Kinky Lego Love

Perhaps you or someone you know got Legos as a holiday gift, recently or long ago. Here's construction to aspire to...

RIP Oscar Peterson

Many of our clients including Diana Krall and Herbie Hancock had the opportunity to know and play with the great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson who sadly passed away this week.

In the Nov issue of Jazziz, Krall talked in length about her mentor. Hancock, who's phenomenal duel with Peterson can be heard here, says, “Oscar Peterson redefined swing for modern jazz pianists for the latter half of the 20th century up until today. I consider him the major influence that formed my roots in jazz piano playing. He mastered the balance between technique, hard blues grooving, and tenderness. You’ll find Oscar Peterson’s influence in the generations that came after him. No one will ever be able to take his place.”

A Few More From the Road....

Some more from the Baily/Phillips jaunt...India then off the New Zealand....

Holiday, shmoliday

Happy holidays, whatever your persuasion!

Ben Allison hosts NPR

Ben Allison (on right) played host to NPR's Tom Vitale, who stopped by Ben's West Village apartment this week to interview him for an upcoming profile.

I don't know if Tom ever noticed that just against the wall was a Ben's pet iguana, Clementine. We'll see if she gets an on-air mention.

Roxy and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Yesterday, I took a vacation day to spend some quality time with my 20-month-old daughter Roxy. I always forget how much work it is to spend a full day alone with a toddler and yesterday was no exception. It started when my husband missed his redye flight back to NYC from LA (he arrived at the airport a minute too late) and woke me up at the crack of dawn to tell me the news....Then my daughter was up for the day at 5:35am with a horrible cough that got progressively worse throughout the day and refused to eat anything including my breakfast specialty-- french toast on cinnamon raisin ezekiel --which she normally adores. I then had a doctor's appointment which I had no choice but to take her to. We were forced to wait in the waiting room for an hour as I thoroughly exhausted all efforts to entertain her including the portable DVD player with her favorite Elmo movie and a game of leapfrog on the chairs. As Roxy burst into tears and tried to escape the room, I spotted Candace Bushnell giving me the evil eye and then overheard another woman on her phone "you thought your dog was wild....There is a woman in my doctor's office who can't even control her child." My day was not going well! However, it did manage to end on a high note when Roxy and I had a fun play date at her pre-toddler time class at the Children's Aid Society where she couldn't get enough of the animal cookies! Here she is with her teacher Kim:And here she is again at the top of the slide:

Best Of 2007

Well, it's December and virtually every music blog, online mag and print publication has revealed a "Best Of 2007" list. My Google Reader is packed with these lists - from the underdog bloggers like Pop Tarts Suck Toasted to the big guns at Pitchfork. I felt compelled to get in on the action, so here is my Top 5 Albums of 2007 list:

5. Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab
Ghostface aka Toney Starks is always breathing life into hip-hop with his releases. Full of grim, hard and gritty tales versed over funky and sometimes playful beats, Ghostface has connected the rival schools of the rap world with the best rap album of 2007.

4. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
The much-anticipated reunion of Lou, J and Murph finally transpired earlier this year. 'Beyond' stood up to the hype and then some, solidifying their role as the true kingpins of loud.

3. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Production values alone make this a favorite 2007 release. But have you ever heard a catchier indie-rock album? This is a brilliant studio work with some truly amazing pop songs.

2. Battles - Mirrored
Repeated spins of this album open up remarkable layers of truly unique and inspired music - impossible to categorize but easy to get lost in. Formed by members of math rock heroes Maps And Atlases and Don Caballero, Battles presents instrumental rock in a progressive and, dare I say, funky, new light.

1. Dr. Dog - We All Belong
The best rock record of 2007. Some people that I gave this to dismissed it for being too derivative, for sounding too much like The Band, The Beatles, Beach Boys. Well, it does sound like all three of those bands, but is that a bad thing? And isn't that hard to avoid? This is a genuine record; full of emotion, drunken guitar hooks and incredible vocal harmonies.

2007 was a remarkably great year for new music. Honorable mention goes to Modest Mouse, The Shins, Arcade Fire, Elvis Perkins, Most Serene Republic, Sharon Jones, Feist, Marnie Stern, Radiohead, Levon Helm, Springsteen, Okkervil River, Animal Collective?!?! Wow...What made your list this year?

Where're Nick and Becky?

The photos poured in sans any text from our own Nick Baily, on his world tour/honeymoon with his wife Becky...After a start in London, a road sign in Arabic...a panoramic, rugged, mountainous landscape and then, all is revealed: a blurry map of the Sultanate of Oman. It looks, well, adventuresome to say the least.

