Five years that the Highlander open mic has been running in Paris. That is a very long time for open mics, even if there are some around the world that have been going for several decades. But this is clearly the work of a good venue and the presenter, Thomas Brun, who does a great job of organizing and hosting the open mic. Last night’s birthday celebration of the fifth year was an example of that, as Brun took the trouble to celebrate, put up balloons, have a birthday cake, a free drink for musicians, and someone donated a guitar as a gift!
It was almost a perfect open mic evening, too, with interesting musicians regular and new. And an audience that was typical for the Highlander, celebrating the music when they liked it, talking when they felt it didn’t fit their mood. Whatever, I enjoyed it immensely. And I had the honor of playing my three songs just before Thomas brought out the birthday cake. Unfortunately I just missed the blowing out of the candles with my video camera.
Even so, I felt the need to go on to the Cavern Club vocal jam open mic thingy up the street on the rue Dauphine with a couple of friends. Unfortunately I did not sing there, as the list of songs contains nothing I feel competent at. But there was some great stuff.
I have little time today to say much on this blog as I prepare to rush off to the Highlander for the fifth anniversary of one of Paris’s best open mics. But I must get in a word or two about last night’s session at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance, which has only been around about a fifth the time of the Highlander, but which immediately established itself as another of Paris’s best open mics. Last night Ollie Fury was back in town after a couple of months or so in Germany – was it only six weeks? – where he has decided to stay for sometime to come. He showed up at his open mic, yes, Ollie started it and MCd it from the beginning, to pass on the flame of the MC job to Yaco Mouchard, (also known as Ollie Joe!), who has been running it for several weeks.
The evening was a warm and cool one – if that is possible – as it usually is. And there were moments of moist-eyed significance in the handoff. There were great moments of music as well, and I have put up a few of the high points on videos below.
Oh, and I was again flattered to find a musician from out of town who had discovered the open mic and others through my blog and thumbnail guide of open mics. That was Hugo Kensdale from Manchester, who brought a new voice to the show.
When I awoke at 3 P.M. Sunday in Singapore I knew I was going to have a long haul of a day and night on my last night in Singapore; the travel back to Paris; the open mic at the Galway. But I had no idea just how rich and full it would be, and that it would range from what amounted to a personal gig at the Crazy Elephant in Singapore, to a jam with Formula One team personnel at an all-night restaurant in Singapore, to a great open mic at the Galway with a family feel to it. All without any sleep to speak of….
I had only one musical venue still to do in Singapore and I had decided I would forego it and go directly to Actors’ bar to jam some more with my friends there. But walking along Clarke Quay I passed in front of the Crazy Elephant bar where the jam takes place every Sunday night. Last year I had played one song there, but it was primarily a blues jam, so I did not really fit in. Passing by I noticed there was no music, but lights still lit up the stage and instruments. So I went in an asked if the jam was still going. John Chee, the organizer of the jam, who also plays in the house band, asked me if I wanted to go up alone with my guitar and play some songs. I just leapt at that opportunity. And through his encouragement and audience encouragement, the 2 to 4 songs initially envisioned turned into a full set probably close to 1 hour long and with maybe 10 songs.
I was in heaven. I mean, here it was in Singapore, 1 AM, got all my day’s work done, had myself a gig! Nice audience reaction, and this wonderful bar with an open front out onto the quay, a good sound system. What more could I ask?
Well, outside on the quay I met several musicians from the house band and others who jam in the jam, and I interviewed them for my open mic and jam film. I also filmed another guy who asked if he could use my guitar to sing after me, which I let him do, and he had a great voice. I think his name was Rama….
I went on from there afterwards to the Actors jamming bar, but arriving at 2:30 AM, I found it closed and none of my friends around. So I went around the corner to have a dinner at a nearly all night restaurant where I had eaten on the previous night. There I met personnel from a couple of Formula One teams, and we ended up eating the meal together. I was asked to play a song for them, and that would eventually turn into a jam amongst us all. I played the guitar, we all sang, they used chopsticks to beat the rhythm on the table. And soon I noticed at the next table were a couple of the guys I interviewed at Crazy Elephant. It was particularly funny that they were the drummers, and here we had this whole bunch of Formula One personnel playing drums on the table with chopsticks.
