Okay, that was cool . . .

And I forgot to tell you - I met a reporter from the D&C on Monday night at the Future of Music event, and she (Anna) said she "reads my blog every day." WOW! I was shocked and delighted. Too bad I don't have anything interesting to say today.

Well, there is the fact that I listened to NPR on Friday afternoon on my way to Charlotte to interview an artist for an article I'm writing for Metropolitan magazine. Anyway, Joe Jackson was on with David Dye. Whoa. I'm having a deja vu episode. I feel I've written this before, but I've looked at the last two entries and it's not there. So, onward. Joe Jackson has a new CD entitled Rain. It sounds absolutely fabulous, and I want it! I think I'm going to ask my son to get it for me for Mother's Day. We'll see how that goes.

I think this link will get you to the right page to listen to last Friday's show and hear the tunes that he performed. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89937753

So cool. I'm going to email my son right now!

yours in music,
Tracy

Future of Music Event - Yesterday

Thanks to all of you local musicians who came out to "get schooled" by the folks at the Future of Music Coalition. I hope you all learned something new. I heard from several of you that you thought it was a highly relevant program. That makes me happy.

I learned something at one of the breakout sessions. Musicians like to send their CDs off to local bloggers to review. I'm thinking . . . BRING 'EM ON! Seriously, I've been emailed to come and review bands, I sure wouldn't mind reviewing CDs. If anyone so desires, just shoot me a comment with an email address and I'll tell you where to mail them. Or, perhaps you have files that can be attached to an email--I learned at the FMC event that this is quite possibly the way to do it. So . . . let me know!

Please check out my MySpace at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=70839910 because you will find that many of the artists on my "friend list" have music clips. I so enjoy hearing them. I wish I could figure out how to have a running playlist of all of them. If anyone knows how I can do this, please let me know!

Joe plays this weekend in Newark. Yeah. Newark. He'll be back in the city next weekend. I believe Hot Sweets will be at Woody's on Friday night the 9th from 6:00 to 10:00.

yours in music,
Tracy

Future of Music Event on Monday, April 28 at RMSC

The Future of Music Coalition is partnering with the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester and the AFM to present a workshop on highly relevant topics to musicians and others in the music industry.

This program is free, and there will be food! Registration starts at 2:30 at the Rochester Museum and Science Center on Monday, April 28. The program runs until 8:30. You don't need to pre-register, and you can arrive or leave at any time--whatever works for your schedule.

By using the link below, you can go directly to the Future of Music Coalition's website and see what is on the program. I urge you to check it out. I think you will find it useful.

http://www.futureofmusic.org/events/newyork08/index.cfm

I'm on the program (somewhere) to be speaking about the benefits of being a member of our organization, and I will be at a breakout table discussing NYS/ACCGR funding opportunities as well.

Please join us.

yours in music,
Tracy

Fay Victor Ensemble at BopArts Concert Series

If you don't know it already, I'm a little pedestrian in my tastes when it comes to jazz. So, last night's concert in the BopArts series was a bit of a stretch for me. Some of it was simply beyond my capacity, but it was apparent that it was not beyond the rest of the crowd's. There was much head-bobbing and quiet smiling going on in the group of 30 or so who braved the elements and left their homes last night. (Yes, I know it was a gorgeous night--where was everyone?)

There were musicians and musical "types" there. When I see them, especially my friend Greg Bell, I take notice of their expressions and ask about how they are experiencing the music. Head-bobbing and smiling . . .

The ensemble is a vocalist, Fay Victor, with a rich, deep, resonant voice. I appreciated the beauty of it, but I couldn't help wishing she would sing a "real" song. Her phrasing was adventurous; sometimes startling. She was, really, quite amazing. Her band consists of Swedish guitarist (now NYC resident) Anders Nilsson who has played with Sabir Mateen, Daniel Carter, Ras Moshe and many others. Bassist is Bop Shop semi-regular Ken Filiano, who appeared here earlier this month with Taylor Ho Bynum’s group. On drums is Michael T.A. Thompson who played here a few years back as a member of Sabir Mateen’s ensemble.

They were hot . . . in a very avant garde, jazzy kind of way. If the lights had been dim, I would have felt like I was in a subterranean jazz bar in New York City . . . one of the cool kids.

yours in music,
Tracy

Yay Me! And Bill, Bill, Paul, Fred . . .

