Uptown, Downtown and All That Jazz

Bernie, Clare and I wandered up to Times Square, which is named after the New York Times in case you were wondering, Bernie.

Luiz Simas had seen Bernie's photos from Brazil over at The Fall Cafe--where all roads lead--and asked him to drop by Birdland and snap his shutter (if you know what I mean) (I meant take pictures, if you didn't know what I mean). Clare and I went along because Bernie's still learning this city and I rarely turn down a free ticket to music or, well, anything.

After Simas's set we wandered down to Joe's. Clare had never been there and wanted to see what all the fuss was about before she left the country. We got there just in time to catch the last few numbers by Rufus Cappadocia who was celebrating the release of his new CD, Songs For Cello. When we walked in, Bethany Yarrow was on stage playing bass and Clare was so delighted by them both that she dropped her jaw, picked it up and wandered into the VIP booth like her interest made her someone or something.

Last week Trevor had seen my drawing of the cello player in Dawn Landes's band and asked me what kind of cello he played. "I don't speak cello," I replied, "I love it, but my supply of applicable adjectives is limited." So, Trevor, if you're reading along at home, I still don't have an answer about that last one, but Rufus sounds like this.

The next set at Joe's was by Happy Apple, a modern jazz trio with an attitude. Bernie says he knew I was gonna like drawing the bass player, but I think he was just projecting on to the guy's Alice Cooper T-shirt. We were still sitting in the booth, joined by a couple of the band's friends from back in Minneapolis. "This is a good spot for taking pictures," said Bernie. "You two are up to some sort of collaboration," said Jo, but we're not giving anything away yet. "Play Toto!" yelled the woman next to us and they did. It did not sound like this, but their other stuff does.