This detail from a Carrie Levy photo is part of the “The Unseen Eye” at the George Eastman House. Margaret Explosion is playing the opening party Friday, October 21. We have four art gigs this month. Pete LaBonne joins us on piano for Eastman House and Memorial Art Gallery opening. Dreamland Faces will be at the MAG that night as well. We’re at the Little Theater tonight and the first of the four art tour stops is tomorrow night at Visual Studies Workshop where director, Rick Hock, has us performing in the darkened auditorium while a movie about Rochester is projected on their big screen.
Webster Park pier on Lake Ontario outside of Rochester, New York
John Gilmore sends us oddball emails at odd hours. Thankfully they’re the type that don’t require any action on our part. We can ignore, delete or read and we don’t have to respond. They are never stock, forwarded crap and are often tailored directly for us.
In the last few weeks he’s sent us links to a site that sells the striped shirts that Picasso favored, a link to the Velvet Underground’s “Venus In Furs” inclusion in a list of “Ten Best Songs Based On Books”, and this link to Wikipedia’s page on “Ostinato.” John’s email was entitled “Shek It Tout.”
Coffee/Bead signage on Java Joes’ building at the Rochester Public Market
I love the new signage above Java Joe’s and the bakery at the Public Market. Looks like it has been there forever.
I’ve always felt that I have some sort of knack for spotting hit songs. I mean I’ll hear a song for the first time somewhere and think. “damn, that’s catchy” and sure enough it becomes some sort of hit. Maybe everybody feels this way but it is not all a good thing. I get stuff stuck in my head all the time, stuff that I don’t want there. We were out somewhere when we heard “Lady” by the Little River Band. Maybe it was dinner at JoJo’s. They had a satellite station on paying Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Matt & Kim, Elton John and maybe “Lady.” Have you ever called your girlfriend or wife “Lady?” This thing is a relic but it lodged itself in my brain for two or three days.
So lady, let me take a look at you now You’re there on the dance floor, making me want you somehow Oh lady, I think it’s only fair I should say to you Don’t be thinkin’ that I don’t want you, ’cause maybe I do
Yesterday we stopped in to Home Depot to pick up a bag of cement. 80 pounds for $3.75! What do you think came on their sound system?
Margaret Explosion plays the Little Theatre Café tonight at 7;30. If I’m lucky I’ll get something else lodged upstairs.
Listen to Margaret Explosion “Juggler” with Jack Schaefer on bass clarinet
Margaret Explosion 45 RPM “Juggler/Purple Heart” (EAR 16) on Earring Records, released 2011 on black vinyl.
Kenny Garrett Quartet with Benito Gonzalez on piano, Charnett Moffett on bass and Marcus Baylor on drums at the 2011 Exodus to Jazz Series in Rochester, New York.
We were pretty excited about seeing Kenny Garrett’s quartet again. He was sensational at the 2006 Jazz Fest and we hadn’t yet seen any of the Exodus to Jazz shows so we bought general admission tickets at Wegmans and showed up at the Hochstein School of Music about a half hour early to grab a seat in the balcony.
Benito Gonzalez was on piano again but this time he was wearing a sharkskin suit and long pointed shoes. Charnett Moffett was on bass and Marcus Baylor was on drums, all four of them individual powerhouses. Together they tore the roof off the church. Too bad my camera is still in the shop. This was music on a very high level but I took a low res video of their encore with my old NIkon.
Detroit’s Johnny O’Neil opened the show and brought he house down with a beautiful version of Eubie Blake’s “Dollar For A Dime.” They do not write songs like that any more.
Brian Williams was talking about all the gigs he’s done over the years with John Mooney and Bob Henrie. He was saying how he wished he had taken the time to jot down the the specifics of each gig. Tom Whitmore from Watkins and the Rapiers was there. He lives in Geneseo and Brian asked him if he remembered a place called Gentleman Jim’s. I said I had played there with New Math and someone stole Gary Trainer’s guitar after the gig. Brian said he was on that same bill playing with the John Mooney band. It seems like I have always know Brian but I guess not.
Let’s see, I played in a working C&W band in Bloomington, Indiana and then a New Wave band in Rochester called “New Math”. Both of those lasted a couple of years and then I started playing in a band called the Hi Techs which sort of morphed into Personal Effects. Those bands lasted for most of the eighties and somewhere in the nineties we started playing as Margaret Explosion. Time flies. Tonight we play at the Little Theater Café.
The weather changed right on cue over Labor Day weekend and the last few days have been dark and gloomy. Sade sounds particularly good on days like this. I don’t let it get to me, it’s great weather for hanging around with friends. Duane‘s in town for a few days and it’s perfect weather for Margaret Explosion. We begin a long run at the Little Theatre Café tonight at 7:30. We’ll be there every Wednesday until the end of the year.
Margaret Explosion with Pete LaBonne performing live at Village Gate courtyard. Photo by Brian Peterson.
