The best of times…

Back in 2011 when we were playing weekly gigs at Paris Blues the band hit upon the idea of turning one of our most popular pieces LOVE into a duet.

I began searching for a singer. My first idea was to go to the open mic at Paris Blues on Wednesday nights. Led by the venerable Les Goodson the gig always attracted some fine talents. I walked in and was immediately struck by the singular attraction of Kosi. She was sitting at the bar lighting it up with her smile. I asked if I could take her picture. She said “Sure, what’s it for?”
“I’m an aficionado of feminine beauty” was my reply.
She laughed.
“Do you sing?” I asked.
“Yes. In fact I’m going to sing right now.”

I’ll never forget her rendition of Love For Sale. I always thought it kind of a corny tune. The truth revealed was that I had never heard it. Kosi unearthed the tragic depth and heart of that classic in a way I have never heard any other singer do.

She joined us the following week to sing LOVE. The next week she was there again and I called her up. The week after she showed up again. I told her if she was going to keep showing up I would have to give her more work to do.

Thus began one of the most fruitful artistic collaborations of my life. Slowly I began ceding more and more numbers to her. One night I remember singing The Beggars Song and I looked over at her kneeling on the stage, as she often did. I thought to myself “Why am I singing this song when there is somebody who can sing circles around me and has lived it right there.” After that overdue revelation I had Kosi sing most of the set and I stuck to the novelty pieces.

We recorded 4 albums of original material, toured together, interviewed on a half dozen radio stations, laughed together, drove late through many a night listening to classical guitar, hung out and endured the ups and downs of Harlem life.

Now she is shaking the dust of NYC off  her shoes and moving to Baltimore. We wish her the best and with her goes my deepest gratitude. I learned so much by standing next to her greatness, night after night.

Ironically the last song I wrote for her was Summer Song, a song about leaving that ends with the line.

“You won’t forget about me. Because I can’t forget about you.”

Much love goes with you Kosi. Fare thee well.

Recently I spent 5 weeks in Athens. A friend of mine bought an apartment there as an investment. With the crisis prices have plummeted. It is in Exharia, the center of student led unrest. It is a neighborhood ruled by the anarchists. There is an explosion of culture there manifested eminently in street art. It is booming with cafes, music stores, record shops dozens of bookstores and small owned restaurants.

I have visited this neighborhood many times over the last ten years and have always admired it. I asked my friend if I could use his flat as a retreat to do some composing. In five weeks I completed our latest video Banjo Town and wrote 4 new songs. I also took yoga classes six days a week including a foray into aerial yoga which I love.

One of pieces I completed is called Summer Song. I was lucky enough to be visited by 2 German friends, Michael and Ina, who listened to the first draft. Their reactions helped me clarify my concept and informed the final composition. One thing they commented on was that is was a “summer song”. I knew they were right immediately, hence the seasonal title of the piece.

As I putting together a demo version for the band my calendar pinged me. A Frankfurt DJ I know had noticed I was in the EU. He had asked me if I wanted to do an interview during his show while we were in the same time zone. The time was now. I sent him a note with an offer. He could play my demo version one time on air and then I would come on and talk about my process. We did just that and it was an amazement to me. The world we live in and what tools that are available to us.

I tried it out last week here in New York with Jarrett and Leo. It’s a jazz song and I am blessed with two expert musicians of the genre. Leo added a bass intro and outro and I feel so strongly about the piece that I want to introduce it to you at the next show. Please come hear it. It’s light and breezy and sunny and jazzy. Summer Song. I’m in love with it already.

That makes two debuts next week with our new music video BANJO TOWN. Our previous one, Another Mother’s Son, was accepted into 4 film festivals including the New York Short Film Festival at Cinema Village.

Our lineup includes The Sublime Ms. Kosi, Jarrett Walser on drums and Leo Smith on bass

Working on some surprise guests.

From the first time I heard Bob Seger’s “Turn The Page” I was captivated by it’s serenely melancholic verses. I have had a desire to experience life On The Road from my earliest memories. My childhood fantasy was of joining a passing carnival which to me seemed to exist in a world of eternal summer. This desire had multiplied and blossomed, fed over the years by films like La Strada, songs like Jackson Browne’s The Load Out and of course Jack Kerouac’s masterpiece.
“That book. It’s like poison.” was my good friend Johannes’s opinion. I had found a cassette of it in the glove compartment of his old Mercedes as we sped towards Documenta on the Autobhan.

This spring I got a taste of it. Our Mayflower Tour which began at Pianos in New York City, took us to; Springfield, Hartford, Becket, Lowell, Boston, Philadelphia, Fairfax, Washington DC, and Baltimore.

I have neglected you. So much has happened I barely know where to begin. It’s going to have to be just the highlights.

Amos quit the band in December. That’s a loss. His voice completed The Goddess Lakshmi sound.
“What I don’t understand is why he quit the band now. Why wouldn’t you wait until the album release?” Kosi said.
“Yeah.” I said. “Especially since it is at a club called The Bitter End. It shows a considerable lack of poetic judgment.”
We had many good times together. Even though he and the first Jeff seemed to hate me by the end of it. Down in The Pink Monkey Room at The Harlem Flophouse after every gig at Paris Blues for a year and a half. I ‘ll never forget him screeching at me in an intoxicated rant about my deficiencies as a bandleader. It was my birthday.

