July 9th, 2010 – Greetings, all! I wanted to let you know what’s going on in the NAILmusic Universe… The big news is: NAIL will be doing what is perhaps our last show on August 28^th at Benji & Jakes in Kauneonga Lake. After 14+ years, 3 CD’s & countless gigs, I am officially shutting down Neil Alexander & NAIL till further notice. It’s a combination of things: as an artist I have continued to evolve, and I think I’ve outgrown

Neil Alexander & NAIL perform at the BLue Note in NYC

the “keyboards-Bass-Drums” format that has dominated the last 10 years of musical life (it’s certainly served me well). Certainly the lack of an audience is a factor. I’ve also continued to write new material, a lot of it for larger ensembles; plus I’ve been doing a lot of straight up improv gigs (see “Waves Across The Pond” on the blog) as well as solo performances in acoustic, electric & electronic formats. When it comes down to it, it’s simply time to move on for the moment. I’m also working though some ideas about different types of instrumentation and piecing together a new picture of what the group could be should we have another go… Meanwhile, NAIL remains a linchpin in my musical evolution. My sincere thanks to all who have participated.

Some of the great musicians with whom I’ve shared the stage with in NAIL have been:

Drums: Nadav Zelniker, T Xiques, Amit Shamir, Scott Morehouse, Mike Bram, Dean Sharp, Steve Sacco, Gregg Brendian, Peter Obrien, Costa, Rafael Figueroa

Bass: Charlie Kniceley, Steve Rust, Keith Macksoud, Jim Cammack,, Dan Asher, Lew Scott, Dave Hofstra, Joe Pelletier. Robert Kopec, Rene Hart.

Guitar: Dan Johanson, Marshal Woodall; Ryan Ball, Ken McGloin, Burr Johnson, Chad McLoughlin, Matt Finck, Joel Newton.

Horns: Norbert Stachel, Erik Lawrence, Premik Russel Tubbs, Freddie Jacobs, Joe Gil, John Richmond, James Delano, Steve Frieder.

Chris Hanson & DJ Wavy Davy have played turntables with us, and video artist David Resnick has tripped us out. My apologies if I missed anyone – send me an email.

You are all wonderful artists and humans and I thank you for sharing your talent, time and energy with me and with NAIL.

What’s next for me, you might ask? One of the things I’m now focusing energy on is: Solo performances and House Concerts. Read my blog post about that here. Other interesting projects are popping up, like my silent film series “Scene ReSeen”.

And so we go, ever onward, to the next and the next and the next, keeping the creative flame burning…. See you at the shows. 

So here we are: 2010. It’s been a wacky ride, especially the last few weeks! I’ve been so busy with gigs now (thanks heavens!) that I can’t see straight. My “Year end wrap up” post never actually materialized, but at some point I will touch on the things that started last year and are starting to flower and bear fruit this year. Things like “The Mahavishnu Project” – which is picking up steam in a subtle and most interesting way. But I digress – and I’ll come back to this with pix, video, and a story to tell. Promise.

This post is about looking forward – to possibilities, and to the future of Live Music. It’s about bringing music right to you, the listener. That’s right, I’m taking about House Concerts. Starting this year, I will be embarking on a new path: Solo House Concerts.

Concerts in Your Home.

I’m sure most (if not all) of you have heard of this delightful phenomenon. Basically what it means is that A performer, one who’s music you’re interested in, comes to your house and does an intimate semi-private performance for you and your friends. People can bring food (ranging from snacks to a pot-luck dinner); it can be a cover charge or suggested donation. (I have to cover costs, and these will vary by location.) The important thing is everyone gets to have a meaningful musical experience – up close and personal, both for the fans and the artist. Basically, everyone wins!

Some great info about the House Concert ideology and how it works can be found Here:

Steve Lawson’s Excellent Page: http://www.stevelawson.net/2009/03/house-concert-hosting-a-beginners-guide/

Gaia Consort: http://gaiaconsort.com/house.html

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_concert

At this time, I’ve yet to do a solo performance (in someone’s house, that is – I’ve done tons of solo gigs at traditional venues), so I’ve no video to post at the moment. I am setting up a local performance for recording so you can see exactly what I’m offering, from setup stills and live video. But till then, here’s a brief description of what I do, especially for those coming to my music for the first time:

I am a jazz pianist and electronica artist. What I’ve done is combine these 2 styles into something unique; something that blends jazz, rock, electronics, funk and ambient music into a seamless blend. My music is both composed & improvised; I perform a combination of familiar jazz standards with a twist; gentle ambient electronica improvisations, and a variety of combinations of all the aforementioned styles.

