Native Tongue Day 5 [Part 10]

London Day 5

After the show on Thursday night, I told my aunt Helen and uncle Richard that Jeff and I would meet them for lunch or dinner or something on Friday. I found out that they were staying in a hotel right next to Victoria station, which was perfect because we could take the rail right there. They told us to call them when we got up, which of course was later then expected, but the nights just kept getting short and shorter.

I had to make sure I had everything together for that evenings show at Native Tongue. There was suppose to be a soundcheck at 6:30pm, but Tim wasn’t sure if he could make it. So if the drums can’t make it then it’s kind of pointless to have a soundcheck. That night’s line up was the blaKbüshe quartet. Well it was actually a quintet including Jeff, Tim, Hannabiell, LyricL and I. LyricL was a welcome last minute addition. I still wasn’t sure if the rest of the horns could make it. Scott was coming from a studio session and Max had a gig, but they said they would try so I was keeping hope alive.

Before leaving the house that day I got a call from Adam Rock. He told me that the owner of the Mau Mau Bar had really loved my show on Thursday night and wanted to know if I was free to play on Saturday back at the Mau Mau! Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever been asked back for a command performance in a matter of days! I was totally flattered, but I had to tell him I couldn’t because I was scheduled to play on Saturday night at the Heart & Soul charity fundraiser in Brixton. That was show #2 that I had to turn down. Just one more confirmation that next time I need to stay in town a lot longer.

Sometime in the afternoon, Jeff and I got our things together and headed on the walk to Kent House station to head to Victoria. We weren’t waiting too long before the train arrived. When we got to Victoria station my aunt & uncle’s hotel was literally next door. It was actually almost in the same building as the station. We walked around to the hotel entrance and went in. The front desk clerk called my aunt down to come get us and soon she was there to take us upstairs. The hotel was really nice, but I can see why she had to come get us because it was a maze.

By the time we got to the hotel I knew that I wasn’t going to do an actual soundcheck, but I still wanted to go down to the club and talk to the folks,  explain my setup and just let them see my face. So Jeff and I chatted with my aunt & uncle for a while, had a little wine and chilled until it was time to go to the club. I mapped out the route and headed there. We jumped on the Circle Line at Victoria and headed it Barbican where the club is.

When we got to the club, Tristan was cool that we weren't going to check. There were other bands waiting so that probably helped them a bit with the flow of things not to have to check one band.  I wasn’t so concerned because I had a smaller set up for the night. I knew at that point that Max and Scott wouldn’t be able to make it so we were back to the small crew. I wasn’t stressed about the evening and Chris, the soundman, seemed cool with everything so Jeff and I headed back to the hotel to have dinner with my aunt & uncle.

My aunt wanted to have fish & chips, in London, before heading home. So she asked the concierge where we should go and he gave her the name of a spot he knew not to far from the hotel, on the other side of Victoria station. I can’t remember the name of the place, but it reminded me of the seafood spots in New England or on City Island in the Bronx where you can get fried seafood and only fried seafood and lots of it. LOL! You know the joints I’m talking about. Everything is fried. If you are looking for something else then you are in the wrong place. HA!

Anyway, we go there, check the menu and order. They had all kinds of fish to be fried on the menu. I think I got the haddock and was good to go. When they came out with those plates of fish & chips I would have thought I was back in America because those portions were huge! Much larger than I expected. I knew I couldn’t eat it all since I had to sing shortly, but I enjoyed what I could.

It was my aunt and uncle’s last day in London. They said they had a great time even though their stay was short. They had taken the train from Paris to London as I did, which they enjoyed as well and they got to see some sights near the hotel. This was their first trip to Europe so it was just amazing for them. I remember my aunt talking about Buckingham Palace and how seeing it made her think of her history lessons from school. I know exactly what she meant. I think that’s how I felt when I saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You know it’s there, but it’s a whole other thing to see it for yourself. Everyone should travel. I’ll say it again for all you American’s reading this blog. EVERYONE SHOULD TRAVEL! There is so much out there to see. Get yourself a passport and get out of wherever you are. This world is so much bigger than your commute to work and home everyday and your trip to the supermarket and church on the weekend. It’s huge people. Get out there. Stop letting your issues with “people” keep you home, or your financial “issues” keep you from going anywhere. We have money for what we WANT to have money for. Nuff said.

After dinner we went back to the hotel only to find out that the people of Egypt had won their fight and gotten Mubarack out of office! What a night! It was an amazing sight to see.

