So Sad About Us...

Traveling north on I-95 my wife's cellphone went off just a few miles south of Washington D.C. My son called to inform us that there had been "a bombing" at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. His phraseology of "bombing" immediately needed clarification. Not being one to exaggerate we took him at face value but asked for any and all updates. As soon as my wife disconnected the call she searched using her smart phone for further information while I ejected the CD from the player and scanned for an all-News station.
A live feed from Boston was located on a Baltimore affiliate of CBS Radio Network. With much interest we listened. After the first report a local announcer came on to "interpret and rehash" what was said but in doing so he seemed to have taken great liberties in his interpretation, or so we thought.
By this time I was nearing the bridge in Washington. Quite cautiously I scanned the horizon. Planes were off in the distance and one helicopter off toward the Capitol. Nothing unusual. By the time we entered Maryland I noticed a few more than normally situated police vehicles. And by the time we reached the tunnel the presence was seen and felt. To my right a police car had a car pulled over and officers, about four or five in number, looked to have dismantled the vehicle's seats and trunk. My blood pressure started to elevate.
A few miles further  north a police cruiser with siren blasting passed on my right, a shoulder of the highway  not part of the road proper. And officers were noticed near the tolls before the tunnel entrance. A slow stop and go ride through the tunnel did not help to calm my nerves.
Upon leaving the tunnel the AM News station returned indicating that numerous victims were injured, about 20 was the first report. The further north we traveled the higher the number of injuries.
On the NJ Turnpike we picked up the WCBS 880 Radio report. Neither my wife nor I had too much of a conversation other than "Oh God". What to think? jazzbus@gmail.com

The Return of The Rascals

The Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, New York: Two Nights On Another Planet (Thursday and Saturday) December 2012

It took all of 40 plus years to put the bullshit behind them. But with the help of some friends America's Best Rock Ensemble of the 1960's returned to the stage for six glorious nights. The Rascals, our hit makers and the social consciousness for a generation reunited and it seems the four members, albeit a bit aged, were musically no less for the wear.

Billed as a "bio-concert" a full screen caught your attention as the curtains parted. Up on the screen is a little girl digging to Once Upon A Dream and then we see Ed Sullivan in all his TV splendor announcing "Ladies and gentlemen....The Rascals". Boom, the band immediately launched into "IT'S WONDERFUL" followed closely by "LONELY TOO LONG" and "WHAT IS THE REASON". Right there I had my money's worth, every thing else would be gravy. "YOU BETTER RUN", "CARRY ME BACK", followed by a segment explaining their early Rascals days at Ondine's and The Barge leading into "SLOW DOWN", "MICKEY'S MONKEY/ LOVE LIGHTS" medley. Too much.

 

"COME ON UP","BABY LET'S WAIT" and "TOO MANY FISH IN THE SEA", now we are cooking, the crowd is whipped into a frenzy. "IF YOU KNEW", "HOLD ON" and a vignette with actors portraying the band in it's formative years being offer a tune and the real guys lead into "AIN'T GONNA EAT OUT MY HEART ANYMORE". A moment later "GOOD LOVIN", and I'm thinking where do we go from here.
No breaks, no intermission, hey this is rock and roll man, suck it up.The guitar kicks in, Dino follows on drums, OH MY...."LOVE IS A BEAUTIFUL THING", then congas and Gene on harmonica have us "GROOVIN". The extended Hammond B-3 chord brings us to "DO YOU FEEL IT" with Gene killing on rhythm and lead, Felix holding the organ notes one handed while waving his other hand in the air asking us to have some fun. Eddie clapping two tambourines together, and Dino being Dino,this is Amazing.

