|
[About Us] [Guestbook] [Contact] |
Patterson Chapter News
Volume 20, Issue 5: May & June 2000
Newsletter segments:
Kingston chapter news, Patterson chapter news, Poughkeepsie chapter news, and other articles.Patterson Chapter Coffeehouse March - April, 2000
by Martin Aronchick
The talented crew and performers made it a pleasure to be at the March 11 and April 8 coffeehouses. In March, the narrative was supplied by Emcee Uncle Frank Collin. Sound was provided by Scott Morrison's concert-hall system, skillfully operated by Patterson Chapter Sound Guy Sean McCormick. The eats were the home-cooked delights of Clark and Jo Darling.
This scribe began with two new, original instrumentals, "Nice Place to Be" and "A Cup of Coffee". Scott Morrison played "Oracle", a Michael Hedges instrumental, doing fine justice to the rhythms of this complex song. Scott returned with a bold experiment - playing unplugged! Scott deftly exploited the pleasing quality of the miked-only sound of his Martin dreadnought. Hey Scott - stay with unplugged, it sounded great.
In his melodic bluegrass twang, Mike Burns next sang "More and More Each Day," a love song to his wife Patti Jane, and "I'm a Lucky Man." He concluded with "Walk the Water's Edge," refreshingly of darker themes. Mike will host a bluegrass coffeehouse in St. Luke's Church in Somers on May 13. Newly-engaged Carole Hotte and Peter Martin performed Dory Previn's "I Dance & Dance & Smile & Smile," Carole's introductory poem and moving vocals giving depth to this song, and Peter playing a smooth classical guitar accompaniment. The next performer was none other than our very own President Mario Zecca. Mario has recently founded a 4th Saturday of the month coffeehouse at House of Mirth Literary Sanctuary in Millerton on Rt. 22, next gathering on May 27. (find out more by calling Mario at 914-373-4388.) His first song was an original, "And When I'm Gone," an upbeat song about the aftermath of death. He followed with another original, "Honeymoon". Credit's due to Mario's bluesy voice, wailing mouth harp and energetic playing of Chris DePalma's Taylor cutaway.
Our featured act this evening was David Wright, whose playing was a tour-de-force. He demonstrated a delightful variety of guitar styles, including foot-stomping, driving flatpicking and South American- influenced jazz. My own favorites were Dave's Adirondack Mountain songs, a pair of melodic, driving fingerstyle songs that capture the rugged beauty of that special place. David capped his set with Mario Zecca, playing one of Mario's original songs, "Cabin Fever Blues." Dave's fine, barking lead punctuated the angry mood of this song.
Ron Gluck maintained the mood with his desparing "Save Me," about insecurity in romance. Next followed the traditional "Trouble in Mind," Ron adding a fine, original Spanish style introduction. He closed with "Looks Like I'm Never Going to Cease My Wandering," which he described as "a simple C progression song." Hey, Ron - I watched your hands. I'd say it wasn't quite so simple. Next, Gary Jones, a Patterson first timer, sang, in a lilting baritone, "Changes in Time," an original tune he learned from a street singer during the '60's. Gary also played, sang and blew mouth harp on two traditional folk songs, "The Mai-Tee" and "Sea Fever." Chris DePalma then reclaimed his new Taylor,and his gentle, melodic voice delivered a poignant, rendition of his original "Bolt Out of the Blue." He followed with the Beatles' "Blackbird," a song Chris said, "everyone knows unless they're under 25." Chris told us he learned his final song, "Four Strong Winds," from a bongo player, leaving us to imagine what that song sounds like on bongos. Marc Bernardini played three original instrumentals. He displayed great versatility in style, flat picking his first selection, strumming his second, "Third Eye," and playing his last, "Little Julia," fingerstyle. Hey Marc! It sounded great; next time, keep going when you skip a verse! It's all original music, so we wouldn't have known.
And with that, Uncle Frank announced that the evening was over, sort of. Those interested pulled some chairs into a circle for an extra late-night jam. Uncle Frank, Ron Gluck, David Wright, later joined by Mario Zecca, played some monster music, including "Liebestraum," featuring Ron's delightful original arrangement and "April Showers," featuring Uncle Frank's mighty tenor, all complimented by David Wright's amazing guitar. Bruce Morrison sat in for a sonorous version of "Amelia Earhardt's Last Flight." It was good to see Bruce once again with a guitar in his hands for purposes other than fixing it.
