I have been somewhat re-miss due to NRF business with the MIT Climate CoLab contests.
Alex and I saw Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails at Jones Beach Theater on Long Island on the 1st of August. The sound for Soundgarden was not very good but it did improve somewhat by the end of their set. Nine Inch Nails, however, did a stunning set and proved to be far and away the better act at least for the show we saw.
At the Nyack Public Library, I saw a husband-wife team do four handed piano for three Beethoven Symphonies; 1st, 4th and 5th (duh-dah-dah-dah). The couple are professional musicians and it was quite exhilarating to see them perform these works in such an intimate setting. The Nyack Public Library was built by Andrew Carnegie of Carnegie Hall fame so you know the music room had to be special -- which it is.
They are doing three more Symphonies on 8.23 but I will be in the City.
On August 13th, I saw Tori Amos at The Beacon Theater. I had seen her a year or so ago, also at The Beacon, but with a string quartet. This time it was just her and a Bosendorfer Piano with a Synthesizer and an Organ. Very intimate and she is a great performer.
Watched an Amazon Prime movie about the band called Death, one of the first punk bands who released some singles back in the mid 1970s. They are very rare now but the band never really made it. Originally from Detroit, I guess they were pigeon-holed to not be a rock band because they were Black. Interesting documentary and recommended.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Miscellaneous Ramblings
I actually really love Sirius Radio, especially Deep Tracks (Channel 27) and Jam On (Channel 29). Tom Petty does an excellent show called Buried Treasure, which features rare rhythm and blues, as well as rock. I also like Channel 67 (Real Jazz), Channel 76 (Symphony) and Channel 49 (Motown). I have just started listening to Coffee House (Channel 31) and the Loft (Channel 30). Vin Scelsa, formerly of WNEW-FM, is on The Loft and he is interesting and eccentric.
My son Alex likes the mid-30's on Sirius Radio, with such stations as Ozzie's Boneyard (Channel 38), Lithium (Channel 32), Hair Nation, the Metal Station, etc. I confess I listen to his stuff once in a while and like it.
My son Alex likes the mid-30's on Sirius Radio, with such stations as Ozzie's Boneyard (Channel 38), Lithium (Channel 32), Hair Nation, the Metal Station, etc. I confess I listen to his stuff once in a while and like it.
Heartened by a comment from my son Alex
I hope Alex will start posting his own entries about great bands like Godsmack with their new single 1000 hp. Alex has a great handle on rock, especially hard rock and metal. But, like he says, he has an old soul...
Recounting some concerts I have been to lately -- perhaps the most striking was a genius known as Tara Kamangar (www.taraartemis.com) that I saw with my mother at Le Poisson Rouge a few weeks back. The concert started with the airing of a 1925 film about the annual migration of people from the Balkans with all their stuff and animals, like goats and cows. She is in her 20's and is quite simply a prodigy -- she played with a cellist, percussionist and played compositions "from Russian to Iran." American born of Iranian descent she plays these beautiful classical pieces influenced by the music of the Kurds.
She introduced the arranger of a Khachaturian (a Russian-Armenian Composer) who said he was not sure why he had arranged this particular movement of the Composer's Ballet Spartacus which I believe was originally written for Voice and Orchestra. It is known as the Adagio for Spartacus and Matthew Cameron arranged it for piano. Then, he received a call from Tara who said she wanted to record the piece on her album. The arranger, who is from Brooklyn, said that the music would not be published for a few months. Tara said that was not a problem because she picked up the entire arrangement by ear from listening to the Arranger's youtube video. He said at the concert, after he heard Tara's version he knew why he did the arrangement. Here is what Tara transcribed by ear:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJJmF5qqQyE
Here is a sample of Tara's piano playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUF9CzAXY_c
Her album is called "East of Melancholy" and obviously highly recommended. I bought it at the concert.
She also plays violin as well as she plays piano and has a trio known as Triptych that has a more pop oriented single known as Mr. Right. Here is another of the Trio's earlier songs called Stranded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yiw9euF2_0I
Switching gears, last night Ellie and I saw The The Band Band, a tribute band that includes a friend of mine Gary Solomon and other Rockland NY musicians. They did an amazing 2.5 hour show that including all the hits except for Rag Mama Rag and a bunch of deep tracks. In honor of the 49th anniversary of Bob Dylan's going electric with The Band, they did a bunch of Dylan songs, including The Mighty Quinn and Like a Rolling Stone. I would venture to guess they are best Band tribute band around today.
Ellie and I will fortunate to see a show in Tarrytown with the Levon Helm Band, about two weeks before Levon passed away.
Today, as Alex pointed Nyack was full of music, including many drum circles, including across the street from us at The Edward Hopper house, which is an excellent outdoor venue for jazz concerts every Thursday in the summer. There was also a great African influenced band called Kakande, a group called Flamenco & Sol and a Step dance that Ellie said was amazing.
