Confessions of the Starving Artist - 4/10/08

Not so terribly long ago, a guy named Bud came into my cafe for open mic night. He said he had a circle of friends and an open mic night of his own up in Pleasantville. So fast forward, not so terribly far, to Friday, April 4, and Pleasant Bud and his friend Patrick Matteson came with their circle of friends to play songs at the Starving Artist, singularly and "several-ly." First, the whole lineup plays together. There was Pat Matteson and Pleasant Bud, with Jody Stokhamer and John Guth. Then they took turns as pairs and in solo. They sang their original songs and accompanied themselves on guitars, a six-string bass and lite percussion. John Guth played "All along the watchtower" like he was casting a magic spell on us. My advice here is to show up next time and join the circle.

And now for something completely different. Saturday, April 5, at 3 p.m. I finished my guitar lessons for the day and in walks John, Paul, George and Ringo. Well, they did but in the persons of Jorge Caraballo, John Negron, Pete Parrella and Mitch Calderon, as Rubber Soul. Set up, sound check and rehearsal all served to heighten the excitement. The food prep in anticipation of the two packed shows (at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.) was extensive and also added to the build up. A great night was about to take place and this band delivers. They opened with "I wanna hold your hand" and "She loves you." These two songs, for anyone anywhere near my age, capture the frenzy of Beatlemania at its wildest. Think Ed Sullivan, Murray the K, the cover of every magazine and newspaper at the time. The floodgates of memories and feelings of everyone in the room, at both shows, busted wide open. Two shows, two sets each. They took us from there to Revolver, making all stops along the way. Songs from the movies, songs from Let It Be, and songs "with one mustache, two mustaches, three mustaches and even four mustaches"; that is, those done when various numbers of the Beatles had mustaches. All of that aside, these guys capture all the charm, wit, innocent joy and magic of the Beatles. Thank you lads for a great show. Jeff, I hope you are doing well and come back soon. (The original drummer - Mitch - substituted for Jeff Mucciolo who was recovering from an injury.)

City Island is kind of a cool place. We have sailboats, beaches and we're part of New York City. Why we even have our own Jazz Quartet. On Sunday, April 6, the City Island Jazz Quartet blew into the Artist and gave us a wonderful afternoon of jazz. They touches all bases here, all the standards. The lineup this time was Roger Scala, sax; Gene Zilempe, bass; legendary Lou Volpe, guitar, and Mark Pultorak, drums. Mark is leaving for Hawaii and this could be the last time he plays SAC&G. They were joined on several songs by Kat Spina on vocals. Kat is coming back to the cafe on Friday, July 18, with her own show. Make sure you see her. The back was hot and cool and completely on. If we have a house band, this is it.

Keep supporting live music. Keep "clicking on Glick" at Neil Young's Living With War Web Site and "click on Glick" (#128 - Bitter Tears; #130 - Baby This One's For You). Keep downloading my songs on iTunes, CD Baby, Napster, Verizon V Cast and others. But mostly, come in, and live right.

Elliott Glick