I got an email the other day from the folks at the Rochester International Jazz Fest saying that the first 250 people to respond were going to win one year subscriptions to Downbeat Magazine. Well, it was the last thing in my inbox, so I knew it hadn't been there too long, but I didn't hold out too much hope as I followed the simple directions and hit "send." Then, this morning, I received notice that amazingly enough, I was the 11th responder! (After Paul Harris, who was number 7!) I saw so many names that I recognized from one place or another, like friends from the local music world--Bill Tiberio, Bill Ribas, Fred Stone, John Castronova . . . members of the Arts Council or just names I recognized from around town. What a cool thing. I was surprised and delighted to be a winner. Congratulations to all and thanks to RIJF and Downbeat Magazine!

Yours in music,
Tracy

Oh, and one more thing . . . though not about music.

So, I looked at the front of my house the other day, and I was surprised to see that my flowers had been yanked out of their beds and replaced with shrubbery. I rent, so I imagine the "landlord's helper" took it upon himself/themselves to decide that the flowers I had planted were unimportant and messy. I hadn't "groomed" the beds. It just stopped being winter this week, for crying out loud. Well, these folks have time on their hands and probably figured they were doing me a "favor."

However . . . those plants were really the only thing that connected me to this place that I live in . . . that I don't really like. I will be happy to say goodbye to it when I finally find a house. But in the meantime, I had transplanted some mini-carnations from my old house three years ago when I moved in. They were kind of important to me. Last Easter, Joe gave me a beautiful pink daisy that I planted in that same bed. That daisy did nothing all last summer, then suddenly in the fall, grew massive and bloomed again in October--huge, deep pink blooms. I loved it. I also had a clematis that I had bought the first summer I lived here. It was really tiny, but I tied string to the trellis that was on the other porch, and eventually it climbed up, and each summer became bigger, taller and stronger. It was a beautiful plant with big, deep purple blossoms.

All gone. No ask. Just yank. It makes me kind of sad. It was the only thing that was "me" having to do with this house. The mini-carnations linked me to my past--the good memories of the smell wafting up from the garden into my son's room and us smelling it when I put him to bed at night. The clematis was sort of my "regrowth" when I moved into this place. It was new; I was new. It was fragile and needed the help of the strings and the trellis. I was fragile and needed the help of my friends and my family. The daisy represented my here and now--my happiness, and the love of Joe in my life. They were happy little flowers, and I would have taken them with me when I moved.

I had to vent. I'm sorry to do it here since it has nothing whatsoever to do with music, but here it is.

Speaking of music, I think I'm going to put some on right now. Today at Starbucks--I know, I know; don't give me any grief--I bought a 2-CD disc called The Grammys - 50th Anniversary Collection. There's some good stuff on there. I didn't realize that "The Girl From Ipanema" (Stan Getz with Astrud Gilberto and Joao Gilberto) got a Grammy. Bobby Darin, for Mack the Knife, too! BB King, The Thrill is Gone; Otis Redding, (Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay; John Mayer, Gravity (which has special meaning for me); The Police, Every Breath You Take; Alison Krauss, Down to the River to Pray (love to sing that one); Tony Bennett, I Left My Heart in San Francisco; Culture Club, Do You Really Want to Hurt Me (REALLY???!!!); among others. So, I think I'll pop that in and forget about my missing flora.

yours in music (and other stuff),
Tracy

How COULD I have forgotten . . .

"Comic Book Tracy" seemed to be appropriate enough for this post.

On our way home after dinner on Friday night, Joe and I stopped at Lappy's in East Rochester to see our friend Dan Schmitt (and his Shadows) dish up some blues. An excellent group of musicians and an obvious local favorite, Dan and the gang had the dance floor filled with swinging, twirling and dipping duos the whole time we were there. It was exactly the kind of music that, in another lifetime, I would have been dancing to all night long. Now, I am quite content to sit back, relax, listen and appreciate both the music and the show on the dance floor.

Apparently, Lappy's used to be Taylor's. Joe thought so, anyway. It seems quite possible given the leopard print carpeting, the red walls, and the dim lighting. It appeared be quite the place to "meet and greet" for the over-40ish (or so) crowd. Let's just say it was an interesting place, and one in which I was quite happy to be with my Joe and not on my own.

Well, that's about it for me for this weekend. I'm hoping to get to see Cyrus Chestnut next Friday night--and if the stars and planets are in the right alignment, then maybe I'll just see you there!

yours in music,
Tracy

More great music and food . . .

