West Indian Independence day Parade

This post started out as a 7 paragraph over-detailed rant about the West Indian Independence day parade/festival here in Hartford's Bushnell Park. Why this to start the blog off? Well, it's totally objective for me. I can't sprinkle it with personal bias and my own warped opinions about music. Anyhow, I managed to condense it down to four paragraphs and a semi-punchline.

I missed the parade, so I ended up going to the festival around 6pm. The only music I witnessed was vocal/electronic and it happened on the main stage. A lady named Jim Meyers (yes I thought she was a man too!) sang Whitney Houstons, "I have nothing", and a bunch of other reggae songs that mostly sounded the same. The choruses changed each time she sang them so I couldn't get a grasp on what the song titles might be. Many of the songs accompaniment were synthesized keyboard, bass, the occasional trumpet, and drums. Several of the performers took the liberty of stopping the DJ and demanding the crowd to dance and participate. I don't think I heard more than 1 minute of each song. To top it off, there were several tents playing similar (but slightly different) music simultaneously, a cacophony of sound. I felt like I was in a strobe-sound show; its a wonder I didn't have a seizure from auditory overload!

There were many people peddling CD's, but nobody seemed to be buying. I found myself wishing, against my own good judgment, that there were a few live reggae bands there. There wasn't an acoustic instrument in sight, not even a toy. After staying for about an hour, I came to this conclusion:

This was not a music festival. However, music and dance were the primary entertainment. I earned that West Indians go out of their way to get people engaged, even if it means stopping the music 50 times to remind the audience to relax and have a good time. However, If by some stroke of bad luck, a deranged smart person decided to disable the power grid in the city, this festival might be a little different. I don't doubt their ability to improvise; perhaps every trash can would be turned over and they'd turn it into Stomp Live, West Indian style. Somehow, though all I can imagine happening is the numbers dwindling rapidly, and by sundown nothing would be left but a single smoking grill, a trail of party promo flyers, and maybe a single tumbleweave.

Finally, I have to say that the food was very tasty (thats a bias, I love West Indian food!), and they had vendors from New Jersey and Brooklyn in addition to the locals. There was lots of luscious brown eye candy, especially the West Indian dance company. To the pretty girl with the awesome gold purse shaped like a guitar, you are officially an inspiration to my ever-changing fashion sense. Kudos to the west Indies for a nice festival!

Multiple Choice

I mentioned in an earlier post that this is my 5th blog since 2003. I blogged about my first few years in college, my travels abroad, my last years of college, and even gender identity/sexuality. Finally, after all these years, I want to blog about music. Why, you ask, after so much time? Why don't we play a little game of multiple choice:

Why has a musician and performer of nearly 15 years just now decided its important to share thoughts and opinions about local performance practice?

a.) Said blogger values artistic opinions and wants to present a fair, balanced, and diverse perspective about music making and performance practice in the area.

b.) Said blogger is bored, underemployed, and frustrated with the lack of dialogue about what's going on in the local music community.

c.) Said blogger might just want a bit of anonymous attention from local artists, to ruffle a few feathers and get a few laughs.

d.) All of the above.

e.) None of the above.

Readers, post your answers in the comments section below. Correct answer will be posted in the near future!

Confession #1 (Many more to follow!)

I have a confession to make: I started this blog months ago (at least 6) procrastinated, got distracted, and never started posting. I googled my own name one night and lo-and-behold! There it was, a beautiful template, well edited welcome post, waiting for me to fill with my somewhat jaded opinions about music here in Hartford. Since then, I've only attended a hand-full of concerts, mostly of the Hartt School Ensembles and Hartford Symphony. Good news is, I'll have WAAYYY more time on my hands these upcoming months to hear more concerts in the area. Bad news is my motivation is waning, and it takes A LOT to get me off of my comfy couch and into the seat of a concert hall. But alas, there is hope! I find that if I don't have much to do, or that if I'm inclined to write about what It afterwards, I'll do it.

To start, I have three non-musical, user/reader friendly objectives for this blog:

1.) Brevity. My attention span is embarrasingly short, and I'll bet a months supply of adderall and a truck load of shiny objects that my readers will have short attention spans too. I'm competing with Twitter and facebook where people post a months worth of events (however trivial or intimate) in just a few sentences. So, I'll try to get my point across in as few words as possible. Some posts will be a few sentences, some a couple of paragraphs. If you are expecting an epic novel about my experience as a listener/musician/artist, this is NOT the blog for you. If you want a short recap with my slightly cynical, unapologetic opinion, you're in the right spot.

2.) Honesty. I have a tendency to suppress my opinion for the sake of peace, but I've been performing and witnessing live music for almost 15 years. I'm pretty sure I've earned the right to tell the world (or at least central CT) how I feel about the things I hear. If you find my observations offensive, riveting, or even charming, I want to know! Leave a comment, I take feedback in stride, albeit seriously.

3.) Humor. At the ripe old age of 26, I have finally discovered the power of humor. A giggle or two can keep a barely sane person from gouging ones eyes out, overeating, or destroying inanimate objects. Sometimes my funnies will be sarcastic, biting and even a bit dark. At the very least, I hope my readers will gain a different perspective and appreciate a few laughs. Besides, a new opinion never hurt; even if it dropped a 5 ton weight on your foot and paralyzed you from the ankle down, right?

Aside from those objectives, I'd like to post an average of 3 times a week. If I'm too lazy or broke to hear a concert, I'll probably post about something totally irrelevant just for kicks. Dust off your shin-guard and get your clean up crew ready because I'm known to derail every once in a while.

I'm looking forward to some good commentary, debate, and maybe even a few shared opinions.

Toodles people, and please do stay tuned!

Welcome!

Well here I am, back on the blogosphere after about a 6 year hiatus. What brings me back a 4th time, you wonder? Well, I just graduated and quite frankly, don't have much else to do but work, hear concerts, and practice. I've been living in Hartford since April 2011, and I've been curious about it's somewhat elusive live music scene. What do people want to hear around here? Are "Connecticutioners" (got that term from Colin McEnroe) starved for good sounds? Where does one go to hear a stimulating and inspiring concert? To the symphony? To a bar? Someone's basement? Street corner?? Where is the most engaging and invigorating music being performed and by whom? I hope I can answer these questions with my travels throughout the city. I hope I have some fun, meet new people and most of all really capture the character of Hartfords music scene.

Stay tuned...