a swingin' xmas

Diana and I always have a good laugh when we tell others about our extracurricular-and-keeping-us-sane activies. What's most amusing, I think, is that the studios are right next door to each other, but they couldn't be more different. You see, while Diana kick boxes, I lindy hop.

Yep, that's right: good old big-band-Swing-Kids style lindy hop: swing outs, kick-ups, Charleston, rag-doll drops, the lot (I've just recently learned some really basic aerials, too). I've been taking lessons at Dance Manhattan since around May with my dear friend and adorable dance partner George Abbott, former temp here at Shore Fire and current employee of a little company called Google. It all began as a bit of a joke (although I'd gone a few times to watch the swing dancers at Irving Plaza many years back) and has since become an obsession!

Last week we performed an 8week-rehearsed routine to the famously fast lindy song "Bugle Call Rag" at Frim Fram in Club 412 on 8th Ave as well as Dance Manhattan itself as part of the studio's annual Christmas revue. For those not familiar with Bugle Call Rag, it's traditionally one of the fastest lindy songs to dance to (almost better suited to balboa), though we used a slower version, around 250 BPM (for the non-BPM savvy, that's, um, still really fast).

For those SO eager to see the performance, fear not! Rumor has it that a video will surface on YouTube in the new year and I'll be sure to post it. In the interim, here's a video our rehearsal (I'm off camera for most of the time).

Matisyahu's Hanukkah at Hammerstein

Last week Matisyahu performed some of the best shows I've seen him perform for his inaugural 'Festival of Light' concert series at Hammerstein Ballroom. All three shows- on the 16th, 17th, and 19th- were packed with folks dancing and even holding homemade menorahs aloft.

Matis came ready with a few surpises for the NYC crowd: at all three shows, he disappeared from the stage during an instrumental break only to reappear in the first row of the lower mezzanine and lead a dance line all the way around the theatre. The crowd went nuts for that. And on the final night of the 3-night stand, he brought his mom out on stage during the encore to read the blesing as he lit the menorah. It was a great cap to what has been a monumental year for him (topped by his recent Grammy nomination), and i'm looking forward keenly to his next NYC shows.

'Tis The Season for Giving

It's that time of year when we give thanks for what we have and give to those who have not. Here's a friendly and hysterical reminder from our friends at Saturday Night Live and special guest host Justin Timberlake of the spirit of the season.

In my humble opinion, JT is the funniest guest host since Alec Baldwin.

Joint Birthday Madness

Happy birthday to Shore Fire staffers (L-R) Rebecca Shapiro and Aliza Rabinoff, who celebrated yesterday with a delicious cupcake smorgasbord from Sugar Sweet Sunshine (Rebecca's idea). These cupcakes rival those found at Magnolia and I'm sure it won't be the last time they show up at the office.

(Anyone looking for last-minute gift ideas can send us another dozen!)

Berlin in Brooklyn

Lou Reed performed his Berlin album in its entirety last night at St. Anns Warehouse in Dumbo, Brooklyn. The opening song, Berlin, was a bit shaky but man did it get intense after that. I've never, ever, been in an audience that sat so still - so rapt - and was so quiet the entire show, clapping where appropriate excepted. It was like watching a movie. The performance got more mesmerizing with every song. Imagine sitting through this famous song cycle as Lou sings of cut wrists and broken arms. Original producer Bob Ezrin was on hand along with Steve Hunter and Fernando Saunders among the many other great musicians who joined Lou for this first of four nights. I was surprised, happily, when Lou encored with Sweet Jane, Candy Says (which as some commented, is now "owned" by Antony, who traded verses with Lou), and Rock Minuet.

I've never not gotten teary-eyed at the Kids. Last night was no different, but I'll admit now that Berlin's never been my favorite Lou Reed album. I've always thought the Velvet's versions of Caroline Says were much better than the Berlin version.

The party afterwards was a real surprise. Great eats and fun crowd. Here's the top of my head list: my guest, Rob Santos; my aisle-mate Bill Flanagan; David Fricke; Sacks & Co's Blake Zidell; Dan Zanes; the NY Post's Mary Huhn; Letterman booker Sheila Rogers; producer Hal Wilner, a news reporter for a major daily newspaper who's not so into blogs; and Anthony DeCurtis.

