It’s Tuesday and I finally have time to write about Sunday. I went to see Amy Kucharik and Gracie Terzian at Astoria Bier and Cheese. This was exciting, Amy’s first New York gig since I met her. Amy is someone whose shows are so entertaining that I watched her streaming shows before COVID-19. I did not know Gracie at all but she has the Amy seal of approval. That’s enough, the harp ukulele was a bonus.
I got there early, before the artists and ordered food, the pretzel with beir cheese. I expected melted cheese, that wasn’t what it was. The pretzel was great, the soft cheese was nothing special.
I invited my friends who lived in Queens to come, they didn’t, but Bob did. Bob lives a mile as the crow flies from me. I can’t fly or walk on water, I’ve tried both, so it’s more like a mile and a half from me. I was surprised to see him, I didn’t know that he knew Amy longer and better than me. He, our friend Gary, and Amy drove to Kerrville together. She’s part of what I think of as the Garyverse. I stay with Gary when I go to the New Bedford Folk Festival. He’s a fellow math prof and a central figure in the folk scene.
Amy was up first, she asked me the question that I always dread, “what do you want to hear?” I can never think of any songs once I’m asked. I managed to come up with a couple. She couldn’t do the first choice as it required guitar, and she only had her uke with her.
I wrote yesterday that I didn’t know what makes Mary Lee Kortese not generic. What makes her not a Nice Person Playing Nice Songs Nicely (NPPNSN). I don’t have that problem with Amy, she proudly flies her freak flag. She uses the word cephalopod in a song. Do you really need to hear any more about her? That should be enough for you to be at least curious to hear her sing. She exists in the Mark Berube, Jim Infantino, matrix of genius songwriters from another planet, my planet. She’s not from Mars, but her parents are from Mars, and one day they are going back there to live. If you want to understand that, read Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars.
It’s now Wednesday. They let us out of school early because of the weather so I raced home and made dinner before going to John Platt’s On Your Radar. Now I’m grabbing some free time at school to write.
What kinds of music does Amy play? Good music. By genre it’s mainly blues and swing but she somehow makes that come out as folk. That is one of my musical sweet spots. As much as I love Woody Guthrie and Dylan I’m not listening for the musicality. There aren’t many folk instrumentals outside of subgenres like bluegrass and Celtic. Amy pleases all facets of my musical brain including humor. I love her mouth trumpet solos.
Gracie comes from someplace else, a place I can’t place. Her music is very much about her voice and how she uses it. She reminds me of Neha, who sees herself as the Indian Ella Fitzgerald. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Neha and Gracie know each other. Gracie makes beautiful music, not pretty, not nice songs played nicely, but beautiful. This is not one of my musical sweet spots so it takes high quality to entertain me, she has those skills.
Last night was on John Platt’s On Your Radar. The highlight was the great Kemp Harris. Just talking to him you might get the impression that Kemp is a nice person playing nice songs nicely. His years as a kindergarten teacher give him something of a Mr. Rogers/Captain Kangaroo, gentleness. As soon as he takes the stage that impression disappears. He’s filled with passion and dynamism. He captures your attention and takes it for a ride. When he’s singing of social injustice or personal matters he delivers it with the fervor of a fire and brimstone preacher, think Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry. I find myself wanting to shout, “Hallelujah!” when he finishes a song. You don’t need to use the mild parts of your vocabulary when describing him. He’s not pretty or sweet or nice, he’s beautiful, passionate or angelic. He is not someone that you want to follow onstage. He leaves you emotionally spent.
I feel that my writing was not up to the art of the musicians I’m describing today. They all deserve more. It’s the best I can do today and will have to do.
Wise Madness 