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Fete de la Musique at Ollie’s Place in Paris

June 22, 2011
bradspurgeon

Last night was the annual Music Festival and I decided to learn from my experience with the Fete de la Musique from last year: I did not want to walk the crowded, rowdy, chaotic streets of Paris looking for and listening to all manner of music on this mad night of musical letting go.

For many musicians in France, the music festival, au contraire, is something that goes on all year round. The annual organized music festival is for them just an excuse for people who don’t usually care about music to go out and get drunk, hurt, involved in fights and public rowdiness.

So as it fell on a Tuesday this year, I decided that the best thing for me to do was to continue living as usual and to attend the best open mic in Paris at the moment, which takes place on Tuesday nights at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance bar in the Latin Quarter. As it turned out, Ollie Fury, who hosts the evening, had a job beforehand playing music on the street in front of a crafts shop, because it was, indeed, the Fete de la Musique.

But he ran to the bar and started the open mic on time after singing for an hour and a half, and the bar was already nearly full of waiting musicians and spectators. Still, there were a lot fewer of the regular performers. But there were a sufficient number of interesting acts, and a big audience, to make the evening a memorable one nevertheless.

Most of all, like always at Ollie’s, it was a comfortable, fun, warm evening, and one that felt all the better when once I left the place and set foot in the streets made me appreciate my decision: The streets of Paris even at 2 AM were full of rowdy, drunk, aggressive people and very few musicians by that time. Cabs were all occupied, and the general feeling was one like New Year’s Eve, which did not drum up particularly good memories for me.

So thanks to Ollie and the Ptit Bonheur la Chance and all the musicians and spectators for supporting the regular night of music on an evening where it might well have been cancelled – as other open mics did last year.

A Canadian Voice Without a Mic and an Irish Pub With a Mic

June 21, 2011
bradspurgeon

On my way to the Galway Pub open mic, I made a brief visit to the Mecano last night to take in a song or two of a guy that Earle had been telling me about. In fact, I had spoken to the guy on the phone because he had ended up at the Mecano looking for my brunch, and of course I wasn’t there, since I’m no longer doing the brunch.

As I entered the Mecano I saw that the guy, whose name is Adam Farnsworth, sat on a stool in the spot where I used to sit, near the front door. But there was no mic, and his lousy acoustic classical guitar was not plugged into an amp. Adam, it turned out, does not need an amp or a mic or anything else, as he fills up a whole room with his powerful vocal prowess, which sounds like a cross between Axl Rose, Tom Waits, Robert Plant and – Adam.

Adam has been in Paris for a month working one of his regular gigs with the C.R. Avery & the Special Interest Group, which has played some top Paris venues. Too bad I didn’t get there earlier to get some of Adam on video.

But after speaking with Adam and Earle for a while, I moved on to the Galway. There I met up with Kim from Detroit, again, whom I had first seen at Ollie’s open mic a month or so ago. There were some other interesting performers as well, and I got to try out one of my new songs for the very first time.

As I said to Stephen Danger Prescott, the MC, it was the perfect environment for me to try out the song because no one seemed to be listening. There’s nothing like singing to yourself but with an audience present in order to shake off the fear of the first presentation of a new song. I got some compliments afterwards for some of my other songs – a couple of Dylan songs and What’s Up – so I know that some of the people were actually listening. But for a while it was nice to pretend to myself that no one was.

Ptit Bonheur Robs Me of Words

June 2, 2011
bradspurgeon

I’m putting up this item a day later than usual, as the open mic at the Ptit Bonheur la Chance was on Tuesday. But for the record, I thought I’d put up the videos anyway, since it was just another epic open mic with Ollie at this cool little bar with the neat cave basement near the Pantheon in Paris. I have written so many times about this one and come at it from so many angles, that I just didn’t know which end to grab it from this time.

Suffice to say that it was, indeed, another great open mic with Ollie and check out some of these interesting performers, and I will put them up as much as I can remember, in the order of their appearance:

Scott Allen Trio at Shapko’s Bar

May 29, 2011
bradspurgeon

It was back to being a spectator again last night as I dropped by the Shapko Bar to see what was touted as one of the feature, top acts of the venue, the Scott Allen Trio, with Allen as the bass player and lead singer. In fact, it was the trio of Allen, Peter Thomas on drums and Ronnie Ray Jr. on keyboards, plus two cool lead guitarists.

I thoroughly enjoyed the music and it really got me to thinking about the whole nature of what music is; what various styles and modes of expression are. Both Allen and Thomas sing extremely well, both have flashy, lively stage presence. They are both such good singers, in fact, that we can even forget how good their are on bass and drums. That’s rare. But I was also interested in the music’s quality; it was a cross between funk, soul, Motown, a little jazz, but not much.

