And we waited...and waited...

Can someone PLEASE explain to me why, with flood and tornado warnings in the vicinity, and predicted thunderstorms for days now, the people at Lincoln Center decided that they would have the hubris and defiance against nature to present an outdoor concert that involved two hundred electric guitarists (yes, that’s right – TWO HUNDRED ELECTRIC GUITARISTS) when a perfectly suitable indoor space was available?

All week, 200 guitarists and 16 bassists have been rehearsing a world premiere of the piece “A Crimson Grail”, written by the renowned composer Rhys Chatham. We rehearsed in a beautiful Catholic Church two blocks from Damrosch Park (the outdoor location for Lincoln Center’s Out-of-Doors Festival), a church that was scheduled to be our “rain date” location.

We arrived at the church today to find out – surprisingly – that the people from Lincoln Center were planning on – and were very confident about – an outdoor performance. So we schlepped all of our gear to the park, set up, sound checked, rehearsed, and it was fantastic. Then we all went to dinner, and it poured. And kept pouring. Thunder and lightning was in abundance as well. And while they had covered our amps with plastic tarps “just in case”, they did not unplug our amps, nor did they move the power strips from the ground. What a recipe for disaster!

So what came next? A concert in the rain that included organum (13th century singing that sounds like heavy metal with voices) and a modern techno/minimalist piece that included “two of my least favorite things: cheap 80s techno and smooth jazz guitar solos” (a quote that was overheard by my husband, and summed up the hour-long piece completely). In fact, they made us – and the audience – wait for two and a half hours before apologizing profusely and promising a “rain check” (no pun intended) on “A Crimson Grail”.

Clearly the audience was there to see us, and Lincoln Center did not come through. When asked about it, I overheard one of the people in charge say that the church would have only held a tenth of the outdoor crowd. OK, fine, a tenth would have made it to hear the piece; but the piece would have been played. All of our hard work would have come to fruition. And a large group of people would have been very happy to have heard it.

I guess I’m missing the point – or maybe I’m not – but the fact remains that NO ONE got to hear the piece, and that is a tragedy in and of itself. Guitarists came from as far as Wisconsin to perform in this…and it didn’t happen? Shameful.

Oh Happy Day! Today was the day we mastered my CD for LateSet Records. (See funny self-portrait with master.) We spent a few hours with the good people at DB Plus tweaking and listening, and the results are fantastic. Can’t wait to share it with you! It’s pretty different from any CD I’ve recorded before, as it’s a little less “fire in a pet store” than I normally play; a lot more “inside”, if you will.

Joining me on this new CD are Michaël Attias on alto and baritone saxophones, Sean Conly on bass, and Satoshi Takeishi on drums. I was really happy to be able to record with them as they are all incredible musicians and incredible people too.

The next step is to get the entire package together. The graphic design is done, and as soon as we agree on an order, we’re good to go. Still, these things take more time when a label is involved, so I’m not sure when the CD will be for sale – either way, it’s going to happen sooner rather than later.

And then there’s the band name: while the CD itself will only say “Amanda Monaco” with no mention of a “band” other than personnel, this project needs to have a name – after all, my original quartet, amanda monaco 4, isn’t going anywhere (even if half the band doesn’t even live in New York anymore – but that’s what touring is for!) – so, after much deliberation, my dear husband Andrey named the new band without me: Deathblow.

Deathblow?

Deathblow. It has absolutely nothing to do with the band. It is not going to inspire me to do weird jazz arrangements of Iron Maiden tunes, for fear of rebuke. (Apologies if I offended anyone who thought that was a good idea. Though, on a tangential note, check out the Iron Maiden album covers with SpongeBob replacing Eddie – now there’s an idea for you!)

Sure, having Deathblow as a name could result in a cool logo; or maybe lead to festivals that wouldn’t notice us otherwise. Or maybe people will just roll their eyes because we’re a jazz band with the name of a metal band. Maybe all of the above.

I haven’t been in a metal band since the 10th grade. We were called Quest, and it involved me and a couple of boys from school with mullets. I had REALLY BIG HAIR, and went through a can of Aqua Net hairspray every week. (I’ll have to find a photo, they do exist somewhere…)

Quest never had any gigs; we just played songs and talked about getting gigs. Then another kid at school put together a 50s-style band that had paying gigs, so I went with that, and the metal band ended. (The hair got a little tamer, too, but was still pretty bad until after college. That’s the 80s for ya.)