Confessions of the Starving Artist
"Confessions of the Starving Artist" - 6/5/08 SUPERBLOG 2
You jump at the bump
at the price at the pump
And you stand like a lump
But you're gonna fill it anyway
"Well, I've had my fill."
"Baby, This One's for You" by Elliott Glick
Friday, May 23. Those Freakin' Ricans (there, I've said it) returned to the
Starving Artist Cafe. I believe this is their third time up. It occurred to me
while listening to them that singer / songwriters are not what they are. It's the
great catchall for acoustic peformers - singer / songwriter is. These guys,
Jorge Caraballo (of Rubber Soul) and Nick Morales (of two former bands,
Musica Flammarum and Twin Flame) are entertainers. And I mean that in
the highest sense of the word. They jump styles like musical chameleons.
Mariachi, C&W, blues, Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond, The Lion King, for
God's sake. Nick Morales flexed his blues muscles on several numbers and
Jorge Caraballo flexed his tonsils. They had many surprises up their sleeves
too. My beautiful wife, Monica, joined them on a classic Johnny Cash / June
Carter Cash song, "Jackson," which they sang to perfection. All the charm
and humor in tact. Next surprise was Barbara Folts. She is not only the wife
of Peter Parrella of Rubber Soul fame, Jorge's other band, she is a performer
on Broadway. Together they did two numbers, including the Tom Petty hit,
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." Jorge sang the powerful "Granada," a hit
for Mario Lanza. Jorge's favorite version these days is by Jose Carreras. An
astounding performance of a difficult song. They save these "tightrope act"
songs for the encore each time. No net, just guts and a lot of talent. A lot of
talent. You got to see it.
Saturday night, May 24, I got in the act, literally. I joined my wife, Monica,
and friend Lucille Rivin in the trio, Just Us. I sort of back them up and
provide the basis on which the songs rest and they do the rest. We like
harmony and they do a good job of it. Sometimes we do three-part harmony.
Just Us includes three very different personalities. The material reflects that.
Monica sang "Piece of My Heart"; Lucille sang "Since I Fell for You." They
did "Time After Time." They did Dylan, Leonard Coehn and John Prine.
They even did the "Glory of Love." Lucille did a couple of originals,
including a very clever song about lies called "Phony Money" and a crafty
song called "Frost." Somewhere in there I raped and murdered "Gimme
Shelter." It was a packed house and I had a great time. There was Just Us for
all.
Sunday, May 25, we had an open Jam Session. About an hour before
opening a fire broke out in shops not too far from the Starving Artist - and
our home - on City Island Avenue. Thirty or so fire trucks later, the Island
was shut down to oncoming traffic. The Jam Session ended up being two
other people and myself. There was "Cowboy" Dave Tillman from Texas
and Mike Solomon from Ohio. Mike was visiting his sister, and SAC&G fine
artist / City Islander, Cheryl, and Dave now lives in New York. We played
something to please each of us and had a great time doing so. I closed early
and got to spend an evening at home. The firemen were amazing. No one
was seriously hurt.
Now this brings us to the last Friday of the month (May 30) which, of
course, is Open Mic Night. I've been to a lot of different ones in different
places. I must say that ours is crazy good. Quality poets and comics,
performance characters. Former Artist waitress Lindsey Kinford recited a
poem she wrote about September 11, 2001. We even had a heavy metal
flamenco player. Open Mic runs from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. or so on that lastFriday-of-the-month. Come next time and check it out. Sign up to play or
reserve a spot to watch. (Frank and Cheryl Koller, and Bob and Mary Lou
Lachman have their reservations for open mic night from now until the end
of time, I think.)
Ever listen to Bob Dylan's first two LPs and marvel at how old he sounded?