Like a grade school kid Margaret Explosion took the summer off. Rested, fired up and full of mind expanding experiences we are ready to explode. Join us as we kick off Labor Day Weekend on Friday at 6PM in the Village Gate Square. Pete LaBonne joins us on piano. We’ll move the festivities inside if it rains.
Here’s Festival, a song from our gig there two years ago. Pete LaBonne plays piano.
We took a walk between rain showers yesterday and spotted these turkeys. They can fly if they have too but they are almost too clumsy to do so. They aren’t the most graceful walkers either. They are still evolving.
We have a number of small jobs that keep us strapped to our computer chairs and one of them is mp3 fulfillment for Pete LaBonne. We’ve sold two copies of his “High Time” release in the last few days and we’re wondering what the flurry is all about. He must be getting some North Country press. Last we heard he was firming up a date at Turning Stone Casino. Pete will be in town on September 2nd to play with Margaret Explosion for the last of this summer’s outdoor “14 Fridays” in the Village Gate Courtyard. Pete LaBonne “My Clock Stops” from Gigunda Box Set
Vinyl records sound better than cds or digital files. I’m not talking about clean 180 gram virgin audiophile vinyl, I’m talking about dusty old lps and 45s. And there is no question that record covers look much better especially the gatefold spreads weather inside or out. So I’m hanging on to a few and putting the rest in a garage sale next weekend. I offered two boxes of cds to my nephews yesterday, deliberately arranging them so the White Stripes were on top. They looked down at the boxes and giggled as they said no thanks. I asked if they had a cd player and they said no.
I thought yesterday’s 4 Season’s post on “So Many Records, So Little Time” was cool but today’s was a sensation. Kevin posted Margaret Explosion’s “Purple Heart” What a way to start the day.
We took a long bike ride in the direction of Irondequoit Bay and wandered around in the dreamy little neighborhoods that overlook the bay. We stopped at a few garage sales and rode down streets with “No Outlet” signs on them. Perfect Day so far.
I love the Blindfold Test that DownBeat gives a musician in each issue. Listening with with an open mind, no cover image, liner notes or baggage, can be exhilarating. That’s why I like “iTunes DJ” shuffle mode so much. Knowing what song is going to come up in what order takes all the fun out listening. I’m always running to my computer to find out what it was I just heard come out of there.
I was working at my computer with the iTunes DJ at work in the background when Peggi came in to ask who the last song was by. I was kind of surprised because it was her on sax with Margaret Explosion doing “Sargasso Creek.”
Columbian coffee bags at Canaltown Coffee in Rochester New York
It feels really good to look at something and decide you could live without it and then throw it in the trash. I had this old rusty wheel barrel that I found in someone else’s trash a long time ago. Sparky put a new wheel on it for me. I filled with other junk last night and took it out to the curb. I usually have a moment of remorse but don’t look back.
Still getting rid of junk is not as easy as it sounds. Where do go with stuff that might be worth some money like old records. eBay is not as easy it seems either. I brought a pile up from the basement and let Rick Simpson take his pick from them. He found ten that that liked and built his weekly “Gumbo Variations” radio show on WRUR around the scratchy old vinyl. Each set started with one of our old records (Paul Butterfield, Ginger Baker, Charlie Hayden, Chuck Berry, Crazy World of Arthur Brown) and Rick built on those for a pretty cool but sort of out-of-body show.
We order our coffee ten pounds at time, whole bean from Canaltown. The owner, Pete, roasts in the back room and provides an incredible aroma for the whole neighborhood.
Pale Swallow-Wort, invasive species plant in New York State
I hate this stinking weed, an invasive species, called Pale Swallow-Wort, that pops up everywhere. It’s really tough to pull out because in most cases you don’t get the roots when it snaps off just above the ground level but the dry conditions we have now make it the perfect time to rid your yard of this sucker. You can see in the photo above that I was able to get most of the roots. I use two the hand technique and pull straight up with focused concentration.
We have a recording of Hildegard Von Bingen’s music that we play quite a bit but we didn’t realize she was such a polymath. The movie we watched last night about her life, a thousand years ago, hardly touched on her monophonic vocal works. Instead it portrayed her as a dark ages religious mystic struggling with a Catholic church hierarchy that unfortunately still exists today.
Polymath would have been a better name than “New Math”, which was already retro when we called ourselves that back in the late seventies, but anything with the word “math” in there sounds too progressive or soulless which isn’t quite fair too mathematics but . . . I played in the band when we recorded the first single with Howard Thompson behind the glass wall of PCI Studios.
Duane sent us this link to his newest video, one he did for “Juggler” from Margaret Explosion’s latest 45. He takes the the light side of the single and goes dark on us, enriching the music twofold. It’s a total knockout.
We finished Netflix Season 3 of “Breaking Bad” last night and spent some time today with extras at the iTunes store. In that spirit I posted some of Duane’s comments on the making of “Juggler” below.