I changed my clothes at the hotel because I had seen the bathroom at the club before I left and I knew that was not going to work. I did my makeup and got all of my things together. Jeff and I said farewell to my aunt & uncle and headed back to the Circle Line to head back to the club.

Native Tongue reminds me of some of the smaller rock clubs that exist in New York. They are underground, dark, and often have lots of beer spilled on the floor or something sticky like that. Luckily Native Tongue did not have the beer soaked floor, but it is your typical “indie” rock club. I had played a Native Tongue event when I was in London in 2007. Back then they were doing their things at a spot called Edwards Hammersmith. It was upstairs from a restaurant called Edwards I believe. I knew that it was going to be a spot where there were more white people than people of color, but that was the point. That night at Edwards no one knew who I was, but folks were very cool to me and I met a great girl named Rhiannon who I have kept in touch with ever since.

Now Native Tongue has their own spot in EC1 and it is actually a cool little spot. As I said, it ain’t real swanky, but it is rock & roll. This difference between last time and this is that people came out to see me.

I was so excited to see some of my Michfest crew! What?? Michfest in London? Yes indeed. Last year in Michigan I met two sistas named Michelle and Yvonne. I told Michelle last year on the land that I wanted to go back to London and at that time she had an event she was doing so she said if I got there I could come through. So when I knew I was coming back to London I reached out, but by that time she wasn’t doing her event anymore. That was cool because it would be great to see her either way. Well low and behold, Michelle and Yvonne were in the house. Also Jeff’s friend Kelli came through and LyricL’s friend Arek came and Abdul from our Cargo hang on Monday night come through.

As I said, that night was the quintet. I really loved that setup. It was bass (me), drums (Tim), guitar/bass (Jeff), trombone (Hannabiell) and vocals/emcee (LyricL). That trombone really set it off. It also felt good to be on bass with the electric set because usually I’ll play bass with the acoustic set. It felt like a move forward for me on the bass front.

We did a short set that night. The songs for the evening (in no particular order) were blaK Girls (original version), Give it to Me, I Am American, Can’t Blame a Tree, Box and Go Head & Rise.

We Got the Glow!

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The Force if with me

CLICK HERE to see the VIDEO from that night!

[The sounds is not the best, but I wanted to share the glow in action.  :-D]

It was another amazing show and as you can see from the photos that my girl Michelle took we were glowing. LOL! I had such a good time doing that set. It was another amazing night. Many of the people who were there for the earlier bands stayed to hear us. I have to admit that I love making people think twice about the assumptions that they make about me before I even open my mouth. If you don’t know what I’m saying I’ll break it down. Basically when “folks” see me and my band setting up they often make an assumption about what kind of music we are going to play. Basically, we are black so we must be playing R&B or something of that sort. So when that doesn’t quite happen then they are intrigued for lack of a better term so they hang out and end up having a great time.

When the show was over Tristan, who owns the club, told me to give him more notice as to when I’m coming back to London so he could build a night around me. Now that’s what’s up! So I have to get back soon. Honestly I’m already hatching a plan.

We hung out for a bit and chatted with the folks who came out. This one young white guy who had a few, kept telling me about how much he didn't like R&B and how much his sister does, but how we made him rethink his position on R&B. I think what we really did was make him rethink his assumptions of black people in music. Score one for the team. Lol!

That night Tim was kind enough to give Jeff and I a ride home. Just one more blessing.  That was the last night that I saw Tim during my trip. I really love that guy. He’s just such good people and so professional. If Matsu (my drummer here in NY) can’t be with me in Europe then it is Tim all day. Thanks Tim!

Yes indeed another day is down in London Town. There was still one more show to go and Jeff and I vowed to try and see one damn sight on Saturday before we had to be at the radio show in Brixton. Until tomorrow…

Showtime! Jazz Re:freshed Day 4 [Part 9]

London Day 4

When we last left our hero…

I was getting up on Thursday morning determined to do something else besides just do the show that night. Jeff still hadn’t seen any sights in London except through a car window so we had to do  something, anything.

The night before we were trying to figure out how we could go sight seeing with all of our gear in tow for the show that night. LyricL then suggested that we drop everything at her friend Bunny’s place, which is also Uprock Studios and then we could do things from there. Jeff is a huge Beatles fan so he wanted to go to Abbey Road, and it just so happened that Uprock is very close to Abbey Road. Also Bunny said he wanted to interview me for his blog Code Emphasis. Okay. So here was the plan. Get up, head to Uprock, drop our stuff, go to Abbey Road, come back to Uprock to do the interview, then head to the Mau Mau Bar for soundcheck. Sounds good right? Well…

We wake up and it’s raining. Probably the first “real” rain we’d had since we got there. I say real because it had rained a bit, but it was off and on rain. Nothing that hung around for too long. But on Thursday it really rained.

