Sycamore Bar & Flowershop

February 04 | Sea of Bees

Sea of Bees is the musical project of Julie Ann Bee, or Jules as everyone calls her. is the musical project of Julie Ann Bee, or Jules as everyone calls her.
She sings, writes the songs, and plays lots of musical instruments.

“Took me about 50 seconds — the length of the woozy, haunting intro to “Marmalade” — to completely fall for Sea of Bees, the nom de tune of Sacramento indie-popper Julie Baenziger. Her debut album “Songs for the Ravens” sounds folky in some places, gauzy and ambient in others and twee as hell in still others, but beautiful throughout, and a potent reminder that emotional virtue is an artist’s most precious commodity. This one’s special, folks, let’s not screw it up.” -Kevin Bronson, Buzzbands LA, LA Weekly
“Songs for the Ravens is bound to be one of this year’s finest records;as soon as you hear it you’re not going to be able to shakeit.” -Ned Lannamann,Portland Mercury
“I’m not entirely sure why I love this album so much… ...That which I cannot put my finger on, is the mysterious, wonderful, and addictive qualities of this album as a whole. Bravo to Jules and her Sea of Bees.” -Jason Lytle (Grandaddy, Admiral Radley)

Posted on: March 22, 2011

February 05 | Underground Works - A Weekly Jazz Series

Underground Works is a new jazz series curated by the members of the Brooklyn Jazz Underground and Connection Works. The focus of the series is to create a greater awareness of the depth of creativity in composition and improvisation that exists in Brooklyn and extends beyond the scope of any one organization.

EVERY SUNDAY @ 8p - Last cat standing!

Posted on: September 27, 2010

February 06 | Half-handed Cloud/ Pony of Good Tidings/  Lorah Campbell

11:00p - Half-handed Cloud
10:00p -Pony Of Good Tidings
9:00p - Lorah Campbell

Half-handed Cloud is an interesting phenomenon. John Ringhofer, the man behind the namesake, is as joyful and frugal as his music. An economical thinker, Ringhofer prefers the subway over a taxicab, is a recycler of plastic, a compulsive note-taker, and a habitual optimist. He doodles in the margins of National Geographic magazines, carries several different colored pens, and continues to use an antiquated CD walkman. When not on tour solo or as the trombonist for Sufjan Stevens’ Illinoisemakers, he lives rent-free in Berkeley California in exchange for his services as a custodian in a church. His music encapsulates his struggle to make sense of his life and his passions. In Half-handed Cloud this is expressed as an all-consuming search for God. Like Brother Danielson, Half-handed Cloud is able to ensconce complicated theological concepts into playground song without condescending to his subject or to his listener.

Pony of the Good Tidings is the musical talents of Natty Green, accompanied and improved by that of Anthony LaMarca, Megan Sears, Ruth Jeyaveeran and Justin Keller.  They sound of sweetness, vulnerable and small like a child and yet strong enough to punch into the heart.
Poetic songs of friendship, love, death, Jesus and life’s glories are written and sung by Natty whose voice reminds one of secrets being carefully and quietly told.
Their debut LP “Zing Zong” will be available soon from Primary Records.

Lorah Campbell:
“Hollars” is a five song EP recorded over a six month period in Brooklyn, NY by myself and the very talented musician Aaron Roche. It is out on Music Fort Records.  These songs are my first recordings of the music I have been writing and developing over the last year and a half. Aaron Roche and other musicians contributed and enabled me to have the complexity of sound I have always wanted the songs to have. Collaborating on this album with such talented people was such an honor.  I would be so excited to have the opportunity to share these songs with you. I extend my humble gratitude to anyone who wants to support my music.

Posted on: January 30, 2012

February 08 | Christopher Sheard’s February Residency w/ Special Guests

9:00p - Denitia Odigie
10:00p - Christopher Sheard

Christopher Sheard, a Flatbush native, has curated a month long program that will occupy every Wednesday in February.

