Monday Mel

Why stop? We were home, but we still had our NYC energy. The Mel Martin Big Band was playing at Yoshi's Oakland on Monday night. If we could rally in NY, there was no reason why we couldn't rally in Oaktown.

I quick cooked us up some grub (a first in a week) and then headed to Jack London. It was unfortunate, but the club was (eh, maybe) half-full. We were a loud and enthusiastic audience, hooting and hollering for John's local brethren.

At the end of the set, as John was talking to a bass playing friend, arms were waving from the stage (I can't take him anywhere) and John's friends (the drummer and a horn player) were over chatting it up. I had to pull out my "How to Speak Music 101" book to converse with these guys. They definitely speak a different language. Thankfully over the last 20 years, I've immersed myself to become somewhat fluent, but sometimes still need a reference guide.

Example:
yeah man, you were really swingin'!
Translation
I loved what you were playing. You played that swing style really well.

Example:
Yeah, he has great gear
Translation
He has a beautiful instrument, it's a shame he can't play it

Example:
That dude cannot play the spaces to save his life
Translation:
It's a shame that he plays so many notes. Sometimes less is more in music.

And so it went. We were literally kicked out around 10:15, so we called it a night. Early for us NEW yorkers (but it was actually 1:15 NYC time, so we felt okay about it).