Struts his hour upon the stage

First off, I'd like to say hats off to Marti. She did an hour set last night for Cabaret At The Cave in Astoria and she did a fantastic job; great song selection, excellent execution, the whole nine yards. The crowd was really into it and she had us all in the palm of her hand.

After Marti set, there was an open mic. I did two Sinatra tunes ("The Lady Is A Tramp" and "My Way") and I've gotta say that singing with just a piano is VERY different than singing with, say, karaoke backup. No bass or percussion to follow. It was tough. I think I pulled it off OK, but could have sounded better. Also could have meshed with the piano player more. I tend to sing slightly behind the beat (a la Billie Holiday), so he kept trying to adjust his pacing to my style. The results were not as pleasant as they could be.

However, Marti's performance and the overall atmosphere of the evening has inspired me to try a bit of performing again. I'm going to get the number of Marti's accompanist and see if we can't throw together a lil something something. I haven't performed since I was about 10, so it's been awhile (something to the tune of 25 years), but I really want to do it again. There's a freedom and power I feel when I'm singing and that part of me is a natural exhibitionist.

Anyway, don't hold your breath looking for me in the pages of Variety, but stay tuned for news of shows in local dives perhaps?

Tickling the ivories in my head:

Various Artists - Texas Guitar Killers
(T-Bone Walker, Gatemouth Brown, Lightnin'; blues blues blues walkin' it home)

Various Artists - Bludgeoned, Volumes 1 & 2
(headcrushing mod metal mix thrown together by my partner in musical corruption, Gio)

Skalpel - Skalpel
(cut and paste down tempo using old Polish jazz records; toss in some live instruments and the results are angelic)

Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
(that all time easy listening classic)