LIC Notes

 

Local musician Anthony Cekay (composer of The Spectacular War Museum) has founded a new website with Leighanne Saltsman called Page4Music. Page4Music is dedicated to fostering discourse within the music industry and features fantastic podcasts on a range of music-related topics.

 

Check out the podcast with Emmy-winning local trombonist J. Walter Hawkes from last week, and be sure to check their latest post for a podcast featuring RocketHub.com's Brian Meece and Gus Rodriguez discussing their upcoming album release, the crowdfunding process, and their CD release party at NYC's The Living Room.

 

Cheers to Page4Music for their efforts!

 

Be sure to like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

 

It's Tuesday night at LIC Bar – have you checked out or even hopped onstage for the LIC Jazz Jam yet?!

 

Since this past October, the LIC Jazz Alliance has hosted an extremely unique and welcoming kind of open jam jazz event at LIC Bar. Tonight is another round of the Jazz Jam from 8-11:30pm. There's no cover and a one drink minimum to enjoy 3+ hours (!) of live local jazz. Jazz guitarist Amanda Monaco, member of the LIC Jazz Alliance, weighed in on what the Jazz Jam experience has been like thus far, and shares her hopes for LICJA's future:

 

"The session has been quite a success so far. The atmosphere has been warm and inviting – like a cozy, fun party in someone's living room (only with a fully stocked bar). We've had musicians from all over Queens come to play, as well as neighbors who have come to listen. It's a unique session in that the house band (currently Broc Hempel, piano; Sam Trapchak, bass; Christian Coleman, drums and host) performs about 3 tunes and then opens up the session for the next 3+ hours. The music is continuous – no set breaks to speak of – and musicians are invited to stick around for the entire time as there is almost always more than one opportunity to play, as opposed to the usual 'wait forever, play one tune, get off the stage' routine that sadly accompanies other jam sessions. We also have a tradition of ending each session with the jazz classic 'I'll Remember April' and inviting all of the horn players back on stage for a rousing finale.

 

LICJA's goals in the next year are to supplement this weekly jam session with a monthly concert series in the neighborhood featuring LIC Jazz Musicians and their own groups. We are also on the lookout for a permanent space where we can provide jazz workshops and lessons to children and adults in the community, creating a space where LIC residents can come and learn about and enjoy this great music called jazz.

 

We are hoping that the jam session will continue to be a weekly event as we see it growing over the coming months and bringing the community together."

 

Special thanks to Amanda and LICJA for fostering a creative – and quite importantly, FUN – atmosphere for open jazz jams and improvisation right here in LIC. The LIC jazz community is growing and whether you're bringing instruments to play or just enjoying the music, you can be a part of it with this event at LIC Bar!

 

The weekly Jazz Jam will continue on Tuesdays through November – and hopefully beyond!

 

LIC Bar
45-58 Vernon Blvd, LIC
Jazz Jam from 8-11:30pm

 

* Top photo by Jesse Winter

 

Incomparable eight-piece local band BAD BUKA (formerly Panonian Wave) have left hundreds in the wake of their high energy, joyously outrageous 'gypsy punk rock' shows.

 

Bad Buka is the kind of band that defies explanation - they bring their lively Balkan roots to NYC with the richness of world music, punk rock attitude, and even the spunk of ska. Their energy is so PURE that listeners are immediately converted. Theirs is the kind of music that any person of any musical background or taste can absorb, dance to, lose themselves in, and commune with. At a Bad Buka show, you truly become part of a shared experience - a transfer of energy from band to crowd and back again, over and over and over. This band is simply one of a kind, and they need YOUR help to take their music to the next level.

 

The time has come for Buka to recreate their groundbreaking live experience on their very first EP! Extremely exciting for a band that lives in the realm of local legend. They're turning to ROCKETHUB, a locally-founded crowdsourcing website that helps artists, musicians, and people of all sorts turn their dreams into reality with a little help from their friends.

 

Help fuel their EP Project on ROCKETHUB!

 

Watch the video:

 

 

 

Check them out:

 

Online
Facebook
MySpace

 

And spread the good word of BAD BUKA!

 

 

 

 

Audrey Dimola is a born and raised Astoria/Long Island City gal. Best known around town for her work as Managing Editor of LIC-based arts/music/culture magazine, Ins&Outs, Audrey is now Project Manager of Dom & Tom, Inc., a NYC web and mobile development studio.