I will bring  an ever-so-small electronic setup to your house. If you have a piano (and it’s a reasonably good instrument and in tune), I can use it along with the electronics – or keep it straight up acoustic if you prefer. I have my own style at the piano (somewhat along the lines of Keith Jarret and Bill Evans, with a modern classical vibe thrown in). In addition to standards and improvisations I also do select classical works – Gershwin, Bartok, Mozart etc. Stuff I’m SURE you and your friends will enjoy.

I will have some video to post soon, of both my electronic, acoustic, and “electro-acoustic” material. Meanwhile, I have a whole bunch of stuff that you can look at to get a better idea of what I’m about, at my YOUTUBE page.

I will be in the Los Angeles Area at the end of July and currently have an open date on July 23rd. Hit me up on twitter (@nailmusic) if you’d like to set something up!

Also wanted to mention that my group NAIL – in either acoustic or electric form – is also available for House Concerts, although we’d need a bit more room (and a bit more money…).

Here’s my group NAIL performing at our first house concert in May 2009:

So – stay tuned for an actual House Concert Page to be posted on this site with vids, booking info, contact form, etc.

Thanks for looking. I agree with the current sentiment that House Concerts are indeed the way forward.

Many thanks!

Everyone loves a good story, right?

This all started back in the summer of 2008. That was when I began to hear about the “Hudson Champlain Quadracentennial Celebration” (from now on called the “Quad”) – the 400^th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s historic voyage up the river that bears his name.

It was around this time that Betsy McKean, a very charming and wonderful person who works in the City of Newburgh records office contacted me about how NY State was promoting this event. There were going to be available several “Mini-Grants” for folks wanting to do an event connected with the Quad. Whether it’s a historical event, or an art show or almost anything – money was going to be available.

She gently (and quite correctly, as we shall see) insisted that I apply. I then had to come up with an “event” related to the Quad, and one that could be funded. (A concert! Of course!) It was then I got the idea for a sort of “400 Year Musical Journey” (although it wasn’t called yet). But Betsy and I discussed the possibilities, and she even helped me research a few things on the net. It was conceived as a way to treat NAIL as a a semi-classical ensemble, which has been one of my intentions from the start. (NAIL is registered as an Ensemble with Chamber Music America.): NAIL as a true 21^st century group, doing festivals, clubs and concert halls.

As someone who grew up around the Hudson River, it was always a presence in my life. I live within site of it now; all I have to do is walk 20 feet to the corner and look down the hill. I had even already written a tune, called “(At The) Water’s Edge”, which is the feeling of joy I get from doing outdoor concerts near the river. Yay.

So the paperwork was submitted, the idea finalized and filed away, nearly forgotten. And then, the little miracle: Application Accepted! I guess this means I had work to do.

More thinking & researching… I wanted to do an outdoor concert at one of the oldest intersections in Newburgh, where the two first main streets crossed – Liberty & Broadway.

View Map

There are 2 empty lots on 2 of the 4 corners. But the ownership of these lots was in question, so I turned my attention elsewhere.

Meanwhile, I got an email from one of our many Art “organizers”. There are a lot of artist trying to make a dent in the apathy of this town, and one of those methods is “4 Citys/4 Saturdays”. The 4 citys are Poughkeepsie, Beacon, Kingston & Newburgh. In Newburgh it’s known as the “River Artwalk” (Newburgh has no discernable center of town – it was bulldozed in the 70’s.). Artist/Photographer Tom Knieser is one, and it was from him that I first heard of “River Day” (June 6^th 09) and and open call to artists to come down and set up by the river. I contacted him, and he put in touch with – that’s right – Betsy McKean. A price was agreed upon, and NAIL would perform for around 2 hours that day. It was a great show!

Then as you well know, Life happens. Next thing I knew I was knee deep in “Vishnufest” with the Mahavishnu Project. So it wasn’t until the end of July that I began to work in earnest on the “400 Year Journey”. But all things are interconnected…

Having known violin luminary Zach Brock for about a year, through the MahaVishnu Project, I had been trying to figure out a way to get him onto a NAIL gig. Well, here I had the perfect situation. Violin would add tremendous sonic character and authenticity to what I was trying to accomplish. (Besides, we’re funded.) So Zach was hired. I next turned to my old friend Erik Lawrence, but scheduling conflicts made that impossible. So I contacted another member of the MP, someone who among his many, many credits had actually toured with McLaughlin- reed and woodwind master Premik Russel Tubbs.

With these two cats in addition to Nadav Zelniker and new bassist Dan Asher, I now had a stellar band. I then made final music choices, starting with music of Thomas Ravenscroft, a British composer from 1609. I worked the format out – it was to be 2 sets; the 1^st set would go in 100 year intervals: 1609, 1709, 1809, 1909. After intermission, we would pick up the pace, as music evolved faster, and jump to 20 year intervals: 1929, 1949, 1969, 1989. We would end with 2 of my original pieces, representing 2009.

