Tom Wolfe, Director of Jazz Studies at The University of Alabama School of Music, is spending a month in New York as part of his fall 2002 sabbatical. Here is his diary. Send him email here.
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Looking west on 14th Street - the brown awning is my apartment.
| October 1, 2002 | ||
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Tuesday. Had dinner with Gene Bertoncini and then went to the Blue Note to listen to Karrin Allyson, vocalist and Joey DeFrancesco, organ. What a great way to start my visit to New York.
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| October 2, 2002 | ||
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Wednesday. Went to the 55 Bar on Christopher Street and caught Mike Stern, guitar, in a set. The club isn't as big as Egan's on the Strip and is about as nice. |
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| October 3, 2002 | ||
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Thursday. Went to the Village Vanguard and listened to Brad Mehldau, piano. |
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| October 4, 2002 | ||
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Friday. Went to the Kavehaz Gallery in SoHo. My old friend, Tom Christensen was playing there. He's a great saxophonist and the group is very original and musical. |
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| October 5, 2002 | ||
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Saturday. Just returned from the Park Avalon. Went to listen to Jack Wilkins, guitar. It's a nice restaurant on the corner of Park and 18th. With doors open, jackhammers hammering, cars honking and traffic noise galore, Jack played a wonderful couple of sets. Fabulous!
The entrance to the 55 Bar where I saw Mike Stern. |
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| October 6, 2002 | ||
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Sunday. Went to St. John the Divine Episcopal Church on 110th for the Feast of St. Francis and the Blessing of the Animals. The Paul Winter Consort, of which Gene is the guitarist, were the performing musicians. Got a chance to meet Paul. Later that evening went to Le Madeleine to hear Gene (pictures above)
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| October 7, 2002 | ||
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Monday. Went back to Le Madeleine to hear Gene. Afterwards, went across the street to a small club to hear guitarist, Joe Cohn. This is a jam session and once in the club I ran into Frank Wes, saxophonist, and heard some great music.
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| October 8, 2002 | ||
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Tuesday. Took a long walk and found John's Pizzaria on Bleecker. Supposed to be the best... Went to the Zinc Bar to see Harvie S and Eye Contact. What a great bass player!
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| October 9, 2002 | ||
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Wednesday. Stayed in most of the day and got in a lot of practice. Went to the Village Vanguard with Gene Bertoncini and Maria Schneider (a fabulous writer) to hear Jim Hall - guitar. Got to meet Jim, Terry Clark/drums, Steve LaSpina/bass and Peter Leitch/guitar. What a night!
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| October 10, 2002 | ||
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Thursday. Sandy and Zach came in for the weekend, so took a break to tour the city...
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| October 11, 2002 | ||
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Friday. Rain all day. Went to the American Museum of Natural History to stay in doors and catch the fantastic exhibits: North American animals, dinosaurs, rain forest, etc. Went to the Village next and got a pizza at New York's best, John's Pizzaria on Bleeker between 6th and 7th Ave.'s. Later went to Times Square after dark to see the lights and get some pictures. Stopped and had some incredible cheesecake at a small diner Gene turned me on to. Then finished the night with a set at the Village Vanguard with Jim Hall (just as good the second time...)
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| October 12, 2002 | ||
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Saturday. Still raining, but went to see the Statue of Liberty. Pictures do not do it justice. She has to be seen in person... Once off the ferry, we took the subway to Rector St. and walked to Ground Zero. Words can't describe.... Found a cab and went to Little Italy (Grand and Mulberry streets) and had a wonderful lunch at Angelo's. After walking thru Chinatown, we finished the day off with yet more great pizza - Ray's (6th and 11th): this is the pizzaria Michael Brecker named 'Original Rays' after - so I'm told.
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| October 13, 2002 | ||
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Sunday. Went back to Le Madeleine to listen to Gene. He sounded great as usual. Paul Meyer, a great guitarist who teaches at William Patterson, stopped by. All three of us played for the last set - solo and duo's. Finished off the night with some great cheesecake at the Westside Diner.
