Winter 2007-2008

A belated Happy New Year to y'all. Winter has been dragging on, however Spring is officially only three weeks away, so we cling to hope and the promise of a fresh start. It is hard for me to believe that I left California nineteen years ago. I still dream, with panic, of heavy traffic on the Ventura Freeway on my way to an 8AM downbeat at Disney. The strangest experience I ever had of a dreamlike nature was not a dream, however. It was the day of the 1994 earthquake in Los Angeles. That morning I was driving upstate from Manhattan in heavy snow. News station WCBS in New York was reporting on the disaster and they switched to a direct feed from their sister station, KNX in Los Angeles. Here I was driving in the snow in Connecticut and hearing announcers I knew from my years as a Los Angeles commuter--reports of school closings, power outages, traffic signals out, building and freeway collapses. I miss the place!

Sheri and I, with bassist Otto Gardner, gave a concert in November at the Pittsfield (MA) Library. It was gratifying to have so many turn out, from both New York and Massachusetts, and the event was videotaped for broadcast on the local television station. Sheri has been extremely busy with her Columbia County Children's Vocal Ensemble, a remarkable chorus of kids from ages 8 to 14. She is introducing the children to folk songs, madrigals, classical and modern repertoire. Performing from memory, these children are learning to sight sing and blend, and they love making music with Sheri, who is proving that children respond to fine music. There is no need to condescend to them by "dumbing it down." The concert they gave in January, at the Hudson Opera House, was truly memorable. I was delighted to participate as an accompanist.

Speaking of The Hudson Opera House, it is the oldest theatre in New York State. They have recently received a substantial grant for restoration, and I will be supporting this effort with a benefit concert on Saturday, April 12, at 8PM, my piano recital which I call "Classical Roots of American Popular Music." Please come. It's a two hour drive or train trip from NYC. Call for tickets:  518-822-1438.

California residents should add five hours of flight.

We had a large crowd in February for our cabaret evening at Caffe Lena, a famous folk club club in Saratoga Springs, NY. Earlier that week we had made an appearance on WAMC's Performance Place. Thanks to the power of radio, we packed the joint! The program was "American Snapshots - Two Hundred Years of American Music", based on the TownHall CD of that name.

The following week, I drove up to Manchester, New Hampshire, to give a piano concert at St. Anselm College. I had played there a few years ago and was delighted to have a return engagement. The place was still buzzing from the excitement of the primary. All of the candidates had spoken there, on the same stage where I played. My concert included classical and American light fare, Beethoven, Schubert, Grieg, Joplin, Ellington, "Jelly Roll" Morton, Eubie Blake and others, an emphasis on the Harlem Renaissance which they had been studying. I'm grateful to Dr. James Mahoney for having me back to that beautiful college.

I'll leave you with an amusing image. I played for a holiday party in Brooklyn at the home of Joe Steinberg. Towards the end of the night, as the crowd was thinning out, one voice could be heard loudly singing "I can't get no satisfaction, I can't get no girl reaction" etc. He soon came over, leaned on the piano, and lead everyone in songs of the agonized sixties. I looked up from the keyboard and saw that it was none other than Senator Charles Schumer!

Happy Spring!

Lincoln Mayorga

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