"AWAY AND AWAY"  then bells, congas and Felix exclaiming to behold, "IT'S A BEAUTIFUL MORNING". I was sensing this might be coming to an end soon, but how wrong can one man be. A bit more video and Gene straps on an acoustic guitar leading us into "SUENO", back to electric for a psychedelic intro complete with a light show as Eddie asks us to "FIND SOMEBODY",  as the piano introduces..."A GIRL LIKE YOU". Hey there is a theme here. More extended images on the screen, more piano, congas and horns, "IT'S LOVE". It's Eddie turn and Felix's piano licks bring on "HOW CAN I BE SURE". I thought the place was crazy before, now it is definitely lifting off into outer space. A true STANDING OVATION followed by a bit more history on the screen and not just the band's history. Rather the history of Our Generation, "PEOPLE GOT TO BE FREE", they have us now, clapping, dancing, singing; the building is shaking, "HEAVEN", "A RAY OF HOPE" and reprise of "PEOPLE GOT TO BE FREE". I actually have tears in my eyes as the band introduces the players. Waiting over 40 years was well worth it. But "one more"...."SEE"... Love is really everywhere, to see it is to fly .jazzbus@gmail.com.

 

 

NEMO

Now they name all storms: hurricanes, Nor'easters, typhoons, blizzards, etc.  So this one called Nemo was planning on coming to town only a few weeks after we got hammered by Hurricane Sandy. Still reeling in the unbelievable destruction Sandy did, followed a few days later by a Nor'easter with some snow, after dealing with insurance companies, private adjusters, public officials, contractors, subcontractors, town building permits, LIPA, cell phone and Internet providers, gas lines, gas shortages, odd/ even days, lack of telephone poles to restore lines, major stores not having generators, no replacement heating units, and shit spewed all over the place covered with mold...yea...we needed Nemo. "C'mon Nemo, you little bastard, give us what you got, your best shot, go ahead".

The weathermen/woman (PC-?) predict up to 24- 36 inches; some say 5-10, others hoping it blows away, still others say "run for your lives- this will be one for the record book". And weather people who get it wrong still keep their jobs???
So late Friday afternoon I ventured out to bring my granddaughter  home as she was ill and did not go to school. At the start of the sojourn the sky was clouding and it was raining lightly. Sunrise Highway was a bit crowded with cars, and lines were forming at the gas stations. Turning off Sunrise to Rt 231 was like heading into another dimension. Sleet was softly pounding my windshield and the wipers started to work overtime. The merge to Commack Road was slippery and I was getting nervous as it took 20 minutes to get to this point from turning off Sunrise.

After dropping off my granddaughter I headed back home, traveling south on the same road. Deer Park Avenue/RT.231 was now a mess with cars traveling a few feet and stopping. The roads were slush. Half an hour to Sunrisethen  heading west for home. Sunrise was moving at a brisk pace and by Town Hall traffic was great. The point is Deer Park was hit and we weren't, yet. The radio Dj said "Commack has two inches already". What? Good ole Copiague just had rain, still.
Now, what to do? It is Friday late afternoon and my traditional get together with friends for Diet  Cokes is pending. Hmmmm. I decline and decide to stay home. And then it started.


Nemo, one for the record books or as one person interviewed so eloquently stated "it's the most I have seen in my lifetime". Geez, good for you. You are only 17 years of age.

The TV news guy is traveling on the LIE assessing the situation and informing us to "stay off the roads. Only emergency vehicles are to be out". HELLO, Are you, Mr. TV-man, an Emergency Vehicle? No, so get off the road.

So Nemo arrives late Friday afternoon to the fanfare he/she so rightfully deserves and lays about 2 feet plus a few inches on us before leaving with the sunrise of Saturday morn. My coffee is brewing, with no paper on the lawn to help me get my thoughts in order, I sit gazing out the window seeing a sea of white. Yet off to my left is a beautiful cardinal sitting on a perch looking at my now empty bird feeder. Time to get to work.

If Sandy taught us something it is to be prepared for the worst. A tough lesson to be learned but I did adhere to its premise. I fired up my recent purchase of a 6 forward speed/two reverse double stage snow blower (with an electric start). Time to dig out. Jazzbus@gmail.com

Almost The New Decade...