YouTube Friday: The Funny and Clever Edition

No commentary needed for this one

First Stop: London

We got the first sign that Nick Baily's off safely on his honeymoon....

Holiday Bash: The Celebs

We wouldn't be here without our clients, and this year as in past ones, we were thrilled that the Slipper Room was filled with musicians. From Philly rockers Marah, to San Fran's deep voiced and soulful singer/songwriter Brandi Shearer, we had a great cross section of the roster. The topper, of course, was the hip shaking performance by fire in his eyes soul star Eli "Paperboy" Reed.

Here's Eli (and thanks, Eli)

Sonya Kitchell and her friend Maya.

Brendan Gilmartin with TH White


Marah with Carrie Tolles (second from left)

Bob Neuwirth and Paula Batson

Brandi Shearer with People Magazine's Chuck Arnold

Our Holiday Party: The Crowd Shots

Once again we were graced by the presence of many of our friends and associates from the music world at our party last night, the people who make it fun for us throughout the year and whose company we look forward especially during this season. Here's just a small sampling of our guests and staff:



Tom Burleigh, Product Manager at Sony BMG International and friend;
Vic Anesini, mastering engineer at SonyBMG; Mandy Eidgah of Legacy
Rebecca and Peter Shapiro

Andy Schwartz, famed publicist Bill Bentley, and me (Mark Satlof)

The invaluable and indomitable Nora Lyons with Rebecca Shapiro

Lawyer Paul Rothenberg with Carrie Tolles.

Boss Sounds' Nell Mulderry, her husband Legacy VP Rob Santos & Me




ESL Records/Thievery Corporation's Matt Whittington with Nick Baily

Megaforce's Missi Callazo (Center) with MCOM's Ric Sherman on right and unknown guest (to me that is) on the left



Cooking Vinyl US rep Jeremy Morrison with Impact Artist Management principle Ed Gerrard.

Billboard's Katie Hasty, Blue Note's Cem Kurosman, and Stop Smiling's JC Gabel

Soon-to-be-at-Lincoln Center's Bill Bragin, JR Rich and journo Dan Ouellette.



Man about town freelancer Jason Buhrmester with Diana D'Angelo.

That Time of the Year Again: Our Party, The Action Shots

Once again Shore Fire staff, friends and family gathered at the LES club The Slipper Room for our open bar holiday party. The turnout last night was terrific, a mix of our record company, management and other industry types, our pals from the Fourth Estate and miscellaneous other hangers on. This post captures a few of the action shots from the night.


Our bartender for the evening...Bruce Springsteen circa 72, anyone?

Shore Fire's Matt Hanks with our Blue Note pals JR Rich and Cem Kurosman

Shore Fire's Carrie Tolles and Matt Hanks, w/ Matt's wife Courtney



Shore Fire President Marilyn Laverty, whose laryngitis forced her to communicate through notes, along with entrepreneur Peter Shapiro (Rebecca Shapiro's husband)



"Make mine a double" - Shore Fire's Diana D'Angelo and Rob Krauser

Meghan Roy and Shore Fire's Abby Johns and Nick Loss-Eaton plan their next move for the evening


Ace freelancer Jason Buhrmester sandwiched between Shore Fire's Brendan Gilmartin and Nick Loss -Eaton.


Goodnight, everybody: Shore Fire guys belly up at the bar. L-R Chris Tallie, Dan the intern, Chris Thieke, Michael Lavigne (in the funny hat), Nick Loss-Eaton, Rob Krauser.

It's a Yo La Tengo Hanukkah

Last Friday, I was at Maxwell's in Hoboken to see a Yo La Tengo show. In an annual Hanukkah tradition, YLT does 8 shows for 8 separate non-profits. The night's beneficiary was our new client, The Ponderosa Stomp, which shines a light on the creators of American music: rock and roll, rhythm and blues, funk, soul, rockabilly and blues.

I'd never seen YLT before and they amazing. What I didn't expect was an encore featuring Alex Chilton and Ponderosa Stomp performer Tammi Lynn (photos by Ponderosa photog Jacob Blickenstaff):





What a treat! Alex covered "Femme Fatale" and nailed a Kinks song. Tammi Lynn sang her heart out on the Irma Thomas classic "Time Is On My Side."

Check out Ira Kaplan's diary of the 8 nights with photos of the Menorah, YLT, Alex and Tammi here.

Only in New York...

Or maybe LA. Brooklyn Heights has been infested with movie and TV crews for years. As far as I can tell they film all the interior courtroom shots for Law & Order across the street from our office in Borough Hall, for example.

But today was a first. All I wanted was my usual mid-day soda and they're filming a movie inside my local news stand. Resulting in an extra block's walk on the nastiest freezing rain day of the year.