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| October 14, 2002 | ||
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Monday. Went to Central Park for the afternoon. What a beautiful day. Got a chance to watch some of the Columbus Day Parade on 5th Ave. Pictures above are of Balto (for those who like the cartoon video), Bethesda Fountain, and part of the park with the city landscape in the background. Am on my way to the Iridium to see Les Paul and Frank Vignola. Great show. Even at 87, Les sounds great. Frank played well. The entire group is solid - good night of music.
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| October 15, 2002 | ||
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Tuesday. Went to the 55 Bar to hear Leni Stern. She's a talented song writer. I really enjoyed the set and will try to make it back next time she is playing. Music every night. It's great....
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| October 16, 2002 | ||
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Wednesday. Went back to the 55 Bar to hear the Kevin Hays Quartet. All of them are incredible musicians and on drums was none other than Bill Stewart. I had a great seat and could see and hear everything. They put out so much creativity in the music. It was wonderful.
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| October 17, 2002 | ||
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Thursday. It's a nice day out, so I went back to Ground Zero and took a lot of pictures. I was able to walk around the entire area. Above are just a couple of shots. The cross discovered in the rubble from torn beams. Across the street is St. Paul's Chapel and completely surrounding the tiny church is a rod iron fence covered in memorials to the victims of 9/11. Looking into the pit, you see the ramp that leads down into the base of the Towers. Later, went back to the 55 Bar to see Wayne Krantz/guitar. He played great and his band members, Keith Carlock/drums and Paul Socolow/bass were excellent. It was a packed house and very receptive. |
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| October 18, 2002 | ||
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Friday. Did some more exploring in mid-town. While there, I had to have some more cheesecake at the Westway Diner. It's the best I've ever had... Went back to the 55 Bar again to hear Harvie S/bass with Virgina Mayhew/saxophone. Was pleasantly surprised that Ingrid Jenson/trumpet was playing with her too. Also heard Allison Miller on drums. Some great music! If that wasn't enough, the next group to play was the Nuff Brothers - plays the music of Otis Redding, James Brown, etc. Was standing up talking to Harvie and in walks Lou Marini/saxophone! Chatted with him for a minute - he introduced me to his guitar player, David Spinoza - a great player. Next thing I know, I'm being addressed by none other than UA's one and only, Birch Johnson/trombone. Suffice it to say, I stayed to hear the set. They grooved all night long!
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| October 19, 2002 | ||
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Saturday. Played tourist all day. Visited the Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, etc. And, then, took a night off and watched the series....
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| October 20, 2002 | ||
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Sunday. Went with Gene Bertoncini to Southport, CT to hear the Guitar Summit at the Pequot Public Library. Featuring Gene, Bucky Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, and Frank Vignola. What an incredible afternoon of music. I got the chance to play with Gene and Howard before the concert. Then back to the city to Le Madeleine to hear Gene play. Paul Meyer was sitting in the first set and sounded fabulous. Karrin Allyson sat in and sang. Then to finish the night Paul and I played a duet. Was a great musical day. Afterwards, Gene, Karrin, Bill McGlaughlin (Saint Paul Sunday host), myself and family of Karrin's went to eat the traditional cheesecake at Westway Diner. It's been a great day... Below is a picture of me and Bucky and the cheesecake gang.
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| October 21, 2002 | ||
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Monday. Spent part of the day on the upper west side at 112th and Broadway. On this corner is the famous Tom's Restaurant - made famous on the Seinfeld show. Below is a picture. Had lunch there. Didn't see Jerry... Went to the Village Vanguard to hear the Vanguard Orchestra. What a band. Played some great charts including "Kids Are Pretty People" and "Groove Merchant" (at a real clip!). Was a real enjoyable night.
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| October 22, 2002 | ||
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Tuesday. Went uptown to have a lesson with Jack Wilkins. Fabulous player, swings real hard and plays great music. Was a lot of fun. Here we are in his apartment.
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| October 23, 2002 | ||
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Wednesday. Just returned from giving a masterclass. A good friend of mine (and an excellent saxophonist) Tom Christensen, teaches at a private school in the Bronx. I went up to work with the jazz combo. We went over Funkalero by Bill Evans - great tune. Had some fun hanging out with Tom too. That's us below...