He was 21 or 22 years old at the time. Saturday night, May 31, the Artist
was filling up with people who had come to hear Phil Minissale. Phil is a 21year-old blues player who has crammed a lot of blues expertise into his
relatively short life. His voice is aged and grizzled. His knowledge of styles
is complete. He plays Delta and Piedmont styles with perfection. He's been
all through Dave Van Ronk, John Hammond Jr. and Mississippi John Hurt
(who lived in the Bronx for awhile). He has incorporated all these influences
and styles into his own personal technique with which he deftly fleshes out
his own original songs. It seemed kind of humorous to me to hear an
introduction to a blues song that is about a love gone wrong when he was in
third grade. That, though, is part of Phil's charm - and charm he has. My
waitresses Mariel and Shannon took him out for drinks after the show. That
don't happen often, Phil. Ah, to be young. Buy his CD if you like the blues
done right.
The Starving Artist has gotten a good reputation among performers, but we
also have a loyal clientele. Frank and Cheryl, who I've mentioned before in
my blog (and in this one too) hit the double play this past weekend attending
two shows in a row. It's not the first time, but I wanted to mention it and
thank them. I went to another club to see a friend play and Frank was there
with Cheryl - and he was wearing a Starving Artist t-shirt. You can get yours
- and other Starving Artist merchandise - on a special web site; click here.
Sunday, June 1, was the opening reception of an art exhibit at SAC&G. Don
Nester's "Images of Infinity" took the wall of the gallery / cafe. Fractal
photography, images of infinity, it all sounds pretty heavy, doesn't it? Well, it
is. I've had conversations about fractals about five or six times, and words
like quantum physics, calculus and Einstein's unifying theory come up. I
know this because I heard, "Blah blah blah quantum, blah blah blah
mathematics, blah blah blah atom, etc." My mind, I must confess, wandered
to cheeseburgers, not Benoit Mandelbrot. Snowflakes that occur in nature
approximate fractals. So there! These pictures are at once fascinating,
intriguing, vast in their diversity and beautiful. I have been doing art exhibits
every month or so for 11 years. I've know many artists, many of whom
became friends. I have watched their growth from exhibit to exhibit, usually
in a linear pattern, developing a theme or technique over a period of time and
a series of shows. Don Nester has been with me almost the whole 11 years
and has never done the same thing twice. Remarkable. Cheers, Don. This
exhibit will run at the Artist until August 1. They are one-of-a-kind, not a
series and sell for $300 semolians (which are probably worth more than U.S.
dollars).
Speaking of math and dollars, in my last blog I talked about how, in a
consumer-driven economy, could bring down the price of gasoline. Don't
buy Exxon Mobil was the cry. Well it still is. I hope you joined forces with
me and I hope you told others to do the same. This will work in time. The
only power our dollar has these days is where and how WE choose to spend
it.
I've sold another 200 or so downloads of my music on various venues. CD
Baby, Verizon V Cast was the biggest. "Blue Tomorrow" was the highestselling again which means it's different people each time. Too cool. Thank
you to all who bought my music. It's a dream come true for me.
This weekend is Laura Berman, Anthony Da Costa and Cellar on Friday,
Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Click the links and make reservations.
Don't forget to vote for our "sweetheart" Theresa Sareo in the Ponds
"Mamma Mia" competition - see more info on this page! And of course,
"click on Glick" at Neil Young's Living With War Web Site and "click on
Glick" (#103 - Bitter Tears; #104 - Baby This One's For You) as of Monday,
June 2, 2008. You can now buy my music on Amazon, Napster, iTunes, CD
Baby, Verizon V Cast and about 20 other sites. Happy Birthday week to our
best-est friend "Aunt Ma" Marion Rosenfeld! Take care until next time, and
come in, and live right!
Elliott Glick
Freakin' Ricans - Jorge Caraballo & Nick Morales - played the Artist on
Friday, May 23. (Photo by Anna Foster)
"Just Us" is Monica Glick, Lucille Rivin and Elliott Glick - and they
performed at Starving Artist on Saturday, May 24. (Photo by Anna
Foster)
Barbara Folts also performed with the Freakin'
Monica Glick performed "Jackson" with Jorge Caraballo of the Freakin'
Ricans on Friday, May 23. (Photo - and one to the right - by "Uncle" Bill
Yehle)