Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu

Ajavahe ei lasnud vahepeal üldse magada – ükspäev isegi juhtus, et suutsin uinuda alles kell 7 hommikul. Ent leidsin ööseks väga õdusa ajaviite – ETV arhiiv Doris Kareva luulesaadetega – üks isegi aastast 1982! Ja siis tema hiljutised ETV õhtused luuletused.  Lisaks veel tõesti inspireeriv vestlus õnnest Ööülikoolis. Väga diip! 😀 Nojah, igatahes, magamise suhtes läksin ma kergema vastupanu teed, võtan nüüd unerohutablette – Dormicum 😀 Olen väga rahul, uinumine on lihtne nagu nupule vajutamine.

Eelmisel laupäeval avastasin Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu lauamängu (Andrus Kivirähk, Asko Künnap). Haa, ikka nii super vaimukas huumor, Kivirähk ikka nagu tõeline eestlane! Olen kuulnud, et kirikuinimesed olevat jubedalt pahandanud selle asja pärast ja ma saan aru ka, mispärast. Metsik kirikute põletamine ja munkadega võitlemine. Ainult eestlased tuleksid selle peale, et taoline lauamäng teha. Täielik klassika. Veel Kivirähku – käisin Eesti Draamateatris “Vombat”-it vaatamas. See oli nii naljakas. Mulle eriti meeldisid need joodik-sõbrad, kes Elmot grünesse õlut jooma kutsusid. Need olid nagu otse elust. Ja naabrimees Rulling – arvas, et on saksa soost, aga välja tuli, et hoopis neeger.

Some great new music

Gretchen Parlato, Jason Lindner, Stefan Harris

NPR Music has a great selection of music under the folder All Songs Considered –  The Year’s Best New Jazz. I really like Ben Allison’s Kramer vs Kramer vs Godzilla.  And Jason Lindner’s Now vs Now have their new album out! There’s a song from them, called Seven Ways – Mark Guiliana plays the drums! How many drummers do you know who have blood on their ride cymbal ?

Estonia in four days

Developing business models in Pärnu

Came back to Estonia for a few weeks now… Been all over it in just four days –  a management conference in Pärnu, a hip play in Viljandi,  a Mozart opera in Tallinn, and now just hanging in Tartu, the city where I’m from :D. Drinking tea and listening to smooth jazz with my PhD brother – from an amp he built himself:) Sounds great!

Well but, first visited the seaside summer capital town Pärnu (not so much going on in the winter season) – by a funny chance happened to take part in a management conference @ Strand hotel. Heard the current prime minister Andrus Ansip and a former prime minister Mart Laar give a long talk about team work and all those good things about politics 😉 Or actually, what did they say, really? What did they say, I can’t remember so well. They sounded pretty smart, though. But then a Swiss lecturer Alex Osterwalder on developing business models. That was interesting – is about time to start developing some business models now! I drank so much of that strong (free) fresh coffee during the breaks that I thought I was going to faint.

Then saw the sold-out play (by the Swedish playwright Lotta Lotass) Kogujad in Viljandi. It took place in an old plane factory, unheated and dirty, I never even know there was such building in the area. Was a great spot for some serious art, though. Felt kind of grim. They have a blog about it, too.

Kogujad in Viljandi

And then the premiere of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte in Tallinn, in the Estonia National Opera. Directed by Walter Sutcliffe (UK). That was really good, actually, I enjoyed it a lot 😀 And real cheap for a good opera, I guess. We bought bottles of champagne on the break and since there wasn’t enough time to finish them at the cafe, we took them in. 🙂 That was nice.