23rd, continued... Went to the Jazz Standard at 28th and Lexington. Heard a set by Larry Goldings/organ, Peter Bernstein/guitar and Bill Stewart/drums. A great trio - energetic and swinging!
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| October 24, 2002 | ||
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Thursday. Went out again to see some more of the city. This time to 34th and 5th Ave - the Empire State Building. Below is a picture from the base of the building and of the lobby. Didn't have time to make it up to the observatory.
More practicing today and then off to the 55 Bar to hear Wayne Krantz again. 24th continued, just got back from listening to Wayne Krantz. He's a great player and composer. Really fun night.
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| October 25, 2002 | ||
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Friday. Have been trying to see as much of the city when I have the time. Today went down to the NYU campus - Washington Square area. Had lunch at the University Diner. Then went uptown to the Lincoln Center. See the picture below. And yes, for all of you who've been dying to ask - I have taken the "A" Train!
25th continued, went to the Blue Note tonight. Was the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Alumni Band. Randy Brecker/trumpet played as well as James Moody/saxophone and Barry Green/piano. Was a nice night of music. Unfortunately, sat at the bar which was a little noisy, but was still able to hear the music.
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| October 26, 2002 | ||
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Saturday. Went exploring. Ended up back at the Park Avalon for brunch. Listened to a guitar/bass duo. Young players, but played well. 26th continued, went to the Kavehaz in SoHo. Wanted to go listen to a local group that I haven't heard or heard of. They played very nice material - ECM-ish. Mostly originals I think. Although, they did play "Like Someone In Love" too. Was an enjoyable evening - quartet: trumpet, guitar, bass and drums. It's nice to listen to players you don't know - no preconceived notions about their playing. Good set... While exploring, I walked over to East Village to see the sights. Ended up in the Bowery area and happened upon St. Mark's Episcopal Church of the Bowery. Built in the late 1700's. Is a bit of an oasis in the middle of a busy area.
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| October 27, 2002 | ||
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Sunday. Took some time around the Village. Had lunch at a little diner then came back to the apartment to practice a couple of hours. Went back to Le Madeleine to hear Gene. Sounds great everytime - his repertoire is enormous. We played a couple of duets. Also had the pleasure of meeting Michelle Farlow, Tal's widow. Yet another night of great music.
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| October 28, 2002 | ||
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Monday. Spent most of the day with Gene Bertoncini. We got together earlier in the afternoon and recorded some duos for a couple of hours. Then off to Le Madeleine's for a nice relaxing dinner. Afterward, Gene played and I joined him for several numbers. He's off to Minnesota in a day, so was a great way to say goodbye. Frank Vignola had me over to the Iridium to met Les Paul. Was supposed to play with them, but ran out of time. Just missed my 15 minutes of fame...
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| October 29, 2002 | ||
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Tuesday. Got a call from John Mosca today. For those of you who didn't see John when he came to UA last spring, he is a fabulous trombone player and plays lead for the Village Vanguard Orchestra. We went and did the hang for the evening. Started in the East Village with some great Ukranian food - borscht and goulash. Then on to have some Egg Cream - great soda drink, sort of.... Then to a nice espresso cafe for an after-meal cup of espresso. Stopped by Smalls off 7th avenue and 10th to listen to a tune or two and ended up staying the rest of the night there. Grant Stewart/saxophone was there with his group, including Joe Cohn/guitar. What a great night of music - Monk tunes, old standards,....
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| October 30, 2002 | ||
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Wednesday. Just returned from a lesson with Howard Alden. He's a fabulous guitarist, specializing on the 7 string. Was a real treat to play with him and listen to his music. Below is a picture of Howard and I at his apartment. Then off to midtown shortly for some Ethiopian food with a good friend.
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| October 31, 2002 | ||
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Thursday. The wee hours of the morning... Got back from a great visit and dinner with a new-found friend in New York earlier tonight. Am getting packed and ready for my flight out back to Tuscaloosa. For all of you who have been keeping up with the diary, I hope you have enjoyed it. It's certainly been a pleasure and a great experience for me. All the music has been tremendous. Thanks to the University of Alabama, the College of Arts & Sciences and my colleagues at the School of Music for their support. See you in T-Town - Roll Tide! |
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