NPR Top 5 and Jah Story

Here are my Top 5 NPR shows:
1) This American Life (of course)
2) Writer’s Almanac (love me some Garrison Keeler reading poetry)
3) Fresh Air (Terry Gross has a sexy voice)
4) Science Friday (Ira Plato tells me about the expansion of the universe)
5) The Leonard Lopate Show (an NYC cultural and current event discussion show. Lopate is a GENIUS!)
If this were a Top 6 list I woud add Performance Today with Fred Child. I’m not a huge classical music fan, but Child is SO enthusiastic about the concerts he airs that it’s contagious.
So last night I went to Jah’s show at a little clothing store in my neighborhood. I brought along my grand jury: both roommates and my friend Katie (Shannon showed up later.) We bought beer at the co-op on the corner and joined the small crowd in the vintage/DIY haven. This is my favorite kind of show- small, intimate, in an unusual location. I used to love to see Calvin play at movie theaters and college rec rooms. The store was painted this deep reddy orange that made the vibe even mellower. Jah is expirimenting with this “everybody is in the band” idea, which means he played guitar alongside a stand-up bass, a trombone, a small drum kit, a slide guitar, and another clicky percussion instrument that was new to me. The concept is that everyone who shows up with an instrument can be in his band for the night. Little Wings and the Microphones also play around with this premise from time to time and I LOVE IT. Even when the sounds are incongruous (sp?) the energy created by so many people listening so closely to each other is incredible. I also love it when musicians have the audience sing or clap a part. The Microphones have this song where the audience repeats the phrase, “I send them off,” over and over while Phil declares that he is through with touching hands and hearts. It honestly feels magical to have the whole room singing in unison, everyone completely together in the moment. Anyway, that was how it felt last night. Big band, small space. Clapping parts for the audience. And Jah’s songs are just so good. This was the first time I had seen him perform (aside from karaoke) and it was amazing. His lyrics are so good, and the arrangements are minimal and true. Clapping my hands, nursing my Red Stripe, I was melting.
The second band was an acappela duet- a boy and a girl. They sang the cutest songs in sweet harmony accompanied only buy taps, snaps and claps. The whole experience made me giggley and glad. My ladies, in varying stages of intoxication giggled with me and took lots of photos and tiny movies. Steve was there and I couldn’t stop giving him hugs. I love that man! Anyway, I was totally crushed out, and Suzy kept advising me. “Offer Jah a beer!” “Tell him he should come over later.” I took her advice, and hours later, back at home, just when I had resigned myself to the fact that he wasn’t coming after all, and Katie and I had fallen asleep on the sofa, there was a light knock at the door. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination, though I will say that it’s been a very long time since I’ve been touched by such confident, competent hands. Hot Damn.
He is a drifter though, and I have no reason to think that I will know him in this context again. He seemed concerned that I might expect more of him, and I found it impossible to express that I would be happier to be his lover than his partner. Even after my Feminist Enlightenment I still get shy when discussing these sorts of things with boys. Dear God, this post is getting deep.
On a different note, I’m nervous about brunch on Sunday. I don’t know a lot of the guests very well, but if they’ve been reading my blog (which I know some of them have) then they know me really well. It’s weird. They have read my embarassing stories and emo ramblings and I don’t even know what some of them look like. Cyber/Real World collisions are crazy. I wonder what it’s going to be like…