Back to New York again on Monday for a week of long meetings every day. My flight was delayed by a few hours while a tire was changed and extra fuel was added so I was a bit grumpy by the time it took off. The movie “The Death of Stalin” really cheered me up. I had no idea what to expect and quickly started chuckling at the crazy exploits of the Russian leadership as Stalin dies and they compete for power. The actors include Jeffrey Tambor, Steve Buscemi and Michael Palin and all are hilarious. The movie was directed by Armando Ianucci, whom I’d never heard of. Some quick research showed him to be Scottish from Italian descent and a graduate of the University of Glasgow – might explain why I enjoyed the dark, off-kilter humor so much. I also learned that he was a bit part of the creative force behind the HBO series “Veep” – a show that I love and McD doesn’t – it’s just a bit too raunchy and wrong for her and she can’t understand what’s funny. Here’s Ianucci and the cast being interviewed about the movie and drawing some direct comparisons from the Stalin era politics to our current leadership.
On the drive in from the airport I heard this excellent song by Book T and the MGs. It’s rare to hear Booker T on the piano versus the Hammond organ and I love the gospel feel of the guitar by the legendary Steve Cropper. Sunday Sermon was originally the B side to their 1970 cover of “Something” by George Harrison.
After checking into my new favourite Wall Street area hotel, the Downtown Association, I headed out for a quick dinner and found a new Mediterranean place around the corner named Zeytin. The food was very good with lamb-beef doner meat that reminded me of the late night kebab shops that Andy Bull loved so much in our Edinburgh university days. The beet hummus was also very nice. A good new place for a quick and casual lunch or dinner.
When I made it back to the hotel room the Jools Holland show was on TV and a very unique looking musician named Seasick Steve was performing. He was born in Oakland, CA and is now 78 and has had a very interesting life. He lived as a hobo for many years – jumping trains and working short term jobs. He played in blues bands and as a session musician and producer. In the 1990s he produced albums by Modest Mouse and in 2006 he received his big musical break appearing on the Jools Holland show in the UK for the first time. He went on to perform at many large festivals and won several awards. Seasick Steve makes many of his unique guitars and other instruments.
Here are some pictures of Heather preparing to attend her graduation ceremony on Tuesday to receive her first class Honors law and languages degree. Everyone is exceptionally proud of her accomplishment.
On Tuesday night I decided to try out a new jazz club I had read about in Tribeca – 75 Club. It advertised a speakeasy style basement jazz club. One of the great features of New York is that you can take the subway to any neighborhood and stumble across a very good restaurant. I was drawn to Serafina at West Broadway and Chambers Street and had a delicious dish of scallops with celery root puree and shaved black truffles.
Now it was time to try out the 75 Club which lived up to its advertising very nicely. As I approached the club I was surprised to find a large collection of semi trucks full of movie gear and catering stations set up all along Murray Street. The film crew was eating in the first floor of the Bogardus mansion that houses the 75 Crew. A quick bit of research revealed that they were filling a scene for an episode of the show “Ray Donovan” starring Liev Schreiber. I’m amazed at how many people it takes to put a show like that together.
Named after its builder, James Bogardus, the originator of cast-iron architecture, the building was built in 1850 and features a 5-story facade replicating the late 15th century Palazzo Veladramini in Venice. It now serves as a very popular space for wedding and special events.
The pianist and bass player, Tardo Hammer and John Webber, were sitting at the bar telling stories when I arrived in the basement of the mansion. This was equally good entertainment to the music that they performed to a very small Monday night crowd.
I would like to return to this venue on a weekend night and enjoy their nice club table seating and acoustics.
I snapped a couple of pictures of the Oculus rail terminal and Freedom Tower on my walk to and from the club.
Meanwhile, in Arroyo Grande/Pismo Beach, California, Momma D was busy babysitting Lily and Ben. She seemed to do a good job of swinging Ben and had a good visit with Alicia to her new home at Cuesta college. I think McD worked much harder than I did this week – and I know I was pretty tired by the end of the week.
Wednesday night took me to the Blue Note jazz club in Greenwich Village to see the band Lettuce. This is a New Orleans style funk jam band featuring a stellar group of very in demand musicians – Adam Deitch on drums, Adam Smirnoff on guitar, Erick Coomes on bass, Nigel Hall on keyboards, Ryan Zoidis on saxophone, and Eric Bloom on trumpet.
Alicia and I saw Lettuce at the Granada theater in Dallas about 9 months ago and so I was excited to see them on the line up this week. I enjoyed the diverse crowd as compared to typical Blue Note shows – the lady at the table next to me introduced me to her eighty year old parents who were looking forward to the show.
After Lettuce I met up with my old boss who was in town for the night. We wandered down the street to a music club called Groove that had another great band playing and had a good chat for a while.
My flight back on Thursday was delayed by lightning and we ended up sitting on the plane for over 2 hours at La Guardia before take off – delays both ways on this trip which hasn’t happened to me in a while. Diana was flying back from California and we had arranged to meet in Dallas and share a car home. Fortunately, her flight was delayed almost as much as mine and everything worked out well, albeit a few hours late.
On Friday we had Rachel and her boyfriend Rich over for dinner. Neither of us remembered until Thursday night and didn’t have anything in the house for dinner so ordered pizza and arancini from Cavalis. We were both tired but had a very nice visit and enjoyed meeting Rich- we approve.
Saturday took us to Poor David’s Pub for the first time in a couple of years to see Sawyer Fredericks. We had dinner before the show at a restaurant in Deep Ellum called Local that Diana chose. Local is housed in what was once the Boyd hotel and is very modern and minimalist inside. The Boyd hotel was built in 1911 and is one of the last remaining building in Dallas with a cast iron front. I didn’t know there was such a thing until earlier this week when I read about the Bogardus mansion that houses the 75 Club and learned that Bogardus invented the technique. The hotel was a hub for jazz and blues musicians in the 1920s with Leadbelly and Blind Lemon Jefferson (the father of Texas blues) both staying there. It’s also well known as having been a hangout for Bonnie and Clyde. We enjoyed the restaurant very much with Diana opting for the filet while I had a very tasty sea bass.
We checked into the Nylo hotel after dinner and then made the short walk to Poor David’s Pub. The owner of the club, David Card, is celebrating his 41st year of presenting music in Dallas and we had a very nice visit with him prior to the show starting. He used Diana’s comment about how young Sawyer is (19) in his opening as he had thought he was ten years older. I enjoyed David telling me about his top 10 list of shows he’s presented.
This poster inside Poor David’s shows what must have been an excellent show before Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen became so popular. I also enjoyed a new plaque that’s in the walkway in front of the club.
Sawyer won the TV singing competition “The Voice” a couple of years ago and we both loved the tone and quality of his voice.
Here’s a video of “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” – one of the songs we really enjoyed on the Voice.
The show was very good with Sawyer’s songs very mellow and deep for a 19 year old.
Patty and Brent stayed downtown on Saturday night as well to celebrate Brent’s birthday and we were able to meet up with them on Sunday morning for a birthday brunch at Saint Ann.
I finished up “Emerald City” by Jennifer Egan during my travels and really enjoyed this collection of short stories. The theme connecting the various stories seemed to be using travel to escape financial or family traumas. I’ve enjoyed all of Egans books that I’ve read this year very much.
This song by St Paul and the Broken Bones came on a Spotify radio channel that I created based on Anderson East and I don’t remember enjoying a song this much on a first listen in a while.