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Tin Pan in the form of Chris Pistorino-Bass, Sean Condron-Guitar, and Jesse Selengut – trumept/vocals played over on the 64th of Rockerfeller Center last night in the Rainbow Room. It was the cocktail hour for the Atlantic Theaters annual spring gala. Very classy affair – tuxedoed bartenders, fine stemware – all the gauzy showiness that one would expect.

Getting to the gig was a mini-adventure. Each of us had to go down to the basement and check in with a uniformed, thick-accented, east german sounding security official sitting behind a large elevated desk. I had to say “Tin Pan” to him about 5 times before he got it right. He spelled Sean’s name “Shon Cordon” It was all a little Kafka-eske. No matter.

We all arrived in good form – the only downside was the weather. We were up in the clouds. What is assuredly a great view was just a thick curtain of gauzy whiteness. When we did “Putting on the Ritz” Sean promised to refrain from his “Tourettic” vocalization that imitate Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein. Instead he kept saying “putting on the ritz” like some white wigged British dandy.

Here’s a photo of Chris and Sean exiting the building. Sean is “putting on the ritz.”

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Banjo Jim’s – Gordon Webster-piano, Cassidy Holden – bass, Adrian Cunningham – clarinet, Nick Russo – banjo/guitar, Jesse Selengut – trumpet/vocals

Another stellar night of music from this A-list crew. Where to start. My voice is still shredded from Friday night’s party so I must of sounded like Tom Waits on crack Folks kept giving me compliments about it though so I must be doing something right. Some highlights: We played Tishomingo real real slow and Adrian took the sweetest prettiest solo on it. At one point (was it this tune?) he did a soft and very long – 5 or 6 bars – 2 and a half octave gliss. nice. I wrote a new verse for Careless Love while singing it:

The strangest tales are sad and true.
My life was plain till I met you.
Careless love taught me the blues.
Just hand me my walking shoes.
Gone home to my old lady tell her the news.

We did a great bluesy version of “Old Rugged Cross” that was very special and also a slamming “Bill Baily” as a closer. The rest of the band dropped out for Gordon to his thing and he really demonstrated the full breadth of his badness! He kept shifting the tempo, changing keys for a few bars at a time, weaving together great rhythms. It’s always a thrill when a musician can do something so clever and surprising that everyone in the room laughs and says “wow.” Gordon, you’re on it, man.

Some private parties are better than others. This one was a GREAT one!!

A guy wanted to throw a surprise birthday party for his girlie. He’s from Connecticut and she’s from the Alabama. He’s got a headache walking through the park and comes across some super slow bluesy music. “That’s the party,” he says to himself.

The party is in his apartment in the West Village. Rumor has it that Richard Gere used to live there back in the day. Moderate, humble, swanky little spot. Cheeses and fruits. The kitchen is all bar. Wine, Maker’s Mark, Bombay Saphire, Bud Light.

Our host, “So here’s the deal. Everybody at this party is from the South. So you just play that good old good music and drink and have a good time and we’ll be all set.”

In these situations I am very glad that I can turn to Clifton Hyde (born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi) and say, “You’re our Southern Tempo dude, tonight, know’m’sayin’”

We start doing our thing with a little “Happy Birthday” action as the surprised guest of honor makes her entrance. A bouncy, stompy little mid-tempo thing. I don’t know how it happened but we were ignored for about 15 minutes as everyone was getting all chatty, talky and getting their drink on. Little by little I saw some folks doing a little hip shakin’ and head groovin’ and in a little while folks were sitting back in the living room with us with their arms around each other all smilin’ and listnin’.

At some point we took a turn for the rude. I’m just talking tempo here. We played “Millenburg Joys” at about 50 clicks a minute. That’s just positively stanky. Sure ‘nough, Stefan is humpin’ his bari and pressin’ up against some southern belle in tight white pants. Cheerin’, hootin’, hollerin’ And me, I’m just singing like “Louis Armstrong on Crack” At the top of the night when I first saw the room I was concerned that I didn’t have my mutes with me but by the middle of that first set I was playing horn and singing as loud as physically possible! And the tempo’s were so slow, I really had to sing everything so passionately and fiercely to make it all sizzle. Just writing this paragraph is hurting my throat again!!

