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Henry Fiol lit up the stage during a tribute to the late sonero, Hector Casanova, held at New York's LQ on November 18, 2007.
"I'm a New York kid. The idea of me living in a private home and mowing a lawn is just ridiculous. I was born on the streets of New York, I've lived here all my life, I'm an apartment dweller, and I just identify with the city. Native New Yorkers are like a different breed, and that's just who I am."
His is a strong and beautiful presence. Henry Fiol is dressed in a pin-striped suit, white pocket square, red tie, black shoes recently shined. The soft scent of his warm cologne follows like a distant echo. He demands attention. There can be little question regarding Henry…
I ran into Ashley over the weekend. She had the baby with her. It had been some time since last I saw them—about a year, in fact. It was good to see them.
"He keeps us busy," she said.
"I wouldn't be able to do it."
"I don't know how Alan does it everyday. He's my hero."
"I bet."
"So, what's new with you?"
Everything seems very superficial when placed alongside raising a child, but I answered anyway:
"Oh, nothing much. Work is good. I've been pretty obsessed with vinyl lately."
"Really? I heard Iris is having a…
Marque sus calendarios, vinyl lovers. While I was at Iris Records on Saturday, I learned of the upcoming Brooklyn Record Riot (!!).
The Record Riot will take place at Warsaw, the venerable concert hall located within the Polish National Home in Williamsburg. (Or is it Greenpoint? Oh, who cares?) There will be vinyl, kielbasa, and beer! There will be skinny jeans and summer dresses. All the cool kids will be there. What else do you need to know?
Sunday, June 29, from 11am to 8pm, and I'm sure there will be some party happening afterwards. Admission is $3.
…
These days I often have to stop myself and remember again that I need to write about music and not just the incredibly weird situation in which today's music business is both dying and rising from the ashes simultaneously.
This one though that I cannot resist, even if it's a sign that Armageddon is now surely approaching.
For their new Brendan O’Brien–produced record that's expected to come out this fall, AC/DC has signed an exclusive agreement with Wal–Mart `a la the recent Eagles deal. The reason for this is monumentally simple: MUN–NAY. In their deal with the retail Anti…
Two microphones. Two ears listening. With my teponatzli, an Aztec slit drum, and a fresh pair of Vic Firth 7A drum sticks, I marched back and forth between two $35 Audio Dynamica Low-Z Dynamic microphones: "Stage left near!" Smack! Against the teponatzli. It produced a low tone. "Stage left far!" Whack! I gave the log another beating, this time on the higher pitch. "Center stage!" Barararata! I let off a diced-up buzz roll. I slapped on some cans to listen to the recording. It was all screwed up.
I had my microphones switched around, with my left mic panned all the way to the…
Stuff is happening faster than I can responsibly blog. So fast and far and wide, in fact, it makes me wonder if it's actually happening at all. You know how it is when you learn a new word and you suddenly begin hearing that word everywhere?
Maybe it's some hardcore Baader-Meinhof business, some of that crazy cosmic unconscious plate of shrimp stuff. It's certainly possible that the thing was there all along—just chilling, waiting to be used, enjoyed, listened to—like some wonderful, little beat or sigh that had gone on for so long unnoticed until someone else…
Even the Onion is reporting on the vinyl revival. CDs are really in trouble now.
When I visited The Louis Armstrong Archives a few years ago to visit archivist Michael Cogswell, Cogswell escorted me back into the stacks to show me Armstrong's collection of 650 open-reel tapes, almost all of which sported collages assembled by the great trumpeter. More than touching his trumpet, I felt a direct connection to Armstrong viewing (and hearing) his mix tapes—Satchmo was one of us!
The Louis Armstrong House has been extensively renovated and enlarged, so those tapes are now on display. If you want to hear excerpts from them, go to Satchmo.net. To get a preview of Armstrong's…