Thursday, February 28, 2008

So, this has nothing to do with music.

Forwards. I hate them. Well, that's a bit of an overstatement. I like some of them. I've gotten a few good ones in my day. I would say the percentage of good forwards to bad ones is 1:100. And my mom is one of the biggest culprits of bad forwards. She'll send me the ones that say, basically, "Multiply the number you picked in question four by the number of hours you sleep every night and then by the number of meals you eat every day, and forward this email to that many people OR SOMETHING VERY BAD WILL HAPPEN TO YOU!" I hate that! Most times, I just don't open stuff that comes from her and a few other notorious forwarders, but when curiosity gets the best of me (or I just mistakenly open something), then I usually just hit "reply all" and hope that takes care of the jinx.

Thank you for letting me vent.

Oh, and on the music front, Scott Regan was back at Open Tunings on 88.5 this morning. Happiness.

Yours in music,
t

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

I must be getting old 'cuz . . .

I just watched (probably the last person on the face of the earth) the Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck thing on YouTube. I guess it's funny, though I must admit Sarah and Jimmy are only slightly familiar. I did enjoy the assembly of stars in the Kimmel rebuttal all singing in a "We Are The World" type of situation. I don't know, though. I'm thinking, what's the point? That's when I realized . . . I must be getting old.

On the morning ride into work, I usually listen to NPR on 88.5 and then, because I'm usually running at least a few minutes behind, I hear the first few minutes of Open Tunings with Scott Regan. I really like that show. Today, Scott wasn't there and the guy who was filling in had some interesting taste in music. If this morning was the first time I'd ever heard it, I wouldn't tune in again. Can't wait for Scott to be back.

So I switched over to my other favorite station 90.1, and that is one that never disappoints. So, basically, the best two stations in town are both reliant on member support. Let's get the dollars out there, shall we? Quality music programming is hard to come by, we have to support it if we want to have the opportunity to hear diverse, excellent music. 88.5 comes out of the University of Rochester and 90.1 out of the Greece Central School District. These local folks putting on top quality music need our support--listen and give.

So, it's almost time for me to run out and torture my voice coach. She is a patient, encouraging and helpful young woman. TTFN.

yours in music,
Tracy

Sunday, February 24, 2008

And the crowd went wild . . .

Prime Time, baby, that's what was going on last night! The boys were in top form and that handsome lead guitarist, Joe Chiappone, was leading them there. The horns, holy cow! Vince Ercolamento had some crazy solos, and the last one was just phenomenal. How his head did not explode, I'll never know. Ronnie Leigh can sustain a note longer than one would think humanly possible. And when I talked with him about it after the show, he said, "Oh, I had to cut that one short." Wow.

The house was standing-room-only and the crowd was loving PTF. There were lots of dancers hitting the dance floor. We even got an encore out of the band. It was that good. I hope to hear them playing out at clubs more than they have been, and I hope with Joe playing that sweet guitar.

yours in music,
Tracy

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Don't Forget! Prime Time Funk tonight.

Come on out to see the best band in town - Prime Time Funk - at Hi Fidelity (formerly Milestones) on East Avenue between Spot Coffee and the East End Garage. The band plays from 7:00 to 9:00, and this week Joe will be sitting in at his old spot on guitar.

This group has been my favorite for as long as they've been playing. They've got one CD out and are finishing up a second. I have seen a lot of bands, and no one has them beat on talent or energy. They belong places other than Rochester, that's for sure, but aren't we lucky to have them!

Hope to see you there tonight.

yours in music,
Tracy

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Oh, yeah, Murray Street Station . . . Interesting place



Let me start by saying that I've just begun to recover my hearing. The band was loud, but louder still was the "music" the bar piped in between sets. The crowd was diverse. And that diversity led to the start of a fight at about 1:20 just before the band's last song. Luckily, Murray Street staff were able to get the warring parties outside, but it was hairy enough there for a minute that I was looking around for a "safe place" to go.

And, of course, I had the requisite drunk guy hanging over me asking me why I wasn't smiling. Well, "because you're bugging me" is what I wanted to say, but I didn't. I really have to work on my "Piss Off" face because instead of coming across as intimidating and a woman worth not bugging, I come across as sad and someone in need of cheering up. Yes, a drunk, slurring, spitting man up too close to my face is definitely going to cheer me up!

Murray Street Station had an interesting ambience, to say the least. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was that there were mounted animal heads all over the walls. I ended up sitting under a small black bear ("What large claws you have!"), and Joe had a large deer just about whispering in his ear as he played.

All that being said, the band sounded great, as usual. And Joe, especially, was on fire. Every note he played was filled with his sweet, soulful sound. And the guys play so well together; they appreciate each other's talent. It's so cool to watch and wonderful to hear.

