Yesterday I celebrated my birthday. Considering the heat, doing anything in a timely manner was beyond the call of duty. The real reason it was late was that yesterday there was a concert to go to, Aurora Nealand at Sunny’s in Brooklyn. Why have I never written about Aurora despite the great name? It’s even better than you have noticed as it’s totally believable, though false, that her last name is a portmanteau of New Zealand. I can say that Aurora is the dawn of a new age in music. I don’t need to explain multilingual puns to My Gentle Listeners. But still the question, why no mention? Simple, I had never seen nor heard her before last night and first heard of her when Katherine suggested seeing her for my birthday. Aurora is a simply brilliant jazz and blues clarinetist and saxophonist. She’s so good I didn’t say saxomophonist. As an added bonus at the show I discovered that she also plays the queen of reed instruments, the accordion. Sunny’s a tiny venue in Red Hook Brooklyn. Red Hook is separated by highways from the rest of the known universe. That gave Katherine and excuse to suggest meeting at Pier 11 in Manhattan and taking the Ferry there. I had a little trouble getting there as Google guided me to Pier 6 which it insisted on calling Pier 11. No matter, I got there. If anyone asks, I am going to say that I went on a cruise for my birthday. We of course stood on the upper deck where we could enjoy the view and the breeze. Sure, inside had AC but with the breeze it was perfectly comfortable on deck. I will always choose to be on the deck of a ship as long as it’s not raining. I don’t care if it is freezing. I was born to sail.
We explored Red Hook for a while then searched for a play to eat. We settled on a Thai/Indonesian restaurant. I let the waitress decide for me between the fried chicken and deep fried sausage. I have a life goal of trying every national sausage but the sauce with the chicken looked good and I went with the waitress’s suggestion. It was scrumptious. Too scrumptious. We ate al fresco and as soon as my dinner was served, we were surrounded by flies and yellow jackets. When we moved to another table, they followed my chicken. When I was finished, we moved to another table and left the chicken behind. It was soon covered with insects. I thought it might be like a piranha feeding frenzy in a movie leaving nothing but bones. No such luck. They did cover my napkin and sauce bowl too. I think it’s the sauce they loved. I have the same tastes as a fly.
Then we were off to Sunny’s which is nearby. I think I was only there once before. We were one of the first to arrive. We found Ms. Nealand planning the set with her accompanist Alex Harvey. Why the last minute planning? Her pianist tested positive yesterday and Alex got the call just an hour before showtime. They’ve known each other for a long time but they hadn’t played together. She didn’t even know he played piano. He mainly played mando and guitar. He had the chops to play with her without rehearsal. She had the chops to plan a show on the fly. I’m sure musically it would have been better if I could have seen her planned set, but there’s always excitement watching musicians dancing their way around a train wreck. There’s a reason that so many of my favorite musical moments were in the green room or after show jams. Damn Aurora can play and sing. As I never saw her before I suspect that her show leaned more towards blues and less to jazz than usual. I knew she could play but she’s also a great blues singer. There were also standards. At one point I said to Katherine, “I can’t imagine anyone not liking this.” That’s unusual for music that I love. I like music that takes a position outside the norms, but Aurora managed to do that while still coloring inside the lines. How? I don’t know, it’s a mystery. I would not be surprised if she didn’t know. She’s just trying to make good music, not the other kind.
As is true for so many of my favorite musicians she has conservatory training; hers is from Oberlin. The question is, how much of that comes from the training they get at the conservatory, and how much on the fact that conservatories only accept the best? My money is on it being a combination, and those without the formal training had to work harder on their own to get to that skill level.
It wasn’t easy getting pictures of her, her face was in a shadow, but I tried to catch her as she darted into the light.
After the show I introduced myself because I would cease to be me if I didn’t. I told them that I’d be writing and asking for music. Alex hasn’t recorded what I loved most of his, the old English ballads. He did an English version of the Newfoundland and Labrador standard, Rant and Roar. Now I know that English Sailors rant and roar too. I don’t know if they rant and roar like Good Newfoundlanders. They might do it differently.
When it was over instead of the interminable wait for the B61 bus we hiked to the F train which we both could use to get home. By then it wasn’t as hot, and I got to have my daily walk with great company. It was an excellent birthday celebration. I told Aurora that she was my birthday present.
Tonight, I’m off to see the Mets kick off the second half of the season. I better get moving. Nah, I’ll post when I get home. I don’t want to rush. This way I can make dinner to bring me with. Nope, I posted this the next day.
Wise Madness 