bluemangroove

I was reminded tonight how one of my favorite moments from all of Big Cypress was when they pulled Uncle Pen out of thin air deep in the set.

Over my years as a booker and promoter, I’ve been conditioned to be terrified of bands not playing long enough. In my dream last night, I was putting on Miles Davis at a park and it was an epic battle to squeeze the necessary time out of him.

I’ve been restraining myself from setting foot in the record store. Yesterday I was walking by and reasoned that it was my civic duty to support them. Can’t wait to give my wife Physical Graffiti for Christmas!

They’ve found my marketing weakness. I’ll buy just about anything that calls itself a superfood.

You see it all when you work the door at a bar like last night when the Florida man refused to pay the cover, accused me of tweaking on meth, proceeded to knock stuff off the table, tried to fight the bouncer and stormed off.

What’s your favorite memory of seeing Divided Sky live? Clifford Ball and Gorge ‘98 were standouts, but my fave was indoors in Gainesville on 11/3/96 with Karl Perazzo. Unusual placement in 2nd set out of my first Timber. High as a kite and blissed to the hilt.

The first 18 minutes of The Other One from Duke on 12/8/73 contain some of the most transcendent, stream-of-consciousness, jazz interplay you’ll ever hear from the boys. Then after deep space alien transmissions, they double down on Wharf Rat>Stella. AYFKM!!??

Seriously what’s wrong with me not having listened to the entire Gabor Szabo discography available on Spotify? Heck of a way to start a cold, rainy morning.

I vividly recall the pain and bewilderment staring at the screen in my college computer lab, seeing the setlist of 12/7/97. I think it had “Jam” listed about five times. I was like, “WTF happened there in Dayton!??”

Not having a CD player in your car is one thing, but giving it up at home just isn’t a savvy move IMO. There’s too many things not on vinyl like the new Phish Gorge ‘98 box set. Sounds absolutely stellar!

It’s hard to believe there are many humans walking the planet who witnessed Jerry peaking out a ‘77 Sugaree.

I’m case you’re wondering how tired I am, I started pouring water into my coffee grinder this morning.

I’m fairly well-versed with music but it’s funny how out of touch I am with pop. I had never even heard of this band The 1975 which is apparently a rather big deal.

I expected to be blown away by The Menu, and I was. You know what I didn’t expect? Getting to see a trailer for Die Hard beforehand (the theater is showing it for Christmas). A time machine back to ‘88 right there!

When my wife and I started seeing each other over 23 years ago, I bought her “Kind of Blue” and said, “If you’re with me, you have to love this.” It’s such a joy for me all these years later to see how deeply she has gotten into jazz.

In a lifetime of “normal” Thanksgivings, I reflect on the year my family spent at the home of prolific character actor Tracey Walter. My brother and I were massive fans of Conan the Destroyer in which he had a significant role, so we thought it was the coolest thing ever.

11/22/97 was a band delivering the ultimate statement at the coolest arena in the world in the face of the loftiest expectations with everything on the line. They were levitating from note one. The Halley’s jam was a mystical breeze carrying me back to ancient Egypt.

Was Emotional Rescue>Split Open on 11/21/97 the best opener of Phish’s career? I certainly think so. I can still hear the roar that echoed through the crowd when they quickly descended into Type-II space funk heaven.

The fact that we still can’t listen to SBDs of Fall 97 titans like Champaign, Hartford, 2/3 of Worcester and Philly is one of the biggest travesties of modern humankind. They aren’t doing any good collecting dust on the shelf @shapsio

A listen through the Denver Ghost is the only way to start this day. The significance of TABoose playing Fairfax on the 25th anniversary of the penultimate song statement makes me shudder.