Bio - There was always music. The thing of it is, is that there have been high points and lows and most of the time has been passed from the bottom looking up but there was always music. Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Ireland, Mexico, Portland, Chicago, wherever, whenever, I always found myself alone but there was always a melody somewhere, a rhythm to the sound of traffic rolling along the streets, a beat in the ceiling fan, a hum to the all the voices.
See I was born in a little town within a big city. There didn’t seem to be any way in or out but I saw a lot of things there. A lot of them were good, some of them were tough, and a few of them make me shiver when I think about them. But I remember the music trickling in through the cracks in my mind. There was Dylan and Sam Cooke. Out on the street there was LL Cool J and A Tribe Called Quest. I didn’t go to it right away. I didn’t know much then. I didn’t know how important it was.
Then there was the big city where there were endless ways in and lane after lane of roads out. Jazz clubs where a high school kid could drink and smoke and listen to young white kids trying to sound like old black men until 4 in the morning. Hip Hop ciphers on the D train, punk bands at CBGBs. The world was big and I was a very small, lanky, pale white-boy part of it. This is where and when I discovered Django Reinhardt. It’s also where I discovered Robert Johnson. Now something was happening.
Then there were the jobs. Dish-washing, bar-backing, bartending, moving, construction, dog walking, farming, anything to get by and not end up in an office wearing anything around my neck. I was going to be a woodland firefighter. I was, really I was.
Then there were the bands. There good friends and good times. Shows with three people in the audience, the soundman patting his feet waiting for the set to end. There were bars and small clubs. We played what we felt and we hoped that people would like it. Some of them did, a lot of them didn’t. Then good friends went different directions. Some left the city some stayed behind. In the middle of everything, all the migrations, changes, the dreams and the schemes, I guess I wasn’t paying attention. Then one morning, just like that, a friend was gone. Then it all changed. I lingered in a haze for a while, fooled myself into thinking there was time but there isn’t.
Now there’s only music. I couldn’t tell you anything more you couldn’t make up yourself anyway.

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Denitia Odigie (pronounced Deh-NEE-sha Oh-DEE-Jee) is an American soul artist based in New York City. Fans of r&b, pop, soul, and blues are drawn to the gravity that Denitia’s music creates.
By 2009, Denitia had released 4 independent EPs on her own, experimenting in psychedelic folk, country, lo-fi, grunge, and soul. It was that year that she signed a publishing deal with Weston Boys Entertainment, home of Jace Everett (True Blood theme song). She then released the folk-soul Brick by Brick EP on the WB imprint. Reviewers called the EP “tasteful pop music: the product of a modern ear and a world-wise iTunes library…” “…a delicious musical impression of a revived old soul.”2010 saw Denitia releasing her debut full-length album, Vitality, on the Weston Boys label. From psych-soul tunes like “Tightrope” to the horn-laden whisper of “Lover” to the dreamy, swimming “Sold”, Vitality is her consummate album, highlighting the many colors and vibes that encompass the Denitia Odigie sound. A review in Deli Magazine summed it up: “From start to finish, this record is in a constant state of grooving; relaxed or raunchy; sweet or sultry. Few artists can actually accomplish creating a record that not only grooves, but relaxes, from start to finish… fresh and classic at the same time.”Most recently, Denitia has released a collection of sketches, the Dream Suite EP. What began as a collection of demos, turned out to be a short and sweet dreamy set of love songs. The project includes minimal compositions crafted with only Farfisa organ, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and voice, creating a lush but minimal playground for Denitia’s simple, soulful melodies.
Denitia is currently working on her second full-length album and preparing for international touring in the fall/winter.

