February 19, 2020:      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 23^rd 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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January 13, 2020:      Squirrels.   Grrrrr. . .

Those of you who are keeping track may recall my ongoing battles with the squirrel population in our neighborhood.   They leave mounds of half eaten nuts scattered throughout the backyard and crap all over our deck.   Well, these nefarious, sneaky rodent like rodents have struck again.   

Maybe a year ago we innocently put up a bird feeder in our back yard.  In those immortal words, it seemed like a good idea at the time. . . .

Anyway, the local bird population figured out what was going on, but so did those beady eyed midget furry devils.   Apparently, squirrels like bird feed.   This posed a problem, since we don’t like to keep the bird feed lying around inside the house – it attracts indoor rodents.  So we bought a nice environmentally correct, recyclable outdoor container to hold the bird seed.   Well.  Last week I noticed that our nice environmentally correct, recyclable outdoor container had what appeared to be some bite marks on it.  Hah – it must be the squirrels.  But there’s no way they could chew all the way through it, right?  

Wrong!

Saturday morning I looked outside and – to my shock & horror – one of those evil little creatures had chewed all the way through our nice environmentally correct, recyclable outdoor container and was munching away at the bird feed.  In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, “This means war”.   After spending a hour or so researching on the internet, I came up with a hi-tech solution – a (drum roll)  Behrens™ High Grade Steel 6106 6 Gallon Silver Galvanized Steel Storage Can with Locking Lid.  I’ve attached a side by side photo.   As you can see, the green container – that’s our ex nice environmentally correct, recyclable outdoor container – has been chewed up.

Take that you squirrels – go try chewing on a Behrens™ High Grade Steel 6106 6 Gallon Silver Galvanized Steel Storage Can with Locking Lid

If this doesn’t work, the old Tom Lehrer song “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” comes to mind – especially the line “And maybe we’ll do in a squirrel or two. . . .”   Nah, I won’t go that far. !   

I can report that we have, in fact, recycled our old etc, etc, recyclable outdoor container.

Fun fact – an estimated 250,000 people in America suffer from Sciurophobia – fear of squirrels.   As far as I can tell, there is no single word for hatred of squirrels in your back yard.

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I should report that not everyone has squirrel antipathy.   Years ago – way back in the early 1990s – some in-laws from Australia visited us.  They were entranced by the squirrels – thought they were the cutest things – they took pictures & movies to bring back with them.  They couldn’t understand my antipathy.   Then, in 2006 we visited said in-laws in Australia.   I got up early one morning, went for a walk and was thrilled to see some actual live kangaroos hopping around.   I excitedly went back to the house to tell everyone.   My in-laws reaction?    “Oh those *&^&%$ pests!”  

So I guess – and putting in a shameless plug for my sister Deborah Holland – It’s All Relative

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January 14th, Tuesday, 8:00PM-12:00 – The Tuesday Night Blues Jam at SuzyQue’s, 34 S. Valley Road, West Orange NJ 
I’m taking advantage of a break in my schedule and going to a few local blues jams.  For those of you who are not familiar with the scene, at a blues jam different musicians get on & off during the course of the evening.   I will play the first set @ 8:00, but after that there will likely be other keyboard players, so if you show up and you don’t see me on stage, it’s likely that I’m taking turns with the other keyboard players.   Suzy Ques has a nice assortment of beer and excellent BBQ.
http://www.suzyques.com
https://www.facebook.com/andylackow/posts/1016269100
https://www.facebook.com/SuzyQuesBBQ/?eid=ARAPNm1g1C921miqzKZ6jojzXNIwryHsWDzh0bk_jDqz30udaBQiq5Ea0MNohOZJFpmYT5YNkDHuGffj

January 15th, Wednesday, 8:30PMish-11:00ish – The Wednesday Night Blues Jam at The Franklin Tavern, 97-99 Franklin Ave, West Orange, New Jersey 07052
The Wednesday Night jam at The Franklin Tavern is where I first started getting back into playing live – this is back in 2005.   I’m looking forward to meeting and catching up with old friends.  Free peanuts & pizza!
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=franklin%20tavern%20west%20orange&epa=SEARCH_BOX