All this music prompted me to open a box of cassettes I have not listened to in many years. The cassette I selected was from some jams we did in Rockleigh NJ at my house on 3.31.90, which featured an excellent jazz horn player known as Doug White, a German drummer named Clemmons Herbert and an acoustic bass player Roy Cummings. They were joined by me struggling to keep up with the fast Charlie Parker and Coltrane tunes but I had less of a problem with Wayne Shorter's footprints. Also on that session were Michael Gittleman on electric bass, Michael Pollack on DX-7, John Baken on Percussion, and another percussionist.
I am going to have to start listening to some of these tapes that date back to the late 1970's,
Recounting some concerts I have been to lately -- perhaps the most striking was a genius known as Tara Kamangar (www.taraartemis.com) that I saw with my mother at Le Poisson Rouge a few weeks back. The concert started with the airing of a 1925 film about the annual migration of people from the Balkans with all their stuff and animals, like goats and cows. She is in her 20's and is quite simply a prodigy -- she played with a cellist, percussionist and played compositions "from Russian to Iran." American born of Iranian descent she plays these beautiful classical pieces influenced by the music of the Kurds.
She introduced the arranger of a Khachaturian (a Russian-Armenian Composer) who said he was not sure why he had arranged this particular movement of the Composer's Ballet Spartacus which I believe was originally written for Voice and Orchestra. It is known as the Adagio for Spartacus and Matthew Cameron arranged it for piano. Then, he received a call from Tara who said she wanted to record the piece on her album. The arranger, who is from Brooklyn, said that the music would not be published for a few months. Tara said that was not a problem because she picked up the entire arrangement by ear from listening to the Arranger's youtube video. He said at the concert, after he heard Tara's version he knew why he did the arrangement. Here is what Tara transcribed by ear:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJJmF5qqQyE
Here is a sample of Tara's piano playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUF9CzAXY_c
Her album is called "East of Melancholy" and obviously highly recommended. I bought it at the concert.
She also plays violin as well as she plays piano and has a trio known as Triptych that has a more pop oriented single known as Mr. Right. Here is another of the Trio's earlier songs called Stranded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yiw9euF2_0I
Switching gears, last night Ellie and I saw The The Band Band, a tribute band that includes a friend of mine Gary Solomon and other Rockland NY musicians. They did an amazing 2.5 hour show that including all the hits except for Rag Mama Rag and a bunch of deep tracks. In honor of the 49th anniversary of Bob Dylan's going electric with The Band, they did a bunch of Dylan songs, including The Mighty Quinn and Like a Rolling Stone. I would venture to guess they are best Band tribute band around today.
Ellie and I will fortunate to see a show in Tarrytown with the Levon Helm Band, about two weeks before Levon passed away.
Today, as Alex pointed Nyack was full of music, including many drum circles, including across the street from us at The Edward Hopper house, which is an excellent outdoor venue for jazz concerts every Thursday in the summer. There was also a great African influenced band called Kakande, a group called Flamenco & Sol and a Step dance that Ellie said was amazing.
All this music prompted me to open a box of cassettes I have not listened to in many years. The cassette I selected was from some jams we did in Rockleigh NJ at my house on 3.31.90, which featured an excellent jazz horn player known as Doug White, a German drummer named Clemmons Herbert and an acoustic bass player Roy Cummings. They were joined by me struggling to keep up with the fast Charlie Parker and Coltrane tunes but I had less of a problem with Wayne Shorter's footprints. Also on that session were Michael Gittleman on electric bass, Michael Pollack on DX-7, John Baken on Percussion, and another percussionist.
I am going to have to start listening to some of these tapes that date back to the late 1970's,
Monday, June 9, 2014
Some concerts I have gone to and future concerts I have tickets for:
Saw Marc Ribot trio at Le Poisson Rouge, really out there improvisational avant garde jazz. Not most people's taste, but I like it.
I am thinking of going to Brian Blade, one of my favorite jazz drummers on June 30. He is playing with a kind of bluegrass vocalist/violinist named Jenny Scheinman. This will also be at Le Poisson Rouge, which is the former Village Vanguard located in the middle of Greenwich Village in NYC.
My son Alex and I have tickets to see Slash and Aerosmith at Jones Beach Theater on July 10th (notice I led with Slash and not Aerosmith). On August 1st, we are seeing Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails also at Jones Beach Theater. On August 13, I am seeing Tori Amos (one of my favorite singer-piano player-songwriters) at the Beacon Theater. I saw her last year at the Beacon with a four piece string section which was kind of cool.
Finally, on September 18th, opening night at the Best Buy theater I bought a single ticket to see King Crimson (lost touch with most of the people that love them but I am sure I will run into some people I know).
