The Bitter End—Loud and Live

Screenshot from the live Bitter End feed

I have written about that famed New York City venue, the Bitter End on numerous occasions on this blog, and today I am going to write more.

Coming of age during the heady folk and rock-filled days of the 1960s, I have long been aware of the place the Bitter End, and other long-lost venues have had in the development of modern folk, rock, jazz and blues music. Many of the biggest names in contemporary music have played on the venue’s small, unassuming stage. The Legends page on the Bitter End website name-checks dozens of comedians, musicians and bands including Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, Miles Davis, Billy Crystal, and Woody Allen, to name just six.

During each of my four visits to New York I have made a point of visiting the venue multiple times. Each time looking forward to seeing up-and-coming singer-songwriters, established bands, and first-timers. I have rarely been disappointed by the talent on offer. The Bitter End still holds true to its roots by hosting open mic’s, fundraisers, album launches, and tribute nights throughout the year, along with a full calendar of nightly music that often features as many as seven different acts. 

So what’s a poor boy to do when he lives—as I do—10,000 miles away from the venue he holds in such high regard?

Thankfully, when it comes to the Bitter End, I, and potentially thousands of others, can log on to the nightly Live Internet Stream and enjoy the music from the comfort of our own homes. And that is exactly what I do as often as I can from my lounge room in Adelaide, Australia. In fact, as I write this, I am watching the regular Monday night jam hosted by Richie Cannata.

At this point I should probably mention that when it is 7:00pm in New York City (when the entertainment begins at the Bitter End), it is a very reasonable 10:30am the following morning in Adelaide! And since I am a 68-year-old retiree, and don’t have to be at work, or indeed anywhere at 10:30 in the morning, I have plenty of time—and bandwidth—to devote to watching great live music from the Big Apple. As the song says, Some days are diamonds.

Wig Party

In this post, apart from singing the venue’s praises once again, I thought I would mention several of the groups that have impressed me over the past few weeks as I have tuned in to the live feed, and share my brief communications with some of them. I should explain that when a group impresses my mightily, I make a point of seeking them out on Facebook (and pretty much everyone is on Facebook, nowadays), and sending them a personal message to convey my appreciation for the music they played during their sets. To my surprise, most people performing at the venue don’t seem to be aware that there is even a live feed reaching out to the world.

For example, when I sent a message to the group Wig Party just after they left the stage around 3:00am one recent morning, I wrote (in part):

Really enjoyed your great set all the way 'down under' here in Adelaide, Australia, where I have been watching the The Bitter End's live internet stream… I especially enjoyed the playing of your amazing guitarist, Vincent Ventriglia. That man really knows how to play. Dom Palombi [the drummer] is no slouch either.

A member of Wig Party soon responded with: 

Jim thank you so much!! Didn't even know there was a stream. It's kinda crazy when you think about it, someone on the other side of the world was listening and watch the show. 

Crazy, all right. And a real treat. For the record Wig Party are guitarist and vocalist, Vincent Ventriglia, John Cisco (Bass/Vocals); Dom Palombi (Drums), and Hank Rosenthal (Keyboards and Vocals).

Another group that tore down the house recently was the four piece ensemble, LEVEL 5. The quartet are an “…instrumental fusion band led by drummer, Mark Feldman.” On Facebook, the promo material notes that the group performs compositions by the guitarist, Oz Noy, although it’s not clear if the tunes they play are all exclusively composed by Oz Noy. As it happens, the Oz Noy Trio also have a residency at the Bitter End, and precede Richie Cannata’s Monday Night Jam every week.

Level 5

My message to Level 5 said in part: 

WOW! You guys totally 'killed it' tonight at the Bitter End. What an amazing set… Most days I log into the venues live internet stream just for the joy and excitement of seeing bands and singers I have never heard of, and tonight Level 5 tore down the house.

In response the band sent this message:

Hey Jim! That's awesome! Thank you so much for the kind words. If you give me your email address and post code I can add you to our mailing list so you'll know about our shows. Thanks again.

The final group I want to mention is THE SECTIONALS, a trio of teenagers from New York City who play mostly original “Alternative, Rock, Blues” music. Their Facebook bio reads: 

Sofia D’Angelo (guitar & vocals), Michael Golden (drums), and Cyan Hunte (bass) are three sixteen-year-olds with such a passionate love of music that they decided to make their own. From three different NYC schools, they met at a Lowell’s World Young Musicians Showcase at the Underground Lounge and formed the band in October 2012, and they have performed shows  throughout NYC and surrounding areas including The Bitter End, The Parlour, Tammany Hall, The Studio at Webster Hall and The Stephen Talkhouse to name a few. Their self-titled debut EP is available on iTunes and Spotify. 