January 18th, Saturday, 8:30PM-11:30ish – Shuffle Jump & Moan at Hat City, 459 Valley Street,  City of Orange, NJ 07050 (862) 252-9147
SJ&M’s first gig of the new decade at a re-vitalized Hat City.  Excellent food and wide selection of beverages.  Hat City is child friendly – that is if you let your kids stay up that late.
http://www.hatcitykitchen.com 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shuffle-Jump-Moan/379081422265206?fref=ts

January 25th, Saturday, 8:00PM-11:00 – Shuffle Jump & Moan at Trend Cafe, 411 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair NJ 973-744-1333
Trend Café is a cute and funky little sandwich & dessert place located in the heart of busy downtown Montclair.   Please note that I use “funky” in the positive sense of the word here.  SJ&M will be doing our usual mix of blues and R&B.  One mild warning – when I say “busy” downtown Montclair, this is no exaggeration – downtown Montclair gets packed on Friday Night.  You may have to park several blocks away – or in the parking deck.   But please don’t let that discourage you.  Trend Cafe is also child friendly – that is if you let your kids stay up that late.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shuffle-Jump-Moan/379081422265206?fref=ts
http://www.trendcoffee.com

December 5, 2019:      Stravinsky in a Hat

Professor Cummings gave my composition class an assignment he called “Piece in a Hat”.    Each student would pick a slip of paper out of a hat – and on that slip of paper would be 8 bars or so of some fairly obscure piano work by an otherwise fairly well known composer.  The assignment was to use that little snippet of music as a starting point and then compose a short piano piece in one week.   One of my fellow students went first – and when I heard the little piece of music she had selected I was jealous – because I really liked it and knew I could do something good with it.    The composing gods were smiling on me that evening, because my fellow student already knew the piece – and so had to pick again.  Professor Cummings asked if anyone else wanted to use the music.  My hand reflexively shot up – “I’ll take it!”

I had no idea who the actual composer of my little assignment – my best guess was Bartok.   Long story short – I composed a little piece and was very happy with the way it turned out.  It was then revealed that that actual composer of my assignment was Stravinsky.  I went out to Youtube to hear what Stravinsky had done with that little snippet of music.  But when I heard what Stravinsky had composed it was a big letdown, because old Igor had composed this piece for his children as a piano exercise and had limited the melody (right hand) to only 5 notes to make it easier for his children to play.   In other words he put on a musical straight jacket while composing this piece.   

Meanwhile, it turns out that Stravinsky had actually written 8 of these little pieces – titled Les Cinq Doigts (which means The Five Fingers in French).    I had just finished composing a huge 3 movement string quartet and this presented the perfect opportunity to take on something smaller in scope – so I decided to “collect the whole set” as it were.   It was like 8 tasty little musical after dinner mints.   I took the same approach as with my classwork assignment.    Using the opening 8 bars or so each piece and then – respecting Stravinsky’s feel as much as possible – I composed new music that employed the full range of notes.    The only exception was the last piece, where I also used Stravinsky’s ending as well as the beginning.

So sorry Stravinsky fans out there, but I much prefer my versions to Igor’s.   If you wish to take exception to this, you can listen to the original versions (among many other places) here:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mobTf5LO2lE  

You can then hear my versions in concert next Thursday – along with piano works by some of my fellow composers in the New York Composer’s Circle.  Let me know what you decide.

