i'm currently sitting in Los Angeles airport, whiling away the last 4 hours before boarding my flight home. Here are some reminiscences about my time in NY...
Arrived Monday afternoon from Chicago, after encountering all sorts of flight cancellations, re-bookings, delays, and finally a green light to take off. In the end I got to NY at around the same time as the flight they'd originally booked me on! Crazy.
Found Jenny/Juice and Tes's place, and used my new arty-farty brolly to fend off the rain. Just had time for a cuppa tea before heading out to an Irish pub in Manhattan for a session that Tes was playing in. Nice cozy little pub, good music, good beer, good food, good times. Was really great to see them both again, and to catch up on plans, accomplishments, memories and life in general.
Tuesday was a chance to sleep in a little, before braving the chilly breezy spring air to have a wander in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. Not much in bloom, but there was an eerie starkness to the landscape. The cherry blossoms provided a sudden burst of colour and cheer. At this point I discovered the greenhouses, containing tropical and desert plants........and WARMTH!!! yay! I walked niiiiice and slooooooooow to soak up the humidity (my glasses fogged up as soon as I stepped inside!), before braving the outside world once more.
A short stroll home, then we headed out to dinner at a nearby Austrian restaurant - yet another addition to the ever-increasing range of cuisines I've had the pleasure of experiencing on this trip! And stay tuned for even more!! Then it was off into Manhattan for an NYU composers concert. Venue was an interesting gallery (can't think of the name offhand) which I'll keep in mind for my future performances in NY. THe performers gave convincing interpretations, and the program was diverse and bold. An excellent glimpse into some emerging talent!
Wednesday was concert-preparation day, starting with a rehearsal of Nomi's flute duo (with my Bang on a Can flutey friend Jessica Schmitz). It was nice to work with Jessica again, I wish we'd had more time to prepare one of the other cool duos I brought on this tour. Next time, for sure. Allowed myself plenty of time to get in to the city and find The Tank - it's really close to the big Broadway/Times Sq theatre district, which I wasn't expecting at all! Much crowd-battling ensued, until I finally located the venue. It really reminded me of the Metro Arts space in Brisbane - very cute funky little space!
Concert went great, and it was a particularly special night as I got to perform "beautiful//fragment" for Jenny for the first time. She wrote it for me almost 2 years ago, and I've performed it several times since then, but I've always wanted to have her hear it. It was pretty emotional for a lot of reasons, and I felt that it was one of the most 'true' performances I've ever given of this intense and confronting work. Rock on, Juice - thanks for writing such an awesome piece for me.
Post-concert celebrations were held at a Ukranian restaurant (I told you there was more cuisine to come!), and once again I can't fault the food/beer/company in any way.
Thursday was a day of reflection. Felt strange to not have a performance to look forward to, after 6 gigs in 4 weeks. In a lot of ways I was just starting to settle into the travel-gig-rest cycle. But in other ways I was exhausted!! After another nice sleep-in I headed in to the city to visit the Whitney Museum of American Art. Wow, I didn't even know this place existed until Juice and Tes told me about it. Absolutely amazing. I was particularly struck by the exhibit of works by Jenny Holzer. Very bold, confronting, thoughtful, emotional, considered, and totally etched on my memory. It's the first time in a long time (can't remember when) that I've actually been so overwhelmed that I couldn't view every single piece in the exhibit. It was a good feeling to be able to say "ok, I've had enough now" - all in a good way, mind you!
Thursday night Jenny and Tes had organised a little gathering of various friends at "The Cubbyhole". Being the first to arrive I sat in the window with a beer and people-watched for a while. After the intensity of the art museum this was a much needed moment of calm. The bar was in a really lovely little area (The Village??), and was an insanely cute place! Filled with colourful ornaments hanging from the ceiling, daffy duck stools, and a great vibe. The gathering was great fun, and there were several periods when the Americans in our group were outnumbered by Aussies+Brits. Go the Commonwealth! hehehe... everyone was really lovely (as I'd expect any friends of J+T to be!) and I had a great night of relaxing chat and laughter.
Dinner was Indian - and was awesome of course. I love that my friends and family know such amazing places to eat! Thanks guys, I've been really spoilt on this trip!! The walk to the subway was tinged with hilarity as we passed several sex shops. The inflatible sheep was particularly amusing.... and yet also disturbing! Ahhhh good times.
Today was travel, travel, travel. Left the house at 10.30am, subway-subway-airtrain, then flight NY-LA, walk-walk-walk, and now all checked in for my 10.50pm flight to Brissie. Still 3.5 hours to fill in before boarding, and only 30 minutes of battery time left on my computer. agh! Hoping that books, newspaper, dinner and possibly a short snooze will be enough to pass the time.
See you all on the other side of the planet!
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