The Doorman’s Diary: 5.31.14

To welcome the warm weather, the jazz club’s door is propped open when I arrive for the night. The place is empty, which always makes it a challenge at first. The initial couple or group to arrive tend to be naïve to life at night, so they’ll stand near the door inquisitive but fearful. It is so tempting to toy with them. Some night I’ll laugh maniacally and holler to the bartender, “LOOK HERE…OUR FIRST CUSTOMERS IN WEEKS!!” But not tonight. The club starts filling with its wonderful mix of humanity….ahhh jazz…. how it harmonizes the disparate. The quintet was into its Latin version of Mile’s All Blues when I noticed a young couple walk past the front door and warily cock their ears for a listen. With the authority vested in me by the club owner and using my Royal Academy of Doormen training, I motion them to me with a sense of command. They both have tattoo sleeves and notable piercings—she has a septum piercing, he has ear lobe plugs. I say, “Welcome….stop hesitating, you belong here.” They stammer a bit and make motions for their wallets. “Aheh, not tonight…you’re guests of The Doorman, come on in.” From the moment they enter until they leave hours later they are perched on the edge of their barstools enraptured. Live jazz has them captivated. I feel good that I read them accurately: They do belong here.

The Doorman’s Diary: 7.14.12

Magic took place tonight. The vocalist we have tonight was contracted just a few days earlier had to round up a trio to back her up. She did a masterful job of collecting three seasoned pros. Each musician—piano/keyboard, stand-up bass, and drums—are incredible. But the catch… they had never played together as a trio.  What was incredibly impressive was to see them flawlessly play together. I was familiar with the keyboard player since he has filled in with the house band where his talents are clearly restrained. In the trio setting he opened up like an enormous firework filling the summer sky. The bass player had such a competent, round-note sound that I asked one of our regular customers who is an old jazz-music educator and authority to tell me what I was hearing. He explained: “Oh, he’s classically trained and sometimes fills in with the Symphony, in addition to having decades of jazz experience.” No shit, is what I thought. He also said that the bassist is a genuinely nice guy and he’s convinced that really good musicians that are really good people have a way of infusing that positive energy into their playing. I said, I know the keyboard player as a somewhat shy, reserved guy who I think of as being a good guy as well. “What about the drummer,” I ask? He’s known as a superlative jazz drummer… the go-to guy when you need an experience drummer… a musician’s musician, is what he said. The vocalist is an old pro and sounds good, but to be honest the magic took place behind her and when she took breaks to rest her voice. Three top-flight jazz musicians who all are apparently nice guys blending their talents together positively. Total magic.