Bridging Hemispheres

From Piano Night #2 at Home Silverlake, August 10, 2009

Several of you will recall that there were two sonorous Steinway grand pianos for our performing (and listening!) pleasure at the Bridging Hemispheres House Concert that I directed and produced this past Mother’s Day. However, the truth is that there aren’t many spots in Los Angeles where performing songwriters get to tickle the ivories of a real piano, much less a grand piano. Often, when we do find one, our ears and fingers wish that we had left those ivories untickled. I realize how spoiled I was during my years in Boston when I regularly played the Kawai Grand at what is known today as the LilyPad in Cambridge’s Inman Square.

So, when fellow musician Edward “Tex” Miller (of Layabout Band) discovered a baby grand piano in fairly good condition at a venue called “HOME” in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Silverlake, he thought it was time to change the landscape. After the success of the inaugural event in July, Tex decided to host Piano Night #2 on Monday, August 10, 2009, for the patrons of this neighborhood bar & restaurant. On this occasion, Tex invited Gilli Moon and me to join him on the bill. We each performed a short set and the relaxed atmosphere gave everyone plenty of time to chat in between sets. The response from the audience was warm & friendly.

Good music. No cover charge. Comfy booths and chairs. Yummy food for all ages. And one ginormous chandelier. According to Layabout’s MySpace calendar, it looks like September 7 will be the next night devoted to piano-playing songwriters in Los Angeles! Check with Tex for details. Home Silverlake is located at 2500 Riverside Drive. Los Angeles, CA 90039. Please enjoy this slideshow of a few snaps from Piano Night #2.

I just got home from a session of Ego @ The Door where I played with Marcus L. Miller (drums), Dawn Norfleet (flute/vocals), Rod (electric bass guitar), Keven Brennen (sax and more), and Jas Shepherd on a variety of instruments (including the gong). I met Jas last summer on his radio show, Forward Motion, on KPFK. Up to now Jas has recorded Ego @ The Door sessions (which take place once a month) at KPFK, but tonight (Thurs June 26) we were at Keven Brennan’s studio “F.Boo” in Burbank. I’m not able to make it to the session every month, but I’ve been to a number of sessions and you never know who is going to be there, so it is never the same. It reminds me a bit of the Wednesday night sessions in Cambridge, MA that I often attended at the Lily Pad (back then it was the Zeitgeist). During Ego @ The Door, we don’t have any preconceived repertoire. Everything is improvised – it is about connecting with, reaching out to and responding to the other musicians. Tonight I felt like I was in a really good space and it was such a great experience. There was something about each person’s contribution that felt inspiring. I’m glad to be meeting and playing with so many wonderful musicians here in LA. Little by little, I feel like I’m becoming part of a community here on the Left Coast.