Morning walk in not quite crisp air

I set out this morning at 6:15am on a walk. From hospital hill,  hanging there in the sky was a huge full moon. It surprised me hovering there over the trees looking big, bright and odd. On these walks I've been noticing the fall flowers still blooming. It was 55 degrees this morning. No frost in sight. Yet.

I've also been enjoying a new fountain at the hospital main entrance, which sits in the middle of a serenity pond/garden.  It appears designed to make friendly splashy noises for relaxation.  There are benches for sitting and contemplating which can be done, preferably, with a nice hot cup of coffee in hand from the coffee shop.

Danbury Farmer's Market with a little traveling music: Peace Soup

Smiles & sales & fresh produce all Connecticut grown!

Stopped at the Danbury Farmers Market today - and found peaches, apples, sweet corn, broccoli, squash, tomatoes. You name it, you can get it there and it lasts way longer at home because it didn't spend a long time on the road to get to you .Today I bought sweet corn picked in the last 24 hours in New Milford. Fifty cents an ear. Did I mention SWEET? We cooked if for lunch to day. So good!

Also at the Farmer's Market is PEACE SOUP - JZ a teacher, an artist, a songwriter,  (shown sitting under the colorful umbrella with a harmonica) with his collection of hand held instrument - various drums, keys, xylophones, cymbals, rain eggs. All these things are awaiting spontaneous and improvisational players out to have a good time and make a little sound in the sunny afternoon. Peace Soup does something importantt in our MP3 world. Many grow up thinking music is something you listen to, that it starts perfect - never realizing it is something you can make yourself by trial and error (or practice!) He invites people to play and experiment no matter what their ages. Peace Soup is for the kiddies and the moms and dads too and any adventurer who happens by!

A friend playing the Peace Soup xylophone!

(The pictures though are not from today but an earlier day this summer at the market.)

Instrumental epiphany at the Irish Cultural Center

For quite a few years now I had been playing a big red guitar called Henry, pictured left. He was a flame top Kort guitar. I thought the finish was pretty and the tone was nice, Fishman pickups etc. But lately I had been feeling like playing and singing at the same time had become a struggle. I discovered why recently.

I went down to the Greater Danbury Irish Cultural Center on July 31 to play in a new Wednesday night music open mic there, hosted by Bob & Felicia of the Blue Yodels. It was right here in town, perfect location for me and I couldn't think of a good excuse not to try it out. When I got there though - I kinda had second thoughts. I hadn't played anywhere in ages, and had never been in the place before, had no idea what it was like. So decided I'd leave Henry in the trunk - just watch the show and check out the lay of the land. Maybe play next time.

That was my plan anyway. Plans often go awry. Bob chatted along in his best professional host / MC way and pretty soon he'd talked me into doing a couple songs. So I used his Blueridge acoustic. Wow. It was a different experience - so comfortable and easy after Henry.

When I went home, I took a look at the shape of my guitar with the image of that Blueridge in my head. Henry was kinda thick-bodied, and thick-wasted . And I am a short and short-armed finger picking player. Getting my fat arm over Henry's bulk pressed him into my brisket right where I needed to expand to get air to sing. It was a no win situation and I was wrestling with something just a bit too big. As I practiced afterwards, It just didn't feel right anymore.

 On Friday I went down to the guitar center and traded Henry in on a Luna Oracle Dragonfly, a cutaway like Henry. (Now I know some folks like to have a collection of instruments. I like to travel light and I can only play one at a time. A trade-in deal made economic sense as well.)  My Dragonfly, she's just a little thinner, has a more pinched in waist to allow my arm a clear path to the strings, and also a thinner neck and finger-board built for my small hands. As an added bonus she has an on-board tuner. Woohoo!

Small works show at Art And Frame

The Inquisitor

The opening for the Second Small Works show at Art and Frame in Danbury was well attended. Seth Lefferts (see photo below which is actually from Molten Java) played admirably. The show remains up until January 20. I have three small polymer heads in the show, (one shown above) all with huge price tags because I want them to come home to me afterwards.

Art and Frame Photo Show in Danbury

Art and Frame's Photo show has some interesting works. Take a pass through and check them out. This gallery and frame shop is located near Chamomile on Route 6 in Danbury. Check their Facebook page and click on events for show openings.  Besides the artwork, their show openings usually feature great local music and a nice spread of noshable items. On this particular evening I was too early and missed the music however.

Fibers in Fine Art - unexpected intricacies

When I hear the word fiber I used to think digestion.  But not this week. Two different shows - one local, one vicarious - have pointed me toward its capacity for beauty.