Posted on: January 19, 2012

February 10 | Steven Lugerner (Narratives) with Gym, Dear and Jonah Parzen-Johnson Michiana

9:00p - Jonah Parzen-Johnson Michiana
10:00p - Gym, Dear
11:00p - Steven Lugerner (Narratives)

A Bay Area transplant to the NYC scene, multi-reedist Steven Lugerner maintains an active bi-costal performance schedule as both a leader and sidemen of various musical ensembles. Since his relocation to New York City,  Lugerner has fostered contacts, study and collaboration with such artists as: Grammy nominated pianist Fred Hersch; soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom; flutist/composer Jamie Baum; trumpeter Ralph Alessi; pianist Myra Melford; percussionist Matt Wilson; percussionist/composer John Hollenbeck, bassist John Hebert, pianist Jason Moran, trumpeter Darren Johnston & SFJAZZ Collective member Miguel Zenon. “An impeccably trained multireedist, with an emphasis on ‘multi’ — he plays clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, English horn and flutes, along with saxophones…” (The New York Times)
Steven Lugerner was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area in a multicultural, artistically nurturing family. He began his early musical studies at the age of eight, first attempting to play the trumpet - a painful experience for both family and student. After exchanging his trumpet for a clarinet, Lugerner soon found his niche in the woodwind world. His elementary school music studies coupled with involvement in youth orchestra allowed him to refine his studies on the clarinet and additionally inspired his interest and concentration to the oboe. During middle school and high school, Lugerner studied both the clarinet and oboe simultaneously. He performed with college-level orchestras, as well as professional pit orchestras around the San Francisco Bay Area. It was in mid-high school that he began a dedicated study of the saxophone and an exploration of jazz and improvised music. This finally led Lugerner to The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City’s Greenwich Village where he graduated with honors in 2010.
In March of 2011, Lugerner self-released his debut double-disk album to critical acclaim. The first record featured a quartet under the name These Are The Words - appearing with Myra Melford, Matt WIlson & Darren Johnston. These Are The Words has been described as “…a textured, nearly seamless blend of composition and improvisation of the sort that die-hard jazzists might think is really modern chamber music…pieces that might have sounded rigid and schematic on These Are The Words come across as spontaneous and engaging.” -Francis Davis (The Village Voice) The second record features a larger ensemble under the name Narratives - appearing with saxophonist Lucas Pino, trumpeter Itamar Borochov, guitarist Angelo Spagnolo, pianist Glenn Zaleski, bassist Ross Gallagher & Michael W. Davis on drumset. Lugerner also maintains an active schedule recording/performing as a member of In One Wind, The Chives & killerBOB,  - ensembles that truly reflect the cultural diversity and values of his Bay Area roots.

Posted on: January 19, 2012

February 12 | Underground Works - A Weekly Jazz Series

Underground Works is a new jazz series curated by the members of the Brooklyn Jazz Underground and Connection Works. The focus of the series is to create a greater awareness of the depth of creativity in composition and improvisation that exists in Brooklyn and extends beyond the scope of any one organization.

EVERY SUNDAY @ 8p - Last cat standing!

Posted on: September 24, 2010

February 15 | Christopher Sheard’s February Residency w/ Special Guests

8:00p - Pete Sinjin
9:00p - Christopher Sheard

Christopher Sheard, a Flatbush native, has curated a month long program that will occupy every Wednesday in February.

