Thursday, May 8, 2008

Haden/Iverson/Motion + Galactic 5/7/08

I took off today just so I could sleep in and continue recovering from jazzfest. It was originally going to be Lettuce and then Galactic, but the Lettuce show got moved to the 11th. That gave me a chance to get to the Vanguard for a wonderful jazz trio.

I took a 1.5 hour nap and then headed over to the Vanguard. It was my first time seeing Charlie Haden. The trio also included Ethan Iverson and Paul Motion. Wow! Haden is phenomenal and now I know I have to see his Quartet West during JVC jazzfest at Le Poisson Rouge. It was great, but definitely a good idea to go well-rested. It was pretty mellow but quite engaging. They are all top-notch and I'm so glad I made it.

It was also cool that I was way up front, right behind Iverson. I could see his right hand moving along the keys and had a good view of Haden as well. I could see Motion good enough.

It turned out I was sitting next to a Parisian with the same profession as me who loves jazz and is here visiting for a month. I gave her some tips on where to go and asked her about Paris jazz. I'm sorry to say the Cafe 7 Lezards that I loved closed. She said the neighbors in that area (the Marais, near the Temple) are uptight about noise and that's why it closed. Bummer. Especially since Paris is loud period. The vespas are noise. I'm so glad I got the chance to get there because it was a wonderful place with great tea and a nice, laid back vibe.

Then I went to BBs for a late night after-jammy's Galactic show. They played from about 1 to a little after 3. It was good, but nowhere near the level of the Tips show (as I already anticipated) or even their jazzfest set. The crowd was into it and dancing and giving what they could, but understandably pretty tired after a long night of Jammy's music and awards shows and many recovering from jazzfest. It was still fun and a helpful transition for getting back into normal life.

The Jurassic 5 rappers didn't thrill me, I could have done without them. An 8 yo guitar player sat in and did Crazy Train. Apparently there is a youtube vid of this kid that everyone is talking about. He is very good, but in my opinion, didn't need to sing. I guess he's one of our future shredders. It will be interesting to see how he evolves, as I think of another child guitar protege, Derek Trucks.

Cochemea sat in for one and was great. Grace Potter came out toward the end for Whole Lotta Love.

It was very annoying how they kept turning on the lights in the crowd. Is that just a NY thing? It don't seem to see that obnoxiousness anywhere else I go. It's really bad in the wee hours of the morning. I keep trying to remember to bring sunglasses, but it's a hassle to carry them around.

I definitely enjoyed the drum solo most of all. I also can't get over how I never get sick of Galactic. There's lots of bands I have to be careful how much I see them. There have been times where I've left Galactic because the particular night wasn't doing it for me, but I never seem to get sick of the music. I'm also recalling a road trip about 6 years ago where we rented a car for the day and I said I'd bring the music. My friend couldn't get over how I brought about 20 cds and at least half of them had Galactic on them. I had brought a lot of NOLA compilation cds as well as Galactic. That's when I realized I really love them.

Anyway it was a fun night and it's great to have a day to sleep in after working the last 2 pretty tired.

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