Greg's Excellent Seattle Adventure
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 19:20:37 -1000 (HST)
From: Gregory B Beuthin
Subject: Notes On Seattle [long]
To: a-jazz-l@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu
Intro: Seattle is nuts - at least coming from Hawaii. Nose
rings and tattoos are de riguer. Espresso is so popular you
can get a cup of java at a gas station or even in a grocery
store. (I once asked for a regular cup of decaffinated coffee -
they looked at me and said "We are sorry. We don't make drip
coffee." Makes perfect sense if you think about it.) They are
very serious about their beer too - every bar I went to had good
beers as well as the Bud and Coor crap. I was in heaven at the
Dubliners - a pitcher of Stout. :-)
ANYWAY.... Back to the music.
Wednesday, May 11: The Hip Swing (opening night) at And the
Weathered Wall ($4).
Interesting night. Upstairs they had a really good (eclectic)
live jazz group. From what I understand, they were a bunch of
different artists from different bands just jamming together
under the name Manhog. Really good, aggressive and powerful
jazz. Artis the Spoonman (of Soundgarden fame) jammed at the
opening night too. Now if you want to see a real incredible
artist, check him out - any street fair, he'll be there (he
hangs out at Pike's Place Market too.)
Downstairs was a setup I've heard of, and seems to be getting
quite popular. A DJ spinning records while other musicians
play along. The regulars, if I've got it correctly, are the
two horn players from Hungry Young Poets. A drummer played
along for a while, which was cool, but there was a guy who
played two congas which kinda messed things up. He was allright,
I suppose, but he was minutely off on the beat, and he wasn't that
clean, so it turned the assorted beats into a wall of noise.
Then again, maybe I'm too harsh. I think he was playing too
complicated a rythym, too fast for his own ability. The first
DJ (Quest?) was mellow and jazzy, and the second DJ (Donald
Glaude?) was a lot more "housey."
Cool tunes, cool concept - I liked the fact you could go and
chill out upstairs. Problems - I've never, *never* had so much
broken glass and beer underfoot. People carry bottles onto the
dancefloor (that's usually not allowed over here), and drop
them everywhere. When I went back Friday night it was even
worse. Sticky floors and glass shards in your shoes.
Cool crowd... conciously cool, but not too bad. Pretty white
and hetero - for those of you who care. The people downstairs
seemed more ravers, the people upstairs more "chill-ers." Then
again, this is all IMHO, and doesn't really matter - just if you
care.
Friday, May 13: The Herban Tribe and others at Flowers ($4)
Flowers is a cool little bar two blocks away from where I was
staying, on University and 43rd NE. Herban Tribe is a good
band that features a reggae'ish singer who plays wild guitar
without changing his expression, a flute, bass, a West
coast style rapper, and a percussion man (timbales and
congas). They were phat and had a varied sound. The flute
was cool. They played a short set, and then DJ Hebegebe and DJ
Funky Nasir took over. Mellow vibe, funky house and cool
stuff. The people were allright, and the music was uptempo.
This one guy exploded and starting shouting at this woman - and
the music died instantly. When they finally got the guy out,
Funky Nasir played a track by Tribe Called Quest ("check
yo'self" or something - about people chilling out and not being
dicks). Very well handled - and clearly showed what kind of
vibe they were going for. Nice, small, not pretentious, and
people don't look at you funny if you dance on your own. I
recognized Stereo MCs and Urban Species (instrumentals
unfortunately).
Saturday, May 14: Lemon Twist at And the Weathered Wall ($6)
This is the big night. Heavy house downstairs (with a big
black guy with an afro dancing onstage in jockey underwear.
Beats anything they have over here - at least in the straight
clubs. ;-)) Upstairs it was DJ Funky Nasir again with his
posse. I thought I was in heaven - I never thought I'd hear
"Masterplan" over pumping speakers in my life. The night
unfortunately did not get better - It's kinda awkward dancing
on your own with everyone looking at you, especially at the
beginning of the night - but that's about the only time there
is plenty of room. It is definitely more of a pick-up night
than Wednesdays, and the crowd reflects a well-pruned conciousness.
Beautiful people abound, if you are interested in checking them
out. However, between the broken glass and beer on the floor,
and these two jerks sitting down grabbing women as the walked
by and doing this whole "Hey baby" macho sh*t, I was getting
pretty irritated. But the music was definitley one of
the best mixes I heard while I was there. Other than
"Masterplan", I heard more Stereo MCs, Tribe Called Quest, Break
for Jazz, a remix of D-Influence's "Good Lover" (different from
Rebirth of Cool), lots of flute house jazz and other good stuff
I didn't recognize.
Wednesday, May 18: Dance Around this World at the Re-Bar ($3)
This club is the shit. Well, let me explain why. Firstly, don't
expect a bunch of souk, soca, hi-life, salsa and mambo. DJ Riz
spins house and jazzy tunes, and some remixed world music - but
you can't tell. Re-Bar is a gay club, but the sign
on the door says: "This is a mixed club. Gays and Lesbian
welcomed. Bigots stay out." Well, they did. The vibe here
was the best I've ever seen. The best racial mix I've seen in
years, and that includes here in Hawaii - but even better, there
were absolutely no color barriers/ blinders. Everyone was chill,
and people were not necessarily there to pick others up. People
were there to chill on others and the vibe, not on themselves...
if you know what I mean. The crowd was definitely more hetero
than anything else, but it wasn't aggresive or anything. There was
also this older couple, fully granola semi-hippies, just
grooving (he had a shirt on with "Sexy Feminist"... :-)) The
music was good - DJ Riz played more "vocal" tracks, lots of
interesting "world" house, and hip-hop vibes as well as the
jazzy tunes. I recognized a remix of "Be Thankful for What
You've Got" by Massive Attack.
Friday, May 20: Mocambo Lounge at Re-Bar ($4)
This is touted as the Acid Jazz night. They even have cool
free '60s record cover look-alike postcards that advertise
the night. It also advertises hip-hop and rare grooves.
Lots of everything - including people. A helluva lot more
people than Wednesday nights, and more of a pick-up joint
again. The bigots tend to stay out, but it's definitely a
"scene" (for those who care). Again, the racial mix is
better than the Weathered Wall IMHO. DJ Riz was spinning
some heavy shit - Carlene Anderson's "Nervous Breakdown",
MC Solaar's "Bouge De La", a set from Stevie Wonder, new
Arrested Development, Tribe Called Quest, ONYX and Queen
Latifah. And NO BEER ON THE FLOOR. ;-)
Finally - honorary mention - we were too burnt out to check it out (you
think Acid Jazz is the *only* thing I do? ;-)) Check out MOE's on
Sundays - DJ Funky Nasir hosts a mellow jazz funk and acid jazz night.
Don't know the vibe, don't know the prices.
Well, that's the nightclub scene in Seattle as Greg sees it. Basically, I
enjoyed everything, and please don't get me wrong when I say
that the people were self-conciously cool or something. We
are, after all, about doing what you want. :-) That's just
not me. Next - the music (purchasing) scene, and questions.
Greg "Boyteen" Beuthin | Respect.... ___ Keep
(gregbb@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu) | / | \ the
Social Sciences Computer System | DJ Billingsley | /|\ | vibe
University of Hawai'i at Manoa | ThePhatJazKat \/_|_\/ alive