Tonight, ODs, a bar in Nyack has its weekly Monday night traditional music session. I have yet to sit in because it is really not the type of music I like to play but it is always a fun night and I sort of like the bar food.
Until next time.
Saw Marc Ribot trio at Le Poisson Rouge, really out there improvisational avant garde jazz. Not most people's taste, but I like it.
I am thinking of going to Brian Blade, one of my favorite jazz drummers on June 30. He is playing with a kind of bluegrass vocalist/violinist named Jenny Scheinman. This will also be at Le Poisson Rouge, which is the former Village Vanguard located in the middle of Greenwich Village in NYC.
My son Alex and I have tickets to see Slash and Aerosmith at Jones Beach Theater on July 10th (notice I led with Slash and not Aerosmith). On August 1st, we are seeing Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails also at Jones Beach Theater. On August 13, I am seeing Tori Amos (one of my favorite singer-piano player-songwriters) at the Beacon Theater. I saw her last year at the Beacon with a four piece string section which was kind of cool.
Finally, on September 18th, opening night at the Best Buy theater I bought a single ticket to see King Crimson (lost touch with most of the people that love them but I am sure I will run into some people I know).
Tonight, ODs, a bar in Nyack has its weekly Monday night traditional music session. I have yet to sit in because it is really not the type of music I like to play but it is always a fun night and I sort of like the bar food.
Until next time.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Introduction and Background
It was back in 1964 and I was listening to 45's in my Father's warehouse when I heard The Beatles' song "She Loves You.." My father, Mel Kaufman, was a vending machine operator and that included jukeboxes so he had a lot of popular 45's, which were two sided single song disks that turned at 45 RPMs (revolutions per minute). The bigger LPs (Long Playing Albums) revolved at 33 RPM. So much for ancient history.
It was at that moment, at the age of 8, that I became hooked on music.
Since my father loved music, it was not hard to convince him to get me an electric guitar (I believe it was dark green and I forget the make and model). I took lessons from this cool looking tall blond guy who said he played with a guy named Robbie Krieger who was the lead guitarist for a band called The Doors. His guitar was ivory white and it was a big electric hollow body.
For the next seven years or so I noodled around with guitar (I also remember playing pool stick guitar with my buddies (we had a pool table as well due to that vending machine company my father worked at).
My first piano lessons were with an arranger of pop music named Herbie, so I remember playing things like Georgy Girl and Alfie from sheet music. The furthest I got in terms of chops was George Gershwins's "Rhapsody in Blue." By that time, we had moved from the South Shore of Long Island to the North Shore of Long Island.
The piano that we had was a beautiful 1919 Sohmer from the original New York Academy of Music (now part of NYU on 14th Street). My mother's uncle Sidney had a job at the Academy and for some reason was able to secure this amazing baby grand. It was originally a burlesque type piano and supposedly white and in bad shape when he gave it to us (my mom says that Sophie Tucker probably sang and the Sohmer accompanied her). When I saw it, however, it was a deep brown and fully renovated so my father must have spent some bucks on it. It had the softest tone of all the pianos I have ever played.
At thirteen (1969), I remember laying on the couch with my Koss Headphones at about 2 AM listening at a very loud volume to a new album by a band called Black Sabbath. This music really touched my dark side, which is definitely a part of me, given my penchant for Horror Movies and scary stuff. When the rain starts on the title cut "Black Sabbath" it can literally send shivers down your spine. I recently heard on Sirius Radio, Ozzy's Boneyard, that the entire first Black Sabbath was recorded in twelve hours.
At fifteen, I started taking piano lessons and learned to play the blues. I forgot the name of my teacher (Jeff something or other) but he was much younger and cooler than Herbie and he was the first person to teach me how to improvise and I think I learned about modes around this time. Also, around this time, I was listening to a lot of fusion music, which linked Rock with Jazz or Rock with Classical. The bands were guys like David Sancious a very talented keyboard player/guitarist, the original Renaissance with Keith Relf (the founder of The Yardbirds), Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, et al. At the same time, I was still listening to Cream, Led Zeppelin, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Lou Reed, Todd Rundgren, Yes, Jethro Tull and other Rock favorites. I actually liked Elton John up until his "Yellow Brick Road" album. When he did "Philadelphia Freedom" he lost me...
I went to a lot of concerts during my high school years. Those days, tickets were a lot cheaper and I think $6.50 bought 8th row to shows at The Nassau Coliseum. In those days, Bands made their money from LPs (I remember paying $2 at Korvettes for a copy of Led Zeppelin II) and the tours were to promote the LPs so they were not the big money makers I assume that they are today.
In 1974, I remember seeing Jethro Tull doing "Thick as a Brick." I remember the backup band being pretty good -- their name was "Rush" and they did a 45 minute set before Tull got on the stage. I also remember Frank Zappa concerts being very interesting and a saw Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Traffic among many other shows.