 

[All photos besides last by William Ruben Helms - visit his Flickr & Blog]

I don’t think I’m down with the global warming thing. This new autumn weather – sultry/cold rain/humid/chill breeze – sucks. So New York is the new Austin; I almost turned on the a/c today, and it’s time to write the November rent check. But if this were really Austin, the rent would be lower.

 

In a spasm of quasi-political action, I refrained from flipping the switch and went food shopping using canvas bags. Having ditched my ’89 Honda Accord LX for a purple Fuji Absolute 12-speed, I’m now feeling virtuous but, well, a bit bland.

 

You know the temporary yet effective solution to that: I turned to sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. I’ve hoisted more than my fair share of Radeberger* this past month, and even got to meet the Radeberger Girls. One of them bought me a beer – I think she fancies me a bit!

 

Oh right, you’re here for the music. October’s de-blanding has mixed Brazilian surf riffs, sax-playing around Japanese swing, and Croatian dance-party rock. On one LIC Bar evening, João Erbetta and his band spin out high-energy surf tunes with a Portuguese accent. My usual problem with much Brazilian music comes from its being too pastel and languid (yes, it’s my problem); I’m happy to listen to surf music anytime, and believe I hear complications under the fun. Erbetta neatly reverses those tropes. His playing is fluid, exciting, precisely shaped, and quite engaging, so much so that I don’t really want to look under the hood to see how it all runs. I’ve heard him play in other contexts, and know he’s not just technically a savvy guitarist, but a musician who blends his personality with many genrés. Sadly, the bar was not so crowded when Erbetta played. He deserves a wider audience; while pretty well known on the scene, that and $104 will get you to your day job on the 7 train next month.

 

We’ve chatted about DB Rielly before, but that’s not going to stop me here. DB’s band followed Erbetta’s, and the party mood continued. For me, this show pivoted around the playing of the estimable Hiro Suzuki, lead guitar player in the group. Suzuki favored swing-era tunes which, by virtue of his actually being able to swing, set up a great dance mood. DB added counterpoint via his bluesy sax playing. Even some folks who’ve followed him for years realized he even played sax – turns out it was his first instrument, who knew? – and the contrast in sound lent depth to what can be a surface-y genrè. The two also collaborated beautifully on some covers of singer/songwriter tunes, like John Hiatt’s "Feels Like Rain," managing the transitions in mood gracefully without damping the party spirit.

 

By time The Dynasty took the stage, the party mood had swung to raucous. Don’t look for The Dynasty on iTunes; this was a one-off group, essentially Chris and Diana from Bad Buka, playing as part of Diana’s sister Carla’s birthday celebration (not saying which one, but “Lather” would know). And celebrate is what Bad Buka do best. I can’t say I remember much particularly that went on, other than someone shouting to the crowd, “Shut up and sing!” Everyone sang, everyone danced, it didn’t matter if you knew Croatian songs or dances; soon everyone felt like part of Carla’s family and the celebration. As the full band is playing a Hallowe’en party, I’ll try to get a more fair assessment then. Like, it’ll be easier on Hallowe’en?

 

The evening closed with Julie Kathryn, a local singer/songwriter. That transition, closing after a rowdy crowd-pleaser, is less than easy, as I’ve noted previously. It does help the neighbors get some sleep, but the previous music had opened me up so much that I found it hard to calibrate Kathryn’s stuff. Which isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy her; I did. And when she said, “I’ve never played my guitar this hard, it’s out of tune!” I though, God on ya, lass! I’ll bring positive expectations to her next gig.

 

In a final twitch of political activism, I’ll be voting before filing that next report. You know that we middle-aged, upper-middle-class white guys ALWAYS vote. (That’s why they call us The Man, right?) Not saying I won’t vote the straight The Rent Is Too Damn High party ticket, of course. Especially if I’m tempted to turn on the a/c again.

 

*Bloggers are enjoined by some federal rule to reveal every product bought for them in the course of covering their beat. I’m compiling a disclosure document that will enumerate the Pilsner, Coteaux de Languedoc, small-batch bourbon, single-malt Scotch, self-produced cd’s, brownies, Hawai’ian skunkweed spliffs, and mutual avowals of sexual desire involved; it will be available for you right around the time I complete my 2008 NYS corporate tax return.

 

The Silver Shark is always moving, just under the surface of the LIC scene. He comes up suddenly to snap up some wine and music, and perhaps bare his teeth at nearby lovely mermaids – though he generally doesn't bite. You can catch an occasional glimpse of him at your favorite LIC venue, and regularly here at his blog.