Jimmy Richmond's wife sat with me. She was a blast; and she loves to dance! So, for the first time in a long time, I was able to hit the dance floor!

Next Saturday night (2/23) at Hi Fidelity (formerly Milestones) Joe, Jimmy, Dave and Ralph will be joined by the rest of PrimeTimeFunk for a two-hour set from 7:00 - 9:00. I have been looking forward to this. And I think I'll have enough friends there with me that I'll be able to hit the dance floor again. I know Jimmy's wife will be there, so I'm assured of at least one partner! And I'm pretty sure there will be no animals' heads mounted on the walls. Hope to see you there!

yours in music,
Tracy

Looking forward to U2 3D!

Release date of 2/22; hope it makes it to Rochester then. It sounds like it will be almost better than being there in person--great views and no being jostled by crowds or being behind the standing drunk guy (as I usually am).

yours in music,
Tracy

Friday, February 15, 2008

It's Friday!

That means music at Murray Street Station in Newark! I have no idea what this place is like. I tried to Google it and found, pretty much, nothing. The Aldis Blues Band and the Mary Rose Band have played there. I'll let you know if it's a lovely place like McCool's used to be in Geneva (I miss that place.) or if it's the kind of place that you're afraid to use the bathroom or something in between.

Tonight's gig is a Hot Sweets gig, and I haven't seen the guys play in a while, so I'm looking forward to it.

One thing that I said I was going to do a while ago is mention what music I'm listening to and/or review CDs once in a while. Well, I've been listening to the CD that Joe bought me at the All Star Guitar Night in Anaheim, and that is LJ Plays the Beatles (Laurence Juber, formerly of Paul McCartney & Wings). We heard him at the concert; he played While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and it was beautiful. I'm enjoying that CD. Check out Vicki Genfan on YouTube; I'm listening to her CD "Up Close & Personal" that I bought when I saw her at NAMM. I actually just went to YouTube to make sure there were some, and I also got Laurence Juber as part of the thread of videos that started with her. Funny.

Speaking of YouTube, my daughter's vocal performance last week with the FHS Day Jazz Band is going to be on soon. I can't wait to find it. The bassist's dad recorded it, and is going to post it--hopefully within the next week or so.

The other CD I'm listening to is the one my son recently sent me: Appetite for Destruction (Guns 'n' Roses). The reason he sent it is because Sweet Child O' Mine was the number one song the week he was born, and I used to have the tape but lost it. He, for whatever reason, decided to buy it and send it to me! I thought that was very sweet. I'm quite a sentimental sap, so I love stuff like that. Anyway, who would think that a Guns 'n' Roses tune would make anyone all misty, but it does bring back some wonderful memories of the first few weeks of Drew's life. I played lots of different kinds of music all the time when the kids were little, but Drew told me this summer that the first "real music" he remembers from his childhood is Rusted Root, and he still likes them pretty well. He told me that when I took him and Caroline to see them this past June at the Jazz Fest. I think that's kind of cool.

That's all for now; got to get ready for work.

yours in music,
Tracy

Monday, February 11, 2008

Quick note.

This past Saturday night, Joe and I took in the Steve Greene Trio (with Tina Albright) at Equal Grounds Coffee House on South Ave. We got there late. It was pretty packed. Steve was in rare form. We missed the set where he was doing awesome, straight-ahead jazz and got there in time for silliness. But even in silliness, Steve Greene is still pretty awesome.

'Tweren't the usual suspects in the band that night. The bass player and drummer were subs. I wasn't thrilled. They were okay, but . . . However, Tina was on her game, as always. In fact, she seemed clearly in charge of this show. Her voice was warm and rich, sultry and seductive as usual. She was playing games, too. She sang pointedly to her boyfriend, and it was fun watching him squirm! (Sorry, Dave, it was priceless!)

Last weekend (2/2), we saw Madeline Forster at Brio. Her bass player, Dave Arenius, is one musician I know and think is really great (and a darned nice guy, too). The other players were young Eastman guys whom I didn't know. And then there was her dad, Tim Forster, jumping in on flute every once in a while. Madeline was fine. She had a lovely voice, and she was young and pretty. Joe and Dave seemed to think that she was really good. Dave thought her phrasing was excellent and that she "really told a story" with each song. My opinion was that she sounded good, and I agree that she had her phrasing down. I'd like to hear her again. I disagree about her sounding like she was telling a story. She's 21. She sings like a well-trained 21-year-old. She doesn't have the depth of life experience that someone like, say, Tina Albright has and she, therefore, cannot sing like someone who has. If you haven't lived through heartaches and sadness, loss and betrayal, then you really can't sing it. You can sing the words, you can have perfect tone, you can phrase it just so, but if you haven't lived it, Baby, then you can't sing it. She will someday, though, and then we'll talk.