Almost 1970, actually December 69, but we are close enough to start the celebration of  a new decade. Closing out 1969 we experienced the festival known as Woodstock,  The soon to be nicknamed  'The Amazing"  Mets won the World Series a feat unto itself, Americans planted a flag on the moon, and The Stones played at Altamont. 1969:The good, the great the bad and the ugly all reared its head.
At a party one night in late October someone suggests we get tickets to see JETHRO TULL, the suggestion being  made while their TIME WAS album played in the backgroung.Subliminal?, I think not. Just someone wanted to see Tull at Fillmore East first week of December. My vote was a resounding NO, as I wanted to see HENDRIX on New Years Eve. But they won and I lost out. Eight tickets for TULL with Fat Mattress and GRAND FUNK RAILROAD opening....Who???  Grand WHAT?  Away we go. Orchestra far back on the right. Grand Funk was loud, fast, hair flowing and a lot of running around on the stage. Geez, they got encore after encore...WHAT? Opening act at Fillmore East getting multiple encores? Grand What? Then,  FAT MATTRESS which was basically Noel Redding from Hendrix's Experience  and a bunch of Noel's drinking buddies. Not particularly good, terrible actually. They did a tune called ALL NIGHT DRINKER to which I think Noel was, drunk. Then JETHRO TULL hits the stage with NOTHING IS EASY. Pretty cool but something was amiss, somewhere the natural order appeared to be disrupted to me. Something felt amiss. After the show i found out what it was. Prior to the Tull show one friend arrived a bit early grabbing two tixs for the Hendrix show which I assumed was sold out. Stupid me. So my Friend attended Hendrix BAND OF GYPSIES on NEW YEARS EVE while I attended  this stupid party.This is not supposed to happen.

1970: It's A New Dawn

The Holiday vacation was almost over yet I was itching to listen to some live performance so I attended a Fillmore East Monday Night Audition  and met the FLAMIN Groovies. This to me was the future of rock and roll, not Grand Funk, The Groovies... What a band, what a blast. All for $1.50. and stylish...




Spending my Christmas bonus on new slacks, cut perfectly for my skinny body, a nice pullover, new suede jacket and almost matching boots, I even got a recut for my styled hair as we went to see The Doors,Sunday, January 18 1970 at The FELT FORUM. Second shot at seeing the band but again the rants and poems by Morrison while the group played a pedestrian beat in the background sort of made me think...ah, not that good. But the women in the crowd loved him. John Sebastian helped open the Doors segment with ROADHOUSE BLUES  and  Lonnie Mack was superb.






Quicksilver/Country Joe Fish at FILLMORE EAST ( 1/24/70) also known as HOW I SPENT MY 18th BIRTHDAY. It was early Saturday morning when  Mom asked if there was anything special I wanted for my birthday. While she probably meant for dinner, may be a special meal. Nah, I selfishly requested two tickets to see Quicksilver. Twenty bucks exchanged hands in a card and away I went. Real proof of age as I was now legal, got me a bottle of wine for the train  ride in. A pack of Marlboro Reds, LIRR tickets and 2 Fillmore tickets.Dinner later would also be on my bill. Thanks Mom.Eric Mercury opens, Country Joe and The Fish, then Quicksilver Messenger Service with Nicky Hopkins on piano and Dino Valenti. Not the band I was expecting but an all out San Fran bill, cool.

Now 18 years old , ready to rock or get drafted to Vietnam but not old enough to vote. A bottle or two of red wine and two tickets to see Delaney Bonnie Friends with Eric Clapton on a bitter night  February of 1970. ERIC CLAPTON playing with DBF.This was a dream come true. I hoped Rita Coolidge would be there to make the night complete. Met some older (by one or two years) town folks on the train ride in who were also heading to the show . Live music became  the topic for our small talk. And we spoke, and spoke. Too cool, I held my own. Eric Clapton was the man that night and the Fillmore East sound made it amazingly good.. So much better than the Garden with Blind Faith .  Seals and Crofts opened.

February in New York is cold and this night was extremely cold, temperature wise also. Four tickets for Savoy Brown ,Renaissance, Voices of East Harlem at  FILLMORE EAST 2/21/70. Why four? Ah, NO...I sensed things are shifting, personally and  to top it off The KinKs cancelled at the last minute. The Voices  started with a video of the ensemble singing while running down the streets of Manhattan, suddenly Second Avenue, oh look the Fillmore Marquee, then the actual group running down the aisles toward the stage singing. Very cool. Renaissance was the left over Yardbirds, quite different from what I expected. Savoy Brown BOOGIED and then they BOOGIED. Chris Youlden was great on vocals with a top hat, Noonan danced and Kim Simmonds rocked. Nice. But The KinKs cancelled. Ahhhhhh...