We all went over to the Chijmes bar after that and then at 5:30 AM I returned to my hotel, showered, packed and took the MRT to the airport and caught my flight to Dubai, then Paris, where I took the RER to the Galway Pub and arrived there at 10 PM just as the open mic began. There I met my friend Calvin, and of course Stephen ‘Danger’ Prescott, who MCs the open mic. He introduced me to his dad, Ged, and his sister, Hannah, who would go up and sing with him. They are in Paris from Australia, for a holiday. The evening turned out to be a reunion amongst many other Paris open mic musicians, including Ollie Furey, who has left the MCing job at the open mic of the Ptit Bonheur la Chance for a life in music and acting in Berlin. But he just returned for a bit, and sang this Van Morrison song I love and did a great song.
I did five or six songs, and could not believe that I could hold a tune after nearly 40 hours without sleep at that point. But it was all worth it…. I let out my breath and returned home and slept soundly for 8 hours….
Counting down the measures was never one of my strong points, and today as I walked to the MRT line to go to the racetrack in Singapore, I decided to do a little video of the curious staircase into the MRT, the “90 steps” staircase. I decided to video it and do the countdown – but I somehow managed to count only 89 steps. Having said that, I enjoyed jamming again last night at the Actors jamming bar, again with Clement Imsong, but also with some of his friends this time.
Nothing much more to say about that now as it is the third time I have written about Actors jamming bar on this trip. That’s why I decided to put in the stair counting episode…. 🙂
I create stress for myself now when I travel to the Formula One races in my job as a journalist, not because of all the work I have to do for the newspapers, but because I have set myself the goal of playing in an open mic or jam session wherever I go. And when, as with Singapore on Wednesday night, I succeed in playing somewhere, but the evening is not the most exciting or I don’t get the most appropriate or exciting video footage for my film or story for this blog, the stress piles up higher.
So although on Wednesday I did play at the Actors bar and I did speak to people on camera for my film about open mics and jams around the world and I did get a few words for this blog, I was still very frustrated that I had not really hit the jackpot. Last night I did, in the most unexpected way!
Walking back to the hotel from the racetrack near midnight I saw a busker on a bridge leading to Clarke Quay, a very lively nightlife area of the city. He was an American from Chicago and he was singing and playing very well and his guitar case was full of Singapore dollars. It was a very festive and cool scene. So I filmed him playing, and afterwards I introduced myself and he asked if I was a musician too. I said I was, so he offered me his guitar and asked if I wanted to play a song. So I did.
It turned out he has been in Singapore for a few years, and knows the music scene well, as he is a professional musician and has played in the bars and hotels. So I interviewed him for my film. Having said that, he was very wary about me putting up the video on the internet, as he said that it was necessary to have a license to busk in the streets of Singapore, and he did not have one. So I have decided not to put up the video, out of respect for him. He’s about to get another job in a bar, by the way, so he’ll not likely need the busking – unless he does it for the love.
I then went on to the Actors jamming bar again and as I approached to enter I saw an old friend stepping out the door. It was Clement Imsong, a very cool musician who lives in Singapore – and who has a music company that works with young musicians – and with whom I had played at the Actors bar in the last two years I have been here. “Hey, Brad!” he said. I asked if he was leaving for the night – it was after 1 AM – and he said no, just going for a break. So we went to the food court next door and had a Tiger beer together.
I took the opportunity in the food court of interviewing Clement for my open mic and jam documentary, as he plays in the jam every Friday and Saturday. He plays a mean, mean lead guitar, and his singing is pretty cool too. From the food court we returned to the Actors bar and played until 3:30 AM. He played some stuff with other people, he also joined me on bass and lead guitar with some of my songs.
There were some talented musicians there last night, a very good crowd, and a great celebratory feel to the whole evening. So it was exactly the kind of thing I had been looking for, and henceforth on my remaining couple of days in Singapore I no longer feel the slightest bit of self-imposed stress or frustration! In fact, I think I’m going out to Actors bar again tonight, just for the fun and nothing else – having got all I needed for the film. Of course, if there is anything interesting happening, I’ll film it and blog it….
