This past weekend Jeannie and I went up to the greater Berne area, in the hills between Albany and the Catskills to visit Kathleen and the kids and participate in a benefit concert in Martin’s honor. We had to get up early Saturday so I could be there for rehearsal. I hadn’t used my rock keyboard setup in a while, so Friday night I plugged everything in and turned it all to make sure it still worked and sounded good, and if I still remembered my way around the controls of my synth. Then I tore it all down, figured out what to pack, and pre-loaded the car.
The rehearsal was at the East Berne Band’s drummer John’s house. He has a nice rehearsal space, set up a bit like mine in that you come in thru the garage and don’t have to go up or down any stairs. I’d met the guys in the band briefly once before, and had been texting and emailing them, so I felt pretty good about the situation. John sent me a list of tunes to learn a few weeks ago, then last week sent me a mostly different list. One thing that was for sure was that we’d be doing two of Martin’s original songs.
The band consists of John on drums and vocals, Dan on bass and vocals, Chris on guitar and backing vocals, Jim on keyboards in the summertime, and sometime vocalist Lorissa, who wasn’t at the practice. They’re all excellent musicians, who sound really good together, and the vibe was very relaxed and friendly. They’re very versatile and can handle everything from the E Street Band to Brittany Spears. We ran thru a good part of the setlist they’d given me, focusing alot of the time on Martin’s songs, which they asked me to sing. Everyone said I sound just like Martin. I guess that’s not far from the truth. I’ve been going over some old recordings we did together and can’t always tell who is singing what part. I was playing sax as well as keyboards and singing. I’ve been playing more and more on Martin’s old sax, a Selmer Mark VI tenor from the late 1950’s and really growing to love it.
After that I went back to Kathleen’s house and hung out with her and the kids. We’re trying to spend some time with them, be more of a presence and get to know them better individually. This time it was mostly Charlie and Abbie I was talking with, with Match interjecting now and then. I also seem to be their dog Gus’s new best friend, having played countless rounds of fetch with him. I spent some time talking with Kathleen’s father Charlie too. We went for a hike later in the afternoon in some nearby woods overlooking the escarpment and, at the furthest point out, offering a scenic view of Albany. Apparently it was one of Martin’s favorite hikes. Kathleen and Jeannie and I went out to dinner with John and his wife Linda, who had been raising alpacas for their wool. Abbie and Ellie and their cousin Bailey came too.
Next morning we spent more time with the kids. Jeannie taught Abbie how to fold Sonobe modules, a kind of geometric origami system that’s very popular. I helped organize some stuff in Martin’s studio. I found a notebook of some of his older songs. He never seemed to write down his chord progressions, but sometimes there were hand drawn tabs in the margins. He liked to explore patterns alot and figure out the names of the chords later. The concert was out at a brewery about a half hour from the house. I got there around 1:30 to set up. The stage was out at the edge of a big lawn behind the brewery, bordered by wildflowers all around. Out in front was a bunch of picnic tables and a shelter. A very nice scene. With four bands on the bill the stage was pretty full: two drum sets, three keyboard rigs, multiple guitar amps. The bass player Dan was in all four bands, so we pretty much front and center the whole time. The first two bands did a mixture of covers and originals, all very good. The overall vibe was a cross between the Grateful Dead and the Barenaked Ladies. I spent the time meeting and talking to alot of Martin’s friends. He definitely made an impact on people. Alot of people seemed to be part of extended family clans, like Martin and Kathleen. Also a whole networked scene of musicians. There was a food truck there that served dumplings. Very yummy.
The East Berne Band went on third, and we started with Lorissa singing, doing a bunch of songs which we hadn’t rehearsed and I didn’t know about. So they called out the key (sometimes) and I followed along by ear and watching the bass player’s fingers. I sang Martin’s songs, One of These Days and Making Miles, and both went well. I almost made it thru without breaking up, but then I looked out into the crowd and there was Jeannie and Kathleen crying. Still, overall a fun and joyous occasion. At the end of our set, a bunch of musicians from all the bands came on stage for an epic jam session to close out the day. Tons of fun. Lots of good feeling and healing energy. I hope they do it again sometime. Meanwhile we’ll be back up there to visit again before too long.