It was only one full week and I was back doing what I do but this time it was a late show on A Saturday night midnight extravaganza. And I was ready to party. TYA, Zephyr, Doug Kershaw Feb 28, 1970.

Cold with Therapy

Another day of freezing temperatures. COLD, an I left the warmth of the Carolinas for this. Well truthfully I came home because the NHL lockout was over and had a few NY Ranger games to attend. A rare Saturday night game no less.
Started physical therapy on my bad right wing ( not a hockey position) and hopefully all will be better in a few sessions.

Happy New Year 2013

Just another day but a full new year ahead. Allman Brothers Band announced another March Madness, 10 shows for The Beacon Theatre. Tixs on sale Thursday, and I am looking forward to another adventure added to My Obsession.

Hurricane Sally: Day 13

Going  On 13 Days: Patience Is A Virtue, But I Don't Have The Time.

It is twelve days without electric, twelve long and now cold days. The counties have imposed odd/even rationing to help ease the endless lines at the gas  pumps.  All in light (pun intended) of  the wake of Hurricane Sally "Victims" who are ripping out walls  in the first stage of trying to rebuild their homes. Luckily  I lost little of value during the aftermath. Truth be told when all is said and done all I really lost was  my patience in dealing with the Long Island Power Authority. While NEVER a fan of LILCO/LIPA  or whatever they  change their name to, this, 12 days, is mind numbing.  I understand that I among of the  fortunate few .  I know of people whose lights did not even flicker for one second  and their lives not disrupted at all. Bless them. While still others in the middle lost power , heat, internet service, cell service, and  like me their  patience awaiting reinstallation of these conveniences. Let us not  forget that, these are merely  conveniences, amenities to which we have become accustomed.  The majority  of people I know lost everything, everything  they ever worked for. Homes, furniture, clothes, pets, mementos, jewelry all while  escaping  the rising tides with their  loved ones, running for their lives with only the clothes on their backs. Returning to what was their  home, now  when the waters subsided days later,  to find  devastation so  unbelievable. A home, now a shell of a house.

According to reports broadcasted on my local radio station  my areas lights were  scheduled to return in 5 or 6 days after the storm, maximum. As we neared that date further  reports  indicated a  return would now be  eight days. Then  at 12 days LIPA's Chief  announced that  attempts to return our area  were interrupted by a Nor'easter. Convenient, yes, and somewhat  a legitimate excuse in their defense. Yet, Four inches of snow deposited on the area and now freezing cold temperatures with NO heat, I am getting angrier by the minute. While the hum of generators loom loudly in the air, with  Gas stations  now  having lines of walk-ups, I sense most people on those lines are patiently  waiting their turn for gas to heat their cold homes. And now while on line the radio announcer states that LIPA asks for those without service  to  check LIPA's website for a map and the new anticipated return to service date, now called" re-electrification" in affected areas. Having had no power to gain internet service what am I expected to do.  So,  I do the old fashion thing, contact LIPA via my land line only to hear LIPA's message,  a recording which goes on forever, with no useful information and most certainly no human contact.

My battery powered radio becomes a close  friend as it is my connection to the outside world. Soft music and frequent  local updates help pass the time. Yesterday  the trees were removed from the streets and traffic flowed . Schools which had been closed for days, reopened to kids who were now "displaced" from their homes, some living in other communities with relatives, some in motels.  Having lost their clothes ,books, study areas  and homework  Kids ask:  Where's my new bus stop? Hey, Dad, I know we lost our ATM card and checkbook but what do I do about lunch money? The  Teacher questions administration: We lost a week of instruction and my students  textbooks are gone yet the state expects us  and our students to  take the exams in the spring???? Exams in which results will be listed on the schools and teachers evaluations. And my grandkids ask: Papa, what happened to Halloween?

Yet, all I'm worried about is my lights...??? jazzbus@gmail.com