Monday, December 3rd, 2001
Green Mill - Chicago, IL

GREEN MILL - CHICAGO, IL

This woman stands behind me as I sit at the piano in the Green Mill. She photographs well. I've been off the road since November 9th and as usually happens, I find myself identifying my homebody as she exists in her Chicago place and rhythm. Home is magical for me; I am not naturally a road animal. The gigs at the Green Mill in Chicago are always wonderful.... The club is like home and I feel comfortable there. I try out new material and take the biggest musical risks which afford me the opportunity to compose and arrange and to succeed and fail within that. Its nice to be in a bar that is peopled with a kind of family too. I've worked in bars so long now that i really do identify with the characters and physical surroundings. There is the ability to step into other people's lives and then to step out again. Clubs somehow provide a window into the lives and loves and losses of those who congregate there. I think that as a musician, i've become a semi-skilled voyeur. The stage where the musicians play can function like a reverse theatre; it is in fact a dividing line between those who are living at the moment and those who are working. We are working. Many nights of my life I've envied those who are not working and wondered how it was I got myself into performance instead of life. It's impossible not to look down from the stage and see the characters as they interact. I am working and they see me working... and of course sincere performance is a baring of the soul. But there is a reciprocity in the situation too. And after the years, I believe I know more about my audience than they could possibly think I do. Everything is revealed in rhythm.

So I'm home. And that means I can revel in my insomnia and stay up as late as I need to. I can make a cup of tea, I can raid the refrigerator, I can take walks with my dogs, I can read and pile up the reference books by the desk. I can teach (I teach now at Roosevelt University) I can drive my own car, I can go out to movies, I can spend hours with my lover and my family and friends, I can have money problems and run to my wonderful neighborhood bank, because of course without work, there's no money. Ah......normal life. People just don't realize what a gift it is. The road demands a kind of military discipline that after a while strips one clean of all superfluous activity. Performance is speaking. But one has to form something to speak about that compels people to pay hard earned money for a ticket. And anything like that, anything like art, is born of superfluous activity.

Monday, November 5th, 2001
Iron Horse Music Hall - Northampton, MA

NEAL ALGER - NORTHAMPTON, MA

Here's a picture of Neal Alger relaxing before the gig tonight. We drove from Boston to Northampton today...the band in the van. We're staying in a lovely little inn in Northampton. The gig was early so we're back in the hotel early tonight, which feels like a luxury. It was a one set night even though its a jazz club and jazz clubs usually want two sets. The gig went well, the piano wasn't my favorite. I'm finding that there is a big difference between the pianos in concert halls compared to pianos in jazz clubs. Its tempting to just leave the jazz clubs behind and settle only for concert venues. The piano issue is starting to get under my skin I have to admit. All nuance has to be left behind and one wonders what the point of practicing the piano all those hours is when the instrument you're being paid to play doesn't play. Anyway, the audience, as usual these days, was warm and receptive and I made up for the lack of the piano by leaning on the trio and my voice since the sound system was good and Jay has been doing a great job these days refining the monitor and house vocal sound so that my voice stays strong. We tried the new piece, "Dansons la Gigue!" tonight....the Verlaine poem that I've put to music for the new album. It worked I think. Arrangements take time to soak in and it feels like such an act of courage to bring out a new tune for the first time in public, but people seemed to enjoy the piece. I had wanted to try "The Fire" but the set was working itself out in a certain way and I couldn't find a place for it. This trio has been in an experimental music mood lately so we're taking long extended sections on certain songs.. Michael is using the back side of the bow, Neal is playing high harmonics, I'm playing on the strings of the piano.. its fun to see how much variety we can get from this musical format.. the little trio.

Saturday November 3rd, 2001
Regattabar - Cambridge, MA

CAMBRIDGE, MA

The guitar trio, myself on voice and piano, Neal Alger on guitar and Michael Arnopol on bass, had a wonderful and warm gig last night at the Regattabar in Cambridge. The room was full of people and it's so heartwarming to have people coming out to hear music even as the FBI is warning us all of imminent terrorist attacks. i'm starting to try out some of the new material that we'll be recording in February. The new recording will feature this trio as nucleus plus Dave Douglas on trumpet and Joey Baron on drums. It will consist of all original material. Last night we tried the new tune, "The Moon" and " I Could Eat Your Words" and today we rehearsed two more new ones that I will try in Northampton tomorrow night and New York on Tuesday. It takes time for the new compositions to soak into themselves. Arrangements sometimes need to be reworked and I have to get comfortable singing the phrases on top of the instrumentals. The sun was brilliant today and the air smells like and the chill feels like autumn.