twist of fait accomplis

(Sorry so late with this... funny how a three day trip can put one a week behind.)

Can I reiterate about how much I love New York City? And there's still so much of it I still have to see.

I love the city, the people (yes, really), the amazing variety of restaurants and shops that aren't of the chain variety, the subway, the layout of the streets, the very distinct neighborhoods, the kick ass graffiti, the ease with which one can find something—anything—to do at any time... there really is no place like New York and as much as I've enjoyed cities like Seattle and Chicago, New York still really stands firm in its place as my favorite recurring travel destination.

I drove up to the Nassau Coliseum on Sunday (I drove into New York all by myself! I'm a big boy!). As soon as I walked into the hotel, before I could even put my bags down, I was swept downstairs to a press conference for the show at the Coliseum later that night. I met up with Russ, Loyal, and Pint and after dropping my stuff off in the room, spent the rest of the evening with them. I chatted with Pint and his friend Lion (who kept telling us, "Look at these shoes? I told dem black and they're blue! Mi vex! Mi vex!") about religion, the music industry, and the schiestiness of so many promoters. There was some drama involved, as the show was supposed to start at 7pm and at 6:58, Pint was told, "It's a no go." Fortunately, some hardball was played, some agreements were made, and five minutes later, we were headed to the coliseum (after I and a few others were called bloodclots by an entirely-too-worked-up woman).

I wish I could tell you that the show at the Coliseum was a blast and that I met Jimmy Cliff and Luciano and Maxi Priest and Bunny Wailer and that I had a great view of the entire show. Truth is, it was a mess. Throughout the night, security was told a number of different things and while I was allowed to be backstage, I was later told that I couldn't watch the show from the floor. Of course, this was mentioned to me right before Pint was about to go on, so I told the guy, "OK, I'll leave" and stayed firmly in place while Pint performed. He did a great job, sounded awesome and was dancing all over the stage. Unfortunately, he only got to do three songs despite the fact the crowd nearly blew the roof off the place when he launched into "Greetings" and "Level the Vibes."

The show will be available on In Demand pay-per-view, supposedly in January. If anyone here has In Demand and would be willing to tape the show for me (anyone able to record a digital copy and burn it to DVD for me?), I'd be more than happy to reimburse you for your efforts.

Pint and Loyal went into Manhattan to do an interview at Hot 97, but because of logistics, I stuck around and went to bed a bit early. I was frustrated at how the show was handled and was feeling really tired since I only had about three-and-a-half hours sleep the night before. Plus my food intake was limited to Clif Bars, so I was a little cranky.

Monday morning I rode the tour bus in with Sly and Robbie, Tony Rebel, Pint, and other members of the entourage into Manhattan. Sly, Tony, and Pint all had interviews lined up at Sirius, so I tagged along. The Sirius studios were awesome and I even caught Jim Breuer walking around, taking a break from his show. Pint and I (yup, me too) were interviewed by the bredren DJ Gringo for the Reggae Rhythms channel. It aired that night, though I'm trying to get a copy of the show on CD from Gringo. I could so work in radio for a living, though I suspect it's terribly frustrating with lots of restrictions, even in satellite radio.

From there, we headed to B.B. King's to prepare for the show that night. Pint and I went and grabbed a sandwich and soup at Pax. Everything after that is a bit of a blur... I was introduced to Tommy Mottola's son (!), met all sorts of radio station and industry people, got autographs, saw a great show, and bumped into a frequent halfpintmusic.com web site visitor. It was a pretty crazy day.

Tuesday was my sole day to wander around the city. I had breakfast with Russ and then headed downtown to MooShoes. They didn't have shoes for my small feet, but I did pick up a t-shirt (bottom left corner) and a book. I had lunch at Red Bamboo and dinner at Gobo (reviews forthcoming) and stopped off at Other Music to do a little music shopping.

Let me pause here for a second and give you a little back story. In 1992, I was listening to the mighty Raw Deal hip-hop show on Princeton's WPRB. They almost never played reggae, but one night they played a hip-hop remix of Half Pint's "Substitute Lover" and a slack song by Sasha called "Kill the Bitch." That was the first time I'd ever heard Half Pint. At that point in my life, I knew very little about reggae. I knew Bob Marley and had a Shabba Ranks album, but that was about it. But something about "Substitute Lover" struck me and from that point on I hunted out Half Pint albums (little known fact: the first album of his I bought, I hated it the first time I listened to it; I now love each and every cut on that album). I particularly wanted to find that remix I heard on the radio, but I could never find it. Sure, I found a zillion compilations that had the original reggae track, but none with the hip-hop remix.

Over 12 years later, I still had not been able to find that track. In fact, when I was being interviewed by DJ Gringo, I mentioned how I still hadn't found that version of the track. The very next day, as I'm in Other Music flipping through their $1/$2 discount record bin, I flip past a record whose label I recognize (see, I have this weird ability to flip quickly through records and automatically tell what type of music the record might be and who might be on that label). I flip back to the record, which sure enough is on the "Digital B" label (a reggae label that put out a lot of stuff in the late 80's/early 90's) and see Half Pint: "Substitute Lover." No big deal, because I have a 12" already of the song, and it's just the basic version of the song. But I notice this one has a "Club Mix." I start to get a little excited and buy the record for a mere $1.00.

When I get home, I put the record on the turntable and cross my fingers that this mysterious "Club Mix" is what I'm looking for. The first few notes kick in and... no go. Unfortunately, it's just a shorter version of the "Straight Mix," which is the first band on side A. I sigh and flip the record over, which is just labeled "Version" ("version" on reggae singles refers to the instrumental dub version of the song), but I notice that the dub version is already on side A and that there are two bands on side B. "Huh," I think, and I drop the needle.

I then made in my pants.

Sure enough, the mislabeled flip side had the hip-hop remix I'd been hunting for for 12 years IN ADDITION TO another variation of that version that I'd never heard before! The holy freaking grail for a buck. Karma was on my side since a trip to Other Music wasn't even planned, I just happened to walk by the store.

So, back to the trip.

Tuesday night I hit the famous Village Vanguard to see an expensive ass show (jazz clubs are usually pretty pricey, even for little-known acts). The Renee Rosnes Quintet put on a good set, particularly the drummer and the bassist who were straight bad ass. Rosnes was a strong pianist who could solo well as well as blend into the background without stealing the spotlight from her fellow band members when it was their turn. I wish I could be in the city in Mid-December when Roy Hargrove plays with the Cedar Walton Trio... that'll be a seriously good show.

Wednesday morning was gorgeous, so I walked from 106th to 34th street to catch the Long Island Rail Road back out to Uniondale. On the cab ride from the Westbury station to the hotel, I had a Jamaican driver. I asked him if he knew of Half Pint and he turned around and said to me, "Half Pint? What you a know 'bout Half Pint?" He couldn't stop laughing when I responded, "I work with Half Pint. That mi bredren!" We chatted a bit about reggae and the show at the Coliseum, and as I was leaving the cab and told him, "Respect" (one of those phrases I said probably 30 times last week but not once since then) he laughed again and said, "You mad, bwoy!"

It was definitely a great trip and I can't wait to get back to the city for a longer visit next time.

Wanna see some pictures? Here you go.