A particularly memorable show was my senior year in High School when I saw Pink Floyd perform Dark Side of the Moon and their new album at the time -- "Wish You Were Here."
More to come in subsequent posts.
Eric
It was at that moment, at the age of 8, that I became hooked on music.
Since my father loved music, it was not hard to convince him to get me an electric guitar (I believe it was dark green and I forget the make and model). I took lessons from this cool looking tall blond guy who said he played with a guy named Robbie Krieger who was the lead guitarist for a band called The Doors. His guitar was ivory white and it was a big electric hollow body.
For the next seven years or so I noodled around with guitar (I also remember playing pool stick guitar with my buddies (we had a pool table as well due to that vending machine company my father worked at).
My first piano lessons were with an arranger of pop music named Herbie, so I remember playing things like Georgy Girl and Alfie from sheet music. The furthest I got in terms of chops was George Gershwins's "Rhapsody in Blue." By that time, we had moved from the South Shore of Long Island to the North Shore of Long Island.
The piano that we had was a beautiful 1919 Sohmer from the original New York Academy of Music (now part of NYU on 14th Street). My mother's uncle Sidney had a job at the Academy and for some reason was able to secure this amazing baby grand. It was originally a burlesque type piano and supposedly white and in bad shape when he gave it to us (my mom says that Sophie Tucker probably sang and the Sohmer accompanied her). When I saw it, however, it was a deep brown and fully renovated so my father must have spent some bucks on it. It had the softest tone of all the pianos I have ever played.
At thirteen (1969), I remember laying on the couch with my Koss Headphones at about 2 AM listening at a very loud volume to a new album by a band called Black Sabbath. This music really touched my dark side, which is definitely a part of me, given my penchant for Horror Movies and scary stuff. When the rain starts on the title cut "Black Sabbath" it can literally send shivers down your spine. I recently heard on Sirius Radio, Ozzy's Boneyard, that the entire first Black Sabbath was recorded in twelve hours.
At fifteen, I started taking piano lessons and learned to play the blues. I forgot the name of my teacher (Jeff something or other) but he was much younger and cooler than Herbie and he was the first person to teach me how to improvise and I think I learned about modes around this time. Also, around this time, I was listening to a lot of fusion music, which linked Rock with Jazz or Rock with Classical. The bands were guys like David Sancious a very talented keyboard player/guitarist, the original Renaissance with Keith Relf (the founder of The Yardbirds), Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, et al. At the same time, I was still listening to Cream, Led Zeppelin, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Lou Reed, Todd Rundgren, Yes, Jethro Tull and other Rock favorites. I actually liked Elton John up until his "Yellow Brick Road" album. When he did "Philadelphia Freedom" he lost me...
I went to a lot of concerts during my high school years. Those days, tickets were a lot cheaper and I think $6.50 bought 8th row to shows at The Nassau Coliseum. In those days, Bands made their money from LPs (I remember paying $2 at Korvettes for a copy of Led Zeppelin II) and the tours were to promote the LPs so they were not the big money makers I assume that they are today.
In 1974, I remember seeing Jethro Tull doing "Thick as a Brick." I remember the backup band being pretty good -- their name was "Rush" and they did a 45 minute set before Tull got on the stage. I also remember Frank Zappa concerts being very interesting and a saw Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Traffic among many other shows.
A particularly memorable show was my senior year in High School when I saw Pink Floyd perform Dark Side of the Moon and their new album at the time -- "Wish You Were Here."
More to come in subsequent posts.
Eric
Rules for the Blog
Preliminary Rules for the Blog --
Most forms of music are welcomed. However, please do not post anything about Country (except for Bluegrass which my wife turned me onto), Opera, Pop Music, Show Tunes, Cabaret Songs. We really want to focus on Rock (the harder the better), Jazz (and not that smooth jazz stuff), Classical (except for Opera!) and Avant Garde forms of the preceding genres.
We are hoping to find out new bands, songs, concert gigs, rarities and other stuff. We encourage you to post your opinions and recommendations (as long as you follow the last paragraph's music genres). Concert information is especially welcome as our links to interesting songs, websites, etc.
There will be more posts forthcoming.
The Tune-Meister
Most forms of music are welcomed. However, please do not post anything about Country (except for Bluegrass which my wife turned me onto), Opera, Pop Music, Show Tunes, Cabaret Songs. We really want to focus on Rock (the harder the better), Jazz (and not that smooth jazz stuff), Classical (except for Opera!) and Avant Garde forms of the preceding genres.
We are hoping to find out new bands, songs, concert gigs, rarities and other stuff. We encourage you to post your opinions and recommendations (as long as you follow the last paragraph's music genres). Concert information is especially welcome as our links to interesting songs, websites, etc.
There will be more posts forthcoming.
The Tune-Meister
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