I have a riff about meeting today at Bird and Beckett’s Tammy Fortin, a musician who has a day job at the Stanford Museum. I remember meeting her briefly about eight years ago, mistaking her for someone named Anna Lessenger. I am sometimes too open to meeting strangers, which, in this case, drew the attention of a security guard who asked me to leave. Tammy had no recollection of this which refuted my theory that talking to her was what triggered the security intervention.
Ironically, I am composing this whilst parked outside of Campbell recital hall, where a man named Patrick Wolff just led a band; I was fantasizing about hiring him to improvise while someone with a nicer voice than mine red 20 minutes of “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg.
I am leaving the misspelling of the word “red” in reference to having bought a book about Ellen Harper, the mother of the musician Ben Harper, whose grandfather was a communist forced to move from New Hampshire to Claremont or something.
yo or oy, jinx.
edit to add:
Mark Weiss, founder of Plastic Alto blog, is a concert promoter and artist manager in Palo Alto, as Earthwise Productions, with background as journalist, advertising copywriter, book store returns desk, college radio producer, city council and commissions candidate, high school basketball player, and blogger; he also sang in local choir—with Lydia Oey— fronts an Allen Ginsberg tribute, Beat Hotel Rm 32 Reads ‘Howl’ and owns a couple musical instruments he cannot play:
I bought a 90 year old alto sax from an ad in the Los Altos newspaper on Portola Street in Los Altos in 2019 the 250th anniversary of Portola discovering PALO ALTO I spent $250 on it; then I spent a bit more At Lee’s sax works, and then lent it to a musician, who shall remain anonymous here.
more recently, I found a viola abandoned in front of the apartment building across the street, and took it to Larry of PALO ALTO to have it restored.
I bought a banjolele made of steel at Gryphon recently;
At the Gryphons 50th anniversary party while Molly Tuttle was performing I, with the help of Steve Sano picked out a Hawaiian ukulele with Good wood.
I may never remember his name, but the percussionist who performed with throat singer David Hykes bought me in Santa Fe a hoop drum. He performed at first congregation Berkeley a benefit for the Borneo rainforest group, and then I bought it from him game worn as they say.
Someone named honey lum sold me another hoop drum at some tradeshow or fair.
My wife, Terry, bought me some bongos by remo or something. I have a vibraslap, which is the only thing I think I play properly.
I do have a nice cock guitar— what is Apple thinking to substitute or insert that reference?
I bought from Kid Andersen, who was clearing out his closet, and raising cash for a European road tour, an electric guitar, which I intended to gift to a particular blues underdog.
Maybe I should turn over a new leaf and just learn to play music. Ha-ha.
Sometimes I think I should just spend five years reading all the books I buy and never read.
From ages 16 to 22. I wanted to be a journalist and then chickened out. At age 30 I started this concert business. In 2011, and started this blog. Sometimes I think I should just write as the main reason for the air I breathe. I guess this is midlife crisis.
Come by tomorrow at seven to see a Adam Levy.
And1 which today I will call Adam12:
I am pulled over now in front of Windover or Roblé or Arrillaga just to say that I bought an Ahmad Jamal record at boo records in San Luis Obispo I believe it’s called “awakening” and believe that I could do nothing musical but listen to this for six months, and I wonder if I would actually learn about this music other than a kind of like it. I said something similar about ETHAN IVERSON and Keith Jarrett. Like if I did nothing but listen to Keith Jarrett records for three years, would I approximate Ethan’s knowledge. I don’t know why my computer capitalizes his name and sometime capitalizes the name of my city. I don’t know why I leave it. Stet .
Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss 