Win Bitches Brew Collector’s Edition Box Set

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Try out eMusic and win Miles Davis 40th Anniversary Bitches BrewCollector’s Edition Box Set 😀 !!

In addition, five runner-ups will receive copies of the Bitches Brew Legacy CD!

Jam sessions @ Cleopatra’s Needle

There are jam sessions every day @ Cleopatra’s Needle, Upper West Side (Broadway between 93rd & 94th St), times vary. Some tunes one is supposed to know for this:

Some pics from Harpoon Brewery

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Fridays @ Brooklyn Brewery

Every Friday @ 6PM the Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg (North 11th St between Berry and Whythe) opens a room in the factory for the public and brings their latest drafts to the people for a big beer party. I tried  5 of them – (in the order of my least favorite to the best) Brooklyn Weisse, Summer beer, Brooklyn Pennant, Brewmasters special Blast and their flagship beer Brooklyn Lager. Their best selling beer is a success for a reason… The others ones were nice as well, only the white beer doesn’t seem to be their thing that much, I thought it tasted a bit boring.

It’s  really LOUD and crowded @ the happy hour – very lucky thing if one scores a seat and a table there. Most people come with their crowd, order delivery and drink be merry all night. At first it may be hard to get in the mood, but it is actually a very nice and lively hang there.

Vintage beers list

Not far from the Brewery (on Bedford) is a place called Mugs Ale House with a great selection of bottled and draft beer and some decent hamburgers (such as the Willamsburger). Pretty interesting was the selection of vintage beers, I wonder if in Williamsburg they just love everything vintage  (but do beers get better over time?) To my surprise I noticed A Le Coq 2005 beer on the menu, for $20!

Charlie Parker Festival @ Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem

Charlie Parker festival @ Marcus Garvey park

Part of the New York  Summer Stage, the annual Charlie Parker festival celebrated Bird’s 90. birthday this year (Aug 29th). I went to hear the concerts on Saturday @ Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem. I really liked the all-star tribute band MC Raydar Ellis’s Revive Da Live band with Ben Williams on bass (sounded really great), Justin Brown on drums, Jaleel Shaw on alto, Marcus Strickland on tenor, Marc Cary on keyboard, Corey King on trombone, Ingmar Thomas on trumpet.

I also heard J.D Allen’s group &  Jason Moran’s Bandwagon, which was great because one of my very favorite drummers Nasheet Waits was playing. But I didn’t understand the band leading concept of using old Billie Holiday and Eddie Jefferson tracks and playing along with them. It didn’t sound like a live concert at that point, it felt like the band is having a break.

Drummers that seemed to ignore the Charlie Parker festival

And last but not least, they had McCoy Tyner on solo piano. He played some really nice (mostly original) tunes – Fly With the Wind (he actually played it twice), I Should Care,  Blues on the Corner, African Village. A lot of people are saying how he doesn’t have the facility on the piano that he used to, but I think he still sounds totally extraordinary. At 86. And he is actually one of the very few of the real giants who’s still playing, so it’so feels really special to hear him live.

It was such a lovely day at the Marcus Garvey park and the weather was just perfect. The only REALLY annoying thing was how the folks at the Drummer’s Circle (not far from the main stage!) were drumming the whole time through the event. How come there are people that wouldn’t have courtesy to such a lovely event and great musicians, not to mention that on the big stage there were drummers like Nasheet Waits, Rudy Royston, Justin Brown playing? The sound in general was a bit too silent for the whole lawn area, and for that reason the drumming near by was especially painful for the interested listener. But despite all that, a really nice day in Harlem, was worth going! 🙂