Cosi fan tutte in Tallinn

But otherwise, I’m a bit dissappointed. Generally it’s not even that much cheaper than New York these days. Beer and coffee is the same. Wine by glass is a bit cheaper, I guess. But  most of all – the weather here is just TERRIBLE… My conclusion is, for now, don’t want to live here. Maybe just come hang in the summer. Well, but after saying that, to be fair, I definitely feel so very Estonian 😀

Autumn leaves

Valmistun Eestisse tulekuks

Need pühad

Pakin asju – jälle! Igatahes, ausalt öeldes pole üldse sellist tunnet, et oleks vaja Eestisse minna. Muidu küll ei läheks, kui pilet selleks kuupäevaks poleks juba ammu olemas…Üldiselt on plaanis varsti tagasi tulla – sest siin on palju rohkem teha kui Eestis. Pole veel kõike jõudnud, mida tahtnuks :D.

Naljakas oli korraldada seda, kuhu siin vahepeal asju saaks jätta – nüüdseks on küla peal laiali (3s kohas) riided, kitarr, võimendi (selle mis ma ukse eest leidsin ükskord, kole suur on, aga töötab), joogamatt, lamp. Päris keeruline oli kõikidele asjadele ajutist kodu leida – ja huvitaval kombel on suurem osa asjadest nüüd ühe sõbranna pool Soho’s. Justkui Soho oleks see koht, kus inimestel ruumi igasugu suvalist koli hoida 😀

Tasuta kohvri sain sõbranna käest – ja laadisin selle Trader Joe beef jerky’t täis – lohutuseks väikevennale – kuna iPhone’i ta seekord minu käest ei saanud… 🙂 Need on ilma lepinguta ostes ikka meeletult kallid praegu.

Lend on mul seekord Newark’ist (New Jersey), mis on üsna ebamugav – ei saa Metrocardiga kohale minna. Tellisin hoopis shuttle-busi. Lennujaam oli täitsa tühi. Ei ühtegi järjekorda. Imelik on see ärasõit praegu. Justkui oleks see täiesti lambist – sinne elu tundub kuidagi nii normaalne, et ma hästi ei tunneta, mis mul sinna Eestisse nii väga asja praegu. Aga noh, eks näis. Sugulasi tahaks näha küll, mul on üks täditütar juurde tulnud vahepeal, keda ma pole veel kunagi näinud! 😀 Põnev!

Tuesday-night jam session @ Royale

They even had vibes @ the session

Walked by from Royale yesterday, just in time to check out their Tuesday-night jam session. Heard peoples play I Hear A Rhapsody and What Is This Thing Called Love. And then the house band. With Loren Stillman (alto sax), Nate Radley  (guitar), Gary Wang (bass), Diego Voglino (drums).

Douglas Bradford Group @ Vox Pop

Douglas Bradford group @ Vox Pop

Douglas Bradford (guitar and compositions), John Beaty (alto sax), Greg Chudzik (bass), Nick Anderson (drums). I heard the same thing in June  @ Solo Kitchen Bar – I really like that band and the music. And besides all I think the guitar player has a cute haircut 😉 Nice neighborhood cafe @ Cortelyou road, Vox Pop – played some great background music there.

Dave Binney Group @ Solo Kitchen Bar

Dave Binney Group @ Solo Kitchen Bar

His regular Tuesday-nights-@55Bar group with Jacob Sacks on keys, Thomas Morgan on bass, Dan Weiss on drums. Somehow it sounded even better @ Solo!  And it was packed. On the way there, on the Q-train, I heard people talking about it, how they were actually making the trip to Cortelyou just for that. So Solo Kitchen Bar is getting really popular, attracting crowds from Manhattan as well now. Maybe it’ll take over the Japanese tourists from the Blue Note some day once people realize how hip the place is 😀

That concert was so killin’! That band together, wow, they have obviously played together a lot :). Really great killin’ New York jazz, I enjoyed it so much! And now that Mark Guiliana is out of town for a while, I think Dan Weiss is the perfect drummer to start stalking next 😉