Bio - There was always music. The thing of it is, is that there have been high points and lows and most of the time has been passed from the bottom looking up but there was always music. Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Ireland, Mexico, Portland, Chicago, wherever, whenever, I always found myself alone but there was always a melody somewhere, a rhythm to the sound of traffic rolling along the streets, a beat in the ceiling fan, a hum to the all the voices.
See I was born in a little town within a big city. There didn’t seem to be any way in or out but I saw a lot of things there. A lot of them were good, some of them were tough, and a few of them make me shiver when I think about them. But I remember the music trickling in through the cracks in my mind. There was Dylan and Sam Cooke. Out on the street there was LL Cool J and A Tribe Called Quest. I didn’t go to it right away. I didn’t know much then. I didn’t know how important it was.
Then there was the big city where there were endless ways in and lane after lane of roads out. Jazz clubs where a high school kid could drink and smoke and listen to young white kids trying to sound like old black men until 4 in the morning. Hip Hop ciphers on the D train, punk bands at CBGBs. The world was big and I was a very small, lanky, pale white-boy part of it. This is where and when I discovered Django Reinhardt. It’s also where I discovered Robert Johnson. Now something was happening.
Then there were the jobs. Dish-washing, bar-backing, bartending, moving, construction, dog walking, farming, anything to get by and not end up in an office wearing anything around my neck. I was going to be a woodland firefighter. I was, really I was.
Then there were the bands. There good friends and good times. Shows with three people in the audience, the soundman patting his feet waiting for the set to end. There were bars and small clubs. We played what we felt and we hoped that people would like it. Some of them did, a lot of them didn’t. Then good friends went different directions. Some left the city some stayed behind. In the middle of everything, all the migrations, changes, the dreams and the schemes, I guess I wasn’t paying attention. Then one morning, just like that, a friend was gone. Then it all changed. I lingered in a haze for a while, fooled myself into thinking there was time but there isn’t.
Now there’s only music. I couldn’t tell you anything more you couldn’t make up yourself anyway.

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Brooklyn based Pete Sinjin graces the American roots music scene with a true spirit for the mythology of Americana. A Pennsylvania born 4th cousin to baseball great Lou Gehrig whose (albeit myth making and regularly drunk) grandma Guthrie claimed blood ties to Woody, Pete regularly hitchhiked to NYC to visit the still breathing ghosts of the West Village at age 15 and migrated to San Francisco as a band roadie before he had a chance of graduating high school.
He’s played with bands and as a solo artist from the West Coast to the East, alongside artists such as Chris Roldan (Whiskeytown), Jonathon Segel (Camper Van Beethoven) and his current bassist Mike Davis (Nora Jones).
Pete’s lyrics can weave narratives like veteran Steve Earl with poetry as deeply transfixing as Jay Farrar’s (Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt). Like Neil Young, his music tends to comfortably straddle both sides of the sonic fence, from plaintive country to blissful roots rock …throw in a healthy dose of intuitive pop sense and hooks ala Beatles and Big Star, and you’ve got Pete Sinjin.
Pete’s debut solo CD, “Better Angels Radio” is just that, a multi-dimensional spiritual journey into roots music. His historically relevant lyricism shines in the second track, “Broken Radios”
Now, listen to the old folks talk mythology
Of the Saviors on the airwaves that set the minds free
The transistor radio stamped out the beat
While the cities all burned, they sang…
“Dancing in the Streets”

Posted on: January 19, 2012

February 17 | Triborough Trio

The Triborough Trio is a unique new acoustic group comprised of cello, guitar and bass working out of New York City. They first performed together while teaching at Mark O’Connor’s heralded San Diego String Conference in 2006. Trio members Mike Block (cello), Hans Holzen (guitar) and Kyle Kegerreis (bass) have all performed with O’Connor’s American String Celebration Ensemble, which showcases the finest young string players in America. Mike has been a long time member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. As the Triborough Trio they have performed across the U.S. and established a sold-out residency of shows in the West Village of New York City. The Triborough Trio released their debut album, “Naive Melody”, in 2011

Posted on: January 19, 2012

February 18 | Le Boeuf Brothers

10:00p

Le Boeuf Brothers -

Prepare to be astonished by the bold compositions and stylish approach of the Le Boeuf Brothers, jazz twins with an ear for innovation, drama, and a touch of humor. Part of a growing New York jazz scene characterized by odd time signatures, current indie rock, and the influences of artists such as Radiohead, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Herbie Hancock, Remy and Pascal Le Boeuf (saxophone and piano) play a sophisticated brand of modern jazz that, despite it’s complexity, remains upbeat and accessible to any audience.