Allow me to reintroduce myself

Hey hey! I'm loving my new Shore Fire digs, in the overall sense of the word. That said...

My actual workspace / corner of the world has zero personal style. Mark owns a toy Men In Black gun and a rare Buck Owens gee-tar. Matt’s office is wallpapered with these adorable drawings by his kids (and spins not one but two freaking turntables). Marilyn is the curator of the largest collection of globes I’ve ever witnessed and Paula has this mysterious egg that will one day grow into a tree. I think.

People, this is no ordinary blog entry to recap my first week - this is a cry for help. I do accept gifts and I’m not asking for much: any and all action figures, artwork (homemade or otherwise), rubberband balls, maybe a beer coozie to store my pens.

Items I do not need and currently display: an unironic Powerslave-era Iron Maiden Mini-Mate, playing cards from Dollywood, the new album from my dear client, Nellie McKay, a tiny how-to book for creating shadow puppets and a borrowed Monk / Coltrane cd, which belongs to either Bianca or Michael. I’d better find out quick, as “new gal hoarding everyone’s discs” is never a good look.

Thank you kindly.

YouTube Friday...

...comes a little early this week. Since it's an odd time of year, here's some oddity. I came across this yesterday - a documentary about the burgeoning trend of Nerdcore:



(PS - the mini-rant at 2:07 or so is particularily priceless)

Who knew? Well I remember hearing about MC Paul Barman awhile ago. Who can resist lyrics like "Make like a whirlybird and graduate early, word" or basing the song "Enter Pan-Man" on the Fibonacci sequence. I did see 2 Skinnie J's play "Riot Nrrd" in 1999 or so, and of course there's Dr. Octagon and Deltron, respectively:





Hell while we're on that theme Andre 3000's a bit wierd too, and the Beastie's have been throwing in smart kid references since day one ala "Sounds of Science" or "Intergalactic."

But that doesn't nerdcore make. It's a whole subculture apparently. Whoa. Here's a genre classic by YTcracker, who apparently was (and/or still is) a hardcore hacker in his day, famous for breaking into NASA's servers when he was still a teenager.



It's all out there. There's a group based on the Transformers (Generation 1 of course) called Optimus Rhyme, MC Hawking, and more, much of it featured on the now-six-CD-filling Nerdcore Compilation Project. Time to add a section to the iPod.

But I guess I should hardly be surprised. As I was finishing this post it suddenly clicked. Nerd rap is a NEW trend? Hardly! How could I possibly have forgotten the all time classic, the touchstone, the immaculate conception. This was shot before Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons ran into each other for the first time at danceteria, and two years before "Walk This Way" blew the thing open. I guess the nerds have old skool street cred too.

Our Party Last Night: A world famous tenor...

...one of the greatest live bands on the planet, the leader of Brooklyn's biggest and best biggish band, and the superhero who's saving rock and roll one song at a time -- we're proud to say, our clients -- mingled with Shore Fire staff and friends from the media and music industry last night at the Slipper Room in New York City's Lower East Side for a year-capping party. There's still lots of work to be done before this year ends, but we took time out nevertheless to celebrate with the people who make us want to do what we do. The ladies came in style and the men, well, just see for yourself. Thanks to all who attended in person or in spirit, and best wishes to all of you in the coming year.

(Marilyn Laverty, Steven Van Zandt and Diana D'Angelo)

(Tenor Carl Tanner, Steven Hseih and Maureen Hanley)



(Mark Satlof with Matt Mays)

(Matt Hanks with JC Hopkins, leader of JC Hopkins and the Biggish Band)

Pix, Pix and More Party Pictures

(BMG Columbia House's Paula Batson and Marilyn Laverty)

(Aliza Rabinoff and Peter Himberger in the center)

(Chris Thieke, Paula Witt, Nora Lyons, Rebecca Weintraub)

(Photographer Rahav Segev with Bianca Martinez)

