bradm

Will the episode feature Phish playing?

Aloha,

Brad

Wasn't there a "Great Gig In The Sky" tease, too?

I had a ball. I hung back during the first set, but got up close and personal (right in front of the drummer) for the second set. Wow! The drummer is *amazing*. It was like a drum machine (in terms of the number and precision of beats) come to life (in terms of interactivity and humanity). It was also cool to see the band members interacting: the keyboard player would make faces and/or mouth things at the other members (the drummer in particular), who would respond, and off they'd go somewhere (else). It reminded me of a baseball pitcher and catcher signalling each other: suggestions are made, possibly rejected, and finally an agreement is arrived at.

It was the kind of "dance music" that I like: funky, never boring, trance-inducing, and *fun*.

Aloha,

Brad

If Babylon's doors open at 8pm, why not meet at Babylon for pre-show refreshables? The DJs might be fun, and they have pool and foosball tables.

Aloha,

Brad

Second from the left, lighting a cigarette. (Far left is Rod Stewart, far right is Jeff Beck. I'm not sure who the other guy, second from the right, is. I'm guessing it's a shot of the Jeff Beck Group, ca. '69 or '70.)

Aloha,

Brad

I don't know, but I can be John Elway?

Aloha,

Brad

Yes, there is a rock'n'roll artist named Matthew Sweet. He first came to fame with his "Girlfriend" album (and the title single). His song "Sick of Myself" was pretty good, too.

Aloha,

Brad

Oh, to have a car now that Jimmy Swift Band season is here...

I'll be taking OCcasional Transpo; the #1 and #7 run from Rideau down Bank St. past the Bayou, if that helps.

Aloha,

Brad

Yes, it's going to be a fusion of jamming music, funk, jazz, electronic, trance, and Hawaiian (a musical form sadly missing from most live acts these days). The signature number will be "Tikki Torches At Twilight"* The concerts will be fashioned after luaus, with fire dancers, free leis, poi galore, and free roast pig for all attendees.

(You know, I actually want to put something like that together...)

Aloha,

Brad

* Any other David Lindley fans out there?

I know, I wanted to be there, but my jamming schedule is every other Saturday, and the 12th was the first one after a break that started in early December, so I pretty much had to be there.

(On the plus side, I should be able to get to TMNS gig this Saturday. He said, hopefully.)

Aloha,

Brad

P.S. I noticed that the Bayou also has an open stage night on Wednesdays. Maybe any/all who are interested in going live could show up tonight to talk it over and see if we can get something together.

I and at least one friend should be there. Anybody know the expected starting time?* Is there an opening act?

Aloha,

Brad

* We'll probably arrive 'round 9pm or so.

Actually, they do mix it up pretty well, but maybe not in the way you meant. If you compare the "feeling" (not necessarily the setlist) of the set they did opening for Metalwood to the sets they did at the Christmas/CD show, there was a strong difference: the Metalwood show was a bit more "ethereal" and textural, almost mellow (it seemed to me they geared the show for the audience, which was more of a mature jazz crowd than a jamband audience), while the Christmas/CD show was *blazingly* intense. (And they did Freeway Jam! I may not have mentioned it, but thanks, guys.)

To my ears, even within the sets, there's a pretty strong mix (as there is on the album). There's sleepy/sublime stuff, blazin' guitar, funk, textural stuff, and so on. I find that I have to pay closer attention to the music (as opposed to just remembering what songs were played) and to how it makes me feel to get a real appreciation for how varied it can be.

Aloha,

Brad

I think the artist is "booster" and the album is "loop in release". Head to http://www.bluenote.tm.fr/main.htm and click on the "BOOSTER" bannder.

Aloha,

BRAD (Booster References Accessed Deliberately)

I may be an idealist, but it might be an idea to write letters to the people who run the Guvernment and/or Warehouse (and maybe copy the LLBO and any Toronto Tourist Association you can find, and list the CCs on each letter, so the Guv. and Warehouse people know you're letting the PTBs know) about your experience. If the coat check overflowed, somebody at the club misplanned; if you were having trouble getting into/out-of/between rooms, the whole venue sounds too crowded (and maybe dangerous). The bottom line is that you paid them to provide the background for a fun night, and they didn't come through.

If you're going to write a letter, follow the usual complaint rules: be direct and precise, don't swear, have specific complaints, and let 'em know that you don't feel confident/comfortable coming back to the venue(s) in the future unless the problems get fixed. The more people who write letters, the better.

Aloha,

Brad

The first band was Homestyle, and they dug a *deep* groove. I hadn't seen them before (though we met people outside while we were waiting to get in who came *just* to see Homestyle; they were wondering who the headline band were), and was blown away.

Anybody else itching for a Dr. Huxtable / Homestyle / Nero triple-bill?

Aloha,

Brad

At the Dr. Huxtable gig at the Cajun Attic last week, I won a Christmas-type conical hat; white trim, red sequins, the whole bit. Winning it made me happy; I wore it home out of sheer joy.

I brought it with me to the Nero CD/Christmas party, tucked into a pocket. Riding on the bus with a friend, I asked, "So, do you feel Christmasy yet"?

"Not really."

I pulled the hat out of the pocket, stuck it on my head, and flipped my head back.

"*Now* do you feel Christmasy?" I asked, to howls of laughter from my friend.

Not bad so far: one hat, two happy people.

