Friday 4/19 – Jesse, Dennis, Stefan, Tuba Joe – Poet’s Walk – 12-3pm
So i decided to get to the poet’s walk a little earlier today as I know that Baby Soda was up in the spot that we often use while we’ve been at the Alice in Wonderland sculpture. As I was walking up from the South I heard someone behind me whistling at a girl. There are certainly plenty of whistle-worthy women but this guy was creeping me out a little. I didn’t want to turn around and look at him to directly but I was trying to discern who he was whistling at and I couldn’t! He kept whistling and getting closer. Turns out it was Tom Abbot, the reeds player for the Blue Vipers. He’s a fun dude with a sharp sense of humor once you get to know him. And of course, he is a great player. Such a smooth sound. I try to get him for any gig where I need the real, super, silky, sax style.
Anyway, we got to chat about the fact that there are basically three very similar groups hitting in the park every day, these days. He seemed to think that it was cool and that when out-of-towners come to the park they will leave with the impression that this kind of music is alive and well. I liked his attitude. Turns out the day previous I ran into Chris Pistorino (bass for the Vipers) on the train ride to the park and he had a similar perspective.
Chris told me a story about Jared from the Baby Soda and his interaction with Ralph, the guy that I dubbed “Master Sax” I warned Jared and Baby Soda not to play right in front of the band shell as that is Master Sax’s territory. Jared of course did it once when Master Sax wasn’t there and saw, accurately, that it is a very good spot. The next time that Baby Soda showed up, Master Sax hadn’t yet arrived. When he did, he took out his horn and faced the band and started blaring. Jared, every the diplomat, said that they should talk and reminded MS that this was a free country and a free space and that they were there first that day. MS would not stop playing no matter what. After a certain interval of time, which no doubt appeared endlessly awkward to Jared and crew, it became clear that there was no stopping this guy and that no one was going to be making any money there. Baby Soda picked up and moved elsewhere.
I got to “our spot” around (mystery time) and at around 11:15 Jared showed up to hold the spot for his crew. He kind of smiled and cordially acknowledged that the early bird does get the worm. He’s such a sweet guy, there was absolutely no rancor about it at all. I like people that have a code and live by it. We wound up seeing them again later after they were through and we all reported on how we had been doing in the last few days. It was all very collegial and I do feel like there is a kind of community of musicians here that are building something unique and strong. Our job is to make our version of this music as personal and as compelling as possible.
To that end, Carl Nelson had agreed to come with a partner and dance with us. He showed up with Evita Arce and Nate. I haven’t seen that pair since my days at the telephone bar. I forgot how much I liked hearing Evita’s big laugh and how much I enjoy her spark-plug energy. As soon as the dancers started their thing we had and instant and very large crowd. Thank you dancers. For one dancer’s perspective please check out Carl’s posting on his blog.