Back to Tasteology tonight for a dinner with my friend, Diane. Joe had a "private gig" in Geneva, so I was on my own. It was my pleasure to introduce Diane to the culinary delights offered up by the staff at Tasteology as well as the wonderful music provided by six of the ten players in the Rick Holland Evan Dobbins Little Big Band. Let me tell you, even at six, the "little" band's sound was damn big! Once again, I cannot stress enough the quality of the musicianship of these guys. They are not to be missed. The food, too, was excellent. I had the "pasta" Romanescu (sp?). Instead of the whole wheat pasta, I opted for the spaghetti squash, and it was delightful. Diane had the Aegean Escape roti wrap (also with shrimp) which she said was excellent. The great food and excellent music deserved more customers there, but those who were there were appreciative.

I really wanted to hit the Little Cafe afterward to see the Steve Green Trio with Tina, but we were whipped and it was already 10:00 when we left Tasteology. The Trio was only playing to 10:30. There's always next weekend, I guess. Or maybe the White Hots on Monday?

Last night was Kinloch at Bodhi's, but by the time Joe and I finished dinner, we just couldn't drag ourselves out. Fridays are tough. It's a long week, and it's hard to rally if you've actually gotten home and had dinner. I know we'll get there someday, because Kinloch is a friend of Joe's, I think, and I know Joe would like to see him play.

That's all for now!

yours in music,
Tracy

Back at Tasteology on Monday night.

Just a quick note. GET OFF YOUR BUTTS! GET OUT OF YOUR HOUSES! And come on down to Tasteology on Monday nights to see the biggest little big band around! The Rick Holland-Evan Dobbins Little Big Band is booked for a while at Tasteology on Monday nights. The quartet starts around 7:30 or so and the Little Big Band starts about 8:30. Don't miss this.

We have venues. Venues that are willing to host music. We need to support these venues to keep them alive and well. We have bands. Bands with amazing talent. We have to support these talented musicians or they are going to go elsewhere. This scares me. I worry that our fair city will someday be silent. We get a hundred thousand-plus people out for the Jazz Fest. For one week. Can't we get 50 people out at each show at each venue to see our fabulous local musicians every week for the rest of the year? Let's not lose this beautiful gift that Rochester has, okay?

Yours in music,
Tracy

Music at the Market - South Wedge Farmers Market

Who would have guessed?! I got an invitation to come sing at Music at the Market at the South Wedge Farmers Market. (I guess that's because they haven't actually heard me sing, yet!) Anyway, I'm putting the link to their flier down below because a fair number of musicians do read this blog, and they might be interested. Please let me know if it works out for you!

http://www.swfarmersmarket.org/participate/musicians/

yours in music,
Tracy

Sunday Session with Ruth Elaine . . .

Just as I tuned in to WRUR's Sunday Session with Ruth Elaine, I heard a beautiful version of Misty with a B3 purring, understated drums and a very Joe-like guitarist. I was loving it and starting to get, well . . . misty . . . when suddenly, dead air. Eventually, Ruth Elaine (what a unique DJ style this woman has) came back on and mentioned the obviously chronic technical difficulties they were having this evening and moved on to the Oscar Peterson trio at the BlueNote. That's jazz, I guess.

Speaking of jazz, I am very excited to see that Cyrus Chestnut (who I saw with Cassandra Wilson last May at said BlueNote) is coming to town in a couple of weeks. I was hoping to see him again--actually, I was hoping he'd be at the Jazz Fest, but this might be better. He'll be at Exodus to Jazz at the Clarion; I'm assuming he'll be playing a lengthier set than what they can usually offer during the Jazz Fest. I'm hoping to get tickets and see this warm, wonderful pianist.

Oh my. Is Ruth Elaine offering up another version of Misty to make up? Oh, no. Something else--very similar intro. It was nice, but it was no Misty.

Saw the Steve Greene trio sans Tina Albright last night at the Little Cafe. Tina was at home sick; we were bummed. Kristen Shiner McGuire filled in on vocals. She has a completely different sound--albeit very nice and very jazzy--than Tina; but I was in a Tina mood. Speaking of the Little Cafe, you know, the acoustics in the bathroom are so sweet. I can't help but sing when I'm in there. Last night, my choice was Georgia on My Mind. I sounded great!!! If only I could always sound like that.

Having a great time with my MySpace. I send out friend requests, and people respond "NO WAY." Just kidding. They've all let me be their friend, and I'm getting friend requests from people who have found me out there. It's pretty cool. Now, if I can just learn how to download some music . . . any helpers out there?

yours in music,
Tracy

Finally buckled.