“Even by the uncanny standards of identical twins, the Le Boeuf Brothers have forged a remarkably close connection. What sets them apart from other siblings who share the same DNA and a preternatural level of communication is that they practice it in public, on the bandstand, to unique artistic effect.” (Metroactive).

The Le Boeuf Brothers’ list of awards is a lengthy one, including Independent Music Awards for Best Album & Best Song; 1st place in the International Songwriting Competition, 12 ASCAP Young Composer Awards and various awards from Downbeat Magazine. Additionally, the Le Boeuf Brothers have received grants/commissions from Chamber Music America (CMA), ASCAP/IAJE, and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA). The Le Boeuf Brothers have also toured internationally and performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Umbria Jazz Festival, and Jazz @ Lincoln Center.

The New York Times says of Le Boeuf’s latest album, “this group has an impressively self-assured new album ‘House without a Door’ which reaches for the gleaming cosmopolitanism of our present era.” Their upcoming album “In Praise of Shadows,” supported in part by a contribution from the Edward & Sally Van Lier Fund of the NY Community Trust, is set to be released on September 20th, 2011. What differentiates this album from others is that the Le Boeuf Brothers continue to sculpt their compositions after the initial recording process using modern production techniques, sound collages, and layered arranging/recording methods. This new direction lays the foundation for the next decade of jazz innovation.

Posted on: October 28, 2011

February 19 | Underground Works - A Weekly Jazz Series

Underground Works is a new jazz series curated by the members of the Brooklyn Jazz Underground and Connection Works. The focus of the series is to create a greater awareness of the depth of creativity in composition and improvisation that exists in Brooklyn and extends beyond the scope of any one organization.

EVERY SUNDAY @ 8p - Last cat standing!

Posted on: September 24, 2010

February 21 | Brooklyn Dirt: Monthly Talks on Urban Farming and Gardening

Brooklyn Dirt Talk: Monthly Talks on Urban Farming and Gardening.

This months speakers TBA

LAST MONTHS TALK:

Dirt Talk One: John Ameroso on Urban Agriculture
This urban agriculture hero of NYC since 1976 shares his wisdom. Come with your questions!

Wednesday January 18th, 2012
7 - 9:30 pm
Downstairs @ Sycamore Bar and Flowershop, 21+
1118 Cortelyou RD, BK (Q train to Cortelyou)
Hosted by Meera Bhat

Event details online: www.cantaloupealone.com
Event on Facebook: Dirt Talk One
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John Ameroso is responsible for about 18 tons of produce grown in NYC a year, and sowing gardens and since 1976.

In 1976 John Ameroso piloted the Urban Gardening Program with Cornell University Cooperative Extension, and through his efforts successfully set the ground for Extension education in urban horticulture and food production for New York City. Mr. Ameroso served as President of the New York State Association of County Agricultural Agents (1997) and serves on the Boards of Directors for four organizations - one concerned with environmental “greening” issues (Neighborhood Open Space Coalition); one involved with local food security issues (Just Food); another with youth development utilizing agriculture and food accessibility programs (Added Value); the other promoting and supporting farmers’ markets throughout New York State (Farmers’ Market Federation of New York). Two of his programs have received National recognition: Rikers Island Prison Farm Project and The Gericke Organic Farm Education Project at Clay Pit Pond State Park in Staten Island.

John Ameroso’s legacy was well-honored in this New York Times profile: www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/dining/19farm.html?pagewanted=all

Meera Bhat is part of the team at Prospect Farm (www.prospectfarm.org), a neighborhood growing initiative in Windsor Terrace that is working together to grow food in a formerly vacant lot.  She lives in Prospect Park South and works as a project manager at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University.  She also leads a girl scout troop, if you’re looking for cookies.

Cantaloupe Alone is the creator of this event and a food blog for people with garlic breath run by Kensington, Brooklyn based Naomi Donabedian: www.cantaloupealone.com

Posted on: February 02, 2011

February 22 | Christopher Sheard’s February Residency w/ Special Guest

8:00p - Wataru Uchida
9:00p - Christopher Sheard

Christopher Sheard, a Flatbush native, has curated a month long program that will occupy every Wednesday in February.

