Untitled Blog in C minor

Great gig with a wonderful audience at a splendid venue. Thanks to Gary for shooting film all night.

Fran Coraggio – bass
Bret Obin – drums
June 26th 2010 @ Angell & Phelps Cafe – Daytona Beach

Birthdays have always been a big deal to me. I have no problem with people wanting to show me how much they love me…and cake is high on my list of best things on earth.

I just had another go by… it was a quiet one. I’m in a new part of the world, but friends from NY gave me hollers, and I’m pretty good at having a good time all by myself. My dad was around, of course – we watched my new home team the Rays pull off a thrilling 9th inning victory, and I picked up lots of new music (old music really, on vinyl) to keep me stimulated.

One of my favorite ways to spend a birthday is on a gig, hanging with musicians and finding euphoria in some emphatic chorus of a 12 bar blues. I had a great many birthday gigs in the last decade. One such happening was in 2002 at Louis Bar in the east village of nyc. The owner Andrew Rumpler was a good friend and always hooked us up food & drink-wise (miss those coffees and the olives!), at the time bassist Mike Savino and I were housemates and close friends, and later that evening my good pal Emanuele Coluccia came down and played on the last few tunes. I’m pretty sure I hear Josaih Wolf’s voice in the crowd as well, but he did not play (I don’t think);  the drummer was Chris Sbrolini, essentially the  house drummer, well-suited to Andrew’s taste, and another comrade.

I came across the minidiscs for the gig last night while looking for something else. Here is the first tune we played – “Just Friends“. As always there’s a decent bit of crowd noise…

Most fans know we played at Louis at least once a week for a good three years – it was an incredible experience. If you’ve been to the bar in the early 2000′s you know it was a very unique, cool & swingin’ hang. The picture above is of a cd we ‘released’ with some of the best performances recorded at Louis. This version of “Just Friends” is not the same one as on the cd, but the version of “Well You Needn’t” found on the disc is from the same birthday gig.

Louis Bar changed hands in ’04. Former owner Andrew Rumpler, who designed and built the bar himself, is now designing unique furniture. One of his latest creations is the “Tatum Lounge” (after Art Tatum), which is a chair made out of piano keys. Very cool. You can check out his website here.

As always thanks for stopping by. Lord bless – Kenny

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(from a Shenole Latimer concert…)