Our April coffeehouse offered a bit of everything. Emcees were Marcia and Gary Jones, new regulars. Scott Morrison both set up and operated his sound system. Gary Creamer, drafted as emergency food guy, quickly returned with an armload of goodies.
This scribe arrived late and, finding slots 2 through last were taken, I led off. I played two original instrumentals, "Transmission" and "Cat Walk." Scott Morrison, curse him, then borrowed my Taylor and made it sing, playing an original arrangement of "Scarborough Fair."Back to his familiar Martin, Scott played a driving version of Michael Hedges' original tap arrangement of "All Along the Watchtower." Loraine Klara summoned her roadie/husband to lug her accordion to the stage next, then played a Disney medley, "It's A Small World/ Let's Go Fly A Kite," the infectious rhythm precipitating an impromptu sing-a-long. Loraine also played an enchanting version of "Spanish Eyes." Mitch Katz reintroduced us to the human voice, as our first vocalist this evening. His steady and engaging version of his own "Time to Say Goodbye" had a hint of Steve Stills. Mitch also unleashed some mighty sounds from his aged Gibson in a fine flatpicked version of "Give and Take." We say to a prodigal son: hurry back; don't be a stranger!
With snow in the forecast, Ron Gluck's aspirational first choice was "April Showers," beginning with a driving instrumental version, adding some fine vocals, and finally taking the house along with him in a sing-a-long. He followed with a rhythmic instrumental version of "Sweet Georgia Brown," recalling the kicking, hot-stove rendition of this song by Ron and Gregor Neaga. The song selection of vocalist Carole Hotte and classical guitarist Peter Martin was, as usual, a Dory Previn song ("Mythical Kings"), and they did a delightful job. Carole and Peter brought us a special surprise this evening- poet Allan E. McNett, to recite one of his several hundred original poems. Despite his 92 years, Mr. McNett stood firm (with the aid of a wonderful, ribaldly carved cane), and in a loud, clear voice (unaided by amplification) recited from memory his poem, "My Dad's Razor Strop". Mr. McNett's poem was an interesting vista into the bygone days of Mr. McNett's youth.
The Beacon Nightingale, Barbara Mahon, sang "White Buffalo." Seldom has a song and singer better matched. She also sang a tuneful version of "I've Been Wrong Before." Tim, then Elizabeth Hunter were next up. Tim, a singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist, played and sang two original songs, the secondof which was "Marlboro Man." Elizabeth, a keyboard player, sang an original, "Church of Snow," and a unique version of "Both Sides Now," sounding more like a torch song. And what pipes! This lady can fill a hall with the loveliest of sounds. Stephen Rhodes made us glad that he'd figured out how to get in the side door. He sang a poignant original, "Back Home," and followed with the bluesy "Take This Hammer." Our last open miker of the evening was Marcia Jones' favorite tenor, Gary Jones. He began with a traditional folk song, "High-Low," a sing-along that everyone except this scribe seemed to know. Gary also did version of "I'm the Kid Who Ran Away With the Circus," including the only whistling solo of the night.
Following refreshments, we were treated to our featured performer, Parker Gambino. Parker played a varied set of mostly covers, with some original material, in a delightful mix of styles, including folk, 60's soft rock, train songs and honky-tonk. Parker began with "Never Go Back," Christine Lavin's reminder that you can't go home again. He followed with "Time Passages," his melodic voice and guitar well-complimented by his wailing harmonica. A train song medley followed - "South Bound," an original song about a rocking commute; the hilarious "Talking NYC Subway Blues"; and the poignant "City of New Orleans". Then we got to hear Parker do Bob Dylan ("Too Much of Nothing") and Paul Simon ("Slip Sliding Away"). At this point, he slipped into the honky tonk music portion of the evening. We heard Parker sing, yodel and vocalize a trombone solo in Roger Miller's "Kansas City Star." On the next two songs, the latter of which his own "Distant Shore," Parker dazzled us with energetic, riffs interspersed with lightening leads. Our sustained ovation made him come back for one more, Robert Hunter's "Friend of the Devil." Gotta hand it to that youngster- he had the same energy and voice at the end as at the beginning of this fine evening.
[About Us] [Guestbook] [Contact]