“The camera is shooting 10 sec clips and turning them into 40 sec slo-mo’s internally. So those little swaying camera moves were actually happening fast. And those swinging planes that sailed by within inches of the camera were really going fast. On another take, I jumped back suddenly, thinking I was about to get hit. Shot at Coney Island till they closed. Back home I came to the shot of the swinging chairs and immediately decided that shot was the opening w/o even seeing the rest. It dictated the whole feel & path. The machines are juggling people. The life we lead juggles us, we learn to be juggled by it from childhood onward. It all fit. I started seeing it all this way and it basically assembled itself. I made a choice not to ride any of the rides, to keep the point of view objective vs subjective. But I’m dying to go back at nite & just ride the rides.”
Bootsy at the Party In The Parking Lot in Rochester New York
It was perfect weather for Bootsy’s touchdown at the “Party In The Parking Lot” last night. Of course he opened with “What’s The Name of This Town?” and when the cameras came out he said “You gotta take a picture of me because I’m not really here.”
We first saw Bootsy in the seventies at the War Memorial when the Brides of Funkenstein opened the show and Bootsy followed and was then followed by Parliament and Funkedelic. He’s still doing “Telephone Bill” and “Munchies For Your Love” from back then but not “Very Yes” and “I’d Rather Be With You.” With Bernie Worrell on keyboards he did a Hendrix tribute a Sly Stone song and sounded as good as ever but loud as hell.
Jonas Kullhammar before his show at Max’s at the Rochester International Jazz Fest
The jazz pass is still a great deal so you won’t hear me complaining about the relative lack of the off beat. We stayed away from the big shows like k.d. lang, Elvis Costello and Bela Fleck and managed to find some great music every night of the nine day fest even if it meant hearing Jonas Kullhammar two nights in a row. I tracked the fest The Refrigerator for anyone who cares about this stuff.
After Norway’s “In The Country” set last night Peggi and I stopped over at Abilene to have a drink celebrate the end of the fest. I didn’t notice who was playing there but I’m guessing it was some shit kicking stuff. This is based entirely on the biker babe who came out of the back room all sweaty and ordered a shot of cherry vodka while we were talking to Olga at the bar. We skirted the crowds in the streets as we walked to the car and we were blown away by the mad sounds bouncing off the buildings, a mix whoever the extremely loud Budos Band in the tent, 38 Special on the Chestnut Street Stage and G Love & Special Sauce on the Alexander Street stage. That was some off beat stuff!
Jonas Kullhammar Quartet at Xerox Auditorium at the 2011 Rochester International Jazz Fest
Jonas charms the crowd between songs and refers to us as the “beautiful people of Rochester.” Jonas Kullhahhar Quartet have been playing together for thirteen years or so and are widely considered Sweden’s best jazz band. If they lived in the states they would be one of our best jazz bands. They’ve been at this festival three times now and we can’t get enough of them.
The piano, bass and drum rhythm section takes off like a rocket and the band is an exhilarating full tilt for most numbers. But their joyous, fresh, crisp playing is also giving way to slower, moodier, seasoned compositions with plenty of space for gorgeous piano, big bass lines and bare hand drumming. They may have stole the festival again this year. They’re playing again tonight at Max’s.
Bill Frisell on the street before his show at the Rochester International Jazz Fest
We were standing in front of the Rochester Club Ballroom but weren’t headed there. We were in the long line for Kilbourn and it was still an hour before the show when I spotted Bill Frisell heading into Brenunzio’s guitar shop on East Ave. I snapped this shot and then got back in line. The woman in front of us, who was also in line for the Frisell show, turned to us and said, “This is and embarrassing question but what instrument does Bill Frisell play?” Popularity comes with a price. After ten years the lines are longer than ever, the shows are more crowded and it’s getting harder to find alternatives to “festival favorites” like Bonarama or The Shuffle Demons.
Frisell opened with some really gnarly, prog stuff and then settled into one of his trademark, lazy, country blues things but the band never really gelled for me. I was always aware of the parts, Frisells restrained control, the plunked violin, the scattershot drums and I couldn’t hear the whole. It all felt rather tedious. We spotted Bob Martin in usual Frisell spot, right behind the sound board. He said he was having dinner with Frisell between sets. Maybe he’ll have the skinny.
Many Worlds with Greg Burk at the Rochester International Jazz Fest
“Many Worlds with Greg Burk” were the most adventurous band we have seen at this year’s festival and they were one of the best. Led by Detroit’s and now Rome’s Greg Burk on piano they indeed explored many worlds. They aired out their arrangements to the point where they teetered, just long enough to make you wonder who’s in charge and then they were off again. They have enough confidence and trust in each other to pull way back intensifying their music with every rest. Colorful arrangements featured flute, soprano and tenor sax, a great bass player and a loose limbed, left handed drummer made for an extremely melodic set
We talked to Greg after their set and told him how much we loved their music. He said they were a little nervous because they felt the other acts here were so much more straight ahead. He’s right on. With club passes that would get us into ten different venues we could not find anything else of interest last night.
