[78-L] OT: New York Round Robin. November 2008.

[Spats]

Some people on this list ask me to post my Round Robins; others are 
not interested, so...

THIS IS MOSTLY OFF-TOPIC, SO HERE IS YOUR CHANCE TO PRESS THE DELETE BUTTON.

>I have just returned from New York to London and am suffering 
>jet-lag, but, before I forget everything, here's the story of my 
>trip.
>
>After meticulous planning, I flew out for what I knew was going to 
>be a frantic 9-day trip and so it turned out. This time around, I 
>needed an hotel.
>
>New York hotels seem to be divided into two types. Firstly, there 
>are those $35 per night hotels wherein you share your life and 
>underwear with 12 strangers and the second sort which charges $200 
>upwards. Neither of these was what I wanted
>
>So, after extensive on line research, I discovered the Larchmont 
>Hotel on West 11th Street and 5th Avenue, which charges about $100 
>per night. For this you get a small room with a bed, TV, usual 
>furniture and, crucially, a wash basin in your room, though shower 
>and toilet facilities are shared. You even get a continental 
>breakfast...well, coffee and a bun really...
>
>Last but not least, there is an Internet hot-spot in the reception 
>room (it's not really a lobby) and I think that I've never ever 
>enjoyed faster connection. So, all in all, if you're looking for a 
>cheap hotel in NYC, try The Larchmont!
>
>The only downside? Well, no matter which route you try, it's always 
>at least a 3-block walk from the nearest Subway station!
>
>Anyhow, that first Monday, I performed at one of those open mike 
>nights (it's called Cast Party) for the well-heeled older, mainly 
>white folk who frequent that wonderful venue called Birdland. This 
>seemed to go VERY well and someone asked me what I'd cost if they 
>wanted me to perform in Oklahoma!
>
>From there, I went to another very different open-mike night. Much 
>to my surprise, I learnt that the mainly Soul and R&B night at the 
>Village Underground on a Monday, is a copy of a similar night in 
>London. The band there was superb and would have done justice to 
>Stevie Wonder. The singing was equally good, but I'm delighted to 
>say that, as with Birdland, I was one of the hits of the evening.
>
>As if this weren't enough, I ended the night a 2am on the Joey 
>Reynolds Radio Talk Show. He asked me back!
>
>So it was, at 3am, I was to be found on the platform in the New York 
>Subway. The MTA Subway is much cheaper than the London system and 
>runs all night which is wonderful!!!
>
>(The advantages of the London Underground are that it's cleaner and 
>much more comfortable and that we have many more escalators. Since 
>the New York system was also built more by private enterprise, 
>changing between the letter and number lines can often mean what 
>seems to be a five-mail walk!)
>
>I only had a few stops to West 4th Street, but no trains seemed to 
>arrive on my side of the platform. An hour later and I managed to 
>speak to an MTA employee who was emptying bins. He told me that work 
>was going on and I would need to go one stop to Brooklyn and that 
>the A Train was running on the F line from there to West 4th Street. 
>There were no signs telling me this at my end of the platform. 
>Moreover, when I DID find such a notice, it implied that this work 
>would only begin the following night. However, I finally got back to 
>my hotel and collapsed!
>
>Tuesday was the private party that actually funded my whole trip. 
>The cabaret went well, and, opening my envelope later on, instead of 
>the $2500 which we had agreed on, I found $2900!
>
>Before that, being Jewish, I HAD to visit Katz's Deli and watch the 
>3-ring circus of other overweight Jews getting and eating their 
>lunch. Personally speaking, the bowls of pickles alone would have 
>sufficed! Later in my trip I also ate at the Carnegie Deli, where 
>there was a nasty accident when somebody fell off their pastrami on 
>rye sandwich!
>
>Wednesday was the core of my trip really, for I got to play once 
>more at St. Peter's Church at the Midday Jazz Series where they have 
>Duke Ellington's piano in the main church and, the one I got to 
>play, Billy Strayhorn's piano! For once, I could do a full hour 
>without having to do much comedy and despite fighting a throat cold, 
>I did well. I've had e-mails about it ever since, all telling me how 
>much everyone enjoyed my set.
>
>In the front row, smiling and looking very much in the pink, was 
>George Avakian and such varied performers as Dick Katz and Steve 
>Ross were watching, too, none of which adds to one's confidence! I 
>also got to chat to Joan Anderson (widow of Edmund who first booked 
