My Shanghai New Year’s

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Oh my! That’s some serious business right there. Veronica Varlow!

One time I was out at dinner. This is when my Grandpa was still with us. A tall, Jayne Mansfield looking waitress ambled by with a tray held up over her head. My good old grandpa followed her with his eyes.

My dear grandmother sees this and starts right in on him. “Manny, you like that, huh? What do you like about that?”

He demurred, “Well . . . she has a nice, hmm, posterior. And a fine, rather, uhm, a fine buxom area.”

“Manny, put out your hand.”

And ever-polite, he stretched out his hand, fully expecting to get slapped on his wrist. “Congratulations. You’re still alive!”

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In a word, new year’s was a total blast. The evening started at home where my darling Rachel was busying herself getting all dolled up and making sure that her and her whole crew would be arriving in time to secure a table. Arriving at Galapagos, we realized she had made the right decision. By the time the doors opened at 8pm there was a line at the door and folks didn’t stop coming until the place was more than full. I believe that Shanghai Mermaid had sold out over 200 tickets in the first few days that they went on sale.

I think the pictures will tell the story of the evening more succinctly and you can see them at the bottom of the post. But I will add a few scenes that helped make the evening a one-of-a-kind memory.

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The Man in The White Fedora
Stefan and I were hanging out people watching between sets and we noticed a cat with a dark pin-stripe suit and a white wide-brimmed fedora cutting a line through the crowd with a petite chocolate curly haired cutie on his arm. “Dang. That guy has got a style.” “Generally, that’s a really wide hat – but that cat pulls it off.” “Yep.”

He get’s closer and it’s Dave Jay! Wow, I played trumpet on his record this fall. Dave had called me about a week before the event asking me if I thought Shanghai Mermaid would be a good place to bring a date. “Well, yeah it is!” About 15 minutes later he calls me up and asks me where he can take some swing dance lessons! “Dave, you’re really going for it” “Well, this girl is really special and you know… I want to impress her.”

So now I’m standing next to Dave and this lovely lady and they are smiling and grinning ear to ear. Dave tells me that he rented a Packard and a chauffeur so he and his girl can travel in style and arrive on the scene with some class! You go Dave Jay!!

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The Hunch
The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn were also on the bill with us. I was really impressed with their trumpet player Sam Hoyt. I have heard him on their albums but I never got a chance to really enjoy hearing live for whole sets at a time. Now, Sam is character. Billy Nemec is character too and the two of them together are just silly mischief waiting to happen.

Back stage, Billy was smiling through his teeth and telling us about, “the next best dance craze. It’s called the Huh-huh-huh. Huh-huh-huh. The Hunch.” Some rockabilly tune he dug up that reminded me of Buddy Holly or Bill Haley and The Comets. Up on stage he introduces the tune and launches into “The Hunch.” Sam starts doing this awesome, stooped-over, storky, hunchy dance. It was great. It was even inspiring. It inspired Stefan and I to run onto the wings and then to do the hunch all the way across the stage behind the band. It was all asses and elbows. Billy was surprised but he couldn’t help laughing at us!

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Counting In The New Year
The highlight for me personally was the fact that I got to be the guy that counted in the New Year for over 300 people! I had a clock on the floor and after Juliette – our gorgeous and wonderful host – thanked and toasted everyone, I counted down the final 10 seconds. We all sang “Auld Lang Syne” together and the whole thing felt so joyous like a blessing. I told this story to Eve Polich the other day and she said, “Jesse, you are the perfect guy for that job.” I think I will agree with her. I am the perfect guy for that job. There are times where it is right and good to reflect and amplify everyone’s hopes, blessings and good wishes. I was a walking, talking, singing smile. I’m kinda still smiling from the experience. Happy New Year everyone! And to the borrow the words of Billy Nemec as he’s counting off another tune: “It’s gonna be great. You’re gonna love it!”