Elena and I had a great time at the Jon Batiste – Stay Human band show at Webster Hall last night. He is an incredible jazz pianist and all-around musician and entertainer! I feel very lucky to have had three opportunities to join Jon (and some of his bandmates) and other musicians in melodica parades in Manhattan as part of the Make Music New York program. Thanks to Elena Schwolsky for the photo.
Had a great time on the accordion, claviola, and melodica at this progressive Purim party with Robin Greenstein on the guitar, banjo, and doumbek! We played and sang in English, Yiddish, Hebrew, and Ladino, and the crowd sang along and danced. Elena Schwolsky made and displayed cue cards to aid in the sing-along. Steve Suffet updated the Purim story with humor. What fun!
On the evening of Saturday July 27th, I played the Claviola with my teacher William Schimmel on the accordion in concert at the 19th annual Master Class & Concert Series in Manhattan sponsored by the American Accordionists’ Association and curated by Dr. Schimmel. It is hard to believe that I have been on the program all 19 years. Saturday afternoon, I conducted a workshop about the Claviola and the melodica (along with Bill). Thanks to accordionist Mayumi Miyaoka for capturing the moment. It is a very humbling experience for me to be surrounded by so many incredibly talented musicians.
On April 11th, I marched with Local 802 American Federation of Musicians (I’m a member) and others, including folks from the Occupy Music Group, in support of the Justice for Jazz Artists campaign. I am not a jazz artist, but I did the best I could with my trusty melodica (pictured below) to keep up with some great players. We stopped first at a mansion on the Upper East Side owned by a member of the Bensusan family and later in the evening marched around in front of their renowned jazz club in The Village, the Blue Note. Photo by the Justice for Jazz Artists campaign.
On December 21, 2012, I was privileged to take part in the Make Music New York “Harmonaboard Parade”, a pick-up group of 25 jazz musicians led by renowned jazz pianist and melodica player Jonathan Batiste parading down Harlem’s 125th Street playing melodicas (also known as “harmonaboards”) and stopping in at neighborhood landmarks. I am at the far right of the photo, provided courtesy of Hohner Music.
Photo of part of Occupy Wall Street contingent at the West Indian Day Parade before the parade started and before the cops refused to let us march with our OWS banner and signs as guests of Transport Workers Union Local 100 (who had invited us to join them). After being blocked for some time by a large brigade of cops, OWS ended up being allowed to march, but only without our banner and signs, and after our union friends had long ago marched by.