Bio - There was always music. The thing of it is, is that there have been high points and lows and most of the time has been passed from the bottom looking up but there was always music. Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Ireland, Mexico, Portland, Chicago, wherever, whenever, I always found myself alone but there was always a melody somewhere, a rhythm to the sound of traffic rolling along the streets, a beat in the ceiling fan, a hum to the all the voices.
See I was born in a little town within a big city. There didn’t seem to be any way in or out but I saw a lot of things there. A lot of them were good, some of them were tough, and a few of them make me shiver when I think about them. But I remember the music trickling in through the cracks in my mind. There was Dylan and Sam Cooke. Out on the street there was LL Cool J and A Tribe Called Quest. I didn’t go to it right away. I didn’t know much then. I didn’t know how important it was.
Then there was the big city where there were endless ways in and lane after lane of roads out. Jazz clubs where a high school kid could drink and smoke and listen to young white kids trying to sound like old black men until 4 in the morning. Hip Hop ciphers on the D train, punk bands at CBGBs. The world was big and I was a very small, lanky, pale white-boy part of it. This is where and when I discovered Django Reinhardt. It’s also where I discovered Robert Johnson. Now something was happening.
Then there were the jobs. Dish-washing, bar-backing, bartending, moving, construction, dog walking, farming, anything to get by and not end up in an office wearing anything around my neck. I was going to be a woodland firefighter. I was, really I was.
Then there were the bands. There good friends and good times. Shows with three people in the audience, the soundman patting his feet waiting for the set to end. There were bars and small clubs. We played what we felt and we hoped that people would like it. Some of them did, a lot of them didn’t. Then good friends went different directions. Some left the city some stayed behind. In the middle of everything, all the migrations, changes, the dreams and the schemes, I guess I wasn’t paying attention. Then one morning, just like that, a friend was gone. Then it all changed. I lingered in a haze for a while, fooled myself into thinking there was time but there isn’t.
Now there’s only music. I couldn’t tell you anything more you couldn’t make up yourself anyway.

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Wataru Uchida, a saxophonist and composer, was born in Yokohama, Japan. He moved to New York in 2000 and studied with Chico Freeman to achieve the “fat” sound that is the Chicago tenor player’s trademark.
Wataru has performed at Birdland, Paul Recital Hall of Julliard School of Music, Jazz Standard, and Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, as a guest soloist of Tokyo Swing Beats Jazz Big Band. He also performed at Museum of the City of New York, leading the best Japanese jazz performers living in New York on May 15, 2010. In 2008, Wataru recorded Blue Morpho, with New York-based Brazilian jazz giants such as Romero Lubambo, Helio Alvis, Nilson Matta, Cafe Da Silva, and Ze Mauricio. The album is dedicated to Baden Powell, the legendary Brazilian guitarist, of whom Wataru has been a big fan of since childhood.

Posted on: January 19, 2012

February 25 | Kill Henry Sugar with Maime Minch

9:00p - Maime Minch
10:00p - Kill Henry Sugar

Kill Henry Sugar - Chisel down into the asphalt cacophony of New York, and deep in the bedrock you’ll come upon Kill Henry Sugar. Poised astride the epic timeline of life in the boroughs, Erik Della Penna and Dean Sharenow sketch moody musical portraits with what the Village Voice calls, “Cinematic gravitas.” Their ethic is subtle lines by modest means, employing a signature palette of drums, dobro, and voice to construct petulant yankee poetry—more Serpico than Grapes Of Wrath, more Olmstead than Moses.

