6.30am. I’m sitting in a car service that’s taking me home from JFK airport, where I just landed after a long flight from Brazil. This was my first time there and the experience was equal part hell and paradise!
Paradise for the places I saw, the lagoon I kitesurfed in, SOME of the people I met.
Hell because on top of delayed flights with resulting missing connections, within 10 minutes (no joke!!!) of landing at the Brazilian airport I was surrounded by a large crowd (felt like mosh pit at CBGB’s!) who emptied my pockets, leaving me with no wallet (ie no money and no credit cards) and, worse, no IDs and no passport! The subsequent nightmare of consular agencies and embassies is too long to describe but I spent countless hours on phone and email (the iPhone saved my life!), countless money (which my travelling buddies lent me) on cab rides, car rentals, consulate fees, papers and other stuff and about 7 days waiting for an approval from the US consulate (which I was told was gonna take 2 days) and 5 hours in line at the US consulate.
Lesson I learned: always have ALL your IDs and documents scanned and available online for retrival and printing; always have money, IDs and travel documets in differet parts of your body and where you can feel them; never trust a cheering crowd in Brazil; never get robbed in a country where everything is slow and takes forever to happen; …and last but not least get yourself an amazing girlfriend like I have who can get on the horn, make things happen, scan documents, be internet savvy and do things for you (I’d probably still be stuck there if it wasn’t for her help)!

P.S.: oh, did I mention that I have a recording session in 4 hours at the studio?

Roberto Rodriguez is one of those eclectic NY musicians that excell at many things. Whether he does his electronic-philippino world music show with wife Susie Ibarra or he lets his cuban blood take over on traps, cajon and congas or he plays tribute to his acquired klezmer roots and traditions like a real NY Jew, Roberto always does an excellet job and gives his 200%. Tonight, right now, at Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein atrium he is doing exactly the same to a packed room and a long line outside!

Listening to a Conversation with Manfred Eicher, Producer and Founder of ECM Records, interviewed/moderated by critic and author Gary Giddins.
It’s at CUNY on 5th Av and 34ty and it’s about to start.
I am here to learn more about this historical jazz label and to hear a jazz veteran’s take on the state of the industry. I hope that he’s not in denial like many other record label execs… That would be sad.

Seriously, not much musically interesting comes out (or has come out for a long time) from Italy… Zu is one of my favorite newly discovered green/white/red bands but aside from them recently this is the only other band I found that was worth listening to.

maybe this is geeky but being able to cross-post to my WordPress blog, my FaceBook wall and page, my MySpace and my Twitter is just about the most satisfactory blog-related thing I’ve ever done! Feel the love!

Just wanted to say hello to all those who have checked out my newly re-designed website or who are following me on Twitter.

Don’t know who the others are because of their Halloween masks, but I recognized Robert Musso jamming in the middle of 10th st and 1st av, with a drummer, a bassist and a saxophonist…

Wow… 2008 was a crazy one and a great one!

I feel bad for not having posted anything to my blog in months (since last April), but that should give you an idea of how busy I’ve been. I’ve been away for a good part of this year on tour and business trips to Austin, Europe, Japan and so on and so forth… Many things have happened so, today, I want to take the time to thank all of those who have made my year special, in the hope that I have contributed some good to their 2008 as well.

John Zorn at the Guggenheim

First and foremost I want to thank my new good friend John Zorn, one of the smartest and most talented composers I’ve had the pleasure to work with. Our collaboration started early this year with his gorgeous album “the Dreamers” and has continued ever since. In 2008 alone I recorded and mixed close to a dozen albums of his. Most importantly though I consider John a dear friend and I look forward to each and every time we get together, whether it’ll be in the studio, live or just for a dinner or a hang. Too bad Tonic is not around anymore, or else I’d know exactly what to do tonight! Dig?

Skuli Sverisson (bass), Lou Reed (guitar), Brad Hampton (tour manager), myself, Laurie Anderson (voice, electronics), Bill Berger (lights/production), Peter Scherer (keys)

In 2008, through John, I’ve also had the pleasure to work with Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed. Laurie is an incredibly talented performance artist/composer/poet/writer/violinist/inventor/sculptor etc… I’ve always had great respect for her and liked her music and her multi-dimensional approach to the arts. I’ve been on tour with her for a few months and never grew tired of her incredibly beautiful, haunting and thought-provoking live show (now that it’s over, I feel bad for anyone who hasn’t gotten a chance to see it). She always smiles and probably is one of the sweetest and happiest people I know. Recording and touring with her and all the great people in the band and in the crew was a great experience and all the traveling and the special moments shared together (we were in Tel Aviv the day Obama got elected) brought us all closer together.  Becoming friends with Laurie and Lou was a treat. We’ve had great times together, on tour and back in NYC (Thanksgiving dinner and all that) and I look forward to spending more time and doing more work with both of them.

Patti Labelle, myself and Liel at EastSide Sound Studios in New York City

Another great artist of 2008 I’ve worked with is Patti LaBelle. Producer Bob Cutarella (whom I worked with on the Les Paul tribute album) hired me to record a duet of Patti and the Israeli singer Liel (also featuring Slash on guitar). Furthermore this year I got to see the reunion of Patti’s group the Labelle at the Apollo Theater on December 19th and 20th, beautifully organized by my promoter friend Massimo Gallotta. A memorable two nights during which the Labelles literally set the Apollo on fire (the first night the sound system just shut off, allegedly due to electrical problems, which is why the show was repeated the following night). I can’t say that I became close friends with Patti or Liel, but nevertheless it was a great experience of 2008. You can also see a video of the recording session here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ8IJliemEo&eurl  

Less than seven hours before 2009 and minutes before my good friends in Europe will pop the cork, I want to thank all the people that made my year special. I am looking forward to find them all again in 2009!

My new year’s resolution is to post in my blog more often which, thanks to the people at Effigent (which as of now allow me to post to my blog from my iPhone), will probably actually happen!

I leave this year behind thinking of my best friends. My thoughts in particular go to Barry and his family.

I wish everyone all the best for 2009: much love, health, success, $$$, satisfaction and everything and more of whatever it is you wish for!

See you next year!