I got my new passport today! So now I have to throw a party.
A passport party.
Mazal Tov. You’re all invited.
Archive for July, 2008
31
Jul
Hooray!!
29
Jul
Good Days Are a’Coming
So, what’s been goin’ on? Hmm. Where to start? Should I just start with yesterday, even though the traditional thing to do is begin at the beginning? Ok. Yesterday we hit the studio in Staten Island, where Yaron Gershovsky was waiting for us so he could lay down some extremely tight, excruciatingly beautiful piano tracks for our new album. I tried, being that we are in the middle of the Three Weeks, to not enjoy it. But it was really something else. He’s a pro. We have had other pianists come in, good pianists, serious musicians, but Yaron comes in and makes it look like a breeze. It was a lot of fun, what could I say. This project is slowly coming together, and the more it grows, the cooler it is.
Then we were done for the day.
Then I high tailed it to Avraham Fried’s studio session, where I participated in laying down some choir tracks for a new album he is working on. That was a ball as well. Hanging with my uncles and cousins, singing together, making jokes, laughing, dancing, singing a little more.
Good times.
Then we went to eat dinner. But you didn’t have to know that.
In other news, I am officially doing my first big east coast shindig. The annual summer Chazack concert, with A Fried, Shlomo Simcha and Dovid Gabay. That is exciting, I’m not gonna lie to you. This is big. So, be there or be somewhere else, but with a good excuse. No bad excuses will be accepted.
Alright. What else is new and/or exciting? We have a bunch of little things planned. We keep coming up with these cute ideas. Oooh, let’s do this, oooh let’s do this. And some of these ideas will one day feel the joy of existing. And it will be a good day.
Until then, I bid you all a good day.
Your devoted and humble online friend
Benzion
20
Jul
Hello World
Wow. So it’s been a while huh. Where does the time go? Wasn’t it just yesterday that it was a month ago?
So what’s been going on? Things have been good? You taking care of yourself? Good.
OK. So we have been hitting the studios pretty hard. Recording, fooling around, just in general having a grand old time. Plus there’s the live shows. We were in Chicago, and by we I mean Benny Marcus, Sha-rone Kushnir and myself. It was a dinner for Chabad of Willmette, although I’m pretty sure I spelled that wrong. It was a very nice party. We sang A Yidishe Mameh, My Zaidy, Learnin’ from the Torah, all the good ones. We were a hit, like Red Buttons liked to say. Then we all got on a plane and flew to S. Diego to participate in the Jewish Arts Festival taking place there. That show was maybe the most fun I’ve had doing a show. It was crazy! We did Around the Year in Song - A Musical Tour of the Jewish Calendar. We sang such classics as Avinu Malkeinu, Dreidle Dreidle, Dayeinu, Forever One, Light One Candle. It was a bag full of fun. Then I was supposed to fly to Israel to record some of the rhythm section for this album we are working on. But unfortunately, there was a problem with my passport, and I had to miss that party. But no worries. Avi Newmark (producer) and Ian Freitor (engineer) went and brought back some money recording sessions. It sounds exciting. The real bummer was that I had to miss a show that weekend in Italy. That would have been sweet, spending Shabbos in Venice maybe, and then going over to Milan for a boat ride between Italy and Switzerland. But I missed it, and I have to thank Daniel Ahaviel for stepping in and doing that show with only a few day’s notice. But the good news is that I got to be in town for Gimmel Tammuz, the Rebbe’s Yahrtzeit. I got to go to the Ohel, the Rebbe’s resting place, and pray for all kinds of good things. Please G-d, (like they say down under) all those good good things will come true, for me, for you and for all those who need good things, which includes everybody, I believe. Amein.
So meanwhile, all this time, while I’m in New York not doing anything else, we hit the studios from time to time. This album is coming together quite nicely, albeit very slowly. But seriously, it’s a lot of fun, as I was sure it would be.
Then I went to Texas for a party. That was nice. Chony Milecki on the Keys, and that’s it. And it was Rock’n'Roll! It was also very hot in Texas, but you knew that already. Then I got back to New York.
Then it was Tuesday. Tuesday was an interesting day. Because at 8 o’clock on Tuesday night, a little boat left the dock at Pier 17 for a trip ’round the Hudson. This particular boat looked much like the other boats on the river that night, only one major difference. This boat was filled with kosher food and three hundred Hasidic men from Borough Park and Williamsburg and some other areas. And there was entertainment. I believe it was the first time this was attempted for this demographic, but I could be wrong. Yehuda Green was off the charts, that’s how good he was. Even the charts couldn’t contain him. Yossi Tyberg was on board. Yossi Zwieg was on board. Shloimy Toisig was on board, and he blew the top off that ship with his vintage MBD renditions. Motti Illowitz was there, High Tech 2000 was there. Gershy Moskowitz wasn’t only there, he was the one who threw the whole party. It was just very nice. And I got very close to the Statue of Liberty. So that was cool too.
And my cousin had a baby boy, so Mazal Tov for that. I don’t know his name yet (the baby) because he doesn’t have one yet.
So, what is on the horizon?
