Saturday night I went to a fantastic show, Katie Martucci (marr-too-chee) and Akie Bermiss (burr-meese). I wanted to make that the lede before I explained why I haven’t been writing. Part of it was being busy but part was a bedeviled computer. It is now in the shop getting a new keyboard. Part of it was my procrastination. I should have written this today at school. Instead I’m home now, writing on my school computer, while I watch the Knick game. I’m putting off watching the season premiere of Mandelorian until tomorrow. That is how much I love My Gentle Readers. Don’t worry if you don’t reciprocate, I’m used to unrequited love.
Now back to our regularly scheduled blogging. Saturday night I made my way to the Owl Music Parlor in Central Brooklyn to see Katie and Akie. Thanks to loads of work being done on the subway it took me an hour and a half. As I walked the last 15-minute leg I started to regret going. This was just too long a commute. The only dinner I had time for was a slice of pizza while I walked. The trip took so long I arrived late. I got the last available seat. Even the bar, which is in a different room than the stage, was packed. I wasn’t the only one that wanted to see this show.
As soon as the show started my regrets were washed away. I have now seen Katie in four configurations. I discovered her band the Ladles on Amazon Music and became a fan. Then I saw her perform as part of another trio, Tucci Swing. I have seen her solo. On Saturday she performed with a backup band. The two trios are all women, the other members of the band were men. I have loved each and every configuration. Not only are they all great, they are all different. The only constants are Katie and the musicianship.
I present myself as a sophisticated music lover. I listen to music with intention. Listening is not passive. I work at hearing every instrument separately. I love to use terms like polyphony, more than one melody at a time. You know what else? There’s nothing I love more than inspired silliness. I did not know that was in Katie’s bag of tricks to the show.
She was invited to perform in Jimmy Fallon’s Battle of the Instant Songwriters. The audition was to write a song with the title something like My Lobster Lawyer. This is not what she performed on the show. I don’t know if it exists anywhere but she performed it live for us. She was rightly proud of it. I love it so much that I asked her to send it to me if there is a recorded version to play on Gord’s Gold. I can’t show you that, I didn’t take a video, but I can show you the song she performed on Fallon.
Katie is a tough act to follow but Akie is up to it. It helps that he’s totally different. She played guitar with a band, he was solo on piano. I have seen him with a band, he’s a brilliant jazz musician. This show was different. He made a point that the great thing about the Owl was that it’s a home game, they can do things more relaxed than other places. They can be sillier. Akie plays both covers and originals. The thing is that he says that all his original songs are on the same topic. An alien comes to earth and falls in love with an earth person. They can only communicate with each other by singing of their love. It’s not as narrow a genre as it sounds. There were separate songs about having sex in specific rooms of the house, the night kitchen and the shower. These are not bawdy sex romps, they are true love songs. They are beautiful and moving and weird in the best way.
His manor is that of a Vegas performer doing a one man show. He comes off as an act but at the same time totally genuine. Somebody should give him a series of TV specials. He can come out with his piano. Tell his stories, there are lots of stories, sing his songs, and have great musical guests like Katie. Maybe at Christmas he can visit David Bowie and they can sing Little Drummer Boy. Maybe it works better if Bing visits Akie. Either one works for me.
These two sets made the ridiculous commute worth it. I would travel that far to see either of them alone. The only disappointment was that I didn’t know a single person in the audience. There were so many that I should have. Last time I saw them share the stage I ran into many friends.
Sorry there is no picture of Akie. I took them but they didn’t come out.
I better get my computer back on Friday. The shop is by my school. I don’t want to have to travel to Brooklyn to pick it up on Saturday. I can’t really work on Gord’s Gold till I get it. I need access to all my music and Windows Media Player. This computer doesn’t have a USB port and I can’t have admin privileges so I can’t install my recording program. I have to get around to recording a break glass in case of an emergency show to use if I ever can’t record.
Wise Madness 