Astor 2nite, Rum House Thu, Garage Fri, Epistrophy Sun

Greetings, and a fine Wednesday to ye.  This morning has been in need of a kick start.  I've been up for quite some time and I'm starting my 3rd or 4th cup of coffee. I'm still waiting for that cue, for that something that makes me feel like "oh shucks, what a great day!  Let's do this!"  But instead, I'm kind of jittery and brain dead, feeling more like "Bleghstyaatuammich."  Inspiration doesn't come to those who wait... unless you're really lucky.  Sadly, I get lucky with that inspiration every rare once and a while (most of us do) which conditions me to believe that these inspirations that come out of nowhere are the norm. This, my friends, is nothing but denial and just makes me lazy... as I sit and wait for the spirit to move me.  Or the coffee.  At this point, I'll take either.

Tonight you'll find me playing with 1920's - 30's music extraordinaries, Gelber and Manning, at the beautiful Astor Room, located at the Kaufman Astoria studios in Astoria.

Tomorrow night I'll be a special guest, joining JC Hopkins' trio in Midtown at the Rum House.  This place is a kooky mix of loungers, scenesters, and tourists that could only happen in Midtown.  It's also one of the few places I actually like in that neck of the woods...

Friday night I'll be playing hard hitting tailgate trombone with the hardest rocking traditional jazz band this side of Rampart Street at  Garage.  Four sets of exciting jazz in the late-time hours with Kevin Dorn and The Big 72 will give you joy in your late night reveling in the West Village.

Sunday night I'll be playing trombone, ukulele, and singing with my trio featuring Andy Burns and Jim Whitney at the Epistrophy Cafe.   I hear they call this section of town "Nolita" these days.  I never really had a name for that exact part of town (kinda Little Italy... kinda SoHo, kinda East Village) so I suppose having a name is useful.  Knowing that name is probably a product of yuppification and real estate development still makes me cringe when I say/hear it.  However, so was TriBeCa, and we've mostly gotten used to that.  I don't know why I even bring this up.  It's not that big a deal.  I just enjoy being annoyed at such things.  It makes me feel hard core.  ANYHOW... regardless what I say about what they call the neighborhood... the Epistrophy Cafe totally lives up to old Little Italy.  Well, even better than that, they sport some of the best Italian food I've had in the city (despite it's proximity to Little Italy) and they are truly lovers of music.  It's also a hip little laid back joint with a nice little stage where we will play for you with reckless abandon... but not enough reckless abandon-ness that it will distract you from your meal.  The food's so damn good that we'd have to get pretty reckless to distract you anyway.  I like being on that end of the curve.

All the actual, useful information about the above rambled-about shows, plus a look into the rest of the month as it stands right now, is listed below:

Wed 3/7 8:00pm - 10:00pm w/Gelber and Manning @ The Astor Room (34-12 36th St btwn 34th and 35th Aves - Astoria, Queens)

Thu 3/8 9pm - Midnight w/JC Hopkins Trio @ The Rum House (228 W47th St)

Fri 3/9 10:30pm – 2:30am w/The Big 72 @ Garage (99 7th Ave S)

Sun 3/11 7:00pm - 9:30pm JWH Trio @ Epistrophy Cafe (200 Mott St btwn Spring and Kenmare)  Reservations: 212-966-0904

Wed 3/14 8:00pm - 10:00pm w/Gelber and Manning @ The Astor Room (34-12 36th St btwn 34th and 35th Aves - Astoria, Queens)

Fri 4/29 11:30pm - late w/Jack Grace Band @ The Maple Leaf (8316 Oak St. NEW ORLEANS, LA)

Thu 3/29 9:30pm-12:00am w/Willie Martinez La Familia Sextet @ The Nuyorican Poet’s Café( 236 E 3rd St) $7 cover

I gotta get moving now, inspired or not.  So should too, if you haven't.  ;) 

Take care!

w