02.25.08
The subtley different view of architecture
I wanted to share this website, created and maintained by a friend of mine, Debra Seltzer. It calls to my love of the roads less traveled. Maybe it will call to you too.
08.22.07
My Day with Gary Walker at WBGO 88.3
On April 18th, 2007, at 8:00 am we arrived at WBGO’s station, located in Newark, NJ. It was a chilly overcast day and I was really nervous. We were greeted at the door by Mr. Walker. His friendly smile quickly erased all of my fears of making a fool out of myself. We walked down a hallway that had these wonderful pictures on the wall. We found out later that it was an exhibit of an artist that photographed places in the south that looked as if time had stood still. Our walk ended in a sitting room that looked into the announcing area of the studio. There was a table there, that had fresh fruit and coffee. Mr. Walker was finishing up the first half of his morning show which begins at 6:00am. I was scheduled to go on at 9:00 am.
The funny thing about this interview was, I thought that it was only going to last around 15 minutes. You know, announcing the new CD, I say a few words and then off I go. But instead it was an entire hour. An hour spent with an intelligent, witty man, extremely knowledgable about this music that I love so much. And from his enthusiasm, I could tell he loved it as much as I did. The hour passed so quickly that it could have easily been that 15 minutes I spoke of.
Now you might say, “you’ve done radio interviews before, what makes this one so special?” Well, when I moved to New York City, I listened to WBGO. It was THE radio station and still is, for real jazz. At the time, I thought how incredible it would be to hear myself on that station. I guess that’s every musician’s dream, to hear themselves on the radio. Little did I know that over thirty years later that would be a reality.
We started off with a couple a cuts from the CD at the top of the hour and then we talked a bit. Mr. Walker had certainly done his homework and it showed with the ease in which the interview was conducted. This was the format for the rest of the hour. Music, then talk. It was really easy to laugh with Gary and I felt as though I had known him all of my life and that we were just sitting, shooting the breeze. It was fascinating being behind the scenes of my favorite radio station and meeting some of the on-air personalities. Everyone was so laid back, sort of what one would expect at a jazz radio station.
This blog is a thank you to Gary Walker for having vision, integrity and the courage to take a chance on a relatively unknown musician, but one who has over three decades of history in the jazz world. To acknowledge this is a rare thing to find these days in the music business. And most importantly, for helping me make a long-held dream into a reality.
I can’t wait to do it again. So I better get to work and get out the next CD!
10.26.06
New CD
I know, I know….too long since last entry. Also last entry was sad. Why would you leave us feeling sad?
Maybe this will leave you feeling happy. I finally finished the new CD entitled Standard Delivery. Scheduled release date - January, 2006.
I had such a great time making this one. It also was a lot harder to make than the first one. I think it’s because it was so simple and basic. The usual core crew is on this one, Jaz, Travis and Jennifer and they sound great.
Also I get a little backup singing time on Michael Franks’ new CD, Rendevous in Rio. Which by the way is a wonderful CD. I am always amazed at how he keeps writing tunes that are so diversified. We just finished up Michael’s tour. Finishing up at Scullers in Boston.
I would write about Standard Delivery, but I put all that information in the liner notes. So instead I’m going to mention some of the CDs I purchased just recently.
Ella Fitzgerald at the Opera House - Ella Fitzgerald; (Day Dream) Best of the Duke Ellington Songbook - Ella Fitzgerald; The Jazz Sides, Charlie Parker - Jazz and the Philharmonic 1949 with Ella Fitzgerald; Juju - King Sunny Ade & His African Beats Music; Rise Up - Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited , This Time - Al Jarreau; Mishka - Mishka and Mishka-One Tree.
I haven’t been up to much lately, except the usual things working, practicing the bass, writing songs. I did participate in the Brooklyn Parents for Peace Fair last Sunday. It was astounding. There were over 150 participants there. Even though the various groups had their agendas, they all came together under the umbrella of peace. Setting aside agendas. This can be the hardest thing for us to do. Sometimes we need to set aside that which makes us uniquely different and focus on that which makes us uniquely similiar. This is necessary if we are to communicate with each other.