The funny thing is that most of the recent progress we have made was because of their complaints. I was perfectly happy playing weekly gigs at PB. We were getting paid. Do you know how hard it is to get a steady paid gig in New York City? And we were playing original music.
“We have to record. We have to play in Brooklyn.” was their mantra.
“If I knew how to become famous I would do it, if only to stop your complaining.” was my rejoinder.

Now we have two albums. We have played all over Manhattan and Brooklyn. I have  cracked the code on getting bookings. I have even booked us a tour.

We played The Bitter End. That was key. Even if they have mostly shitty acts nowadays. The list of greats that have been on that stage is staggering. It is the Carnegie Hall of downtown. Put that on your resume and the bookings will come. The bookings out of town that is.

The booker turned out to be a jerk. He had approached me to play there.
“I love your music.” He told me over the phone.
We were able to name our date. I wanted a Saturday night at 8pm. I picked Valentines Day.

I had sent them a few emails looking for a gig in the past year and had gotten no reply. Then out of the blue he contacted me, wanting to book our band. He had “discovered” us on the internet.
“Should I tell him I already emailed him like three times?” I asked Kosi.
“Nah. Just let him go on believing.” She said.
He stormed onto the stage as we were setting up to play. In front of the entire audience he demanded I pay him for the advance tickets I had sold, before we began.
“Ok. No problem.”
It was forty bucks. The place was jammed. They were making money hand over fist. The other acts were excellent. Everyone was having a great time. 20 covers from us was not enough for him. He wanted more.

“Just because we are good doesn’t mean anybody likes us.” I wanted to tell him. I mean, if you are reading this you have really gone way beyond the amount of attention we normally get. Even my mother, who just learned how to cyber-stalk people, doesn’t read this. If you are reading this then I congratulate you. (unless of course you are Kosi) You are somebody different. In a world where everyone seeks sameness that is brave.

I have begun to work on our new album. It is to be entitled Mumbo Jumbo. Last Thursday Kosi was having a rehearsal down in the Salon for her new album Pictures Of Us. To accommodate her I moved my gear up to an empty room on the top floor in the back. I really like working up here. It’s very sunny and it still is kind of cold out. So I stayed.

This time we are working backwards. I am putting down all of the rhythm guitar tracks first so I can work with the metronome. That was one thing I thought was lacking in the first album. It breathed a little too much. This way I can rehearse over and over with the pulse until it feels natural. The first tune is The Beggars Song.

When I felt comfortable with the takes I brought Jeff in to add the base line. He also had a click. Then with the rhythm guitar and bass near flawlessly on beat, Kosi sang. The result was gorgeous.

Now Amos will show up and add the drum tracks. I have an idea to record him with a Binaural mic. If you have ever heard one of those recordings you know how they put you in a room. First. I will consult with Felix. Let’s see how it goes.

In January we recorded our first album. That is only stage one. I have to fly to Chicago in March to mix it with Felix. Before that I have to figure out how to get and use Pro Tools so I can at least start the edit. After the mixing it will have to be mastered. But that does not involve any learning. I send it to somebody Felix knows in Texas, along with money. 

You may remember how we met Felix. He came to The Harlem Flophouse on his way to The Midnight Ramble in Woodstock NY. He was performing there with somebody he referred to as Hook. Hook plays blues harmonica. Hook is famous or notorious, actually both. I have not met him yet.

When Felix booked the room he did a little research on its owner, me. He found out I had a band. He asked if I was playing that weekend and I was, on Sunday, which was perfect. Felix came in the afternoon and rehearsed with us.He played with us to the an almost empty bar, Paris Blues in Harlem. It was magic.

I took him around the darkened streets of Harlem on the Friday before. I showed him Bill’s place, PB and a quick stop at The Lenox Lounge. He liked how at Bill’s Place you had to stop in at a local liquor store, the kind with a thick plastic bullet proof shield engulfing the entire establishment. You bring your own brew to Bill’s. Bill only provides the music.

We kept in touch on Facebook after that. During the following summer Felix suggested coming back to The Harlem Flophouse to record the band. We worked out the dates of January 6th — 13th. 

I closed the entire house. Kosi and I went shopping and loaded up on food. Amos and she stayed for the session. We were still up in the air on bass players. At the last minute a neighbor stepped in. Craig. The other Craig, not the shitty one. 

The first Sunday was grueling. As soon as Felix arrived he and Craig went to work figuring out a setup. We had to lay down “bed tracks” for all the tunes we wanted to do. Bed Tracks are essentially the drums and bass for a given song. The rest of the band has to be there performing sotto voce and unplugged so that the rhythm section knows where they are. I had pretty ambitious plan. We ended up getting six done.

Craig flew to Vegas on Monday. I spent it with Felix recording all of the rhythm tracks. On Tuesday we started doing the vocals. One at a time we went to the mic. Luckily we have been doing these tunes for awhile and one or two takes got it. I was wiped but Kosi suggested we go back to work at 7pm and get it all done. Wednesday was me doing lead guitar in the morning. That evening Craig returned. We had all the elements for the first six. We made a group decision to move on and do bed tracks for two more pieces. Thursday was spent going through the process again. 

We were more or less done. Felix and I were certainly finished. Exhausted. Felix made bounces and I got a listen to the raw tracks. They were good. Plenty of cuts and scratches and cigarette burns but good. Special. I think it will be like the Eraserhead of music for us. You know. The David Lynch film he made for 5 grand when he was in art school. Lots of imperfections, charming, and perhaps his best work.