>me in there). I hadn't seen her for years, but she's looking very 
>well!
>
>That night, by complete contrast, I performed at Caroline's Comedy 
>Club, where, instead of a normal London comedy set of 20-25 minutes, 
>I only had 6 minutes or so. Nevertheless, I did very well. To be 
>brutally honest, I wasn't exactly overwhelmed by the quality of the 
>comedy of the local comedians. Also, somebody has got to explain to 
>them that the thing on the end of the wire is called a microphone. 
>Its function is to make your voice louder. Therefore, you do not 
>need to scream into it!
>
>Thursday was a day of seeing friends but I did have the 'chutzpah' 
>to turn up at The Apollo and ask who did their booking. Apparently, 
>these days, they only run their own show once a week, the famous 
>Amateur Night. However, as I dropped by, there were doing an 
>historical presentation for a large group of schoolchildren from 
>Michigan. Somebody suggested that I sing for them on stage, which I 
>duly did (I chose Georgia On My Mind, naturally including a 'vocal 
>trumpet' solo).
>
>So, I can now say that I've sung on stage at The Apollo and got a 
>standing ovation.
>I don't need to give further details, do I!? ;-)
>
>Friday and Saturday were the nights of my one-man shows at Broadway 
>Baby Bistro. Well, they were very nice to me there and the room is 
>lovely, but, although they aggressively market their own shows 
>there, sending people out to give flyers to innocent passers-by, 
>they seemed to have dome no work on my show at all, so, in the 
>event, just about my entire audience for the two nights consisted of 
>friends!
>
>I also met members of the 78-l and duke-lym lists there, which was 
>good. Dan Kassell, from the Duke list even played clarinet with me 
>at the end of the show! Afterwards, he took me to Knickerbocker on 
>University Place and I heard a wonderful Italian stride pianist and 
>a 20-year old Jazz violinist who reminded me a little of Joe Venuti! 
>Wonderful! That was the day it RAINED, and RAINED and RAINED. 
>Luckily, however, I'm British and brought my umbrella along, so I 
>didn't get soaked on my walk back to my hotel.
>
>On the second night, my New York rival in the 'vocal trumpet' 
>department, Bob Gurland, also showed up, so we were able to enjoy a 
>rare live duet!
>
>Sunday was the day of a very special wedding. The bridegroom and 
>service were very much Jewish, but the bride was actually Brazilian, 
>so she asked me to play Corcovado during the marriage service, just 
>to have SOMETHING Brazilian represented. It was a wonderful wedding.
>
>Monday and Tuesday were about seeing anyone I hadn't had time to 
>see, plus a final visit to perform at Birdland. It was a great 
>evening! I pretty much 'took the roof off' which is always a relief 
>when performing abroad!
>
>In passing, I should mention that I had spent some money with the 
>British Consulate in return for some research on my behalf and had 
>thus had meetings with various bookers, such as the legendary Irvin 
>Arthur. I met Stan Seidenberg, another famous booker, on my second 
>night with Joey Reynolds. Last but not least, I met Todd Barkan, who 
>books  'Dizzy's' at Lincoln Centre. Let's hope that something comes 
>of one of those...
>
>It's always a little strange in the USA. Of-course, in New York, one 
>doesn't notice that they're driving on the wrong side of the road, 
>since the vast majority of roads are one-way, anyhow, but everything 
>else, such as light switches, door-locks etc., all seem to operate 
>upside down or back to front, so it always takes a while to adjust, 
>but New York is so much better that the angry place, full of hatred 
>that I experienced on my first visit back in 1968. The most lasting 
>impression on THIS trip was, however, all of the dogs that I saw 
>everywhere, being given walks by dutiful owners. A more happy bunch 
>of dogs...all sizes and breeds, some as nature intended, some 
>dressed in a variety of clothes...I couldn't imagine. The little 
>ones seemed to have come with batteries!
>
>I'll end with this. Dressed formally as I was, I told a variety of 
>audiences that I had been charged with special authority. If the USA 
>had screwed up the election for the THIRD time, then they would have 
>had to have been subsumed back into the British Empire. This went 
>down well everywhere in the post-Obama election climate.
>
>My only negative this time around is the throat cold that I fought 
>for my entire trip. However, I managed to get enough voice back 
>every day, so that I didn't have to miss any gig and I had to be 
>content with that!