Here are full details:
Thursday, December 12, 2019 – 7:30 PM –New Music For Piano
The National Opera Center – Marc Scorca Hall
330 7^th Ave, 7^th floor (near West 29^th St)
New York, NY 10001
Admission is $20 – Students (with ID) are free

For more details – – –
http://newyorkcomposerscircle.org/

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And a bonus Where is Eric?
It’s that time of year, and once again I will have to humiliate myself and wear an elf’s cap and play in (not one but) two world famous Better Off Dead Christmas shows.   Now over the years I have noticed that after our first set, our fearless leader, VD King, gets mysteriously kidnapped, but somehow Santa Claus always manages to come to the rescue and fill in for him.   You’d think VD would wise up to this fiendish plot after all these years. . . .   But anyway, what this means is that if you’re looking to hear some Better Off Dead music, come early.   If you prefer to hear some rocking & rolling Christmas songs – but *not* Jingle Bell Rock – you can come later in the evening.   Note that neither of these options prohibits you from staying the whole evening.

December 14th, Saturday, 7:00PM-9:00 – Better Off Dead at Ruthie’s BBQ, 64 1/2 Chestnut Ave, Montclair  (973) 509-1134
http://www.betteroffdead.com/home.htm/
http://www.ruthiesbbq.com/

December 20, Friday, 9:00PM-1:00AM – Better Off Dead at The Great Notch Inn, Route 46, Little Falls  (973) 256-7742
http://www.betteroffdead.com/home.htm/
http://www.agreatertown.com/little_falls_nj/great_notch_inn_new_jerseys_rockin_roadhouse_00089580

November 7, 2019:      Remembrance of Things Past

< Lively toy piano music plays softly in the background >

When I was a wee lad
About the age of 6, 
65 years ago.
My Father said “Ricky my son,
Now’s come the time 

That you. . . . Started. . . .Taking. . . . Piano. . . . . Lessons”

<sound of a phono needle ripping across a record, followed by Bach’s 2 Part Invention #1 playing softly in background>

Play piano?   Well, OK.   I didn’t think I had a choice in the matter.   To start off, my father attempted to give me piano lessons, but I relentlessly gummed up the works by questioning everything he told me to do.   So after, umm, maybe 6 months (a year?) of this, my father gave up and my parents hired this strict authoritarian European woman.

    Mrs. Randolfi 

<The name ‘Mrs. Randolfi ‘ echoes over and over fading gradually, whilst ominous music plays softly.   Maybe the “Wolves” theme from Peter and the Wolf>

OK – I hear you.   Enough with the sound effects.   Get on with the story.  

Anyway . . .  Mrs. Randolfi was a strict authoritarian European woman – she scared the bejeebers out of me.  But she got me to learn my scales, got me to use the pedal sparingly, and all that good piano stuff. 

Now all of this is not to say that I was or am even a decent classical pianist.  Halfway decent?  Perhaps on a good day.   

Mrs. Randolfi also knew how to bring out the competitive instinct in me.  If I did a good job of learning a piece, I could put a gold star sticker on the page of music.  

And if I did really well?  O-o-o-o!   Then I got to put a sticker of a warship or a jet airplane or something athletic or otherwise ‘manly’.   Yes!

And, I got to enter music competitions.   In my last year of studying with Mrs. Randolfi, I tied for third place in the Intermediate Division.   That was 60 years ago.   And then.  . . . puberty happened.   

 <cue the strings from Psycho>

Meanwhile, back here in November 2019. . . .

As part of my retirement regime, I have taken a solemn self-oath to continue trying new things and get out of my comfort zone.   And as part of this regime, when I practice piano I have been trying to play (however poorly) music that I would not normally play.   

Rummaging around the house,  I found some 100 year old music books that originally were my father’s when he was studying piano as a child; and I remember using a few them when I taking lessons.   

One of books I found was the music to Songs Without Words by Mendelssohn.  I had no memory of ever playing these, so this seemed like a good choice.

Now I’m not a big Mendelssohn fan (go ahead call me a snob – it’s OK), but I starting diligently playing through these pieces, maybe 3 or 4 a day.   I was about ½ way through the book, when I turned the page and there, on “Spinning – Song” was one of Mrs. Randolfi’s stickers.   I wish I could articulate the weird set of emotions that passed through me when I saw this. I had no memory over ever having played this piece, but there was the proof.   And, as you can see –  Yes!  I scored a home run on this piece!  