(SCROLL DOWN)

Mamie Minch is one of the youngest old-school blues guitarists and singers you’ve heard. She sings and plays songs of her own devising that sound like they’ve been stored in her old National guitar for decades. Raised on the music of John Hurt, Rev. Davis and Memphis Minnie, she can sometimes sound like her predecessors, but don’t mistake her for a revivalist- she is most definitely a product of her own time. Her musicianship and writing are so singular that she establishes her own musical reality, with it’s own stylistic chronology. Minch is also known as one fourth of the Roulette Sisters, and is a member of the group Midnight Hours with Jolie Holland and JC Hopkins. She has shared the stage with Smokey Hormel, Dayna Kurtz, C.W. Stoneking, and lots of other fabulous musical friends.

Posted on: January 19, 2012

February 26 | Underground Works - A Weekly Jazz Series

Underground Works is a new jazz series curated by the members of the Brooklyn Jazz Underground and Connection Works. The focus of the series is to create a greater awareness of the depth of creativity in composition and improvisation that exists in Brooklyn and extends beyond the scope of any one organization.

EVERY SUNDAY @ 8p - Last cat standing!

Posted on: September 03, 2010

February 28 | Tiny, Dangerous, Fun!

A subterranean romp the likes of which Ditmas Park, Brooklyn has never seen. Expect audacious clown, unruly puppetry, sultry burlesque, and an array of antics and stunts all crammed into a tiny basement. Expect performers risking life, limb and decorum for your edification. Expect full frontal…no, wait! Leave your expectations at the door, com’n on in for some dangerous fun, good whiskey and free cookies!
-NOT FOR KIDS-

This Month’s Performers:

TBA

EVERY LAST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH!

Are you a performer interested in joining the TDF crew? If so please sign up here… HERE!

Posted on: January 19, 2011

February 29 | Christopher Sheard’s February Residency w/ Special Guests

8:00p - Carl Banks
9:00p - Lily Virginia
10:00p - Christopher Sheard

Christopher Sheard, a Flatbush native, has curated a month long program that will occupy every Wednesday in February.

Bio - There was always music. The thing of it is, is that there have been high points and lows and most of the time has been passed from the bottom looking up but there was always music. Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Ireland, Mexico, Portland, Chicago, wherever, whenever, I always found myself alone but there was always a melody somewhere, a rhythm to the sound of traffic rolling along the streets, a beat in the ceiling fan, a hum to the all the voices.
See I was born in a little town within a big city. There didn’t seem to be any way in or out but I saw a lot of things there. A lot of them were good, some of them were tough, and a few of them make me shiver when I think about them. But I remember the music trickling in through the cracks in my mind. There was Dylan and Sam Cooke. Out on the street there was LL Cool J and A Tribe Called Quest. I didn’t go to it right away. I didn’t know much then. I didn’t know how important it was.
Then there was the big city where there were endless ways in and lane after lane of roads out. Jazz clubs where a high school kid could drink and smoke and listen to young white kids trying to sound like old black men until 4 in the morning. Hip Hop ciphers on the D train, punk bands at CBGBs. The world was big and I was a very small, lanky, pale white-boy part of it. This is where and when I discovered Django Reinhardt. It’s also where I discovered Robert Johnson. Now something was happening.
Then there were the jobs. Dish-washing, bar-backing, bartending, moving, construction, dog walking, farming, anything to get by and not end up in an office wearing anything around my neck. I was going to be a woodland firefighter. I was, really I was.
Then there were the bands. There good friends and good times. Shows with three people in the audience, the soundman patting his feet waiting for the set to end. There were bars and small clubs. We played what we felt and we hoped that people would like it. Some of them did, a lot of them didn’t. Then good friends went different directions. Some left the city some stayed behind. In the middle of everything, all the migrations, changes, the dreams and the schemes, I guess I wasn’t paying attention. Then one morning, just like that, a friend was gone. Then it all changed. I lingered in a haze for a while, fooled myself into thinking there was time but there isn’t.
Now there’s only music. I couldn’t tell you anything more you couldn’t make up yourself anyway.

SCROLL DOWN

Posted on: January 19, 2012