And they were so good that I said, so this is like flashy cool competent pizazz, and what the hell do I or so many other people at open mics do by comparison? Technically, these lead guitarists too were light years ahead of my playing. And I enjoyed the keyboard breaks by the interesting Scotsman whom I spoke with afterwards, who showed interesting musical culture by not only being adept at this music but also knowing who Dick Gaughan was, and bringing up the name of Aly Bain, a great Scottish fiddler who played with the Boys of the Lough, among many many others (including people like Rosanne Cash and James Taylor).

But then, I’ve been reading Bob Dylan’s Chronicles over the last couple of weeks, and Dylan has been bringing up all sorts of other ideas about what a musician is – and most of it has to do with his models like Woody Guthrie, etc., although he also loves a vast number of other styles of musician, including the Neville brothers, rap, etc. So. I’m saying, Okay, the Scott Allen Trio is quite brilliant and their soul, funk, Motown and a little jazz is great. But the rest of it is music too.

I get kind of an inferiority complex sometimes when I hear really good musicians. Anyway, off to see what my last night in Monaco/Nice will present me with.

Persistence Pays: Playing at Paddy’s

May 28, 2011
bradspurgeon

I would never have believed it after the first few nights that I would end up playing my music at Paddy’s Pub in Nice. As I said in the previous posts, I kept on having conflicting information and experiences leading me to believe that Paddy’s Pub was a dead end. But last night, out of principle, I persisted. I ate a great meal at an interesting Nice-style restaurant, and then I decided to go to Shapko’s Bar because there was supposed to be a good singer. But on the way, I decided to stop in at Paddy’s once again, just for the sake of good form.

It was Friday night and there was a two-piece band called Spacecats, with a New Zealander named Angus and a French/Brit on guitar, named Stephane. I went in, bought a pint of beer, and parked myself and my guitar at a table not far from the stage. Business was kicking and so was Angus.

They played a couple of songs after I arrived, and then announced they were taking a break. I suddenly remembered that I had seen Angus playing in the open mic at Ma Nolan’s pub in Nice at the Old Port two years ago. He had seen me come in with my guitar, so he came over and immediately asked me if I wanted to play some songs while they took their break. He did not know who I was, he did not remember me from two years ago, and seemed to barely remember the time he went to Ma Nolan’s.

Then Stephane came over and encouraged me to start playing immediately. These guys did not know me from a hole in the wall. So this was a superb example of the kind of openness that I just love and so rarely find in bars around the world where there is not a formal open mic. Angus told me that they were happy to encourage people to go up and play a song or two at Paddy’s, although he said for certain other big gigs it would not be the same thing.

In any case, here it was, my second opportunity to play in Nice on this trip, and in similar circumstances. It also turned out that Angus had in the past played in a band with some of the guys who are now Hobo Chic, and he had also played at Shapko’s Bar. Talk about a small community of music in Nice, small world.

I played four songs, and later another guy went up to play, but the audience loved what Spacecats did so much that they were occupied until after 1 AM doing song after song after song and the crowd wouldn’t let them go.

Loved that evening!

The Elusiveness of Open Mics in Nice

May 27, 2011
bradspurgeon

I ran around in circles last night in Nice seeking out open mics that had been recommended to me by various people. First, I returned to Shapko’s bar, oh, and I almost forgot to mention: Returning to Nice from Monaco, I got off the train at the station in Nice and as I walked out the main door of the station, I saw Dimitri Shapko entering the station. We said a quick hello, but he was on his way to a gig in… Monaco.

Anyway, I returned first to his bar on rue Rossetti just to see what was happening. Not much of interest to me, although I understand tonight and tomorrow night should be very good musically, as we get into the meat of the Shapko jazz weekend. From there I headed off to Paddy’s Pub, not far down the street around the corner in the old town. I had been there a couple of days before as I had been told there was an open mic there. Not only was there no open mic, but the bartender did not think there ever was one. But he said he did not really know for sure! So I returned last night and found the same situation, nothing. But outside the door I was told by someone else, a musician, that there was an open mic at a pub down the street called, King’s pub.

So I headed down there and found a sign outside that indicated that basically there was an open mic every night the pub was open. There was always live music, and amateur, unknown, unannounced musicians, could ask to go up and play a little. So I went into the place and spoke to the guy at the bar and he said that, no, despite the announcement, they don’t actually do that – at least not in the summer months.