The local show is at Art and Frame in Danbury (Rte 6 near Camomile).  These pics don't do it justice as each has so many subtleties and such understated nuance. The artist name is Paula Renee and she combines weaving and knotting, applied color and collaged papers (I am guessing here) with wonderful sense of color. She's won two awards: One from the Society for Creative Arts of Newtown for best in show (a silk "stiching" called Red Trees Lakeside, and another from The New Canaan Society for the Arts for a mixed media work called Brain Storming.. The photos here are not very good.

Her stuff is only up until tomorrow so get out this weekend and see this free exhibit. You might take one home even - as there are many small sized, matted items with good prices!

The vicarious show - well that is an online article about artist Lauren DiCioccio's gorgeous  hand embriodered issues of the New York Times. This is not your momma's embroidery. It is MOMA's kind of embroidery though. Check out Katie Hosner's great article at http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/lauren-dicioccio-sewnnews

Paddies Day Part 1: Flowers & Music at Art and Frame

Jen Vanderlyn and some of the Flowers wall display.

Art and Frame in Danbury (on Route 6) stages some really nice art show openings and this Paddies Day event was no exception.  There's eye candy on the walls, tasty interesting food & wine  - and to ice the cake, there's live music.

Jen Venderlyn

The music on Paddies Day was Jen Vanderlyn who is half the sisters folk/rock duo Free Thought.   She has a great voice and compelling original material. I really can't wait to hear the whole duo in August. For information or to hear some wonderful samples from CDBaby visit their website at FreethoughMusic.WordPress.com

The Flowers show runs through April 29th. You can see what else is up at Art and Frame at http://artandframeofdanbury.com/

the table!

Danbury Library Concerts - The Kerry Boys

This past Saturday morning at 11 am - I was down at the Danbury Public library, already caffeinated, with ears perked and ready. Besides browsing among the books - I was there to hear the Kerry Boys, or at least two of them do their musical Irish thing....  The event was well-attended and there were lots of wee folk and I am not talking the little green kind of Irish folk lore. It's good to see a new generation getting hooked on live music.  Pierce Campbell led the kids in a series of hand motions to the Unicorn song which was a big hit with the younger set.

 The able fellow on banjo and mandolin was a great foil to Campbell's quips. They did some original Irish drinking songs and took favorities requests from the audience. On of the requests was O Danny Boy. Campbell was in excellent voice and did a really nice job on that tune. I needed a tissue.   Thanks to those Kerry Boys, and the Danbury Library. For information check out the Kerry Boys website and Pierce Campbell who also plays and sings original folk and jazz. Givea listen. Get on their mailing lists!

Small, colorful works at Art & Frame

There is an interesting Small Works show, around 200 pieces from 80 local artists, up through January 6, 2012 at Art & Frame in Danbury. That's on Route 6, (60 Newtown Road),  in the same plaza with Camomile Natural Foods.  I wasn't going there, just walking by, and the display caught my eye, lured me inside.  The works are various, with various prices, and the atmosphere was soft and friendly as opposed to austere and sterile.  I liked being there looking at the art. You can find their website at http://www.artandframeofdanbury.com, and their facebook page at http://facebook.com/ArtandFrame .   I noticed three Alberettis two by Robert and one by Mary Lou, all with a nice well-touched feel. Check it out. Made-in-America too.

Molly Darcy's with Future Tense

Last Saturday I was at a writer's meeting all day, and drank about four pots of coffee. So Saturday night,  at about 9:30pm I hit on the idea of going out, since I was still raging on with the after-effects!

So I went to Molly Darcy's where I knew a few friends and relatives were taking a rock band called Future Tense.   It was a great time and I really enjoyed myself in the crazy rock 'n roll madness of the evening: with a great band, blinking lights, dry ice smoke, a packed dance floor, a multi-generational crowd, Mike and Paulette at the mic - and Dave that great bass-player,   DR on the keys, was that Ed Lange on the drums?  The new guitar guy spun out some great solos too.

This band has just been together for decades and it shows because they are tight!  For the facebook group, they have a fan page there.....   it's at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Future-Tense/58230551679?ref=ts

Ode to a $9 chair, cups of tea & Slambovia

The other day, I went to meet a few friends to see Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams. They gave a concert as a part of the CT Film Festival - right on the Danbury Green under the sundry band shell.

As I was preparing to go to this free FREE FREE concert (did I mention it was FREE?) my mom mentioned that there was a nine dollar folding canvas chair in the garage and I ought to bring it to sit in.... I poked my head into the garage looked around, surveying various items that might be a chair sticking out of a pile of boxes or rakes or lawn mower attachments. I didn't see anything but standard lawn chairs which were hung on the wall. So I brought one of those, but then I left it in the car anyway - and it's just as well as these chairs are relics from my youth, are at least 40 years old, making them the frail elderly of lawn chairs. Their aluminum ribs are willing but the synthetic webbing is weak and frayed too.