I made a MySpace.

I think this might be the link: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=70839910 (Well, it's a "copy and paste in your browser" kind of a link. It worked, though, I tried it.)

People that I'm "friend requesting" are being nice enough to respond. Thank you!

yours in music,
Tracy

Elevators . . . you just never know who you might meet!

So, this morning as I was entering the elevator in the Crowne Plaza in beautiful downtown Albany, two guys had been talking as they waited for the elevator, and one got on with me. He said, "Well, that's life when you're living on a tour bus." Well, of course this begs the question, "You're living on a tour bus?" And that's how I met Yonrico Scott, the drummer for the Derek Trucks band. In our conversation of less than a minute, I found out that Derek Trucks is on tour with Santana, and they are playing in Albany tomorrow night. Too bad for me that I am home in Rochester now and will miss it. I do believe the tour buses that I saw parked outside the hotel when I left today must have been theirs.

Last night as I sat in the hotel restaurant awaiting bad pizza, I wrote about the rest of my weekend of music. On Saturday night at Woody's on Monroe Avenue, Joe Chiappone and the usual suspects played, and they were hot! Joe had hurt his back and didn't think that he'd be playing too great, but he was smokin'. There was a very appreciative crowd--college age and beyond . . . dancers and others. There was a very large number of some of the other premier musicians around town--Kevin Hart and Joe Passamonte were the first two people I saw. From that point on, there were players from Rochester Brass & Electric, Boys Lie, Me & the Boyz, Tina Albright, Dave Charneski, Steve Greene, and even Jeff Cosco. He sat in for one tune, singing Ain't No Sunshine (When She's Gone) - on which Ralph Ortiz always shines. Dave Marinelli played keyboards on a couple of tunes including my favorite of one of his own very Latin arrangements of Summertime.

Overall, it was a very lively and fun night at Woody's. I'm sure they will be anxious to have Hot Sweets back soon.

Speaking of Summertime . . . as I was driving to Albany on Tuesday afternoon, I heard Tina Albright singing her rendition of that tune with the White Hots on 90.1 - her voice is unmistakably rich and beautiful.

So, "on the road again . . . " and with time to think about things. I was on the NYS Thruway and there was, therefore, nothing as interesting to look at (as far as scenery goes) as what I see on my way to PA. Really, all I saw were dormant trees and grasses, farms with derelict equipment, cows, and the little towns and cities that dot the Thruway. Towns with manufacturing plants that look empty or sparsely staffed. There is always a church that stands out - bright cross on top or whitewashed shingles that sparkle. Well, that sounds slightly more interesting that I had thought originally. Still, kind of a snoozer of a ride.

Are we in the "Rust Belt?" It kind of looks like that - even more so than on my route to Carlisle, PA. It makes me sad. I think of what were the "glory days" of these towns - probably in the '50s or '60s. Maybe even the '70s were good to the areas as well. But now . . . well.

As I drove into the center of downtown Albany, the sun was shining on the State House. It was beautiful, actually. Albany was hopping at 6:00 p.m. on a Tuesday evening. It's not like downtown Rochester (so sad for us). I was smack dab in the middle of downtown, and there were tons of restaurants - clearly busy. There were lots of people walking around the streets - business people. In the Crowne Plaza, the Pub was pretty crowded with business people at the bar at 8:30. There was Senator Robach having dinner with a colleague. You know, I thought I saw Jim Alesi earlier. Maybe all those "suits" were political types. Boy, I wish this conference had take place a few weeks ago when the whole Spitzer brou-ha-ha was going on. Now THAT would have been fun!

yours in music (and other stuff)
Tracy

Amazing Grace and Complete Mastery

Friday night was spent at Roberts Wesleyan (nice aud) enjoying Victor Wooten and his band. WOW. Phenomenal musicians and really great people.

Highlights: Victor's solo. Alone on-stage, Victor and his bass. He started with Norwegian Wood, moved through many songs that were familiar but I cannot name on to Chopsticks and Heart & Soul, Night in Tunisia, wound his way through Misty and ended up with Amazing Grace. An appropriate song to end on, I thought, and an apt phrase with which to describe Victor Wooten since he has That in spades. Joe had two different words that he used to describe Victor's playing . . . "complete mastery." He said he's never heard anyone play the bass with the complete mastery of the instrument that Victor has.

