Along with the gentrification and creeping hipness comes that wonderful NY thing which we so sadly lack in Sydney, little neighbourhood bars. We didn’t get to enough of them, and I say we, because the majority allow children accompanied by adults.
Barbes, in Park Slope, Brooklyn was one bar we went to a couple of times. Run by French expats and very cosy and welcoming, its a tiny room with a lovely old marble and wood bar. Out the back is the performance space, which you’d be lucky to fit 60 people in, and it was here we saw the French guitarist Stephane Wrembel – who did the title track to ‘Vicky, Christina Barcelona’ accompanied by the innovative Nick Anderson on drums & Dave whose last name I can’t remember but who has a brilliant red afro and pale white skin (in case you see him around) on bass.
Stephane Wrembel at Barbes
We saw Dave again in Greenwich Village, towing his bass down the subway steps, and then again busking in Washington Square, where the busking is as competitive as the rest of the jazz scene in NY. Everywhere we went, we saw people with double basses – in the subway, in restaurants and cafes, walking down the street.
Washington Square busking – that’s Dave on the left & the drummer is a super talented young guy we saw get up for a jam session at Smalls one night, so much talent in that city! There’s some youtube footage of it here and I will get the names and add them as soon as I can!
Speaking of buskers – there’s some footage here of an incredible acapella group we ran into twice, once in Washington Square and again that evening in Greenwich Village, they must have been making a fortune – they had their money in a milk crate – and they deserved every cent, people were dancing on the footpath, sorry sidewalk.
Later we went back to Barbes to see the famous Slavic Soul Party bring the house down with a pumping few hours of Serbian gypsy music in their regular Tuesday residency. Barbes website states that it cannot have amplified music – and its true, SSP use no amplifiers. The night we saw them however there were 2 trumpets, sax, tuba, 2 trombones, bass drum, snare and cymbal and piano accordion, we were deaf for days.
Nick Anderson told us about a fabulous bar called Solo Kitchen Bar, way out in Flatbush, owned by a Japanese guitarist, Aki Ishiguro. Every night there’s jazz, a jam session or some kind of event – there’s a real neighbourhood vibe, including pet dogs sitting at their owners’ feet and the transformed shop space is spacious with big old tables, wooden floors and a nice old bar along the side. We went on a jam night, and like every other jazz venue we went to in NY, the musicians were all excellent and innovative players.
It must be an incredible experience for a musician to live and play in NY for any length of time, its a pressure cooker and extremely competitive, with jams every night all over the city and quite famous musicians performing in tiny places for very little money. Most of the smaller places we went to payed the musicians by passing around a jar for donations, yet the music was consistently impressive, even in the streets!
Oscar got up and had a jam on drums at Solo Kitchen, which was pretty brave for a 15yo, after 2 weeks being immersed in jazz he was itching for a play and he did pretty well. Dan Loomis on the bass was lovely, making lots of eye contact and really encouraging him. He must have been OK because the sax and trumpet players sat down when they saw a kid get up, and then got back up again once he started playing (yes, the jam sesssions are that ruthless – if you’re no good they just stop playing). There’s some youtube footage here of Oscar jamming, that’s Dan Loomis on bass and I will have to find out the other players names
Smalls is a wonderful place, one of the homes of jazz in Greenwich Village in a tiny cellar, dusty and a bit rickety. Although it was $20 to enter, we saw musicians that we’d have to pay upwards of $50 or $6o to see here at somewhere like The Basement – which of course doesn’t allow people under 18 in any case. Smalls – and other Greenwich Village venues like Fatcats – didn’t seem to mind Oscar and other teenagers staying in there until 2 or 3 in the morning. One of the highlights of our trip was seeing 3 sets by the brilliant brilliant Israeli bass player Omer Avital accompanied by Avishai Cohen on trumpet, Joel Frahm on Sax & the sensational Jonathon Blake on drums, mesmerising and wonderful!
We also went to the Highline Ballroom to see some New Orleans music. The Rebirth Brass Band, which features in the new series Treme, was an exhilarating, joyous experience and Dumpstaphunk, led by junior members of the Neville family, were pure funk – the place was packed and going completely insane, people were jumping on stage, and it was impossible not to dance.
Things get crazy with the Rebirth Brass Band
Dumpstaphunk lay down the grooves as if they were born to it.. hang on a minute
There are always some Australians making their presence felt around the NY scene, Nick Hempton – who was a wonderful source of information and who has possibly the coolest job working the late night door shift at Smalls, Sean Wayland, and Adrian Cunningham to name a few. I guess my son will be joining their ranks in a few years, he’s already started a campaign for me to enter the greencard lottery and is scouring websites for scholarships to study jazz.
Along with jazz, NY is famous for its comedians and comedy venues. Many of the more well known places were prohibitively expensive, and music was a priority, but we did go to a fantastic comedy club – the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre twice. Each visit we went to all 3 shows, leaving and queuing up again to pay our $5 !!!!!!!! entry fee. The comedy was mainly improv, but mostly hilarious.Amongst others we saw the Colbert report writers do a set, a ‘cage match’ between 2 comedy teams, two women who invite guests to talk about their sex lives – funnier than it sounds, and Scott Adsit from 30 Rock and a partner do a brilliant & sometimes sad improvised play. My twitter friend Dave Hill’s monologue was great – and a little disturbing, and I wish I could remember the names of the other young comedians who performed.
On our very first night out in NY, we were taken to a free poetry reading at the New School – a very NY thing to do. This was no ordinary poetry reading however, but the launch of a book about Pearl London, a poetry teacher at the University. We sat with about 100 others in awe while no fewer than 5 great American poets read their own work and talked. They were Edward Hirsch, Maxine Kumin – Poet Laureate who read a beautiful piece written for her wayward teenage son; Pulitzer prize winner – Irishman Paul Muldoon who conjured wonderful images of cows and other creatures; Poet Laureate & Pulitzer prize winner Robert Pinsky, who’s reading was musical, funny and moving; and Stanley Plumly. A once in a lifetime experience and one that rekindled a love of poetry that had been dormant for many years.
In 2 weeks, we managed to see and hear a lot of music, some comedy and of course that wonderful poetry and also to meet a lot of people. Oscar is now practising his brushwork madly in preparation for going back when he leaves school. The experience not only helped his drumming, but really opened his eyes and his world to what is out there musically and to what is possible, people were wonderfully friendly and helpful, even though they give no quarter when actually playing – we have a list of emails and have vowed to keep in contact.