We got our stuff together and headed for the train at Anerley. Kevin was kind enough to drive us to the train again. On this short ride to the train we were listening to the radio and the announcer was talking about seeing some celeb at some event, but the thing that caught me was that he said she was looking “quite fragrant.” I love that! I have to remember to use that from now on when I see someone looking good.

We got on the Overground at Anerley and took that Canada Water and switched for the Jubilee Line toward Stanmore to Kilburn. LyricL told us to call her when we got there because she was coming from a totally different direction.  So I called when we got out and it was really raining then. We had all kinds of gear with us, but we didn’t think we would be going very far. When I spoke to LyricL and she told me to go to the bus stop on the same side of the street I was on and go toward Kilburn High Street. At least I think that’s what she said. The point of this matter is that we got all turned around in the pouring rain. When we got on the bus I felt like we were riding in the wrong direction and I was correct, but it took us some time to figure that out for real.

Jeff and I got off the bus after talking to LyricL and realizing we were going in the wrong direction. We stood at the bus stop trying to figure out the directions when another bus came by and properly splashed me. Okay, at that point all I could do was laugh. We backed away from the stop and called LyricL one more time to get clear and we figured out we should head the other way because that’s where she was. So we got on another bus headed back toward the Tube we just got off, but when I told this to LyricL she still thought we were going in the wrong direction. It was a total “Who’s on First” moment. LOL. So after some back and forth she told us to just wait at the Kilburn stop we got off the Tube and she would come get us from there.

After all this back and forth it had gotten really late. I was feeling bad because I knew there was a possibility that Jeff wouldn’t get to go to Abbey Road because I still had to do this interview with Bunny and then we had to head to the Mau Mau for soundcheck.

When LyricL arrived she suggested getting a mini cab to our destination at that point. So we did and headed to Uprock. I knew upon our arrival that I wouldn’t have enough time to go to Abbey Road. I told Jeff he could go on his own, but he chose not to. I was kind of bummed about that, and tired, but the show must go on.

Uprock Studios is a very cool place. It’s really the musical home of my crew of folks that produce Jazz Re:freshed, and my man Daz-I-Kue who now lives here in ATL. Daz still calls Uprock home along with Bunny Bread, Adam Rock, Top Rock and whole host of magical musical folks who are part of the legendary West London crew. If any of you out there like broken beat, well this is where all the magic happened. Of course I know there are some out there who will disagree and I may not have all my facts totally straight, but that’s where it started for me. At least with those people and the Bugz in the Attic crew. I’m not going to give you the whole Bugz history, but I highly suggest you check them out as a collective and individually.  Their music is amazing!

Anyway, Bunny interviewed me for Code Emphasis and then we had to get ready to roll to Mau Mau. Turned out Bunny had to bring the drum kit from Uprock to the Mau Mau so we called a big cab, all piled in, drums included, and headed to the club.

At this point I was really late for soundcheck. I didn’t mean to be, but it was sort of how the whole day had been rolling. Also when we got there Tim had brought his own kit so Bunny didn’t have to bring the one from Uprock. We didn’t find this out until we were in the cab and almost to the club so it was too late to turn back. When I walked in I was surprised to see my aunt Helen and uncle Richard were already there! Yes this is the same aunt and uncle who were in Paris the week before when I was there with Burnt Sugar. They extended their trip and came to London for a couple of days after Paris. I really love them for that. So we all settled in and started getting the band ready to check.

Marquee!

Jazz Re:freshed @ the Mau Mau Bar

Now the Mau Mau Bar is not a huge place, but it’s a very cool space. The thing about the space is that if you have a large band like I had that night, you have to split up the band on either side of an aisle so that folks can get to the bathroom. So on one stage with me was the drums, bass, guitar and backing vocals. Then on the other stage was all the horns and percussion. It’s still a very cool setup. I could see everyone and that’s really all that matters.

Jeff & Scott (on trumpet) warming up their fingers pre-show

John breaking down the math. LOL!

Stage Left

LyricL & Tuca setting stage right

The Mau Mau also doesn’t really have a space where you can change. The last time I played there LyricL and I changed in the bathroom of a restaurant across the street. This time things were a little better. Chippy, who worked the door, had a friend named Chris who lived upstairs from the club and he was kind enough to let Hannabiell and I change in his apartment. Thanks Chris!

