Wasted Weekend?

I feel like I have just wasted a weekend. I have been outside the hotel just once, and that was to have breakfast yesterday.

There is a reason, though. Yesterday, I was completely partied out, having gone to two concerts at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Manhattan Friday night.

The first concert was ok without being great. The performer was Chuck Mangione, who has two Grammys to his name, plus various other distinctions. Of course, being a Grammy winner basically means that he plays music that everybody likes, i.e., not the sort of music that makes you feel that you have just heard something unique. In other words, not my style, but I felt like getting out of my room. The style was a mix of stuff that was way too conventional for my taste (e.g., a jingle he had written for ABC), and stuff that was actually quite allright.

Chuck plays trumpet and keyboards, but it is obvious that he is much better at playing the trumpet, so I wish he had just stuck to that. He didn’t, which meant that whatever brilliant musicianship I was going to hear would mostly come from the other musicians (from what I could gather, they were all house musicians). They were not at all bad, but at the same time, they were also not the people I paid to hear.

Another thing that bothered me was that whoever was in charge of the sound must have had an off-day. The background (house musician) keyboards were loud and intrusive, while Chuck’s own keyboard was almost inaudible, even though I was sitting no more than 8m from the stage, dead center. The sax/clarinet/flute/piccolo player also had a tough time being heard whenever he picked up the flute or the clarinet.

To top everything off, the three middle aged couples sitting at the table next to me spent the entire concert chatting amongst each other, despite the club’s request at the start of the show to not do so. Some people are just too thick to be let out of the asylum if you ask me.

On the positive note, the drummer, the guitarist and in particular the bass player were really good, and so was the 750ml bottle of Brother Thelonius Abbey Ale from North Shore Brewing Company that I enjoyed during the concert.

Anyway, Chuck Mangione wasn’t the main reason for going to Blue Note that night. The main reason was the 00:30 show, featuring the hip-hop/jazz fusion band Mental Notes. Hip-hop jazz is probably my favourite subgenre of music, and these guys did not disappoint at all. The put on a fabulous show of rap, cool guitar solos, soothing trumpet moods, and DJ-ing, and not only was the music excellent – the band (the rapper Spiritchild in particular) put on an amazing show which had even the 50-60 year old geezers at one of the front tables get up and dance. Five guest rappers and singers provided the icing on the cake.

The concert was supposed to have ended after about an hour, but after 75 minutes, Spiritchild apologised that they were not very good at keeping time, then went on to play a 15 minute song, after which it was announced that their time had been extended, to the enthustiastic approval of the crowd.

As it turns out, Mental Notes are touring Europe and the Middle East this autumn. They told me that they were coming to Paris, but their tour schedule doesn’t seem to reflect this at the moment. I hope they will be there, though – I’d love to see their show again.

Another intern (Diego, Argentina) drove me home. We arrived at about 4am.

I would have loved to show some photos of all this, but I didn’t think the club would allow me to take pictures, so i didn’t bring my camera. As it turned out, non-flash photography was allowed. However, I have lots of pictures from other stuff I’ve been doing. We’re back to pictures taken with my phone, so don’t expect to be able to see much. The pictures are from my first weekend here, when we went to a park to play frisbee and football, and from my walk around Manhattan, this final part being from Greenwich Village:

A disgustingly flamboyant pink limo, as only the Americans would be able to make them.

As you can see, it is actually a mini-limo. :-)

Luke’s stated goal for his time here in the US is to come back to the UK with a deficit. So the limo got itself a new owner. :-)

A memorial in front of NYU, built from bricks from the NYU’s old facade. The big red building in the background is the NYU library.

The Silver Towers, just south of Washington Sq. Don’t ask me why they’re called the Silver Towers.

The other guys went to the Met. I found a Picasso in the middle of nowhere (between the Silver Towers).

The back alley behind some restaurants near Washington Sq. Interesting colours.

The Arch of Washington Square.

The Washington Square fountain, with the arch behind it.

A statue of Garibaldi, whoever he was. No English inscription, only Italian.

Two cathedrals next to each other. You don’t see that every day. :-)

The Metronome at Union Sq. It a piece of art that is just a clock.

Some sort of work of art at Union Square, next to The Metronome. I’d really like to know what it is, but I can’t find any reference to it.

How Union Square used to look, before modern times took over.

The Max Brenner Chocolate Restaurant near Union Sq.

That’s about it for this time. I’m going to the pub across from the sushi place to get a burger. Those guys know how to make burgers.

Next weekend takes me to Buffalo, where one of the other interns (Ian, the camera geek) and his recently acquired wife have invited me and a few of the other interns to their wedding reception. At least, that’s what Ian tells me. I haven’t actually received the invitation yet. But hey, I can always gatecrash.

The following weekend takes me to Toronto, where Don Ross is giving a concert. Interestingly, that trip takes me right through Buffalo…

Another observation to round things off: The movie Brüno premiered last week, causing some protests here and there. Most notably, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) criticised the film for “promoting a stereotypical view of homosexuality”. What is interesting about that statement is that the alliance supports (and in some cases even takes part in) practically every single Gay Pride parade in the US…

/J