I had parked on Main Street near Escape to the Arts. I put every quarter I could scrounge out of my purse into the parking meter (I think now I didn't need to do this as it was after hours.) I think I put in $1.75 in quarters into that meter.

As I went round the corner down White Street, a guy asked me if could spare a quarter. I said I didn't have any left. He began to berate me. "What's the matter with you? You can't reach in there and come up with just one little quarter? What kind of person are you.?" he ask indignantly. Now here I was, totally unemployed, wearing pants and shirt I got from Goodwill and a $5 hat from Walmart, having just put my last damn quarter in a parking meter. Yet this guy was absolutely sure I must have a quarter.... Sigh.

So I get to the green and finally found my friends on square blanket down front. And what a concert. I had never heard Gandolf Murphy before. They have the wackiest collection of instruments. They have the standard rhythm, lead & bass guitars and drums. But they also have an accordion, a xylophone, an electric slide mandolin, a cello, a theremin ( that spooky space music generator from old scifi flicks), bunch of shakeable gords and other items etc etc. Apparently, The New York Times called them a sort of a hillbilly-PinkFloyd. What a great sound!!!! I am a fan. Give a listen:  http://www.youtube.com/v/VAc7KWA0YKg&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999

So the next day, my mother felt the necessity to point me to the CHAIR the nine dollar chair. It was in a carry sack with a strap and I had assumed it was a leaf bag attachment for the lawn mower. Once it was found, I felt compelled to check it out. After all what kind of monstrosity must a nine dollar chair be? Rickety? Uncomfortable?Unsightly?

None of the above. This is most comfortable versatile and lovely chair in a handsome tweedy beigy color - an unbelievable deal for $9.99. I can drag it in front of the screen door and pretend I have a porch, or in front of the TV now that I have lost the remote again. Here I sit with complete lower lumbar support secure and comfy, a drink holder, and laptop in lap typing away in the nine dollar collapsable chair. ANd next to me on my right the dog is neatly folded up in ball on the cushion to an abandon chase lounge, to my left, the cat sits folded in ball on a footstool (really the seat of an old office chair, now a backless footstool with wheels), and next to me, on an unfolded folding tv table is tea - lushly unfolding its fragrance into the air. A free concert. A nine dollar folding chair. Life is odd, but for someone with no income, surprisingly good.

Robert Ross wails at Vivo

If you get a chance, check out Robert Ross at his various locations around the area. Ross has an artful bend to the blues, duets his voice with guitar and harmonica riffs. Ross really made Vivo Bar & Grill at the Maron Hotel jump at a Friday night concert there a few weeks back. Ross also added variety with a skilled player sitting in for some tunes. The guitarist's name was Brian ( possibly a member of the Robert Ross Band). The Vivo hosts an older crowd early and a younger crowd late from the looks of it that night. The Vivo is at 42 Lake Ave East Danbury , CT 06811. There was no cover and the bar keep is friendly.

First Night, Danbury 2009

First night in Danbury was a lot of fun.- It starts and ends early so you can still party or watch the ball drop at home.  The weather was very cold and not many folks came out this year.  I took in some jazz and two ice sculptures at the library, saw My Dad's Truck and Mac Hubberman at the Palace, and the Danbury Mad Hatter's Barbershop Chorus at the Galleria.  What a great deal at $5!  And there were so many things I didn't get to - film shorts, other musical groups, magic, juggling etc etc...  and I skipped the parade and went home early...

Saxofestivus - crazy name, wild sounds

Yes, Sunday night, a friend, Anne Marie Marra and I attended Saxofestivus – a concert of saxophone quartets at Western Connecticut State University. We went because it was close, and cheap. The press release on the college web page said the event was free, although a sign at the door suggested a $5 donation.

Considering all the pricy alternatives – we thought it might be a hoot to hear a bunch of saxophones playing in their brassy way. We sat in the back in case it wasn’t – so we could sneak out. But we didn’t sneak out. We stayed to the end and clapped for every round because it was worth clapping for….. Unlike a quite a few in the audience – we were not family to any of the players, nor fellow students at WCSU, but were just a couple of low budget boobs out for a little tune to tap a toe to…..

There were four student quartets that played – and the concert ended with a set by the first quartet, who ( I think) were upper classmen or at least the most experienced players of the evening. Who knew four saxophones at once would be so lush? The program ran the gamut from Bach to Twentieth Century music, and strayed once over into pop. All in all – the quality was very good. Well done.