The Doorman's Diary 7.27.12

Pleasant breezy Friday eve with front door and windows wide open. Tonight will be pleasant—jazz couple on stage. Singer with incredible voice. When they were getting the mike volume set, she sang “1 - 2 – 3.” Told her, “You can sing from one to 50 and the alphabet, and we’d all be happy.” Her husband is noted and accomplished jazz guitarist who apparently had thoroughly mastered the guitar so he designed and had constructed a three-in-one instrument. Three arms, 18 strings (I think), with bass on the bottom, then guitar, and a mandolin on top. He effortlessly roamed between each layer-cake-stacked instrument—impressive. I think there may be room above the mandolin for a ukulele. I’ll have to start an “Add a Uke” campaign. The crowd was small, because of at least two major events nearby—a big German festival and a gallery night in a nearby arts neighborhood where the artists’ studios, galleries, and two art schools open their doors for the curious public. Gallery night folks who come to the club are in a mooching mode. Filled with free cheap wine, pretzels, and cheese and crackers, they look as though they’ve been asked to explain the chemical structure of matter when a $5 cover is requested. The typical response is “What??” as though they didn’t hear correctly which is followed by a puzzled, hurt look. A couple who had arrived early before the music started was sitting at the bar. When I asked if they planned to stay for the music and then asked for the cover after they said Yes, they got hostile indignant. They demanded to see a written policy and said it’s against the law to request money since they arrived before the show. If I had been thinking, I would have said, “The club policies are all clearly stated and prominently posted outside in back… right above the dumpsters.”