At the Nero gig, a woman manning (womanning?) the counter where the Nero swag was being sold looked pretty much in the spirit, in a white sweater and floor-length skirt in red and green. "I could use a hat," she commented.

I pulled it out of my pocket and flung it at her across the counter. "Here."

"Cool!" The hat *made* the outfit.

Three happy people...

A little later, a guy came up to me. "Are you the guy who loaned [sorry, I forget her name] that Christmas hat?"

"Yeah, that was me."

"I'm going to be an elf on stage later with Santa, and I've got the outfit, except for the hat. Can I borrow it?"

"Fine by me. Enjoy."

Four...

Again, the hat was an essential part of the elf outfit. Santa and his elf did a great job, and made pretty much the entire audience happy.

The Final Score: Happy Hat Brigade, four (and more); Forces of Darkness: nil.

I didn't get the hat back at the end of the night, and actually didn't want it back. I got all the happiness out of the hat that I could, and then I passed it on to other people and made them happy. I'd like to think the hat is out there somewhere, quietly and safely ensconsed in somebody's pocket or purse, waiting for the moment when it can spring into action, and add a little joy to someone's life.

Merry Christmas, everybody.

Aloha,

Brad

I'm not sure if you guys hit Adam Foley's Daily Goods (http://daily.adamfoley.com) on a regular basis, but today's set of MP3s is disc 1 of a Keller Williams show from May. (I'd never heard of KW before, but he's appearing with SCI on New Year's in SF.)

He mixes it up with some Phish covers (The Wedge, Cavern), some Dead covers (The Eleven) and Beatles (Here Comes the Sun).

It reminds me a lot of Don Ross: percussive acoustic fingerstyle guitar, *serious* chops, good songs.

Aloha,

Brad

Can't wait till my 'fro is full grown...

-- Frank Zappa, "Uncle Remus"

Aloha,

Brad

OK, we've got two people (me and Velvet) who are up for it (Velvet, what do you play?), and Velvet's kindly volunteered jamspace.

When would be a good day/time?

Aloha,

Brad

One other thing I forgot to mention: down at the end of the bar closest to the door, there's a glowing little objet d'art, about 6" across and maybe 3" high in the shape of:

4:20

Aloha,

Brad

I went into Cafe Dekcuf last night, and here's a brief report.

First off, it seems like this place is seriously aimed at supporting the local music and art scene. They have a stack of cards at the bar which read:

=====begin card quote=====

We support Ottawa's Music and Art.

Do you?...Do You Really?

Supporting and promoting Ottawa's artists and musicians, Cafe Dekcuf welcomes beginners and professionals to common ground.

Owned and operated by musicians and artists, we understand where you're comming [sic] from and how to help.

Whether its [sic] displaying your audio or visual creations, the community inhales it all at Cafe Dekcuf.

=====end card quote=====

Thursdays is open stage night, and (based on the admittedly small sample I saw when I was there) it looks like the performers are largely singer/songwriters (e.g., usually one person with a guitar; I didn't see any drums or keyboards in the place). When I got there, a duo was on stage (electric and acoustic guitar), and one of the players (Brian?) was, I think, the owner/manager.

It seemed as if it was based on performers signing up with the owner, and going up on stage in turn, rather than an open get-up-on-stage-with-strangers-and-do-a-blues-shuffle-in-A jam.

Their sound setup looks pretty good, and I believe they were recording everything (I'm not sure what they do with the recordings) to what I think was a digital multitrack hard-drive recorder.

The decor is radically different from that of the Whipping Post; it's more of a modern downtown cafe than a slightly-run-down downtown bar. (But they do have draft beer now. :-)

From the flyers they had up, it looks like they're getting a pretty large number of bands in over the next while. (None I recognized, though.) I haven't found a website for them.

Bottom line: It's not the Whipping Post, but it looks to be a good addition to the music scene here in Ottawa. And with a regular open stage night, it looks to be actively encouraging the expansion of the scene.

Aloha,

Brad

P.S. I'd be up for trying to put together a group for an open stage night. (I was thinking percussion, guitar, and maybe keys?) Just a couple of jammy (and maybe instrumental) covers (I've had "Soul Sacrifice" by Santana running through my head all morning...), if anybody's interested.

Isn't it done by Primus as a band (i.e., singing & music)?

Aloha,

Brad

For jazz, there are a couple of good ones:

Miles Davis / It's About That Time

Thelonious Monk / Monk In Tokyo

Thelonious Monk / Jazz Workshop Complete

John Coltrane / Olatunji Concert Last Live Recording

All these are reissues or newly-discovered recordings. I've got those on my list, along with:

Bela Felck / Perpetual Motion

which is classical, but hey, it's Bela.

Aloha,

Brad

Maybe he could come along and help Nero schlep the gear in and set it up (you know, get in by the backstage door), and then just hang around? (This'd work best if the setup was being done long before the doors opened.)

Aloha,

Brad

I don't know if y'all saw the ad in the XPress, but Cafe Dekcuf is having open stage nights on Thursdays (IIRC). (I think the slogan at the bottom of the ad was something like, "You play, we record." so I guess they're taping whatever happends on stage.)

Anybody up for it? I can bring a guitar, and maybe we can use the Sanctuary to discuss a semi-formal list of tunes to try (just as a basic for jamming).

Aloha,

Brad

I'm in, with my friend Kim. (I assume Santuarians from Ottawa are getting on the bus?)

Aloha,

Brad