: Staying Disheveled
A long ago (early 1983 to be precise) in a galaxy umm . . . city far, far away (to be precise NYC is 12 miles due east of Montclair) – I was transitioning out of my erstwhile career as a musician over to the more lucrative computer programming profession. I was looking for something to help balance out my life – which consisted mostly of work & going to school. I had taken karate in the 1970s, so this being New York City I figured that there should be a karate school somewhere close by. I checked out several places in my then midtown neighborhood but didn’t find anything that appealed to me. I then decided to check out the Yellow Pages (note to anyone under 30: I’m not even gonna try to explain that to you – just google “yellow pages”). There was an ad for Seido Karate – and among other features it offered Zen meditation. Hmmm, this sounded interesting. I went into the dojo on 23rd St and I immediately felt at home. Words fail me here; the best I can come up with is that there was an ineffable spirit to the place.
Long story short. I’ve been going to Seido Karate ever since. OK. I did take about a 7 year hiatus starting in 1990 after the kids were born – to insure domestic tranquility. So I hear you saying – after going all these years I must be some sort of advanced black belt capable of breaking bricks just by staring at them, right? Nope. I’ve just been plodding along taking my time. But last year, I decided to take the plunge and go for my black belt. This sort of goes along with my retirement philosophy of pushing myself out of my comfort zone – and let me tell you going for black belt promotion was not comfortable. The highlight (if you can call it that) of the promotion is an hour of sparring against 50 or so black belts. Not all at once, mind you – you get rotated around. I cannot tell you how happy (and exhausted) I was when that final bell rang.
I’ve attached a pic at the bottom. The gentleman on the far right is the founder of the school – who simply goes by the title Kaicho. Amazing person. The gentleman on the far left is my primary instructor – Sei Shihan Walter. I think most of you either know or can figure out the other characters in this pic. As for me – I think you can file my image in the dictionary under the word ”disheveled”.
Meanwhile, while my playing may be a bit disheveled at times, I can promise you that I will be much more presentable at these up & coming shows:
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February 21st, Friday, 8:00PM-11:00 – Shuffle Jump & Moan at The Shillelagh Club, 648 Prospect Ave, West Orange, (973) 509-1134
In spite of its’ name, the Shillelagh club feature all types of music, including the blues & R&B drenched sounds of SJ&M. While it does not have a big menu selection – I can vouch for the top notch burgers, fries, and beer. Shillelagh club is child friendly – provided said child is accompanied by a responsible adult.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shuffle-Jump-Moan/379081422265206?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/ShillelaghClub/
March 14th, Saturday, 9:00PM-11:30PM – Al Gold CD Release Party at Hat City, 459 Valley Street, City of Orange, NJ 07050 (862) 252-9147
I had the pleasure & honor of playing on Al Gold’s soon to be released CD “Al Gold’s Paradise”. While the official release date is March 6, Al (and the CD) are already getting excellent reviews. We’ll be celebrating at Hat City – come on out and join the party.
http://www.hatcitykitchen.com
https://www.facebook.com/al.gold.9?fref=ts
Al Gold’s Paradise
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