When the lights are stuck on green
It’s not a very flattering color.
The house is packed, the band is ON, the rhythm is there.
And then one thing goes wrong, in this case, the light is stuck on green which makes you look like a frog.
Will you dismiss all the things that go right for that one thing that goes wrong?
The old world meets the new world
Europe VS. United States. Below the Chatelet Theater opened in 1862.
And the Larcom Theater opened in 1912.
Simple Lyrics
While I was getting together a version of “Heard it through the grapevine” I was pondering the simplicity of simple lyrics. That led me to thinking about my own songs and what might be the modern day equivalent of the old school simple soul tune.
That song would have to be “You’re on my Mind,” definitely the simplest thing I’ve ever written.
You’re on my mind
You’re on my mind and I don’t want to let you go
You’re on my mind
You’re on my mind and I won’t stop until you know that I love you so
You say that your love for me comes and goes away
Sometimes our love hurts you so when you’re so far away from me
New Videos on the way
Meanwhile…2 years ago…
Jams lead to new projects
I grew up in jams. You show up, tune up and jump in with a bunch of people you’ve never played with before. It has the possibility of being both amazing and disastrous at the same time. Just like life.
When I helped run the Boston music circus at Wally’s on Mondays nights we would have people show up to jam. Some were pros and some were not. Some could be really bad. But we grinned our way through it and tried to be encouraging and not discouraging.
The “essence” of the jam is most important. Without any experience, the players have to find each other and come together, in time. It takes more listening than playing to do it better.
I’ll be jamming with an Accordion player next month and we’ll turn it into a show.
March 25th concert with Jesus Aured (Accordionist)
“I love you, I hate you, you broke my heart, please come back”
It’s a synopsis of the majority of the pop music messages. Why? It’s what young teens (the first audience) go through when they’re trying to “figure out love,” and so it’s what connects first and fastest.
Redress the message, stick it with the age appropriate performer and the latest music trend, and your making $, these days in $400 ticket sales.
But what happens when you’ve outgrown this message?
You write about something else…like maybe the “wrong things.”
We worry about the wrong things
Use excuses to not spread our wings
if we’ve got the love then it’s all we’re ever going to need
to build something greater than
the world has ever seen
The wrongs things
are still the wrong things
They use words to confuse but still
everyone knows
about the wrong things
How can a man stand up
or a woman be heard in this ocean of message
There’s people that love us and others that don’t know our name
If the message is louder than the voice that carries it
others will hear it and come running
Someday those wrong things they might disappear
They use words to confuse
We can’t always trust our eyes
Everyones guilty if you tell it that way
that’s shaking hands with the wrong things
The wrongs things
Are still the wrong things
They use words to confuse but still
everybody knows about the wrong things
No one watches the super bowl for the halftime show
I’m willing to bet a very small amount are in it for the commercials (there may be some that have realized that the world stops on that day and so they’ll join in for the commercials).
The majority are there for the game. That’s the substance.
No matter what amount of $ is spent, or how many dancers you throw on stage, the emotional content of the thing will remain with the game.
Why criticize?
Why debate?
Why care?
Here’s the very opposite of the superbowl halftime show…an improvised band in a small club setting with an audience sing a long…unfortunately, I’m the only one dancing.
Where have you gone Evan?
Sometimes my own test emails land in the spam box (see below).
Sometimes despite my best intention and your permission I can’t get word to you…for some reason (either there’s a technical glitch or a simple war from big tech to have me pay to interact with you).
I’ve been here along through covid with online concerts, 3 original records and 4 cover records (the covid relief playlists).
And there’s more to come.
When the past shows up
While putting together a special “Best of” CD for the March Chatelet concert I scrolled through all the recordings from my past, listening to this and that, making decisions about what would be on it.
New and old together.
An email comes in from a decade ago. How’s so and so?
So many people who were here and now are there, how can you keep track…
Someone else asks about the Peter Frampton opening set from the North Shore Music Theater.
I email it to them because it’s out of print. And then there’s this gem.
You can celebrate the past without being nostalgic for it.
Best of:
Lovely Heart
Let Me
She’s on fire
Let’s burn everything
There’s no reason
Voices in Paris
Lift
Desert
Middle St.
Sailing again
Life in the Instagram Universe
But some news gets out there first (such as the video shoot that happened last night)
Anniversaries
Today marks the 5th year since the last Blue Taleh jazz night (Jan 24th, 2018), it was always on Wednesdays but the date happens to fall today (despite being a Tuesday).
The Wednesday night jazz night became a jam and went on for 9 years at the Blue Taleh in Lowell MA (when I was out of town touring I had one of the guys run it for me so it was always going). I found a bootleg from the last night and posted the last song (from the last night).
While I’m here….A big thank you to so many people who were there, (in no order and apologies if I forgot anyone): Charles Langford, Stanley Swann, Thomas Hebb, David Landoni, Steve Langone, Ralph Funaro, Dan Webster, Benny Sharoni, Molly Rose, Carol Leary, David Moore, Greg Toro, Mark Zaleski, Artie Barbato, John Fugarino, Michelle Tucker, Sven Larson, Ken Steiner, Jake Galloway, Lura Smith, Frank Wilkins, Les Harris Jr., Benny Benson, John McGovern, Nick Goumas, and many more.
PS -That’s Saxophone player Chuck Langford holding my Gibson Super 400!
It’s not art if it isn’t shared.
I know a great musician who never plays for anyone.
I know a great writer who won’t even write a blog.
And, I know a talented actor who sits and waits for someone to choose her.
Don’t we all know someone who fits a version of this story?
These days I find myself referring to myself as an “artist” (when asked) instead of a musician. It’s an automatic response, and I think it comes from a place of knowing when it’s art and when it’s not.
You can spend decades perfecting the perfect song, and you can play it only for yourself in solitude to your hearts content but, It won’t be art until you play it for someone.
This was the original version of “Lift” before it became what it become on “FuturePlaneta,” more like the sketch.