Sometimes feelings overcome the capacity of one’s words.  Writing about the OWCHARUK 5 trip to NYC is like that.  A lot of subtly important things happened that are too nebulous to be succinctly scripted by this somewhat prosaic author. All I know is that it was some kind of turning point for me.

Outside the Local 269

More will become apparent as I ruminate.  Some more apparently things of note: The OWCHARUK 5 played in NYC!!!! Jim got his first vacation in a while, Nate learned to navigate the subway system and a huge portion of the city, Cody and Elsa Nilsson performed their first gigs in NYC within a week of moving there, and Beth made some new friends.  The group bonded as only traveling companions can.  A trip and a completely different setting has a unique concrete that it pours into friendships.  And we played really well!! On Sept. 19 we played at the Local 269 on the Lower East Side.  Decent crowd and some reall

Beth and I performing for my family

y good friends came out to see us.  We had to do our short 45 minute set.  It was good.  No jazz dawdling between tunes.  Bam, bam one tune into the next.  The next night we played out in Brooklyn at a really cool club called Bar 4.  We had some almost serious snafus with both of the clubs.  Everything worked out okay in the end, but I have learned that as far as clubs and bookers go, the grass is not greener on the other side.  The amount of carelessness and disregard for the acts is the same everywhere.  Earlier in the week, Beth and I performed at my cousin’s graduation party out in Jersey.  For the first time a lot of my family got to see what I do.  That was priceless. We will be back.  I am planning a tour on the East coast for the spring.  Thanks to Jim, Beth, Nate, Cody, Elsa, Basil, Robert, Angie, Graham, Xenia (sorry that you had to make that long trip, thank you!), Wasyl, Charity, and my grandparents.  Special thanks to my mom Olena for putting up Jim and me, and for getting that sleeping mat for Nate.  For now, please check out some video from the Bar 4 gig.  This is a segment of Vzyabi ya Banduru, featuring Elsa Nilsson on the flute.