Good evening America and all the ships at sea. This weekend was a Gordon Special, all about me being me. On Saturday I wrote the script for this week’s Gord’s Gold. That’s not the special part. The evening was special, Carolann Solebello, Tina Vero, and Dave Murphy played the PostCrypt Coffeehouse, in the bowels of St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University. That’s one of my old haunts, but I haven’t been there in ages, not since long before the plague years. That’s a pretty Gordon way to spend an evening but what makes it special is that I met Carolann and Mark for dinner first at my traditional pre-PostCrypt Greek restaurant the Acadame Symposium. I always have trouble with the name. I know it comes from Plato. His school was called The Acadame and as that’s a place it seems like a good name for a restaurant. It is, but this one is called Symposium, after his book The Symposium. Chris introduced me to the place, he went to Columbia so knew the area. I suspect the first time we went was with We’re About 9. What is the attraction other than great Greek food, one particular Greek dish Saganaki aka Flaming Cheese. Carolann thinks that would make a great band name. As usual she is correct. It not only tastes great but it’s food you can play with. It is brought to the table flaming and you douse the flames with juice you squeeze out of lemon slices. There are few things better than sitting at a table with friends and a dish of flaming cheese.
Carolann I know very well, I also know Tina and Dave but I had no idea from where. I figured out that I met Dave when he played On Your Radar. By figured out I mean, he told me when I asked. I was going to make my usual assertion that I have no brain but you know what? This happens to everyone. I am often the one that remembers the exact details of when I met someone and they just know that they sort of know me. I have no problem with self-effacement but only when I deserve it.
We all got nostalgic when we went down into the postcrypt. They’ve played it before. Looking at the pictures behind the refreshment counter is taking a trip back in time. I think they all date back further than the first time I went something like 25 years ago. My favorite is Pete Kennedy and Maura Boudreau, it’s from before they got married. Tina spotted her magnet on the refrigerator from when she played there around when her first album came out. We all noticed Ina May Wool’s picture. Ina May came to the show and sat right by her picture. Rich, Carolann’s bandmate from CC Railroad sat with us. Rich, Mark, Carolann, and Tina all met at the late lamented Sun Music on the Upper East Side. I went there too but I remember it being on the upper west side. I trust the memory of all of them, and Cheryl who was also in CC Railroad more than mine alone. Again, that is not a dig at myself. It’s important to be aware of the plasticity of our memories.
The format for the show was they each did a short set, Carolann, then Tina, then Dave followed by a song swap they did in the round. There were quite a few blasts from the past and some new songs too. The room was filled with the magic of the music community. It’s always special to be in the presence of that.
I enjoy watching myself compartmentalize my brain. Tina did a song that I heard as a colleague of John Platt. The three of them doing it together is right at the heart of his sweet spot. It reminds me of when I saw the film Smoke. I loved it but what struck me more was how much my friend Marc, not to be confused with Mark, would love it.
After the show we headed towards the 1 train, they went downtown, and I traveled up. When I got to my stop, 131st street in the Bronx I saw that I just missed the Bx1 bus and the next wasn’t due for another 36 minutes. It would take me 40 minutes to walk home, which I didn’t want to do in the rain after midnight. I broke down and took an Uber. It was a fun ride. The driver ordered some food for himself but I couldn’t pick up the language. I’m terrible at learning languages but usually have a good ear. My first thought was Arabic but rejected it. I shouldn’t have. After he hung up I asked him about the language and he told me it was Arabic. What fooled me was that he’s from Yemen and I never heard it spoken with a Yemeni accent. Arabic is spoken over such a wide area that it has a broader range of regional accents. He told me that just in Yemen the people sound like they are from five different countries. This is one of the benefits of living in New York, the world comes to you.
Sunday I went to the first game of the second round of the NBA playoffs. This is only the second time this millennium that the Knicks made it that far. The crowd was hopping. In the first half the Knicks cruised, in the second they crashed, they lost.
I was good and remembered to stop at Trader Joe’s on the way home. I needed some items ASAP, especially milk. The best thing I bought were the Brownie Crisp Coffee Ice Cream Sandwiches. Ever notice how often I write about food?
I was so busy last week that I’m sort of relieved that this week I have a light schedule. On Wednesday night I’m seeing Anna Dagmar conducting at Hunter College which is convenient for me, then on Saturday Dan and I are seeing Rachel Baiman and Alec Spiegelman at the Owl in Brooklyn. I could use the rest.
How did I not get a picture of the flaming cheese?
Wise Madness 