Ok. During this walk I also ran into Johnny, the Canadian man who owned and ran two musical joints in the past, one a pub that is still called Johnny’s, but which does not have an open mic, and the other being the place where I played two years ago, Johnny’s Wine Bar. Johnny sold both of these places and both became dead places after he infused them with spirit and success and had wonderful open musical nights almost every night of the week. I was amazed to run into Johnny, and he was amazed I remembered so many details about him and his joint from two years ago, like the fact that he played with a Seagull parlor sized guitar and that he had a German blues guitar player with him… I did not tell him that I had taken notes immediately after playing there and had incorporated the stuff into my open mic book-in-progress. So I cheated, in terms of the memory thing.

Johnny told me I would find a friend of his playing at a bar around the corner called Bar a Degustation, but when I went there, there was no music. I had seen a slam thing there on Tuesday night, however.

In any case, I was feeling that open mics were becoming very elusive things in Nice indeed. I had a wonderful moment seeing a busker, however, and talking to a friend of hers who approached me as I filmed, and who saved my evening’s sense of despair…

Part of the despair was the open mic chase, another part was spending half an hour at Wayne’s pub, where I was also told there was live music, but where I find the atmosphere claustrophobic. I nevertheless recorded a little video of the band doing a Beatles song….

Playing at the Extraordinary Shapko Bar in Nice

May 26, 2011
bradspurgeon

I discovered the Shapko Bar in Nice on Tuesday evening as I was walking around the streets with a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness as I sought a place to play. As I mentioned on the previous post, I had decided to pass by and mourn the passing of Johnny’s Wine Bar, and it turned out that right next door on rue Rossetti was this Shapko bar and standing outside of it was Mr. Dimitri Shapko himself and we struck up a conversation.

I told him a little bit about what I was doing, but not much. In fact, maybe I just told him I was looking for a place to play, and I also told him I had been in Istanbul and found Nublu, which also exists in New York City, and which is also a venue – like Shapko’s – that is run by a saxophone player. Shapko being a very cool seeming guy with open ideas, invited me to show up last night – the following day – as it was the one night of the week where the music was not jazz, but more folk, pop, rock. He said his regular musician for that night was an Irishman named Peter Cogavin, and he said Peter called his night, “Peter Cogavin and Friends,” and that there was a chance Peter would let me get up and play. Peter, he said, did that a lot – he was very open too.

So I went, I found the bar to be a fabulous venue, great little stage, nice sound system, several listening areas, big crowd of listeners, and above all a general ambience of the kind I love, with Peter Cogavin being not only a fabulous singer and good guitar player, but as Dimitri said, very open and friendly to other musicians. Peter played most of the evening, and he invited me up to play after his first set. I did four songs. He also invited up a friend of his from Ireland who had never played in public before, and it was the guy’s birthday, he did a song and it was interesting. Later on, Jake Hall, one of the buskers I met the previous night took the stage and played as well, doing that tapping stuff he did with my guitar, but also singing in his rich, deep voice.

It turned out the rest of the busking band was there too, and now I learned their name: Hobo Chic. I had, in fact, found them on the street busking before I went to Shapko’s and I did some videos of them. I was also there when a French painter named Morassut gave them a painting of them that he did.

But back to Shapko’s bar. No, back to Shapko. I have not yet heard his music, but I am very keen to do so, because after discovering Ilhan Ersahin in Istanbul, I think I have just discovered another very interesting sax player, if Shapko’s biography on his bar’s web site is anything to go by. Shapko, who is from Russia, has played with an extraordinary number of top musicians, such as “Wynton Marsalis, Al Grey, Doc Cheatham, Benny Waters, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Sol Yeaget, Lorna Watson, Ali Jackson, Jeniffer Vincent, Steve Kirby , Debora Brown, Rob Agerbeek , Doug Sides , Margorie Barns and Debora Carter.

And he has played with his band at the Newport Jazz Festival, The North Sea Jazz Festival, The Montreaux Jazz, Juan Les Pins Festival, Maastricht Jazz Festival, Breda Jazz Festival, Harlem Jazz Festival, New York Jazz Festival, Festival du Jazz du St.Germain Des Pres, Montreal Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Fesival, Calgary Jazz Festival and many others.

Pretty impressive. And here he is running a very cool venue in Nice. What a discovery. And what an honor to have played there! It was, in essence, if not strictly speaking, an open mic. I even managed to interview Peter for my film.