The really good party pictures

(Zaby Currie of Tractor Beam, Jeremy Morrison of Cooking Vinyl US and Dan Efram also of Tractor Beam)

(Marilyn Laverty, Bill Flanagan of VH1, his wife, eMusic's Denise Yantin, Sony BMG's Mandy Eidgah, Mark Satlof, and Paula Witt)

(Jerry Yeti of Yeti Don't Dance with Carrie Tolles)

(Barnes and Noble's Lydia Vanderloo, Carla Parisi and Matt Hanks)

(Diana D'Angelo and the Sirius Satellite Radio posse: Jeremy Tepper, Anthony Lopez and Debbie Wunder)

(Boss Sound's Nell Mulderry and Blue Note's JR Rich)

(Relix Magazine's Wes Orshoski and Co-Ed's Kirk Miller)

(Sheri Sands of Rounder Records, visiting from Boston, and Universal's Paul Foley)

The Cute Pictures...

(Billboard's Katie Hasty and Son Volt manager Sharon Agnello)

( Global Rhythm editor Tad Henrickson with Joe's Pub booker Bill Bragin and Dan Efram and Zaby Currie of Tractor Beam Management)

(Bianca Martinez with Charlie Rose Show booker Taj Greenlee)

(Meridith Ochs of Sirius Satelite Radio, with Carla Parisi, Meridith's husband Lawrence and freelancer Gail Worley)

(Manhattan Record's Melani Rogers with MJI's Ira Robbins)

(Sony BMG's Rob Santos and Nathan Sedlander. Thanks for putting me in cab, Rob. Oh and also for talking that doorman into letting me into the Living Room.)

(Carrie Tolles, Jerry Yeti of Yeti Don't Dance, Product Shop's Wes Gott, Bianca Martinez and Rob Krauser)

Getting the Party Started

(Alexis Tedford, Manhattan Record's Melani Rogers, Aliza Rabinoff, Blue Note's JR Rich and Cem Kurosman)

(Photog Michael Weintraub with Diana D'Angelo)

(Aliza Rabinoff with Central Park Summerstage honcho Alexa Birdsong)

(Paula Witt with Barnes and Noble's Tracy Hopkins and friend)

Karate Kid

For the last year I've been hauling a big red bag to and from the office. No I wasn't playing Santa. I've been studying mixed martial arts at Tiger Schulmann's. This past Sunday was my first tournament and I placed 1st in my division. Here's a video of my final round (I have the red ribbon on my back). Of course I had to add my own soundtrack and credits. Osu!

Congrats to...Shore Fire Media!

We've all worked hard all year. So I won't hide under false modesty...I wanted to post this press release we sent out today.

SHORE FIRE CLIENTS EARN 21 GRAMMY NOMINATIONS

Multiple Nominations Announced For Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, The Roots And Bela Fleck & The Flecktones

Shore Fire's Diverse Rosters Garners Best Album Nods In 11 Different Categories

Shore Fire clients today earned 21 GRAMMY nominations as announced in a ceremony by the Recording Academy. Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, The Roots and Bela Fleck & The Flecktones (who have all won GRAMMY Awards in past years) each earned multiple honors. Over all, Shore Fire artists we're currently working with or have worked with in the last year were nominated for best album in eleven different categories, evidencing the diversity of our roster. The 49th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be broadcast February 11 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles by CBS.

Shore Fire Media would like to congratulate the clients on the following nominations:

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance:
• KT Tunstall "Black Horse And The Cherry Tree" - from 'Eye To The
Telescope' - Virgin Records

Best Pop Instrumental Performance:
• The Brian Setzer Orchestra "My Favorite Things" from 'Dig That Crazy Christmas' - Surfdog Records
• Bela Fleck & The Flecktones "Subterfuge" - from 'The Hidden Land' - Sony Legacy

Best Pop Vocal Album:
• Elvis Costello 'The River in Reverse' - Verve Forecast

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album:
• Tony Bennett 'Duets: An American Classic' (Produced by Phil Ramone) - Sony
BMG

Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance:
• Anita Baker "Christmas Time is Here" from ''Christmas Fantasy' - Blue Note
• Sam Moore Featuring Billy Preston, Zucchero, Eric Clapton & Robert Randolph "You Are So Beautiful" from 'Overnight Sensational' - Rhino Records

Best R&B Performance By A Dup Or Group With Vocals:
• Sly & The Family Stone, John Legend, Joss Stone, with Van Hunt "Family Affair" from 'Different Strokes By Different Folks' - Sony Legacy

Best Rap Performance:
• The Roots "Don't Feel Right" - Def Jam Recordings

Best Rap Album:
• The Roots 'Game Theory' - Def Jam Recordings

Best Bluegrass Album:
• Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder - 'Instrumentals' - Skaggs Family Records

Best Contemporary Jazz Album:
• Bela Fleck & The Flecktones 'The Hidden Land' - Sony Legacy

Best Jazz Vocal Album:
• Diana Krall 'From This Moment On' - Verve Records

Best Traditional Blues Album:
• James Hunter 'People Gonna Talk' - GO Records/Rounder

Best Traditional Folk Album:
• Bruce Springsteen 'We Shall Overcome- The Seeger Sessions' - Columbia Records

Best Reggae Album:
• Matisyahu 'Youth' - Epic/Or Music/JDub
• UB40 'Who You Fighting For' - Rhino

Best Traditional World Music Album:
• Music of Central Asia Vol. 2: Invisible Face of The Beloved: Classical Music Of The Tajiks and Uzbeks The Academy of Maqam - Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Best Contemporary World Music Album:
• The Klezmatics 'Wonder Wheel' - JMG/RED

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s):
• "My Flame Burns Blue (Blood Count)"- (Elvis Costello with The Metropole Orkest) arranger Vince Mendoza - Deutsche Grammophon

Best Long Form Music Video:
• Bruce Springsteen "Wings For Wheels: The Making of Born To Run" Video Director & Producer Thom Zimny - Columbia Records

Additionally, the Phil Ramone-produced "For Once In My Life" by Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Congrats David Fricke and Ben Edmonds!

Congratulations are in order for our journalists friends David Fricke and Ben Edmonds for their GRAMMY nominations in the Best Album Notes category.

All the years combine melt into a dream....

There are two things Ryan Adams and I have in common we both love the Grateful Dead and both of us are sober, for now at least. Being a die-hard Ryan Adams fan, I made my way over to Town Hall to catch the his show on Tuesday night. This show marked my 6th Ryan concert since my first in Paris in 2002 (An excellent show, after meeting opener Jesse Malin that night I was invited to a private performance after the show in a French studio where Ryan and Jesse jammed into the wee hours of the morning. It was an incredible experience for an American in Paris.).

Over the years in his live performances and on his records, Ryan's love of the Grateful Dead has become increasingly prevalent. This only makes me love him more. I was one of the lucky 500 people that had the pleasure of seeing Ryan's 2AM Bowery Ballroom show this past Spring and in that show he teased "Dark Star" rather than performing the full song. On Tuesday night at Town Hall however, he played a beautiful, heart-on-his-sleeve rendition of "Stella Blue" and I was ecstatic. I'm embarrassed to say, the opening line of that song, "all the years combine melt into a dream" was my senior quote. Moreover Ryan's "no song repeat" policy only brings him closer to the realm of the Dead. He created a different a setlist for his three-night run at Town Hall and he certainly has enough material to pull this off.

To close his second set he invited opener Norah Jones on stage to perform “Dear John,” check out the youtube clip below -



The bus came by and Ry got on that's where it all began - I look forward to many more China Cats and Dark Stars in Mr. Adams ever expanding repertoire of songs.

Memories of Green Island

So back in a former life my answer to "so what do you do" was "I play in a band," and I was paying rent as a recording engineer and writer for an audio magazine during the day and living in a studio in at the corner of Columbia Road and 18th Street in my hometown of Washington DC.