It’s that time of the year, my favorite time of the year. Fall. When I’m not touring, I spend part of my time in Brooklyn and the other part at the house in Woodstock. This year the trees in Woodstock are breathtaking. I guess this is the first time that I noticed, really noticed nature’s talent for color and texture. I’ve noticed how crisp the air is and how resolved the clouds appear. Also some of the best holidays are in the fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, my birthday………The latter is probably the reason why I like the fall so much. Some people don’t like birthdays, I know, but me……It’s a nice reminder of the relevence of time and if I’m doing anything that helps create value in someone’s life. Doesn’t have to be anything big, a hello or a smile is enough at times.
I’ll keep this one short.
Those of you who celebrate Halloween, have happy one!
Peace, Happiness, Love & Prosperity
V
07.22.05
My last entry was about a new life, this one is about the end of a life. Today we put our Smokey to sleep. To explain his malaise would be to complicated. All I know is that the cause of his affliction is a mystery, the effect however is devastating for a cat. He’s lived with us for over 10 years. To say that we will miss him would not be true for those words or any words to put it honestly, cannot express what we really feel. So it’s best not to say anything. To Smokey: Thanks and don’t worry , we will be waiting!
05.16.05
When I thought I had seen it all, life reminds me that I still got a long way to go. Last Tuesday I help deliver my god daughter Ivy’s baby girl, Myriah. I can honestly say that I will never be the same again. The funny thing about this is that I was present when Ivy was born almost 20 years ago, but she was delivered by Cesarian and that’s completely different and I mean completely different than natural child birth. I am hard put to find the words to describe the experience. All I can say is, if you ever get a chance to be there, be there!!!! The picture which is slightly out of focus, probably because I couldn’t stop crying, is of baby Myriah at about 20 minutes old. Now I truely understand when they speak of miracles happening every day, every second. And the one about ‘how time flies?’ fa get about it!!!!!!
04.18.05
Happy 2005!!!! Yeah, I know it’s been 5 months already.
It’s going to take me at least 3 blogs to catch up with all that’s been happening. This past year has been one exciting and unbelievable journey for me. Let’s see, where shall I start. For starters one of my entries I wrote about not going to Africa. Well, we finally made it and what an extraordinary place it is. I really didn’t have any expectations about the trip. We were in Johannesburg and Cape Town. It was amazing to see how many fans Michael has there. They were dancing and singing the lyrics to the songs. Shouting out requests of their favorite tunes.
I didn’t really get out that much in Johannesburg, but in Cape Town I was a true tourist. Of course I did the usual shopping for souveniers for friends and family and let’s not forget the self. We shopped at a couple of places. One was located right on the ocean and the artists were sitting on the beach carving the statues, talking to each other. It was quite a visual forever imprinted . The other place was an outdoor market with aisles and aisles of basically the same thing. It was really difficult buying from one vendor and not the other considering they had the same stuff.
I’ve included some of the photos I took on the trip. One shot is of a young South African woman who was incredibly proficient on the djembe. We also road this cable car up to the top of this very high mountain that overlooks the ocean and the town, there’s a shot of that. Breathtaking. I’m always intrigued how a thin little cable can hold up so many people. A view shot and the last one of the guys hanging out. One night in particular, after a performance the owner of a local restaurant held it open for us to have dinner there. The thing that I remember the most about this restaurant was it was upstairs overlooking the beach and that we had Japanese cuisine there and it struck me as funny that I would be eating Japanese food in Africa. The days magnificent, the nights magical. Very grateful for that experience.