Break time – sit on the stoop – try not to talk – but of course the stoop is where the party is at for the people that want to get chatty. Surrounded by folks who are just so happy to talk and be all Southernly Hospitable to us. It’s becoming clear that they really didn’t expect to have that kind of reaction to a “cocktail party band”

After our second set – similar to the first but nastier right from the get go – we were commanded to drink and drink again by every one.

Gradually I began to pick up the following story: It turns out that a truly magical thing was happening all night long that we in the band were completely unaware of. We were sitting right next to the window playing all this sultry sexy music and we were having a transformative impact on just about every pedestrian who would walk by. People were gathering outside the window for a while and stoop hanging with the party goers. People were grabbin’ their girls and makin’ out. A lot people were just spontaneously dancing in the street. This one guy, a New York guy for sure, says to me that the most beautiful thing he saw all night was this one couple who had their sleeping children with them in strollers. They parked the strollers on the curb and danced in the street for a little while. At one point the man grabbed one his kids and was holding the sleeping baby while dancing with his wife.

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The next morning we all woke up hung over and went to play at Alice in Wonderland with Cassidy. We were all feeling hung over and victorious. The intensity and joy in the music coupled with the grizzled, hung-over, sleep-deprived vibe was a magnetic tonic. We had huge crowds, the music was sizzling and it was Tin Pan’s best day for $$ that we’ve had out there so far!

If I took photos I would show you the photo of the three empty bottles of Maker’s Mark in the kitchen. I would show you Stefan and his Bari dancing with White Pants. And even though I didn’t see it, I would show the picture of the dancers out in the street.

Banjo Jim’s – 4/21/08 – Gordon Webster, piano – Cassidy Holden, bass – Marko Gazic, guitar – Nick Russo, banjo/guitar – Dennis Lichtman, clarinet – Jesse Selengut, trumpet/vocals

So happy to be rested. Oh my god. I had two days to just hole up and chill out. Laying bed watching Battlestar Gallactica and playing frisbee with my man Struve. I got to Banjo Jim’s well rested in mind and body.

Gordon at the helm declared that we adapt a Count Basie vibe for our first tune, “Sweet Sue” Sparse, spacious, calm, collected, burning intensity but with an aloofness and apparent casualness. It was kind of great. Most of the playing I have been doing recently has been so bombastic and heart-on-the-sleeve passionate. It was a welcome change of pace to allow the calmness to let even very simple ideas unfold at their own pace without worrying about holding the crowd. Banjo Jim’s was packed and we had their attention from the first downbeat.

Playing with that kind of poise is a challenge because each wrong note sounds so out of place. It is a lot harder to cover up any lapse in connection. The whole vibe was pristine, attractive, refined and engaging.

A few highlights that I remember: On the last chorus of one of my solo’s I ended with a descending line. Somehow, Gordon and I played the exact same line note for note at exactly the same time to lead into the bass solo. On Tishimingo Blues, we played it so slow. I didn’t play over the break in the last chorus and the result was 6 really long, slow beats of absolute silence that was spellbinding. When the lyrics came in it was so energized by all the space around it. Music is the funnest game.

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Alice in Wonderland – 4/22/08 – Cassidy Holden, bass – Stefan Zeniuk, reeds – Clifton Hyde, resonators – Jesse Selengut – trumpet/vocals

That same delicate spirit somehow made it into today at Alice. Clifton showed up with his big metal tri-cone all tuned to open F tuning! What a huge sound. We did a tune as a duo while Stef was showing up and it was fun just to play simple stuff in tune. We would up playing a blues that had completely telegraphic phrase lengths. We moved together to the chord changes time after time after time! I can’t explain how awesome that kind of connection is. It’s like being wrapped up in some larger musical mind that is playing the both of us. It is also very affirming knowing that when you have a feeling or need to make a decision your partner is right there with you thinking exactly the same thing in the same moment.

Today was the best I’ve ever played with Clifton. His style is so changeable and spontaneous it often confuses and startles me. Today, however, and more and more so each day, it made complete sense as if we were both arriving at the same conclusions.

