the latest from pianist Dred Scott:
i heard about this new documentary about this metal band that’s been trying to ‘make it’ for like 20 years and they’re still at it. my journey has not been so much about trying to make it big or whatever as it has been about playing different , challenging and innovative music with interesting people that i come to build relationships with. i have colleagues who think you are a pussy if you need to get along with the people you play with. but that just doesn’t work for me. maybe my mother didn’t give me enough hugs (or any) because i need to feel supported by the people i’m playing with. i’ll admit to having spent a lot of time in california and that this sounds very new agey, but when it comes to playing music i want to be happy. my friend bill told me once,
‘i don’t want be thinking about all that other shit when i’m playing. i want to be flying through the clouds.’
so it is with great pleasure i announce the latest incarnation of alphabet soup. every single person (except mcec who is a great new friend) is a great old friend that i love hanging out with and playing music with. i know we will be doing more gigs in the near future so i hope you can come and hear this band.
tonite
alphabet soup
royale (506 5th ave b.x 12th and 13th, brooklyn)
10pm
cb, mic
mc extra cheese, mic
kenny brooks, sax
jeese murphy, bass
diego voglino, drums
dred – keys
cancer sucks. and those of you who know me know what my wife, sharon has been through. it sucks, for sure, but she is going to be ok.
and most women come through it ok, too. the thing you find when someone you know or love gets breast cancer is that everyone knows someone or has someone in their family that has had breast cancer. the drummer in my trio’s mother died from breast cancer. a terrible tragedy that can usually be avoided through early detection and action. so i’ve organized a breast cancer benefit and got a bunch of my friends to perform for free and donate all the money to an organization of our choosing. that’s been hard. choosing. and we will. there are just so many good organizations. there’s the one that helps people with chemo-brain – a condition of cognitive disfunction that sharon was very worried about, being a writer and all. there’s the center for immigrant health, which obviously helps those immigrants stricken.
there’s the family center which focuses on single mother’s b/x the ages 24 and 45. so the money will be put to good use, for sure.
tuesday nite
1st annual benefit for breast cancer
rockwood music hall
9 – ???
with (in order of appearance)
rebecca pronsky
sasha dobson
michael daves
carol lipnik
leah siegel
jason darling
richard julian
xylopholks
the dred scott trio
i’ll be trying to start the acts on the half hour.
last october was our third year anniversary of tuesday nites at the rockwood so i put together four weeks of special shows. one was featuring bill mchenry. one was the trio with rene risque and a horn section. one was i forget. and one was the trio with strings. the strings sounded so good and the crowd seemed to really dig it so much that right away i wanted to do it again. and so that time has come.
wednesday nite
the dred scott trio with strings
small’s (www.smallsjazzclub.com)
9 and 10:30pm
ben rubin, bass
tony mason, drums
ellen gronningen, viola
ya-chin pan, violin
tonya kalmanovitch, violin
svetlana tsoneva, violin
with this many russians in the band we are definitely doing a version of this ain’t no russisn novel, baby. funny. i just played a gig saturday at the russian vodka room. an interesting place that everyone should experience. i recommend the smoked sturgeon. stay away form the fruity vodka.
finally, free pizza. that about sums it up. free pizza.
sunday (and every sunday)
the bari koral family band (www.barikoral.com)
two boots pizza (384 grand st)
6pm
bari, guitar and vocs
dred, bass and vocs
eric halvorson, drums and vocs
it’s for kids, dig? but this two boots guy must be a huge met fan. there are old baseball cards all over the place. mookie wilson. keith hernandez. and an entire corner devoted to bill buckner with about 15 of his cards arranged in a big diamond shape. i tried not to get too close to them.
Dred Scott Trio
Every Tuesday at midnight
Rockwood Music Hall
196 Allen Street (betw Houston and Stanton), NYC
FREE
ben rubin, bass
tony mason, drums