07.16.04
I’ve been out and about creating new experiences for myself. Last week I was touring with Michael Franks and we had the honor to go to Tblisi, Georgia, a republic of the Soviet Union. Wow, I’m still trying to find words to describe that experience. I would have to say that it is in the top 5 of my Life Changing Experience list. The warmth and generousity of the people there has renewed my own faith in life and being human, not to mention reaffirming my reason for wanting to be a musician in the first place. Serg, wherever you are right now, I am formally thanking you and the wonderful crew of partners that you worked with to make it possible for us to play there. You’re the man!!!!
Now on to even more exciting news. I’ve have just been added to the play list of WBGO, and for those of you who are in the New York, New Jersery area, that would be 88.3 on your FM dial. I’m in heaven. Those of you who know me, know how long I’ve been out here playing my music. I moved to New York about 27 years ago and I have been listening to WBGO for 25 years. To finally get radio play on this station, my favorite, has become a dream come true for me, but more than that it’s like an affirmation for hanging in there and continuing to “beat the dead horse”. I would like to thank Gary Walker the music director for giving me an opportunity to get my music out and around and also a warm appreciation goes to Dan Karcher. on air, for his support and reminding me about my Blog. Oh, and one more thing, congratulations to your 25 years of great music WBGO, I’m looking forward to listening for another 25 years.
01.28.04
This post is for the people that were at my gig last week. It seems that I make too big a deal out of blogging, Blogging should be fun. And from this moment on, it will be fun. How is my procrastination???? So far so good. I have been right on schedule with my list of things to do everyday. The secret is to just do the thing and don’t think too much about it, as a matter of course, don’t think at all about it. I’ve also discovered that the busier I am the more things I get done. So for me, I guess I just need to stay busy.
Back to my last week gig. I had a great time seeing the master of the Internet and King of Blogging Rick Bruner, who by the way plays “the hungarian” like nothing you’ve ever seen. Also my friend from way, way, way back, David Barnes, stopped in after his show at B.B. King’s in Times Square, sat in, playing the harmonica brilliantly on a couple of tunes. It reminded me of the good ole days and I’m sure more goods days are to come. Also a shout out to my friend Nicole Mensinger on her performance monologue for tomorrow evening. Permeate their being with your truth.
12.19.03
Yes, yes, it has been months. The purpose of this blog today is to make new determinations for this year and one of those is to write more blogs this year. Starting with this one. I was talking to Michael Franks about a week ago and I was adamantly promoting the wonder and beauty of blogging. He is such an incredible writer, lyricist and singer that it seemed to me to make perfect sense for him to have his own blog. I know the fans would really dig it. Anyway, I’m still working on convincing him. First I must start with myself. I definitely can see the difficulty in deciding what to write everyday without sounding like a finished idiot. But, as I’ve been told countless times, practice makes perfect, so, I can only get better if I stop worry about what others think of my intellect and start defining with words the world as I feel it. Fear is the word here for today, for me. Fear in all of it’s illusory forms. I live my life by it most of the time. The tricky part to this is that sometimes I’m not aware that I’m afraid of certain things. Like when I procrastinate. Oh, there are many other things that I’m afraid of, but to confess this early in the game would leave me with little or nothing to write about in future blogs. So for now we will just begin and end with this revelation. Major determination for this year, no more procratination. I will do, what must be done.
06.19.03
This blog goes out to David Wilts, yes, another David, a sound engineer most extraordinare, one who’s not only into sound but, lyrics. Rare indeed. Today I was just reacquainted with the singer-songwriter Ricki Lee Jones. I was gifted with a CD of hers entitled ‘It’s Like This’ and I strongly recommend it to anyone who likes and respects the art of subtley. The choice of songs and their arrangements are extremely pleasant to listen to and the grooves are nice and sparse. I was greatly inspired by it. Sounds like a review, well it is, buy and listen to it. It’s great and a perfect example of artistry in it’s most sincere form. I’ve always been a fan of Ms. Jones and I must admit I’ve not been current on her work over the past 5 years or so. It’s refreshing to meet her again and start the affair all over again, this time with both of us being much older and wiser.