a free form jazz odyssey in front of a festival crowd

There are several post worthy things in recent memory. Lets start with the sad, move onto the music, and finish with the food. Sound good? Ok, lets go.

Jay Bennett passed away this weekend. No one knows the exact details, so lets not speculate. He was only 45, and it’s incredibly sad. Bennett himself once said that all future articles written about him will include mention of Wilco, and this is certainly true. I can imagine no worse fate for a musician than to be so involved with the creation of an album, from the sounds to the songwriting, be fired once said album is completed, only to have said album skyrocket your former band to legendary status. On top of that, the deterioration of your relationship with the band is caught on film, which every once and future fan of this band will see. He caught a tough break.

I think every fan of Wilco’s music secretly hoped Bennett would emerge successful after the post Yankee Hotel split. This conclusion would have been fairly logical. He seemed to be a talented producer, and was completely crazy, as nearly all talented producers must be. Its like rule #1 in the handbook. There was a fantastic Tape Op interview with him shortly after, which detailed his gear and personal studio. I would have loved to have recorded there at some point. At my first wilco show, I remember thinking “where’s the guy with the dreadlocks?” At least through all the drama, people recognize first and foremost that he was a true musician.

In other positive news, I think I saw the finest sit-in ever to occur in New York, at least within my experience. I went to my favorite living jazz venue, The Village Vanguard, to see Allen Toussaint’s band last week. Allen is a serious New Orleans legend, with a band that would impress anyone on their own. Jay Bellerose was on drums – one of my favorite drummers who I recently saw with Ray Lamontagne, and Marc Ribot on guitar- probably best known for his work on most of Tom Waits’ catalog. That “Jockey Full Of Bourbon” solo? Yeah, that’s him. This band would clearly not be messing around. Earlier in the week WBGO broadcast the wednesday night set, which was excellent.

It was not like my last vanguard experience, possibly because it was the early set. No loud tourists, very orderly line outside, a very respectable crowd. I sat at the first table off the stage, the perfect spot for an obsessive such as myself, with direct sight lines to both Ribot and Bellerose. Toussaint was dressed in a beige pinstriped suit, with matching paisely shirt and tie. There was no dilly dallying happening tonight, the band got straight to it. Very little downtime in between songs, no messing around. The set was filled with ghostly New Orleans traditionals, heavy on the clarinet and trumpet solos. No electric instruments at all, Ribot on a big 30’s Gibson acoustic. These are my favorite type of shows- I’d like to think that this is what jazz sounded like in its earliest days. Everyone on stage at the top of their game.

Early on, Joe Henry emerged right next to me from the crowd to do some vocals on “St James Infirmary” Sounding exactly like he does on record, which should not be surprising…but happens less and less these days. He wore a badass jacket, that looked like it could have been made into some new age furniture or something. During the instrumental breaks, he kneels down and bangs on our table keeping time. So already, we’re doing pretty well for a weeknight show. Soon after, the band leaves the stage, Allen does a solo piece, then says
“So a lot of you might already know this, but a special friend of mine is in the house tonight. No, its not Michael Jackson. Please welcome mister Elvis Costello”

Well, at this point I pretty much lost it. There is no more badass crooner than Elvis. He seems to be everywhere lately. On TV with his own show, on the Jenny Lewis album, making string band records…I’m pretty sure I’ll go to get my hair cut and Elvis is going to be the barber. So like a nuclear explosion of awesome, he runs through the crowd and grabs the mic. Does not say a word. Black leather jacket, sparkly black tie, mustache, shiny blue sneakers. The just go right into it. He’s singing directly to our table, I can barely hold it together. They were doing the ballad “Nearer To You” off their duet album a few years back, its intense. Toussaint jumps in on a few backing vocals, but Elvis is soaring on these high notes, playing it up to the crowd, this guy is a fucking showman. Pretty much before I can get a handle on the fact that Elvis Costello is singing 3 feet from me at The Village Vanguard…he’s gone. I think I shook his hand on the way out, he was just too cool. The rest of the show is a blur of fantasticness, I do remember one unstoppable Ribot solo, which ended in a little piano/guitar duet, going very far out there, Toussaint plucking the piano strings, Ribot detuning, and both of them laughing as it finished. Everyone was happy.

Never a bad evening at the Vanguard. On the way there, I passed Pete from 30 rock on the street, thinking nothing of it. After the show, we went to a bar for a celebratory beverage, and from a table behind me I hear “Tracy, tracy! Calm down man” and I think…that sounds like Judah Friedlander…..yeah, it was. Yelling at Tracy Morgan. Who then left the bar in a huff, and got into his yellow lamborghini sitting out front. I think my head officially exploded at this point. If Baldwin had walked in, I’m sure I would have been hit by a bus on my way home.

So, food is the last item on the menu. There was a memorial day BBQ this weekend, as often happens this time of year. I brought some steak, others brought sausage, others brought ribs. These ribs were being sauced for the grill, and looked delicious. Someone put them on a chair, in order to prepare for saucing. Yet another guest brought a dog to the party. Take a guess where it went from there.

First of all, I cannot be mad at this dog. He basically took what I wanted to do, and did it. But on 2nd thought, who brings a giant ass dog to a party? It was a nice enough dog, not barking, being friendly to everyone, but still, it was quite large in a small backyard and shed all over everyone. The saddest part is, the ribs were thrown out afterwards. The owner wouldn’t even let him keep his prize. Sorry to end on such a down note. But these things happen, sometimes, a dog eats your ribs.