For example, today we played into the last chorus of “Ritz” at a moderately slow pulse. As we got towards the bridge the tempo edged up and up. The last few bars of the bridge were actually quite fast but then, as was obvious to me at the time, the last A was back at the original slow tempo. I think when spectators see us doing simple yet intricate moves like that together it is a moving experience. I feel special when I see a flock of birds swirling in the sky in unique version of unison, their decisions communicated by signals so subtle and in such a language that we cannot understand. When our music is truly happening I feel that I am participating in similar movements.

Friday 4/19 – Jesse, Dennis, Stefan, Tuba Joe – Poet’s Walk – 12-3pm

So i decided to get to the poet’s walk a little earlier today as I know that Baby Soda was up in the spot that we often use while we’ve been at the Alice in Wonderland sculpture. As I was walking up from the South I heard someone behind me whistling at a girl. There are certainly plenty of whistle-worthy women but this guy was creeping me out a little. I didn’t want to turn around and look at him to directly but I was trying to discern who he was whistling at and I couldn’t! He kept whistling and getting closer. Turns out it was Tom Abbot, the reeds player for the Blue Vipers. He’s a fun dude with a sharp sense of humor once you get to know him. And of course, he is a great player. Such a smooth sound. I try to get him for any gig where I need the real, super, silky, sax style.

Anyway, we got to chat about the fact that there are basically three very similar groups hitting in the park every day, these days. He seemed to think that it was cool and that when out-of-towners come to the park they will leave with the impression that this kind of music is alive and well. I liked his attitude. Turns out the day previous I ran into Chris Pistorino (bass for the Vipers) on the train ride to the park and he had a similar perspective.

Chris told me a story about Jared from the Baby Soda and his interaction with Ralph, the guy that I dubbed “Master Sax” I warned Jared and Baby Soda not to play right in front of the band shell as that is Master Sax’s territory. Jared of course did it once when Master Sax wasn’t there and saw, accurately, that it is a very good spot. The next time that Baby Soda showed up, Master Sax hadn’t yet arrived. When he did, he took out his horn and faced the band and started blaring. Jared, every the diplomat, said that they should talk and reminded MS that this was a free country and a free space and that they were there first that day. MS would not stop playing no matter what. After a certain interval of time, which no doubt appeared endlessly awkward to Jared and crew, it became clear that there was no stopping this guy and that no one was going to be making any money there. Baby Soda picked up and moved elsewhere.

I got to “our spot” around (mystery time) and at around 11:15 Jared showed up to hold the spot for his crew. He kind of smiled and cordially acknowledged that the early bird does get the worm. He’s such a sweet guy, there was absolutely no rancor about it at all. I like people that have a code and live by it. We wound up seeing them again later after they were through and we all reported on how we had been doing in the last few days. It was all very collegial and I do feel like there is a kind of community of musicians here that are building something unique and strong. Our job is to make our version of this music as personal and as compelling as possible.

To that end, Carl Nelson had agreed to come with a partner and dance with us. He showed up with Evita Arce and Nate. I haven’t seen that pair since my days at the telephone bar. I forgot how much I liked hearing Evita’s big laugh and how much I enjoy her spark-plug energy. As soon as the dancers started their thing we had and instant and very large crowd. Thank you dancers. For one dancer’s perspective please check out Carl’s posting on his blog.

4/16 – Central Park – Alice in Wonderland – Stef, Clifton, Joe, Jesse –

April is a great month! Today I had the good fortune of playing with the all-star foursome of Tin Pan. I wish I had all of them all the time but alas we’re all doing so much right now. Amen. It’s actually pretty rare that the initial 4 of us can all be together to hit the streets. This is the first time since the weather’s been this good and its the last time for at least the next week. Clifton is training a lot with Blue Man Group this week and then Tuba Joe is out of town next week. That’s partly why I’m so grateful to have them.

No one can play a fill like Tuba Joe. No one can take a gut-bucket tenor solo like Stefan. No one can do the psychic swinging gear shift like Clifton.

Clearly, we had a great time today. More to come, more to come…

I’m in the right band!