It was a quiet but fun night at the Actors’ jamming bar in Singapore last night. I arrived with about three hours sleep after travel on two flights – with two stops, including one in Colombo, Sri Lanka – and so I was a walking zombie by the time I showed up at Actors’ bar around 1 AM. But I knew there was an all night food stall next door where I could eat some good and cheap food, and I knew that Actors’ was always open for playing.
I discovered the Actors’ jamming bar two years ago on the first year of my adventure, and I went last year and now this year. I will probably go again this weekend, as it changes from day to day. But last night it was pretty quiet, but fun. There was a flute player from South Africa, a singer from Chicago, another singer from England, a keyboard player from – I think – Singapore, and another singer from – I think – Singapore.
I played my guitar and sang some of my own cover songs, had people sing along and play along with me – especially Olivier on the flute – and I also played guitar for the others who sang. This place has a special feel to it, and the quality varies as much as the musicians. But it is open every night and it is open very late and anyone can go up on the stage and use the drums, keyboards, guitars or whatever you might bring yourself.
So it is very, very cool. It is also very “hands off” in terms of the management. Apparently it gets a lot of criticism from people for being too hands off, but that has suited me fine for the moment.
And last night it was a great way to tire myself out further to be sure of sleeping by the time I got back to the hotel at 3 AM.
A few days ago I wrote about the absolutely mad time at the Highlander Pub open mic, with a massive crowd like I have never seen before, loudness, etc. Last night, it was the turn of the Tennessee Bar to have its open mic soooooooooo full of people there to listen and play that it was impossible for many to do both or either of those things. Once you were in you could not get out, and if you came a slight bit late, you could not get in. It was actually extraordinary; I loved it. But not for all the time.
I managed to play last of the night, and I also managed to slip in a Galway Pub open mic before that. The best news, though, was having Greta accompany me on my song Memories, on her cello. I had been wanting to do that for more than two years, after someone I respect had suggested cello on the song.
I now have no time to write any more just as I had no time to make many videos last night as I could not see the performers much, locked out by the crowd as I was.
Sorry for the horibble prose, but I have to run to catch an airplane to Singapore, and I wanted to get a few words and videos up anyway before I left….
Thanks to this blog, and especially my Thumbnail guide to open mics in Paris, I had the most interesting and gratifying evening of music and a meal last night with a beautiful African princess named Zahra Universe. Huh? Yes, and this lady is from Virginia, U.S.A., and whiter than me. And her natural singing voice is located somewhere in the region of Tori Amos, Rickie Lee Jones, Madonna, Adele and Amy…. She is a globetrotting singer songwriter who is at ease in techno dance music as she is alone behind the piano, like last night at the Swan Bar. But let me backtrack a bit….
This blog sometimes goes way beyond my wildest expectations in terms of what it gifts me with. Especially that list of places to play in Paris. So many times I’ve had people come up to me at open mics saying, “Hey, I found this place thanks to your list….” I met Zahra after one of her friends and band members in the U.S. found my list and queried me on where Zahra might play in Paris – ie, where there was an open mic and a piano. So I directed them to a few places, including the Swan Bar. Within a day or two I learned Zahra had just arrived in France and immediately booked at gig at the Swan Bar. That hooked my interest, so I went last night to listen.
I had heard her dance music stuff on Zahra’s web site and was curious to hear what she might sound like alone behind a piano. I was not let down. It was intimate, the voice was real, strong and sweat – as was her presence. Which brings us back to the African princess bit. It turns out that Zahra has done charitable work in Africa, that she was there last year to record a video in Cameroon with the musician Wes Madiko, and that during that visit she was honored by a government official and given the title of princess in Cameroon. Her latest CD, Dancing by the Fire, also features another Cameroon-born French rap star, Soprano. And last night she was at the Swan Bar with a couple of Cameroon friends and business connections, and we all went off and had a dinner in an Italian restaurant next to the Swan Bar.
There I learned Zahra will also be singing the opening song at the 2012 Africa Nations Cup, the biggest international soccer tournament in Africa next January. That’s kind of like the equivalent of the Super Bowl in Africa. What can I say to all that? “Holy shit!” seems the best, most honest, expression.