Hannabiell warming up pre-show

Hannabiell, fresh and ready to go!

Let me just say that Chris's apartment was so cute! I really love being able to take a peek at how apartments are in different neighborhoods and different parts of the world. Something that I have always loved and wanted was an apartment that had split-levels. Not like a staircase, but just a couple of steps down or up into the living room or the bedroom. I always thought that was cool and Chris had that.

Scott and I pre-show

Hannabiell and I chatted with Chris while we were putting on our makeup and he said he would come down to see the show and he actually did, which was very cool. We finished with our makeup, gathered our things and headed back down to the club. We had nice crowd brewing and it was almost time to go on.

Horns getting their charts together

Tuca! Ready to Rock!

Jeff! Ready to go!

Max on Sax!

I asked my uncle if he would video the show for me, which he did and my aunt took some awesome photos. Hannabiell was concerned about Yillis not making it because her train got delayed, but the made it, which was great! She didn’t miss a thing. I checked to make sure we were all in the house, Justin a.k.a. Top Rock introduced us and we were off.

Top Rock with the intro

The set list for the night was Out of My Mind, I Am American, Can’t Blame a Tree, Box, Give it to Me, I’m a Woman (I’m a Backbone), Go Head & Rise and the blaK Girls remix. It was an amazing night and set. The horns were in full effect and everything just came together.

The people! In front, my girl Van.

The afterglow

To see the complete set of show photos check out Flickr! Enjoy! 
photos by my Aunt Helen & Uncle Richard

I’ll just say this about the show. FIRE!!!  Everyone in the audience was so beautiful. I felt so blessed to back in that space again. The people there really love music and that’s what it’s all about folks. I played my tambourine, played John’s bass, danced with the people and with LyricL. It was so much fun!

Adam Rock! The man who makes is all happen!

When the show was over a few people came over to talk to me who were from the States and they were so excited about “Can’t Blame a Tree.” It was actually a white woman who said she was from Florida and had done some work around helping the Jena 6. This world get smaller and smaller. Another woman was so excited about “Out of My Mind”, but that song is not on my EP so I promised to send it to her. In fact I should do that right now! LOL! My friend and vocalist Michael Ashanti came to the show. He’s another one of my Ex-Pat friends from New York, but living in London. My friend Lindsay was there with his wife who I was happy to finally meet. It was so good to see him although it was short. The Temporary Residents crew was there, who I would get to spend much more time with on Saturday.  Ah, gang's all here.  My aunt and uncle left pretty much right after the show, but Jeff and I would hook up with them the next day.

I signed CDs and almost sold out. At the end of the night I only had two left! That’s what I’m talking about! After meeting and greeting I pulled my things together and Max said he would take us back to Anerley again. I love Max! He’s so sweet that he actually took Hannabiell, Yillis, Jeff and I back to our respective spaces. But before we went home we had to have an after show hang right?

Max decided to take us to Chinatown for some food there since that is one of the few places you could find food at that hour. So we piled into Max’s ride and headed that way.

The welcome dragon in Chinatown

We found a place to park and walked through the red light district to Chinatown. There were all kinds of restaurants open, but Max took us to one that he knew and they had a table for us in the corner in the back. We settled in, ordered, ate and talked for a while. It was a really nice end to a really great evening. This was another moment in which I was feeling especially blessed and so so thankful.

Jeff's plate? The meat special! What happens in London... LOL!

After eating we headed back to the car and back down south. Max dropped Hannabiell and Yillis in Peckham and then we were off to Anerely. We were soon at the house and saying out goodbyes to Max. Luckily it wasn’t the last time we would see him, but I was so thankful for him. I really had to hold back tears of gratitude. He’s such an amazing guy, that Max, and super humble. I found out during that trip that Max played with Prince when he was in London doing all those shows. I think that’s the beautiful thing about musicians. If the music is good, no matter if you are Prince or Shelley Nicole you will be there. I’m like that too. I just love music. No matter who is playing it, if it’s good it’s good.

So another night in London down. Show three tomorrow at Native Tongue. The horn players were so hyped after tonight’s show that they said the would come do it again with me the next night and I hadn’t even asked them. Blessings, blessings.

Thanks again to my London band & the Jazz Re:freshed crew: Tim Rickard, John Calvert, Tuca Milan, Hannabiell Sanders, Alam Nathoo, Scott Baylis, Max Grunhard,  LyricL, Adam Rock, Justin "Top Rock" McKenzie, Chippy, Bunny and anyone I may have forgotten, you are not forgotten. XXOO

Words to live by