Monday 4/14 – Banjo Jim’s – Gordon Webster, piano – Rick Russo, guitar/banjo – Cassidy Holden, Bass – Dennis Lichtman, clarinet – Jesse Selengut, trumpet/vocals.

It was wierd. I was having an off night. So many clams were coming out of my horn. I hate that feeling. Folks are all clapping me on the back, “sounds great!” But I know what’s up. As Bob Marley says, “One good thing about music, when it hits, you feelin’ ok.” The reverse is also true, when it’s not working it feels awkward and lame. It happens.

“Is it random or is there a reason?” asked Kyle Struve earlier today. Well, it seems random but then again I barely got my 24 hours off this week. I played Sunday afternoon, hard. And then again on Monday night. Only 28 hours break. Usually I get a full day off which is to say sleep – full day off – and then more sleep. Not this time.

Now my week has started again and I’m doing a few hits a day.

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This morning we were up at the Alice in Wonderland Sculpture around 74th Street. It was a beautiful day and we did above average up there as far as CD sales and crowd. Still my face was troubling me a bit. Gradually the tunes are getting more focused as far as Stefan and I are concerned – playing together, in tune and in harmony. Tuba Joe did a great job today weaning himself more and more of the book. We had Marko Gazic fill in on guitar today as Clifton is intensely training with the Blue Man Group this week.

He’ll be with us again tomorrow and we’ll be back…

Here’s that creepy picture of the Mad Hatter I promised:

Tin Pan played Saturday night for the Columbia University Swing Dance Club Annual Semi-Formal. The regular Tin Pan crew was in effect. Clifton, Stefan, Tuba Joe, and myself.

There was about 80-100 folks there. Some dancers that I used to see over at the Telephone Bar back when I was with the Cards. It’s always great fun to play dances and get everyone moving – especially without a drummer in the band.

At Tuba Joe’s suggestion we started doing what he called “Dance Sets” We’d play three tunes in a row with segues or transitions between each tune so that the music would be continuous. Then we’d take a 30 second break and set off the next suite. It was real good. It kept the dancers on the floor real nice.

Some of the segues were real humorous and unexpected with insane key changes etc… Musically, some interesting things fell out… When I put “Four or Five Times” in the book I had a feeling that it would be fun to modulate it around as it is structurally so simple. Without mentioning that to Clifton, he picked up on the same exact idea and after the vocals we started climbing up in half steps on each chorus. Super fun. Also we did “Bill Baily” in F minor! and that is a keeper. There’s a turn around in that tune now that is just great. It reminded me of that sweet turn around in Jimi Hendrix’s “Angel.” After all, the tune is about regret and loss and kicking someone out to the street “wearing nothing but a fine tooth comb.”

After the gig we wound up in a Cuban bar up there in Columbia Town. One of the bouncers saw that we were in a band and hung out with us for a while. He was real tall, real dark skinned, and had insanely long fingers. A bass player. He gave us his card. It was jet black with diamonds scattered accross the bottom. Here’s what it said:

Stacy Grayson
Executive Protection Specialist

7th Degree Black Belt
Atemi-Kido-Ninjitsu

Akijitsu, Jujitsu & Street Combat
Personal Bodyguard

He insisted we stay after the bar closed so he could have a look at Clifton’s guitar. He started playing all these great old soul tunes. Ohio Players, Kool and the Gang, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye. It was real fun. He had a great voice too. Did I mention that he had insanely long fingers! his originals sounded like Gil Scott Heron and when I suggested that he really beamed! “You’ve got sharp ears! Nobody knows about him anymore. That guy is music.”

He started playing a Jimi Hendrix tune but couldn’t get all the way through it. Clifton got his guitar back and showed how it was done. “The Wind Cries Mary” He nailed it. Go Clifton!

Central Park – 4/10/08 – Poet’s Walk – Dennis Lichtman, Banjo – Jesse Selengut, trumpet – Stefan Zeniuk, reeds – Cassidy Holden, Bass

A very good hit. A truly beautiful Thursday. We did well. Big crowds. Great to hear Dennis on the Tenor banjo. He’s an excellent musician with great precision and an affinity for playing all kinds of quotes inside his solos. I had only heard play clarinet every Tuesday at Mona’s but I knew that his mandolin skills would carry over onto banjo. He had a great time too.

