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.

Jooksmise jaoks Prospect Park Viljandi järveäärsele palju alla ei jää

Prospect Park

Üks tore asi minu Viljandi elu juures oli järve ääres jooksmas käimine. Nüüd, kus pole enam tapvalt palav ostsin ükspäev DSW kingapoest uued botased ja olen õige mitu korda neid kasutanud juba :D. Väga tore on, jooksmine on muuhulgas päris hea viis ümbruskonna tundma õppimiseks. Eile käisin jooksmas Prospect Park’is – ja sain täieliku kaifi! Nägin luikesid ja mingeid suuri karvaseid loomi (rackoons vist- ei tea, mis see eesti keeles on?). Tee peal oli  jooksjaid päris palju, aga ma läksin uudishimust päris sügavale pargi sisse ja eksisin suisa ära mõneks ajaks – pimedaks läks ka juba, niiet päris hirmus oli. Mmmm, aga nii hea õhk seal.

Halb uudis on see, et mu landlady Williamsburgist üritab mind korteri deposiidiga tüssata – andis mulle $50 vähem tagasi, kui pidi. Ma pean midagi välja mõtlema, olen sellisest ebaaususest nimelt sügavalt puudutatud. Ma üritan välja mõelda, kas ainuke võimalus on tõesti kohtusse kaebamine. Hmmm.

Femi Kuti @ Prospect Park and Vardan Ovsepian with Tim Miller @ 55 Bar

Prospect Park hang

Went to hear music @ Prospect Park again – this time it was Femi Kuti (and the Positive Force), the saxophone-playing and singing son of the legendary father of afrobeat, Fela Kuti. Warmed up by Melvin Gibbs (bass) with the group Elevated Entity. What a great hang at Prospect park, these days. So much weed in the air 🙂 – summer is here, finally. It was fun to see all those black ladies in bright colorful robes. None of  that in Estonia. There might be jazz, occasionally, but no afrobeat and no black ladies :D.  I liked both bands a lot this time, great vibe. Too bad I didn’t donate at the gate, but hope they’ll keep it great despite of that. 🙂

Afterwards I went to 55 Bar to hear the Armenian piano player Vardan Ovsepian who actually had Tim Miller in the band. They say if you want to fill a house, call in Tim Miller, because all the guitar dorks will show up. I guess it worked. Tim Miller has a great overdrive sound, I can’t believe it comes from the Boss pedal that’s on the stage. That must be a trick to fool the guitar dorks. I liked everything again, but not so much the fact that there were vocals in the band – I just can’t help not being into jazz vocals that much. It’s so rare when that makes anything better. This time maybe flugelhorn would have been the perfect thing instead. Just my taste – I know lots of people only really listen to vocals and take everything else as background music.

David Byrne @ Prospect Park and Jim Black @ the Stone

Music in Prospect Park

Went to the free David Byrne concert @ Prospect Park, Brooklyn yesterday – as did so many other people. David Byrne seems to be really popular here, such crowds showed up. He is a New York hero, as I’ve understood, from Talking Heads times already.  Thanks to a good music-loving friend I even had a good seat for the concert. But once again, guess I’m not American enough  – couldn’t share the passion for the whole thing. It was nice to see a concert at Prospect Park though. A (new) friend of mine living in the neighborhood told me that these concerts used to be really small community events with some great rare music to be heard and that a stage this big was something he’d never seen there before. Park Slope is getting popular.

the Stone

Second part of the plan for the evening was to go to the Stone – a club in the East Village with John Zorn as its artistic director – it’s a venue for great experimental music. I’ve been wanting to go for weeks now, but this time Jim Black being in the band actually got me there. The club itself is quite invisible from the street – you could actually miss the place if you didn’t know where you’re going. No big signs. As Jazz Gallery, it doesn’t have a bar – just music. This time it was a 4-piece-band with two saxes, double bass and Jim Black on the drums. I think some of the music was a little bit too loose – it’s a bad thing when there is a lot of outside playing and a lot of notes anyway. It makes it hard to really go into the music.

After that it was to a dive bar (Joe’s Bar in the East Village) with couple of friends. So what exactly is a dive bar – their definition was speakeasy’s without the charm. I actually saw a cockroach there. That was pretty scary. Shouldn’t put my glasses on next time. Otherwise the place was great for just talking, really quiet for a bar. And maybe drinking if that happens to  be a serious business sometimes.