Nice Buskers in Nice

May 25, 2011
bradspurgeon

Funny, I arrived last night dead tired from a disastrous train ride to Nice from Montpellier – after taking a couple of other trains before that from Barcelona – and had a meal in Nice and said, “Early to bed, don’t even bother looking for a place to play music.” But I said, “No, push yourself, and walk off some of that three course meal.” Mainly I did want to push myself. It was late, and the music scene for open mics and jams has not proven to be too fertile here in the south of France in the past, so every moment is valuable.

So I headed off to the old town in Nice looking to check out some of the places I knew of in the past. I knew that Johnny’s Wine Bar no longer existed, and that it was there where I had one of my best open mics in the south in 2009. But I dropped by there anyway, only to find a jazz club just up the street and the owner sitting out front. That led to what may tonight turn into an opportunity to play. I will write about that tomorrow once I see if or how it goes.

Then I headed down a street to the left right near this music joint and suddenly I saw a group of four or five buskers taking a break from their busking and snacking in the narrow street. They had a guitar, an upright bass, a saxophone and some percussion things – a drum, bongos. They said hello when they saw my guitar. So I stopped, we chatted, I noticed that the Takamine guitar had a crack on its table that looked like the problem on my Seagull, but not as bad. I commented on that and pulled out my Seagull to show it to them.

One of the guys then wanted to try my guitar, then another, so we had a little tiny moment of jamming in the streets. But they gave me a couple of ideas for further musical possibilities – including a bit of busking tonight, perhaps. I may or may not take that one up. But as the conversation progressed I ended up telling them I was a journalist specializing in Formula One and taking my guitar around the races to play around the world in open mics and jam sessions. One of the musicians then said that he had played in Eddie Jordan’s band before, and we got to talking about our experiences with Eddie Jordan, as I had written about my musical experience last year with this former Formula One team owner who is now a commentator on BBC television.

I knew that Eddie was using a busker from Italy in his band lately, and here it was it turned out he had used two of these buskers I was now speaking to in Nice. These guys were not French, by the way – or at least not the bass player who tried my guitar and did some really nice tapping with it as you will see in the video. But naturally, I thought, what a bloody small world, and what a cool adventure! And crap, there it was again, that message: When you’re feeling down and low and tired, push yourself to the edge of something better. Had I retired to my bed after a contented meal and a long day, I’d have missed out on all of the above!

Burnin’ Jacks at Horror Picture Tea

May 13, 2011
bradspurgeon

They announced it as an acoustic concert on Facebook. But the Burnin’ Jacks’ show at the Horror Picture Tea in Paris last night was anything but – it was the full band and keyboards too… sorry, indeed, no drums please. Aside from the drums – the venue is not big enough – it was the whole band. And a great show, they got the joint rocking.

I’ve seen the Burnin’ Jacks a lot, including in their very early efforts at Earle’s open mic at the Lizard Lounge, then the Truskel, then the Mecano. I’ve seen them in bigger venues like the Gibus, too. And I don’t get tire of them. Last night was no exception. Even with a crappy sound system, the show was great. Don’t miss the lead breaks of Felix Beguin, who also plays with me occasionally, like on my recordings at the Point Ephemere last summer.

And at the end I saw something I’d never seen before, which was Syd exercising his hidden musical knowledge, talents and training as he did some keyboard stuff and played The Doors’ “Light My Fire.” Cool stuff.

By the way, the Horror Picture Tea is a very cool venue, with a part bar, a part restaurant, a bit of a horror and gothic theme and if you go downstairs you can have, or watch, a tatoo artist at work – at least you could last night. The web site says it is a tea room that mixes rock and gastronomy. Yeah, it seems to do that, all right.

The Euks…Sorry, The Last Waltz, did Their First Concert

April 22, 2011
bradspurgeon

The Last Waltz (when they were The Euks)

Keep your eyes open for this band, now called The Last Waltz, and previously called, “The Euks.” I wrote about them playing in my son Paul’s room nearly a year ago. Now, a week ago, they played their first concert, having renamed themselves a level higher to show their ambition. I was in Shanghai playing at the Melting Pot when they were doing their first concert at the Cantine de Belleville, so I could not make it. But from what I see in the video and hear from the reports, it went more than just well.

In fact, they may have another concert coming up very soon. I will keep you posted. But in the meantime, check out The Last Waltz’s facebook page and see the two videos on it and the photos….

The Last Waltz playing their gig at the Cantine de Belleville in Paris

By the way, this concert was booked and arranged by Clavin McEnron, the same guy who booked my first concert at the Disquaires. Calvin performed the same night at each concert. (And no, this is not a case of Dad’s contacts getting son a gig – quite the opposite is pretty much the case….