In addition to the amazing Victor, he had a female vocalist with a deep, rich voice and her own special Grace; a keyboardist who was "just filling in" on the tour but who sounded like he'd been playing with them forever; Victor's brother on guitar; a bass "tech" who also plays (and he really PLAYS) on another bass; and this amazing drummer, Derico Watson, who played a tune that was recorded on the new disc (Palmystery) with three drummers--but he did it all himself live. And with light-up drumsticks! Very cool.

On top of the great show (about 2.5 hours), the band members were waiting outside the venue to sign the merchandise, ticket stubs, basses, whatever, that people wanted signed. I bought a t-shirt for Drew and Victor's book, The Music Lesson, for Caroline and Joe bought Palmystery. I had the book and CD signed by everyone. They were all so gracious and lovely. I will definitely want to see them when they come to town again, and I strongly encourage all of you to see them, too.

yours in music,
Tracy

Monday . . . Tasteology . . . Little Big Band . . . What a way to start the week!

I received a phone message yesterday from Chris at Tasteology inviting me to come and review the Rick Holland-Evan Dobbins Little Big Band who were to be playing at his restaurant last night. His message came shortly after I had received a call from one of the players, Fred Stone, in that same band about something else. It was a sign, I thought; and never being one to turn down an invitation (or ignore a sign), I decided to take my daughter to dinner. I figured I'd review the band and the restaurant at the same time.

I've seen the Rick Holland-Evan Dobbins Little Big Band once before at Hi Fidelity at last year's RIJF. I loved them. While they are "little" in size as compared to a standard big band, they have a huge sound which comes at you in layers with rich textures and beautiful flow. Hmm. Sounds like a description of a dress, I know, but that's how I heard their music. Complex, crisp--each player right on the mark--I could have listened to them all night. My only criticism was that they seemed to need a little time between each song to "talk amongst themselves" and figure out what the next song would be. (I do not remember that from the last time I saw them.) On the upside, that was the only time you could talk to your dining partner if you so chose.

I think the band is playing there every Monday night in April with Evan's dad, Bill Dobbins, sitting in every other week. I will definitely be going back. I couldn't stay for the entire time because my daughter, who also enjoyed the band very much, had homework. I will go back in a couple of weeks, and if they are at the RIJF this year, I will definitely be going to see them. FYI, though the music had started when I got there at 7:30, it was a small combo from the band which was perfect for the dinner hour. The entire Little Big Band came on about 8:30.

The room is very live and that means that the sound of the band is loud and everywhere. For me, that's not a bad thing. When I go to hear a band, that's what I'm there for. If I want to have a quiet dinner with conversation, I don't go where there's live music. I loved, loved, loved that the owner, Tom Chapple and his staff were not telling the band to "turn down." If a club/restaurant hires a band to perform live music, then they shouldn't be shushing them. I've seen it happen time and time again. It drives me crazy.

Tasteology started, according to Tom, as a counter service concept restaurant (think Panera). Within three weeks of opening, and in answer to customer suggestions, they reopened as a full-service restaurant. Additional customer suggestions were incorporated as well--a large selection of "green" wines and live music three nights a week and more "guy food." They have a TV studio kitchen where they offer cooking classes and tape cooking shows for Time Warner On Demand Channel 111. There was actually a class in session last night, and it happened to be all men!

When I got there, I told the host that I'd been invited to review the band by Chris, but he didn't seem to know who Chris was. He did know the owner, though, and said he'd send him over to our table. Well, the host was enjoying only his second day on the job, and not only did he not send the owner, he never sent a server either. I was getting impatient when Tom stopped at our table on his "rounds." I always love seeing an owner or manager circulating throughout the dining room checking on his patrons. It shows a higher level of commitment to customer service. I also saw him washing glasses at the bar at the end of the night--very "hands-on" so to speak.

Tom was very attentive, told me the evolution of the restaurant, got us a server and made sure there was still lobster ravioli in the kitchen! I tried the Parducci pinot grigio (their house by-the-glass green wine). Tasteology serves only "green" wines which are eco-friendly wines produced in specific ways. Go to their website http://www.tasteology.net for a more detailed explanation. The wine was bright, not too fruity and dry enough for me to enjoy very much. I had the lobster ravioli which was delicious, spicy, and fresh with chunks of tomato and green onions. Caroline had the Cali Club roti wrap and loved it. We tried two of the petite desserts, and they are the perfect finishing touch.

Tasteology is a great concept--good, fresh food; lovely atmosphere; and live music. It really doesn't get any better than that for me. I will be back.

yours in music (and food!)
Tracy