The Sectionals

While a little rough around the edges, the group is a perfect example of why I watch the live feed from the Bitter End. You can never be sure who or what style of performer will take to the stage there. Today’s beginners may well go on to be the big stars of tomorrow. After all, Lady Gaga herself played the Bitter End in the early days of her career. I was impressed with the energy and enthusiasm (how could I not be), of The Sectionals, and sent them the following message via Facebook…

Just caught your set at the Bitter End, and wanted to say how much I enjoyed the show. I…liked how you throw yourself into your performance and ‘own the stage’. That is a skill that many performers never learn. Congratulations, again on a great set. I hope your career in music is long and successful.

Soon after sending that message (Sofia?) responded:

OMG!! This so sick. Thank you so much for tuning in, so glad you liked our stuff.

To conclude, I have made a point of sending performers personal greetings to not only thank them for their music, but also because I think it is important to let them know that their potential audience stretches far beyond the narrow confines of that great venue on Bleecker Street. I know Wig Party, Level 5, and The Sectionals would have all gotten a huge buzz from playing at the Bitter End—that landmark venue that has launched a thousand careers—but all three groups clearly got a buzz from learning that I was watching their performances thousands of miles away on the other side of the planet.

Next time they play at the Bitter End, they will have that knowledge in the back of their minds, and hopefully it will inspire them to crank their performances up a notch or two and take them to a higher level. Taking a few minutes to get in touch through individual Facebook pages is the least I can do.

Finally, dear reader, I would encourage you to check out the Bitter End live internet feed for yourselves, and also take the time to seek out and get in touch with the musicians, whether soloists or ensembles, and send them a note or two of appreciation. You can be sure it will make their day—or night.

A little encouragement can go a long way.

NYC: The Frick Collection

The Frick Collection may not be the biggest collection of art in New York City, but the unique nature of the collection makes it well worth visiting, especially for frequent visitors to the city who have 'done' the major museums and galleries and who are looking for something different to do. 

Smaller collections like those at the Frick are also worth visiting if you have a limited amount of time to spend in New York. You don't need to set aside the best part of day (or two) to appreciate the full collection as you would if visiting the Metropolitan Museum, or the Museum of Modern Art.

The collection was assembled by the Pittsburgh industrialist Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919) and is housed in his former residence on Fifth Avenue, one of New York City’s few remaining Gilded Age mansions. The museum opened in 1935 and has continued to acquire works of art since Mr. Frick’s death. Among the many artists represented in the collection are Rembrandt, Giovanni Bellini, El Greco, Goya, Vermeer, William Turner, James McNeill Whistler, and numerous others.

Space is set aside for temporary exhibitions (the exhibition, Watteau’s Soldiers was taking place when I visited in late August, 2016), while another room screens short films examining the history of the collection.

Like most modern institutions, the Frick now has an excellent app for both Android and Apple smartphones and tablet devices. The app allows you to explore the galleries, search for specific works of art or artists, and provides information about current exhibitions and tours.

In fact, as I write this, the app offers a Director’s Choice tour with 38 stops; a Turner tour (again with 38 stops), and several others. You can not only examine each work of art, but brief audio explanations accompany each image as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Frick, and the chance to walk through one of New York City's famed Gilded Age mansions is an added bonus that should not be passed up either.

My 52-Book-Year Challenge

Just a few of the eBooks on my iPad 

Welcome to my 52-book-year challenge. I have always been an avid reader. My mother used to recall how, as I child, I could often be found in a quiet corner of the large garden surrounding our home reading comics and books.

This love of reading helped guarantee good English grades throughout my school years, and the enjoyment and knowledge I get from books has continued throughout my life until here I am, at age 68, still trying to match the rate of my book reading with the pace of my book buying.

Already this year I have purchased 32 print books, and eight eBooks! I have read eleven books to date, and my goal is to read a minimum of 52 books by the end of the year. I managed to do this last year, despite spending three months in New York City (from where, by the way, I returned to Australia with a small case filled with books).

In 2015, I read a total of 90 books. No wonder I needed to invest in a new pair of reading glasses! Of course, I have not been able to maintain this reading pace all my life. Work and family obligations, as well as other interests and activities, often got in the way of my reading habit, and ate into much of the spare leisure time I had to devote to my book collection. However, now that I am retired I seem to have hours to spare, and when not online reading through my daily newspaper and magazine updates from the New Yorker, New York Times, The Guardian, and other online publications, I make time to work through my ever expanding collection of books.

Given the extent of my current book collection, both in print and digital form, I have more than enough books to keep me reading for the next couple of years before I have to supplement my reading list. However, I simply can't walk past a bookshop (whether selling new, secondhand or remaindered books), without stopping to browse the titles on display.

My voracious appetite for books ranges across fields and genres that include history, crime, travel, literature, philosophy, politics, the arts (music and film), and many others. The genres I rarely if ever read include romance, historical fiction, food related titles, fantasy novels and far too many other genres to mention. There are simply not enough hours in the day, or years left in my life to read all the books I would like to be able to read.

I will endeavor to add reviews of all, or most of the books I read to this blog as the year progresses.