And was I able to play this piece on re-visiting it?   I think I did a halfway decent job.

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Nov 16th, Saturday, 7:00PM-9:00 – Better Off Dead at Ruthie’s BBQ, 64 1/2 Chestnut Ave, Montclair  (973) 509-1134
Better Off Dead’s music will be all the way decent, yessiree.   No halfway measures for us.  We will be thoroughly, 100%, decent.  In fact, sometimes we even do that one better and go over the top and get indecent (although it’s a family friendly crowd at Ruthies, so we’ll keep that to a minimum).   Remember to BYO. 
http://www.betteroffdead.com/home.htm/
http://www.ruthiesbbq.com/

October 23, 2019:      Fake News

As if it isn’t bad enough to be confronted on a daily basis with a deluge of mis-information, I regret that I too have been the deliverer of some mis-information.  I know this is difficult news to accept.  After all, if you cannot rely on some random e-mail in your in box, who can you trust?

Anyway, it turns out that I will not be playing at Ruthie’s this Saturday – October 26^th – as previously reported here.  I am still playing this Friday at Shillelagh with Shuffle Jump & Moan.

October 20, 2019:      A Strange Assignment Provides Inspiration

In my second year of studying composition, my professor Conrad Cummings gave us a strange assignment – we had to compose a piece using two different key signatures.  I.e., the melody/ leading instruments would deliberately clash with the underlying harmony.   I dutifully composed a short piece, but after hearing it performed I remarked to my professor that the piece sounded really silly – sort of like a PDQ Bach parody.   My professor then said something startling.  “Eric, be silly!” he said.   I have tried to take this to heart in my composing – when the opportunity presents itself I try to throw in something unexpected or “silly” into my pieces.   

I’m relating this little bit of trivia because next Wednesday – Oct 30 – one of my sillier pieces – titled The Source of The Beat (written for a saxophone quartet) – is being performed in concert in NYC along with 7 other pieces written by some of my fellow composers in the New York Composers Circle.   Professor Cummings?  If you are reading this I hope I’m meeting your expectations.

Here are full details:
Wednesday, October 30, 2019 – 7:30 PM –New Music For Saxophones
The Little Church Around the Corner
1 East 29^th Street (near Madison)
New York, NY 10001

Admission is $20 – Students (with ID) are free
For more details – – –
http://newyorkcomposerscircle.org/

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And a bonus Where is Eric?

At the risk of overloading you with too much detail, I have a few last minute entries on my playing calendar.  Under the ‘it never rains but it pours’ category, I have 3 live appearances this week, then I will rest on my laurels until December.

October 21st, Monday, 8:00PM-11:00PM – Big Ed Sullivan Blues Jam at The Red Lion, 151 Bleeker St.,  Greenwich Village, NYC (212) 260-9797
A rare New York appearance.  I will be filling in for the regular keyboardist David Bennet Cohen at the Monday Night Jam at the Red Lion. For those of you who are not familiar with the scene, at a blues jam different musicians get on & off during the course of the evening.   I will play the first set @ 8:00, but after that there will likely be other keyboard players, so if you show up and you don’t see me on stage, it’s likely that I’m taking turns with the other keyboard players.   The Red Lion has an enormous selection of bottled beer and decent bar food – plus The Village is always fun on a crisp autumn night.
http://www.redlionnyc.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Ed-Sullivan/253831450378

October 25th, Friday, 8:00PM-11:00 – Shuffle Jump & Moan at The Shillelagh Club, 648 Prospect Ave, West Orange, (973) 509-1134
I mentioned this in my last e-mail, but as long as I’m here, no harm done.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shuffle-Jump-Moan/379081422265206?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/ShillelaghClub/

October 26th, Saturday, 7:00PM-9:00 – Better Off Dead at Ruthie’s BBQ, 64 1/2 Chestnut Ave, Montclair  (973) 509-1134
Most likely we’ll be inside.  BYOB.
http://www.betteroffdead.com/home.htm/
http://www.ruthiesbbq.com/