About a half block away on the strip of bars and restaurants that's kind of DC's packed nightlife nightmare these days there was a restaurant and bar called the Green Island Cafe. Sort of a bizzare place, it had a strangely upscale restaurant vibe and jazz on the weekends. But during the week they'd let freeform jazz fusion guys set up and play upstairs. For New Yorkers it was sort of like Small's used to be -- the kind of place where studio/touring/session musician types would stop in unprompted and call out a few songs, etc.

Except it was never packed. Maybe 15-20 people at any given time. So with that context, we wandered in there on Wednesday night once just for the hell of it, and proceeded to have our heads blown clean off by two guys playing the most disgustingly funky, hyper-technical, incredibly complicated, and profoundly soulful instrumental stuff I'd ever heard. Like superhuman level. The keys player played bass with his left hand on a bass keyboard and his right on whatever was handy, and this guy wearing a soccer jersey would play the most "out" drums I've probably heard.

Random sax players, guitarists, etc, would come for a song or three. Don't know how to describe the music, it was definitely based in progressive jazz, but with all sorts of funk, hip-hop, and especially go-go stuff thrown in (players from E.U. and Chuck Brown's band sat in on percussion on the regular). Mainly it was just players capable of doing whatever the hell they wanted, doing just that.

So anyways... I think we spent the next 20 or so Wednesday nights at Green Island. Got to talking with the guys of course, the keys player was an animated Argentine named Federico Gonzalez Peña and his day job was in Me'shell Ndegeocello's band. And the drummer was named Sean Rickman and he was a session guy, fresh from years playing drums for Steve Coleman and the Five Elements.

What does this have to do with anything? Not much, except I got reminded of it today when my friend Jason emailed me this:



Well how about that. I'd almost forgotten about those Wednesdays. A frenzy of Googling reveals that Sean and Federico are still playing all over (apparently with Sting, Clapton, Valerie Troutt, others) and I spent a few minutes checking out curiosities like this and this.

But I hear Wednesday nights at Green Island are long gone. Ah well...

I Have One Word For You, Ben ... Pirates

My wife and I are in the the midst of that quintessentially New York rite, the search for a good kindergarten program for our daughter. We toured a really cool school yesterday, PS 8, right here in Brooklyn Heights. I found it interesting that PS 8 sponsors an after-school program for its first-graders where they design their own curriculum around an agreed upon topic. This year’s most popular subject, by a landslide, was pirates. For obvious reasons, of course, but it got me wondering - why hasn’t the music biz jumped on this? Other than Hal Willner's ‘Rogue’s Gallery’ comp on Anti- Records - which is one of the year’s best-reviewed records - where is the arrrrrrrgh?

If I had gobs of disposable income and a reissue label to call my own, my contribution to the pirate zeitgeist would be to reissue ‘Out Of Their Skulls,’ the totally overlooked, totally smoking ‘77 LP by, uh, The Pirates. Here’s a band with a strange and fascinating history. They started in the early 60s as a British beat group and scored a major hit (Shakin’ All Over), only to be hobbled by the death of their lead singer Johnny Kidd in a car accident. Fast forward over a decade to the release of ‘Out Of Their Skulls’ - a comeback record by a band no one really missed. But what comes around goes around, and by the time ‘Skulls’ was released, The Pirates found a new, if tiny, following for their brand of no-nonsense, revved-up rock n’ roll.

I’m not sure the album was ever properly reissued on cd, but there’s always LP copies for sale on eBay. And here’s a killer live clip, recorded right around the time ‘Skulls’ was released. And yes, they dress the part - dig the poofy shirt!

Meeting of the Beatles Minds....

Adam Light, son of journalists Alan Light and Suzanne McElfresh, has emerged as the youngest major Beatle fan in the City. For example, last weekend, he and dad did a compare and contrast of the UK/US versions of Rubber Soul! After meeting Ringo Starr some months ago, he got to press the flesh with Paul McCartney at an instore appearance in New York City November 13.

(l-r: McCartney, McElfresh, Adam and Alan Light)

Made in America stuff for the Holiday Season...