I am still trying to catch my breath from last night’s concert at the legendary Bus Palladium in Paris. The praise I am about to give has nothing to do with the fact that I have known and watched the Burnin’ Jacks grow for three years, since they played at Earle Holmes’s open mic at the Lizard Lounge in Paris, and since I first started playing with their lead guitarist, Félix, at the same time. Just looking at any of the videos I put up on the site will strike out all thoughts of bias. No, I was blown away as was the audience in the main concert hall of the Bus Palladium, where so many of France’s stars – and international ones – have played since the place was founded several decades ago.
I kept thinking to myself throughout the evening about how I had watched this band evolve from the time it was just a few guys doing their acoustic rockin’ rollin’ at Earle’s to this full-fledged band with its own sound and a real rock ‘n roll attitude. There was something very Stones about it. Every time I see the Burnin’ Jacks they are better, more together. And the solo that Félix and Antoine did together, oh man, that was an absolute classic. Félix came out with some screeching, crying Hendrixy sounds and then suddenly Antoine joined him and the two did a little chatting back and forth with their guitars and then they segued into Antoine’s country-like song – a favorite of mine – called “Baby Please Turn Round.”
And Syd Alexander’s singing and front-man performance whipped the audience into a frenzy. Scared the hell out of me as he lept endlessly into the crowd and I feared for his safety.
There was even a fabulous drum solo – at the end of the video I put up here – and much, much more (as they say in crappy fanzines).
The room was really full of spectators – including many older ones – and they loved the show, playing along at every move.
But the Burnin’s Jacks were not the only ones I enjoyed or knew or had watched progress. There were two acts before the Burnin’ Jacks. It was the second of the two that I liked the most, and that was actually on the same level as the Burnin’ Jacks but in a completely different way. This was Niki Demiller, whom I have also known through the open mics in Paris for somewhere near three years. Niki, however, unlike the Burnin’ Jacks, has not been on precisely the same road of development since that time. Niki was the leader of a punk-like band a few years ago called The Brats. It was one of the first of the new wave of young bands in Paris in the last decade, and it had some pretty good breaks. I mean, crap, they once opened for Iggy and the Stooges at the Zenith in Paris!
But Niki in the last year or so has buried himself away to write new songs and transform himself into something completely new. He has become a kind of next in line of the tradition of the French crooner or music hall pop rocker, like a cross between Charles Aznavour, Johnny Hallyday, Jacques Dutronc and Eddie Mitchell. Last night was the first time I have seen him perform anything like these new songs with the backing of a full group. And it was very cool indeed. A cool stage persona and an original sound, and about as far from the punk rocker as you can image…yet with some of the edge and anger still there just as it should be.
I have been going to the Highlander open mic for almost three years now – no! it can’t be! – but last night was the rowdiest, most unruly, loudest, fullest, biggest list of musicians and crowd that I have ever seen or heard. Add to that three strings breaking on Thomas Brun’s guitar with three different musicians, a lot of broken glasses, and … some great music. It was a weird, wonderful and trippy open mic night at the Highlander. I was glad that although I only managed to get up on the stage shortly before 1 AM there was still a large audience left and I managed to get them to sing along to “What’s Up!”!
On the other hand, it was very interesting seeing how the performers coped with the crowd. You want a big crowd, you want a happy crowd. Do you want a noisy crowd? Personally, I see it as a challenge and try to break on through to the other side. I got them with “What’s Up!” but I lost them with “Runaway Train,” I suppose I should have done a Cat Stevens. We learn…. More than one performer was so upset they asked the audience to be quiet for their quiet songs. But personally, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do in an open mic. If it is a paying concert and half the people are there to listen and a small group of people is making riotous noise, then it makes sense to tell them to be quiet. Still, Thomas himself felt it necessary to address the audience on a few occasions, and of that I cannot object; it’s just not up to the performer.
In any case, a noisy crowd is just exactly what a budding performer should be using an open mic to learn to deal with, I think. So all in a night’s fun. Having said all that, a riotous evening like that will never permit anything like the high moment of the night before at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance with KUKU and Ilan and their ad lib jam.
