lily songs. I’ve known her for years, it’s time that I stop typing Lili. In my calendar I listed this as Lili and friends. She has two albums in he works, one in English and one in Ladino and Hebrew. I can’t wait to hear them. I’m working on convincing her to come to NERFA. If any of the performers go to Falcon Ridge they’d be welcome to play the Budgiedome. None of them are what I think of as standard FRFF fare. That’s the way to my heart. The musical world is bigger than many people think it is.
Today’s a day off, I have to go food shopping. Not the best day for that as it’s raining. The rest of the week is a busy one.
- Monday – Nickel
backCreek. - Tuesday – The WFUV volunteer Party
- Wednesday – The Tolkien Exhibit at the Morgan Library with Lauren
- Thursday – Surgery
- Friday – Therapy then Sunset Singing Circle if I’m up to it
- Saturday – Sophie Buskin and Dan Rauchwerk at Brooklyn Music Shop
- Sunday – The Mets vs The Marlins
Wise Madness 