Fun to be outdoors. I brought 50spf sunscreen and Stefan still got burnt!

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Next stop the old Shanghai Mermaid theater where we were performing in Veronica Varlow’s music video. Definitely a fun scene… Like all things film there is a hurry-up and wait element and for a large part of the time the main Tin Pan cats (Joe, Clifton, Stefan, and myself) were just hanging out and cracking jokes. At one point we were asked to sit in chairs and watch Veronica dance as extras. Clifton needed to know what his “motivation” was. It was all very funny. At one point I caught her bra that she tossed into the crowd.

When the time comes I will post the video that came out of this shoot. My hope is to make a full music video of it to post here and add to our press kit etc…

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Final stop of the night was over at Barbes with Baby Soda. It was my first time playing there and I enjoyed it a bit. It was a very small room but it was full with avid listeners. Having been playing so much on the street it is a thrill to play for a listening room that doesn’t leave after just a few tunes. Also, acoustically we didn’t have to push as hard. A nice tin ceiling in their made the sound kind of great. Peter Ford on box-bass, Jared Engle on banjo, David Langlois on dishes, Adrian Cunningham on reeds, and yours truly on the horn and vocals.

Clifton and Cassidya happened to be in the audience and that was a treat too. I have no poker face when I’m on stage. If something moves me, I show it. If something is lame I make a surly face. Anyway, it was fun seeing Clifton and Cass who both know the music so well and their reactions. For the most part the exactly amplified and mirrored mine. It’s good to know, sometimes that the relative value I place on things has some kind of corroboration from my peers.

Mostly we are all moved Adrian. Adrian can play some clarinet. Turns out that that was his main horn for a long time. It shows. He’s got a great sound.

On the second set, Clifton sat in on guitar. It was weird for a little while. His time feel is so different than Jared and David. It took him a few tunes to figure out how to play with them. Eventually he moved the crowd with his great slide guitar playing on “Old Rugged Cross” The fast tunes are fun but its the slow, pretty ones that real grab folks.

At the end of the nigh I wound up back in my neighborhood, hanging with Clifton at Spike Hill drinking Magner’s and telling stories.

Alice in Wonderland – Stefan, Jesse, Cassidy, Clifton. I think we found a mid-week home for a little while. It seems we do alright with tourists and their kids. All the kiddies want to jump around on top of the sculpture (insert creepy photo of the mad hatter here).

Afterwards, I went to grab a Turkey Burger at Neil’s Diner. I was actually hoping to run into Billy from the Blue Vipers there. I was imagining that Neil’s was like the Sardi’s for Central Park early swing musicians. Stefan and I got to talking about all the different bands in the city that do this music. I mentioned Peter Ford’s last two house parties that seem to be great ways to bring the community together. I was thinking of a kind of biblical list of names and lineages that would describe the different outfits and their members. I want to make a graph or a clickable picture of the history as I see it… My friend Amy Staats once uttered a real gem of Yogi Bera quality: she said she had been to visit the museum of modern history!

Here’s what I know for sure. Jake Sanders, Michael Magro and I formed a band called “Treasures of the Sea”. They were already together when I met up with them but it wasn’t until the trio was together that we actually named the band. Eventually we all went our separate ways. Michael started the group called “The Loose Marbles” Jake and I (along with Tamar Korn, Miguel Wiseman, and Brian Petway) formed the “Cangelosi Cards.” Jake and I decided to go our separate ways and I formed “Tin Pan.” At some point some of the Loose Marbles who are more often in New York than New Orleans formed a group called “Baby Soda.”

There’s some other stories… The story of the “Blue Vipers of Brooklyn” has similar twists and turns and draws in other bands and associations like “Jose Flat Fix”, “The Brooklyn Rhythm Kings”, “Stefan Wremble Trio” And then their is the Michael Aranella story which also includes “The Moonlighters” and certain other associated groups. Of course this is all a developmental, experiential, social, soap opera. With luck, and the laws of genetics and evolution, these stories will stay varied and interesting. As I get more details I will publish them here on the category of “Modern History.”

Just a quicky to tell you that you can now download our new album on iTunes! Here’s the link.