Now I had the group, and the program concept. I needed a location. And one of my favorite spots in Newburgh is the Newburgh Free Library. It’s a massively wonderful place, and I’m very good friends with a lot of the librarians, especially the wonderful Chuck Thomas (on twitter as @infocowboy – stop by and say hello.) I keep trying to get them to put a cot in the basement for me, so I can live there. BUT ANYWAY…

Because we are funded, the kind folks at the NFL were all too happy to allow us to perform at their location. The outside spot – in front of the Library – forms a natural Amphitheater and is a great place to play. And – if it rains, we’ll use their indoor presentation room. All bases covered.

Then the music began to really fall into place: Bach in 1709, Duke Ellington for 1929, The Beatles for 1969. 1809 was the year Beethoven’s 5^th piano concerto was completed and premiered; this was one of the 1^st pieces I fell in love with and learned at the piano so it was a shoe in. 1909 was chosen as “The Birth of the Blues”; 1949 finds us in Bebop territory, with a glance at early country music a la Hank Williams. I spent 2 weeks arranging the material and writing scores and parts, which I haven’t even quite finished as of this writing. I wanted to represent 1989 with Hip Hop, and one of my former students is a rapper and stepped up to the challenge.

But wait – here’ where it gets really interesting….

I got an email about 2 1/2 weeks ago (more? Less? Hazy) from Clayton Buchanan, one of the Newburgh Artists mentioned earlier. Apparently a certain painting of his won an award at a Kent, CT. art show. The reason I got the email was because the painting was of….me. ME? How could this happen? Well, remember “River Day”? Clayton was there, taking photos. He was moved enough to create this painting, of yours truly:

Then another extraordinary thing happened (that’s 2, if you’re keeping score at home): A friend, fan and supporter named Mark Delano (@mark_delano on twitter) bought the painting with the intention of semi-permanently lending it to the Newburgh Library. Naturally it was decided that the painting would be “unveiled” and presented to the Library during our show’s intermission. Mark’s also been a tremendous help with the press, writing press releases and contacting local print and news media. I can’t thank him enough.

So now we’re a little more than a week away from the show. The last piece fell into place with a Hip Hop piece about the history of Hip Hop written with rapper Tell-a-Vizion. I still have a few charts to finish and my own press to do (i.e. this post). I’m still working on bits of the sound system (we need monitor wedges, for example), but it’s just about all come together. All that remains is the show itself! And yes – we’re working on streaming it on the web at our NAIL ustream page. I just have to get my hands on a camera…!

To learn more about this event, check out our news page at All About Jazz, or read one of Mark Delano’s Press Releases.

So – that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. I’m enjoying the ride. It’s even possible that there will be money left over for me. I think that was part of the idea…

Love ya’s – take care of yourselves. Perhaps we’ll see you at the show. It’s not one to be missed IMHO.

So – I did say I was going to write a post about playing the music of John McLaughlin, and all that that entails.

Well…..this isn’t it.

However, I wanted to – for the sake of those who are fans and cannot attend (or can and want to know what to expect) – post the complete list of material we will be performing over the next 2 nights. Once again the venue is:

Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St, New York, NY

Shows 1 & 2 are tuesday night (tonight!) and show 3 is wednesday night.

So, without further ado, here are the set lists for this year’s VISHNUFEST.

Show 1: The John McLaughlin Songbook – Before & After Mahavishnu.
Extrapolation
New York on my Mind
Guardian Angels*
Do you hear the voices?
Electric Dreams
Freindship
Devotion

Special: SUITE FOR CHOIR:
I Am My Beloved’s
One Truth
Law Is Not Love
God Then, God Now
Name of Truth
Walk

Show 2: BEST OF MAHAVISHNU
Birds Of Fire
Miles Beyond
Celestial Terrestrial Commuters
You Know You Know
Vital Transformation
Dance of Maya
One Word
Meeting of the Spirits

Show 3: RETURN TO THE EMERALD BEYOND
(-includes String Quartet, Premik Russel Tubbs on sax/flute and Melissa Stylianou, voice)
Eternity’s Breath
Lila’s Dance
Can’t Stand Your Funk
Pastoral
Faith
Cosmic Strut
If I Could See
Be Happy
Earth Ship
Pegasus
Opus One
On The Way Home To Earth

And there you have it! Hope those of you in the area who like this music can make it – you won’t be disappointed.

Love to you all –
- Neil

Hello…..!

Hudson Valley Press Online just posted this article. Nice!

http://www.hvpress.net/news/122/ARTICLE/4095/2008-04-23.html