All political arguments aside -- Flat Earth, jingoism, etc -- I find it satisfying to buy products that are made in America when I can and when I have a choice. Cars and cardboard boxes excepted, it's not easy to find everyday things that are manufactured here. So as the holiday buying season heads into frenzy, I thought I'd share a few companies that make all or most of their products in the USA. It's not at all a comprehensive list. In the following cases, you might be paying a premium price, but what I think you're getting is A) a top-notch, well-made product B) the tiniest bit of feeling that you've helped one extra working man or woman here put a little extra bread on the table this year.

First, a somewhat self-serving but genuine nonetheless reminder and exhortation: Cds are manufactured here, lots of music's made here, and the major legal download sites are here. Buy music!

But on to the prosaic.

Allen Edmonds shoes are incredibly well-made, available in many styles, and apples to apples, competitively priced though not cheap. I've got over a dozen. They're mostly made in Wisconsin.

In the footwear department, can't leave out Red Wing. They're among the last, if not the last, of the bigger US boot makers. All the union guys wear 'em and they make dozens of specialty boots. I've got a couple pair of workboots and wouldn't trade them for any others.

Red Wing's 20 foot long, 16 foot high leather boot, made to celebrate their 100 year anniversary (1905-2005).

Bill's Khakis are headquartered and manufactured in Pennsylvania. I've got two pair & they're as snazzy as any other pants around. They're not discount-priced, but at about a hundred bucks, they're on par with the fancy-name imports. And as a bonus, if you happen to be, um, let's say portly, and a little on the short side, they've got in-between waist sizes, like 37".

Duluth Pack are an old company in Minnesota. They've got a full line of made in America backpacks, daypacks and all sorts of canvas bags. I've only spent time with their catalog, but next time I need something of this sort, it's where I'm going.

Another company new to me, but on the "next time" list, is Filson, who specialize in Mackinaw jackets. I've got my eye on a jacket and a wool vest (I can't keep up. Are vests in, or out? I want one either way).

Tools are reliably still made here and widely available. Many of Sears' Craftsman line are US-made (I just got a set of screwdrivers). Then of course there's the legendary Snap On line. Pricey but with a lifetime warranty. Lastly, there's a new company, Loggerhead Tools, which has gotten lots of attention recently for their innovative products and lets-make-it-in-America philosophy. I've got a set of their Bionic wrenches and I can recommend them to the tinkerer and homeowner. (Another aside: their launch is definitely the pr campaign of the year. Give your publicists a big thanks and a raise this year, guys.)

Support PBS

Local PBS station WNET channel Thirteen is in the midst of their fund drive and on Saturday I accompanied our client Phil Ramone as he stopped by the station to talk about Tony Bennett's 'Duets: An American Classic', the chart topping CD he produced which was being offered as a fund incentive. The folks at PBS were great and provided scrumptious brownies bites (Watch out "Letterman". There may be some competition for best cookie spread.)

It was a privilege and honor to meet Mr. Bennett and Phil's sons Matt and BJ. A green room full of talented, handsome men- woe is me!

Pig Pickin' around Wilmington, NC....

The barbecue I had in coastal North Carolina over Thanksgiving was so good, I've just recovered enough to share...a traditional NC pig pickin'. The idea is you hire your guy, he prepares the pig and the sides, and he brings it over in a specially designed cooker/trailer.

Turn the burners on, let it heat back up, and you literally start "pickin'" with a set of tongs. (When no one was looking, I used my fingers for the choice bits.) In this case, the 50+ of us (my wife's family) tore through half a pig, plus sides like collard greens and candied yams, plus barbecued chicken in lieu of turkey, and eastern North Carolina-style finely-chopped pork barbecue (in NC, "barbecue" = pork, so, really, the only question is how you have it: sliced, chopped, etc). Add sweet tea, hush puppies and a bunch of pies and you get a gut-busting and memorable meal.

(Here's the half pig next to the chopped barbecue. This is the "before" shot)

The best thing about getting a whole side is you get to dig in to the different parts...varied tastes, textures. Crusty burnt ends, succulent insides, crisp cracklings, meaty ribs. No sauce needed.

(This is the "after" shot. Collards, the partly picked-at pig, the minced pork, and just peeking out, barbecued chicken.)