Monthly Archives: April 2009

The Show

On the way back to the club, passing the West 4th subway, I look to my left and there’s guitarist Jeff Miles, sporting a lemurian grin.  He’s lent Ilan Bar-Lavi his guitar amp, and so is anointed for the guest list.  We cross the threshold a half hour before downbeat, the place is gloriously packed, [...]

The Club

Another thrilling van ride.  I was much reminded of The Matrix, and Morpheus’s admonition to his crew.  “You told me never to get on the freeway; you said that it was suicide,” Trinity reminds him.  His reply:  “Then let us hope that I was wrong.”  Intact but enervated, we arrive in Greenwich Village at the [...]

Airwaves

After a fairly harrowing ride to Newark, at the hands of Fema, our Ukrainian van pilot, we arrived at Park Place, and WBGO.   Myron Walden, whose compositions the band has been working throughout the semester, will join the band on two tunes.  But, more importantly, he’ll offer a real-time critique of their renditions.  A gift [...]

Berklee Scholarship Sextet on WBGO-FM

So, the guys who are playing live at the Blue Note tonight, the Berklee Scholarship Sextet, are in a tradition of great players who have honed their art in Boston, and then brought their ideas to NYC.  They’re here with their professor and mentor, trumpeter Darren Barrett, himself a Berklee and Monk Institute alumnus, and [...]

First post from NY

This is Rob Hayes, and I have been touring some of Berklee’s most inventive student bands for more than a decade.  It’s been great fun, extremely rewarding. I’ve met lots of great young musicians, and quite a few of them remain in regular touch through the music, have become good friends.