Jim Alfredson

I forgot to mention that maren is a real sweetheart and it was a real pleasure meeting and hanging out with her! I don't know about you, maren, but to me it felt like getting together with an old friend!

Well, we just got back from NYC and we had a great time! We arrived at La Guardia around 10:30am, took a cab to our hotel on 7th and 56th and took a little nap. I then gave Chris Albertson a call and we eventually hooked up for a little coffee and a nice walk through midtown. Chris is a true gentlemen and a scholar and told some fascinating stories! Chris, it was really a pleasure to meet you and thank you for your hospitality! But before we met Chris, we wandered through Central Park to see the Christo installation. The photos hardly do it justice. When you realize how big Central Park is and how many gates there are and see them stretching as far as the eye can see.... well, it's really quite amazing. After trying to go to the MoMA (which is closed on Tuesdays) Chris walked us back to the hotel and we parted ways. Maren was kind enough to meet us at the hotel and found a nice little Italian restaurant that was very close to take us to. I did enjoy my meal, maren; it just wasn't quite what I was expecting. But it was yummy! We then walked downtown towards Times Square, just to see all the lights and commotion. Maren helped us with the subway and then we parted ways and went to Smoke! We caught just the very last song by the happy hour group, which included Adam Scone. Afterwards, I introduced myself and he actually recognized my name since I wrote a favorable review of his CD on CDBaby (it really is a great CD). I gave him a copy of the Organissimo disc. Peter Bernstein came waltzing in a few minutes later and I introduced myself to him (we'd met before, but long ago) and gave him a copy of our CD as well. Same with Mike LeDonne and eventually, after the first set, I got to talk to Joe Strasser. Everyone was very nice and Mike invited me to sit in, but they do that during the last set and my wife was pretty wiped out. Her illness is still taking a lot out of her and she couldn't stay until 1am or later (which is when the third set would start). I thought about heading back there by myself once we got back to the hotel, but there'll be another time. Anyway, the cats were swinging and I wish I could've stayed longer. I was thinking to myself while sitting there, "Man... here's Peter Bernstein and Mike LeDonne, just playing some bar gig that's similair to so many bar gigs I do back home... but it's frickin' PETER BERNSTEIN and MIKE LEDONNE!" That's NYC for ya, I guess! Wednesday morning we slept in and then got some $30 breakfast at a nearby diner. Only in NYC would a ham & cheese omelet, which costs a whoppin' $6 here in Lansing, set you back $14! Damn. It wasn't even that good. We then walked to the MoMA, but there was a line going around the block so we scraped that idea, walked to Rockefeller Plaza, then up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We were there for hours until finally getting back to the hotel around 5:00 or so. What an amazing museum. We would've stayed longer, but our feet were aching. For dinner we got together with a good friend of mine that I've known since high school. She took us to this fantastic meditteranean place in the village called Moustache. Chris A and maren (and whoever else in NY) you gotta go there! It's tiny, but the food is incredible and the prices were very reasonable. They had the best tasting hummus I have ever had in my life. It put the stuff we get here to shame. Afterwards Alison and I were thinking about going to the Empire State Building, but she was tired and I was pretty beat myself. We got up this morning and had breakfast with a college friend of Alison's and his wife. They were a charming couple and it was very nice to meet them. Alison hadn't seen them since 1998! Dan is a jazz musician/composer and his wife Mary is a dancer and is now designing her own handbags. She went to high school with Christian McBride and Joey D in Philly! How cool is that? Dan and I had a lot to talk about and have a lot in common. I hope to see the two of them again soon. All in all it was a very busy yet relaxing trip. Short, but long enough... both of us were missing little Zora like crazy! When my wife walked through the door this evening, Zora was in her high chair eating dinner thanks to Grandma, and when she saw Alison, she giggled and laughed and smiled and reached out to her with all her might. It was so sweet! We're glad to be back! I'm hoping to get back to NYC very soon. There is a chance of doing some joint gigs with another organ trio from the area. Details forthcoming.

skeith, I must've missed your post about hooking up! I'm sorry! We're back and had a fabulous time! I'll recount the trip in the original thread.

I thought it was ridiculous... in a good way! I laughed out loud several times.

LOL!

Agreed. I don't necessarily care for her music (though it has it's moments and she is very good at what she does) but I've always respected her for being who she is and not playing the game that most women in the music industry feel they have to play to get ahead in what is essentially a man's world.

You gotta hear McGriff's version... probably the quintessential organ version of that tune. I love BAtCS. Gotta get it's cousin, Midnight Special, too. Harold, couldn't have said it better myself.

I just made my famous (in my house anyway) penne with vodka cream sauce and spicy Italian sausage. Good stuff!

That's too bad about Ethridge but I'm glad she's recovering well. I've always had a lot of respect for her.

Man oh man. I made some chili last night for dinner and boy am I paying for it today. Without going into details, I've been visting the men's room once every few hours.

Any way you say it, Styx still sucks.

I hope the religious right get behind this and start passing laws against animal homosexual relationships. You know, if we start letting animals go all homo on each other, then soon there won't be anymore animals!!

Fonda?

C'Est Si BONED!

Scott Weiland, formerly of Stone Temple Pilots, now with Velvet Revolver. Thank you for bringing up the Bowie reference... I was trying to figure out who's style he's ripped off this time. With STP it was Eddie Vedder.

No pun intended, right?

That columnist is a moron. No talent? No skill? Has she seen Christo's paintings? They are beautiful. In fact, his paintings of the proposed "Gates" project are even more beautiful than the result. I love it when people talk about something that they know nothing about. It's like the report on 60 Minutes last night... they showed some footage from an old documentary on Christo and Jean-Claude where some hilljack was saying, "I could hang a rag on a string and call it art. That's art? I bet he can't even paint a picture." As if one has to be able to paint to call it art, but even beside that ridiculous statement, yes he can paint and his paintings are gorgeous. Some people just don't get it. How sad.

Arrogant about what? Styx? That stuff is hilarious! The way Dennis DeYoung sings, you'd think he was trying out for The Phantom Of The Opera or something.

I would definitely pick up the Headhunters record. B-)

Nice site, beautiful pictures! Great work, guys!

Man, I was listening to the Best Of Styx last week at this place I do freelance video editing in Ann Arbor. He has some really nice B&W speakers and we were listening to some crappy CDs (musically) for laughs. You have not witnessed the utter musical hilarity that is Styx until you hear it on a great set of speakers.

Thanks, maren! This is exciting!

Maren, my wife loves Indian food, so maybe we could do that! We'd love to meet you! I was hoping the Pistons would be playing the Knicks, but that's next week. And it's in Detroit, so bummer. It would be fun to see the Pistons whoop on the Knicks in NYC!

Dang! I don't have "Prime Time" yet!!! I have just about everything else, though.

That was funny. Jimmy Smith relagated to sideman. You should've named the record, "Jimmy ain't shit!" by Quentin Warren.