VAUDE_VISUALS

I was told by my wife that she was taking fiddle lessons with a really well known New Orleans based fiddle player.His name was David Greely. I did some research and found out that he plays with an amazing group ‘Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys’. They have been around for 20 years and have won numerous Grammy nominations. According to the Mamou Playboys site “David Greely is one of Cajun music’s most eloquent voices on the fiddle, and has been a human search engine and musical bloodhound for the Mamou Playboys since the day that he and Steve Riley formed the group. Consumed with a hunger for knowledge and harmony, he revels in archival research, rare melodies, linguistic arcana and historical prose and poetry with which he can create songs that marry the distant past to the future, and then sing them in a rich, full baritone. His fiddling is inventive and witty, searching out and flowing into each opening and angle in a song that needs a splash of color or a blues inflection.”

Last week David and fellow New Orleans fiddle legend Joel Savoy had a performance scheduled in Brooklyn. My wife insisted I go and see David play. I haven’t been a fan of cajun music or bluegrass until recently. The location for this performance was a studio located in an industrial building in Gowanus, Brooklyn. The studio belonged to percussionist Scott Kettner. He has an amazing resume of work as well. Thats another blog entry later. Scott performed a few songs with the duo as well. Amazing musician!

A friend once introduced me to DelMcCoury Band at BB Kings. This was an experience to see that group play. It could have been jazz. It could have been Bluegrass. It was amazing Bluegrass! All the players were virtuoso musicians. That brings me back to David and Joel. Virtuoso fiddle!

David and Joel sang songs from his new album SUD DU SUD and other original cajun classics. It was an great evening of incredible musicianship and talent. I was fortunate enough to get a few songs on video that night. I look forward to seeing David perform again in the near future.

On the first Monday of the every month BINDLESTIFF VARIETY SHOW is held at Galapagos Art Space in Dumbo, Brooklyn. The host Keith Bindlestiff attempted to complete the Kendama Blockhead this past Monday. I have been videotaping all his attempts all the way back to August ’09. I am sure he will get it one day!

Here is a video where he provides the unknowing audience members with a short education on what the ‘Human Blockhead‘ is and then attempts the Kendama Blockhead. The variety show is a mix of acts ranging from singing to burlesque to trapeze and back to Kendama Blockhead. All for $5.00. Well worth the visit and time. This show included the likes of Baby Seals, Jan Manke, Kitty Cockpit, Coney Island Chris, Magic Brian, Zero Boy, The Maestrocities, and Mika.

.

The performing artists of NYC would not be who there are today without the help of one very brave and unstoppable woman. Ellie Covan. Starting as a salon in her Paris apartment in 1985 she found a way to have performers show their new work without the worries of critics and the press. A laboratory for performing and literary artists. Since 1985 she has had a Dixon Place on East 1st . and on the Bowery and became the resident company at the Vineyard Theatre‘s 26th St. Space. The overwhelming support and success of this venue convinced Ellie and her board to secure a permanent home in New York City. Tonight (12/2/09) she along with hundreds of supporters and performers celebrated the OPENING of the new permanent home of DIXON PLACE. A custom built facility with 2 stages and a community space for neighbor events. Located at 161A Christie Street in New York Lower East Side. The sponsors, foundations and Corporations that have made this new space possible goes on for several pages. The evenings festivities included performances by Regina Nejman & Company, Peggy Shaw, Lois Weaver, Vivian Stoll, R. Sikorykak, David Michael Friend and Nicky Paraiso. The audience joined in for a song with Nicky Paraiso and the Hot Keys.

Michael Bongar is well known amongst the clown community because he gets a lot of performers work. His agency aptly called BONGARBIZ has a great reputation for booking some of the most talented and eccentric acts available. Michael shed his suit on Monday night to perform and excerpt from his one-man show MAGIC MIKE. A hysterical sendup of magic gone wrong. The mediocre magician and his delightful lack of awareness is perfectly portrayed by MAGIC MIKE. Check out the New York Downtown Clown Revue web site for next month’s featured performers.

On the upper part of Lafayette St is the wonderful Astor Place Theatre. Everyone thinks that The Blue Man Group made this place what it is today.  NO! I was there back in 1966. The FUGS were the music and literay talents of Tuli Kupferberg and Ed Sanders along with other musicans. See their site at: www.thefugs.com

The Fugs at The Astor Place Theatre - 1966 ©2009 Jim Moore