dutchess di and the distractions

Surrounded by guys watching a ball game on TV, the swing/jazz/blues band, Duchess Di and the Distractions of Irvington NY, put on a great show at the odd venue, Pete's Saloon. Reaching the end of April: the month of Jazz appreciation, it felt fulfilling to sit in a crowded joint with upbeat jazz and swing music overpowering the sounds of baseball season and heated sports fans.

The experience is what makes this band stand out: I felt like I was in a 1950s dive bar with music making me want to jump and jive. Their look, their sound, and their personality is a sweet flashback of  a night out on the town that people from my generation never got to experience.

In honor of Jazz Appreciation Month, I want to recommend a listen to the jazzy number that I just can't get enough of these days: Etta James' "The Man I Love". Even Better: Billie Holiday's version. For me, there is nothing more savory than a gentle voice at the other end of a piano or saxophone.




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otis and the other halloween

In a world where Halloween falling on a Saturday night equals two Halloweens for all - you have to wonder where our priorities are. Yes, indeed, we love to dress up, listen to music, and have an excuse to party all night long. Enter my Friday night on October 30th in seeing the ever-so-fun NYC based band, OTiS. The Mercury Lounge was decked with unique costumes, booze guzzlers, bopping heads, and shaking hips, and luckily enough, I was there to capture it.

Everyone was hopped up on Paul Simon showing up to the funky venue, standing in the corner early in the night with his Indiana Jones hat in place, in support of his son's very talented band who opened for OTiS. Needless to say, the band could feel the pressure of having to perform in front of the man who said he was "still crazy after all these years" back in the day. Despite any anxiety that may have been brewing, however, the buzz simply added to their fire and energy. They were calm and collected before the show in what I have deemed "the pipe room", the green room of sorts, filled with graffitted pipes, in the basement of The Lounge. And then, once on stage, they got almost every single audience member up off their feet, moving and grooving.

OTiS, a down-to-earth, very easy-going band with a stage presence that even makes the lead singer, Craig, scream into the microphone "Hell Yeah". The music of this band is funk, soul, groove, and everything in between, with no level of excitement left out. At one point a young girl behind me in the audience, said it best to her friend: "I don't even care which song is next. I feel it all."
















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