berkman's blog
BERKMAN NOSTALGIA: PLEASE COME TO MY GIG (A LOVE STORY)
As some of you know I am a former fiction writer wannabe. I’m almost done with my third jazz book, but that’s another kind of writing. I haven’t had the discipline (or talent for that matter) to write an actual novel, but I used to put a lot of effort into email announcements for my gigs. I collected a lot of these little blurbs and thought I’d try and publish that, the working title was “Please Come to my Gig: A Love Story” with blurbs for gigs, real and imagined. Well, that project hasn’t really gone anywhere but I thought I’d publish a few excerpts here. So here’s a few of these old gig announcements, for your perusal and hopefully, enjoyment.
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The David Berkman Quartet
Thursday September 18th sets at 9:00 and 10:30
Pay the $20 cover and the first drink is free.
SMALLS. The very name implies....well...smallness. But that, my friends, is extremely misleading. Because like prostitutes in romantic comedy movies, smalls is the little club with the big, big heart. Besides, there are a lot of jazz clubs that are smaller than smalls--Jazz Spot Bob, for example, in Ube, Japan. Not a lot of you have probably been to Jazz Spot Bob, but of course, it being quite small, a lot of you COULDN'T go to Jazz Spot Bob, unless you took turns. So if you all would like to go there, we should probably work out some sort of rotation.... but I am getting off the point here. The point is--we're playing at smalls this coming Thursday, and I am urging each and every one of you within the sound of my voice (speaking metaphorically) to come down to smalls and celebrate with us. What are we celebrating? The end of the summer, the beginning of fall, the revoking of my driver's license--take your pick. Whatever we are celebrating, let me tell you, you are in for a treat in the form of the three awesome musicians, Tim, Yoshi and Gene, who will be with me, pouring their talents into the receptacle of your ears like honey being poured into one of those little bear-shaped honey holders. Or out of one of those bear-shaped honey holders into something ear-shaped, like your ears. Only less sloppy.
So come down. Pay a mere $20 and the first drink is free. Of course, that could be said of almost anything. Give the pizza store $2.50 for the paper plate and the slice of pizza is free. Give the therapist $100 and the emotional well-being is free. but, anyway...
We are ready to bring it. All we need is you.
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The Universal Creative Spirit and the Audacity of Hope are proud to present:
The David Berkman Trio at Cleopatra's Needle
with DB piano, Aidan O'Donnell bass and Rogerio Boccato drums
FEB 12 THURSDAY from 7 to 11
NO COVER
Let's talk about Cleopatra's Needle. The first thing that comes to mind is how low the cover is, it being nonexistent. I've been to plenty of places with low covers and let me tell you - absolutely none are any lower than this one. Some come close, but none surpass it.
In addition to that, they have an ample supply of tables and chairs. If you want to sit, you have two types to choose from, a sort of barstool and a regular sized chair. The regular chair is the perfect height for the tables that accompany it--so you could bring something that you want to put down on the table, say a folder of some sort, and it would be a pleasant ergonomic experience to sit yourself down and place your folder on the table. And you know, they have enough of them, tables and chairs, that mostly, everyone that wishes to gets to sit.
That pretty much covers it.
Oh yeah, we have a great band this coming Thursday in Edinburghian bassist Aidan Odonnell and Brazilian drummer/percussionist Rogerio Boccato. They are both so incredible that their home countries could not contain their bountiful talents and they each separately packed themselves into sea-going containers-- risking life and limb and in defiance of the laws of international shipping--and stowed away in steamers heading toward New York, the land of jazz-oriented opportunity. Their long trek has led them here--I believe they had heard of Cleopatra's Needle as children, their mothers telling them stories of a magical place with tables, chairs and no cover, and so this gig is a kind of fulfillment of a life quest for each of these plucky lads. It warms my heart to relate this, their story, to you and no doubt, it will warm your heart to see these endearing immigrants, strangers in a strange land, exhibiting their tremendous musical gifts for the low, low price of nothing. You really need to be there for this magical moment. So please (PLEASE) come and bring everyone you know with you (I mean it, everyone) and we'll put those multitudes of chairs to a test.