1996-11-07 - The first jazz night at the USM Open Mic

Here's a paradox: I don't particularly like listening to jazz--maybe a Thelonious Monk song once in a while, maybe some of Herbie Hancock's more commercial work--but there's nothing I'd rather perform. Ever since I learned my first jazz song (Duke Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," which I actually discovered via a rare Paul McCartney cover), I've been hooked.

I even remember my first real "jazz" gig, such as it was. My chops weren't quite there yet, but it was an auspicious start. The show was a couple months into the USM Open Mic Night, a series I hosted for over two years while I was a student at the University of Southern Maine.

One recurring theme in the series was a monthly "jazz night," where the featured performers were students from USM's music program. I actually conjured up the idea so I would have jazz people around to play with and learn from. The guests for this show, as with many of the early jazz nights, were guitarist Ted Davis and drummer Marc Boisvert. (I don't know what ever happened to Ted, but I think Marc is still around Portland, last seen playing drums with well-known local group Paranoid Social Club.)

As if to reinforce its historic significance, the event was well documented. I had a video camera rolling through most of my set, and a guy from our college newspaper was there taking pictures, reprinted in this post by permission. (That guy, Troy Bennett, is now a real grown-up photographer, still taking great pictures. He's also in a band called The Half Moon Jug Band, which played one their first shows a USM Open Mic Night around 1998.)

Among the songs I played that night was, of course, "Don't Get Around Much Anymore":



It was a long night. First, a solo set on piano:

1. You Should’ve Been a Dancer. The traditional opening number at each of the 75 or so USM Open Mic Nights.
   
2. Just Like Heaven. This song by The Cure was, believe it or not, the theme song at my Senior Prom in 1990.
   
3. Just the Thought of You. I wrote this song in Japan, inspired by a girl I met at a disco in Roppongi, though there's nothing Japanese about it.
   
4. I Don’t Like Mondays. The Boomtown Rats classic, performed more or less the way they did it.
   
5. Beatitudes. It's pronounced "be-AT-i-tudes" not "BEAT-i-tudes." I didn't know that at the time, though, so when I introduced this original song, I probably looked like an idiot.
   
6. New York City Metaphor. The debut performance of one of the first "jazzy" songs I wrote.
   
7. Joey the Donut Jerk. A friend of mine wrote this song about a donut maker who, um, does improper things with the donut batter after hours. And if that's not disturbing enough: it's based on a true story.
   

Then I played a few more on piano, backing a singer named Mary Beth. I think this was one of her first appearances at the open mic, but she ultimately became a regular and sang at many more shows. My notes say that Ted played on these, and presumably Marc did, too:

8. This Masquerade. A smooth jazz tune from the 1970's, best known through cover versions by guitarist George Benson and The Carpenters, who actually started out as a jazz trio.
   
9. Ain't Misbehavin'. Old New Orleans jazz standard by Fats Waller.
   
10. Dream a Little Dream of Me. A tune from the 1930's that resurfaces now and then, like in a popular 1968 remake by Mama Cass of The Mamas and The Papas.
    

After that we went back to a trio, me with Ted and Marc. I picked these songs, a couple of which were odd jazz choices in hindsight:

11. I’ve Got You Under My Skin. I switched to guitar for this Cole Porter standard. Not a common jazz tune, maybe because the chords are a bit bland for soloing.
    
12. Malachi’s Dream. I jammed a couple times around 1994 with a memorable guy named Malachi, who said he'd always wanted a band called "Malachi's Dream. He liked this song, then untitled, so I later named it after him. It's sort of a poppy bossa nova. I quoted a bit of "That’s Amore" in the guitar solo.
13. Chattanooga Choo Choo. OK... weird song choice. Glenn Miller is sort of jazzy, but not exactly hip. Still, one of the first I learned, so I wanted to play it. We veered a bit into country territory as it went along.
    
14. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore. Back on piano for this one, which featured one of my first decent jazz piano solos. (Sound clip above, in case you missed it...)
    

Finally, we closed with a couple of free-for-all instrumental jams:

15. Untitled, or "Something in C." An audience member wanted to play piano with us for a song. We asked him what we should play, and he said "just play something in C." So we started on C, and 10 minutes later, we were still on C. Ten minutes, one chord. Almost like being in The Doors, though at least they used two chords.
    
16. Should I Stay or Should I Go. For our grand finale, photographer Troy Bennett played piano with us. It started out as "Let's do a blues in G," but in the middle I started singing "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash, which just happens to be a 12-bar blues.