That's all for now. Joe plays next week. I'm excited.

yours in music,
Tracy

Friday, February 8, 2008

Thanks, Uncle Wally!



This is me in a photo taken by the Alvarez guitar rep at NAMM. I was chilling out on their comfy sofa after about six hours of walking around. It was a nice place to stop and rest - with nice reps, too!

I have to say, Uncle Wally, that I tried exactly the same steps in the past, and I was completely unsuccessful. I don't know what I did wrong then or right now, but wow, I am so happy. Thanks so much!

yours in music,
Tracy

Joe and Me in Balboa park San Diego



This photo was taken by a guy who looked as though he could have just as easily taken our camera and run as take such a nice picture as this. And it was funny because Joe and I were lamely trying to do the "hold-the-camera-at-arm's-length-and-take-our-own-photo" thing, and he walked up and was quite eager to take the picture for us. I'm glad he did. It's one of my favorites, and it comes with a story!

yours in music,
Tracy

Thursday, February 7, 2008

A beautiful thing . . .

that I forgot to mention about Day 1 at NAMM. Joe had wanted to try out these effects pedals last year, but the company had a demo guy who didn't let anyone actually try the equipment for themselves. So this year, Joe went into the booth and asked the guy if it was "against the rules" to let him try it out for himself. The guy clearly did not want to let his guitar go into the hands of this stranger, but he acquiesced and Joe got to try out the pedals.

I saw how closely the guy watched Joe's handling of his guitar. He was tense. But as time went on, and he was able to hear Joe play and interact with him, he relaxed. We were in that booth for about a half hour. Joe tried every pedal; the guy listened. Joe clearly appreciated the quality of the pedals and enjoyed playing. When he was done, Joe gently handed the guy back his guitar and thanked him. And here is the beautiful part . . . the guy said, "It was my pleasure. You are a truly gifted musician." And he is. And part of his beauty is the fact that he is so humble in regard to his talent. That makes him even more of a gift to us.

yours in music,
T

So, California . . . be prepared--this is a long one.





Being at the airport with the required time to spare for a 6:00 am flight sure is fun! Well, it may not have been fun, but it was worth it. What a beautiful week we had in CA. The weather rarely varied from sunny and 60s--only raining one morning in San Diego.

The first full day at NAMM was spent at a couple of classes and then going from booth to booth--purposefully but rather leisurely by comparison to the last two days. It was during the first day of looking at so many beautiful guitars and hearing Joe play them or the demo-ing musician playing them that made me decide that I want to put a little more effort than I have been into learning to play the lovely guitar that sits up in my room. I'd love to be able to pick up one of those guitars next year and actually play it.

So far since we've been back, that guitar has come out of its case once, and it got disgusted with me for forgetting the two chords that Joe taught me last year. It went back into its case. "I promise, I'll let you out again, and I'll be better." That's what I said, but it ignored me.

I digress. Anyway, on the second day I planned to get to the Kahler booth to see Victor Wooten who was scheduled to play at 2:00. I got there by 1:15. I was 5th in line right up at the counter. The crowd started to thicken. Victor arrived and got set up. The crowd became a problem, apparently, because right after Victor said hello to us and started talking about his bass and about playing (he was really personable) and played one--just one--tune, the Arena Police dispersed us. All of us. Even those of us who were 5th in line and leaning on the counter out of the way of the aisle. Dispersed!

So we all lurked like crows that have been scattered from their roadkill by a passing car. Looking, lurking, loitering . . . when finally the Arena Police were able to put us in an acceptable line for Victor to sign pictures. No more tunes. I went from Number 5, though, to Number I Don't Know What. I was sure I was never going to get up there, the Arena Police were keeping a tight rein on things and the threat of dispersement (I know that's not a real word) was ever-present. I got up there, Victor was great. He signed a picture for my son and the guy behind me took our picture with my camera. That picture and a few others are posted on my Facebook. Those of you with a Facebook account can see them there. The rest of you will have to wait until Uncle Wally shows me how to post photos here.

That was my excitement for Friday during the day. Also, we stood in a long--and long doesn't begin to describe it--line waiting to get into a show in which the headliner was John Mayer. I was very excited. Joe was more excited about another player, Phil Keaggy. We had been running all day at the show. We were tired. Our feet were past tired. We stood and got more and more aggravated at the "line-budgers" that were everywhere. There were no "Arena Police" here, and no one was keeping any order at all. So the line that was long to begin with just kept getting longer because of all the "special" people who felt too important to wait. Eventually, we got seats in the last row. The first act sucked. The second sucked so much that we left after one song. John Mayer wasn't scheduled to come on for a few hours, and we were too tired, hungry, and aggravated to wait. Sorry, John.