Kodutuna New Yorgis – päris põnev

Prospect Park

Elu ilma oma koduta on üldiselt kulgenud seni täitsa sujuvalt. Oleks teadnud, poleks hakanud vaeva nägemagi toa üürimisega siin kogu see aeg :D. Polegi nii raske leida toredaid abivalmis inimesi, kes on nõus mu enda poole diivani peale paariks päevaks ära majutama :), ehkki vaba külalistemaja tagahoovis kellegil siin linnas just pakkuda ei ole. Igatahes on mul kahe korteri võtmed korraga taskus praegu. Koht, kus ma viimased paar päeva elanud olen, asub Prospect Park’ist täpselt üle tee, vaatega pargile. Söögi üle kah ei saa kurta, hommikusöögiks pakuti toasti kitsejuustu ja pohlamoosiga 😀 (väga hea kombinatsioon, kusjuures, peab meelde jätma).

Tundub, et mul on siin rohkem sõpru kui Eestis. Reedel kutsuti mind näiteks 7sse erinevasse kohta – tasuta kontserdid ja kõik see.  Mul olid tõsised otsustamisraskused, niisiis ma pmst lihtsalt ootasin kuni kiire mööda läks ja enamuse ürituste jaoks oli juba liiga hilja… Läksin nimelt oma Chelsea sõbra poole varjule, käisin seal duši all ja nautisin super head õhtusööki. Siis hiljem käisime ikkagi ühe sõbranna ja minu uue võõrustajaga paaril kontserdil (BAMCafe ja Puppets, tegin neile väikese Brooklyni jazzituuri :D), külastasime kuulsat Park Slope’i lesbibaari Ginger’s ja lõpuks maandusime pudeli veiniga Prospect Parki – ma olen seal pargis alati veini tahtnud juua. Reedel oli selleks ka päris paras öö, soe, ritsikad laulsid mõnusalt :D. Ma olen Prospect Park’ist hullus vaimustuses.

Hmm. Aga siis, laupäeva õhtul saabus NY-i sõber – noor kitarriäss 😉 –  Soomest – ja ma püüdsin talle ka samamoodi ööbimiskohti leida – see osutus seevastu hullult keeruliseks. Selgus, et mulle on öömaja saadaval, aga temale mitte. Hmm. Senimaani on kuidagi hakkama saanud, aga see asi on küll paras pähkel. Eino muidugi, päris absurdne on külalisi vastu võtta, kui endalgi kodu pole.

Jaime Aff Group feat Ben Monder @ Puppets Jazz Bar

Puppets Jazz Bar, 481 5th Ave Brooklyn

Well it was my first time going to Puppets. I brought 2 other people so that night, we were the crowd, I guess 😀 Made it for the last set. They almost scared us away with the cover though, $12 plus a 2-drink minimum – quite unusual for Brooklyn. Well, but the music was great, would have been too stupid to walk away because of the prices. An organ trio with more drums (Jaime Aff & Diego Voglino). Ben Monder was great!  They took a request from me, playing You Don’t Know What Love Is – was so cool to have that kind of band play what you want :D. But yeah, Puppets Jazz Bar, the schedule on their website didn’t work, there was no information about who’s playing and no notice about the cover either. How would the people even know to go there unless they know the musicians and get invited? As it so usually works in New York.

Kristjan Randalu and Ben Monder @ the Estonian House

Kristjan Randalu/Ben Monder duo @ the Estonian House

Unfortunately not too many people showed up, despite the listing in All About Jazz NYC and even the invites I was sending out on Facebook :)… But the concert was really good :D. I was reminded how much I like Ben Monder, he sounded great! They played mostly Kristjan’s compositions (which I like a lot, would be willing to buy a CD), one by Ben Monder and All the Things You Are. They ended the set with an arrangement of the Estonian folk tune (definitely rings a bell for me, coming from Viljandi Culture Academy ;)) Igal Ühel Oma Pill. It was hilarious to hear Ben Monder play that one! xD And Kristjan has the craziest chops, really!