Saturday, Joe was on his own at the show as I spent the day with my childhood best friend, Maryann who lives in close proximity to Anaheim. She took me shopping and out to lunch and then to Huntington beach where we walked the pier and watched the surfers, swimmers, and volleyball players. It was a beautiful day.

That night, Joe and I stood in a long line with more line-budgers waiting for the Muriel Anderson All-Star Guitar review. We got in and were so far back that until I got home and looked him up, I had no idea that Andreas Oberg (one of the amazing jazz players we heard and I would jump at the chance to hear again) was so awesomely gorgeous! Check out his website, holy cow! Monte Montgomery played again this year and Joe was as impressed as last year. In fact, he said something like, "I'm going to go home and burn my guitar." In addition, Laurence Juber (formerly of Paul McCartney and Wings) played a beautiful version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Joe bought me his CD and had him sign it for me. Thank you, Joe.

So, I have to have a little rant (of course) because people are so freakin' RUDE! You know how I feel about the Talkers, and there were plenty of those, but the guy behind me took the cake. We called him "Flashlight/Baggie/Cell Phone Guy" and for good reason. To begin with, though the aud was darkened, it was most definitely not too dark to see. For some reason, he felt the need to shine a flashlight to illuminate the way for anyone going into his row or ours or down the aisle. Wasn't that nice of him? No, not really because every time I caught that flash of light in my peripheral vision, it was completely distracting. Beyond that, the man had a bazillion baggies (I think empty) in his briefcase that he kept taking out and reorganizing. That many baggies being ruffled and wrinkled actually make a lot of noise. I was becoming really annoyed and shot him a few "looks" but they went unnoticed. One time, he had the flashlight on, in his mouth, shining onto his briefcase of baggies which he was rifling through, and I turned around to give him yet another "look" and he looked up and shined the light right in my face. ANGRY. By the time he had the long and loud cell phone conversation with someone (while the performances were going on, mind you) about how great the show was--how did he even know, I wondered--Joe was grabbing my hand tight. I think he was afraid I might deck the guy. Though I wouldn't have done that, I did have many choice words floating around my mouth ready to be spewed on this guy, but that wouldn't have been very ladylike, and it might have embarrassed Joe or caused him to have to pound the guy, so I just kept my mouth shut. Though he didn't completely ruin the show for us, I can tell you that we will never forget Flashlight/Baggie/Cell Phone Guy.

Sunday we drove to San Diego, prowled around Balboa Park, had dinner at a place called The Hob Nob Hill Restaurant and had some well-deserved down time at our beautiful B&B. Monday we toured the USS Midway which was really cool and then walked through Old Town with all the Mexican stores, restaurants, art galleries and a beautiful church. We had a fabulous dinner in Little Italy at Buon Apetito. Tuesday found us on a pedi-cab ride along the harborfront and poking through some galleries and stores, then down to the Gaslamp Quarter where we parked in the Vegetable Garage and walked around. We planned on dinner there and music at Croce's that night, but after walking all the way to the Hillcrest Neighborhood for amazing desserts at Extraordinary Desserts (I had THE best coconut cake ever), we just ran out of steam. Knowing that we had to get up before dawn to make the ride back to Long Beach airport to leave the next day, clinched it. Dinner was at Avenue 5--tres chic--and that was about the end of our vacation.

Hope you enjoyed my little vacation epic. So, now that I've wrapped up California, perhaps tomorrow I'll be able to talk about the music scene in Rochester LAST weekend (before THIS weekend happens).

Don't forget Jim Allen's opening tomorrow night at A&CCGR!

yours in music,
Tracy

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Quick note on an upcoming event at the Arts Council

This Friday night, from 5:00 until 8:00, the opening reception for Jim Allen's show of photographs of jazz musicians will take place at the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester's Gallery at 277 N. Goodman Street. Amazing photographs of jazz musicians in the midst of creating their art abound - including some of our local jazz greats like Steve Curry, Vince Ercolamento, Bob Sneider and more. This is the show I've been waiting for since I started working at the Arts Council in May.

The show is open now and runs until February 28th. Come and check it out - weekdays from 10:00 to 4:00, except the 18th when we are closed for President's Day.

yours in music,

Tracy

It's TIME to get writing . . .

A wise writing woman I met today read my blog and noted that I start so many of my posts with some words about TIME - the quick passage of TIME, apologies for not enough TIME to write, etc. Yes, that preoccupation I have with how TIME flies, which can verge on maudlin at TIMES, has been central to me for a very long time. That will not change, sadly, BUT I can stop mentioning it in every post.

So, this short post is to get me writing--get me current--again. I have much to say about what/who I saw in Anaheim a couple of weeks ago and the live music I saw right here in good old Rochester last weekend. I'll get to it as soon as I have some . . . well, you know.

Every good writer needs a good editor; point well taken, Marget!

Okay, that's all the TIME I have for that.

Yours in music,
T