NYC, greatest city in the world... but yougottabekidding...

One More For Ike: SXSW 01 Photos

Matt's photo of himself with Ike Turner at SXSW in 2001 reminded me of some others I took around then.

Here's one of Ike w/ Sally Timms and Neko Case. I remember Ike inviting them to sing on his next album. Everyone got a kick out of this roundtable.






Here's a shot of the artist panel, moderated by the inimitable Andy Schwartz.


Not my best moment, but the photo is labeled in my files "Mark/Ike 3AM" so that'll give you a clue.
Here's a bonus shot of Ike with Jimmy Vivino at Ike's Conan O'brien show taping.

Still More Memories of Ike

When I got to the office this morning and fired up the ole’ iTunes, the first song that came up on shuffle was Ike Turner’s version of “Chain of Fools” from ‘A Black Man’s Soul.’ Coincidence?

On a related note, we’ve just started working with The Ponderosa Stomp, a serious contender for America’s coolest music festival, and the last word in unsung heroes of rock & roll. I consider Ike Turner to be a part of that group, and I asked Stomp founder Ira “Dr. Ike” Padnos to put his influence in perspective. Here’s what he had to say:

“Ike was a true unsung hero of rock & roll. Discovering Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, and Little Milton. Recording “Rocket 88,” one of the first rock & roll records. Doing barnstorming sessions with Joe Bihari on [records by] Elmore James, Junior Brooks, Harmonica Slim, and many others. Recording some of the most insane and killer guitar instrumentals ever (his work on the whammy bar on a strat was amazing). He had his own TV show in St. Louis. He cut killer records for Sun, Chess, Federal, Cobra, Stevens, Flair and Modern, all before he met Anna Mae Bullock. He played the guitar solo on Otis Rush’s first record, “I Can’t Quit You.” He had his own legendary label, Icky Renrut Records, (Ike Turner spelled backwards).

Influenced heavily by Pinetop Perkins, Ike was one hell of a a pianist, too. I once watched him spend a few hours rehearsing his band at a juke joint in Clarksdale prior to playing the Sunflower Blues Festival. I have never seen such a gifted musician - jumping on each instrument, showing the musicians exactly what to play. One of the greatest musical displays I have ever seen in my life.

He was a true rock & roll legend.”

CORRECTION: Icky Renrut was an Ike Turner pseudonym, not a record company according to expert Rob Santos.

More Memories of Ike

I had the honor of working Ike’s 2001 album ‘Here & Now,’ and have many fond memories from the time I spent with him. He was always a total gentleman, a consummate professional, and I’d have to agree with Mark’s post below that he was the most appreciative client I’ve ever worked with.

We stayed in touch over the years (he was fond of sending long, inspirational emails) and I ran into Ike - literally, as he was rounding a corner on his way to the bathroom - at a pre-Grammy party in Los Angeles earlier this year. To my delight, he remembered me right away. The next day, and after over 50 years of music-making, he won his first solo Grammy.

Here’s a pic of Ike and me backstage at Antone’s, after his big SXSW comeback performance in 2001. It was the most talked-about show at SXSW that year, and a night I’ll never forget.

Mem'ries of Ike

There's no point, here, to discuss and dissect Ike Turner's complicated personal biography. Suffice to say Ike Turner had a dark side. Perhaps he'd made a deal with the Devil. But most will agree that his musical contributions are both pivotal to rock and roll (thanks Devil!), and somewhat unsung.

I was and remain totally thrilled to have been able to meet Ike Turner, to spend time with him. It's definitely a career highlight for me. We worked with Ike in 2001, during a big comeback year for him -- 50 years after the release of Rocket 88, his "first rock and roll song" contender.

One of my favorite Ike moments took place during SXSW in 2001. Ike had played a triumphant gig at Antones, and afterwards Shore Fire's Matt Hanks and I tagged along with Ike and his girlfriend to an empty catering hall on the outskirts -- or beyond -- of Austin. We'd been taken there by Ike's chauffeur for the week and his wife. Ike held forth over this small group at a long table as top notch soul food came out from the kitchen and classic soul music came out of the speakers. Something particularly funky was on that I didn't recognize, so I asked. It was a Bobby Womack album.

That sparked Matt, who's somewhat obsessed with the mythology surrounding the recording of Sly and The Family Stone's There's A Riot Going On album, to ask Ike a question about it...did Ike and Bobby play, uncredited, on the album? Ike hazily recalled some details of a house in the canyon but not much more. He turned to his girlfriend and they started fumbling with a pocket organizer. The girlfriend dialed her cell phone and handed it over. "Bobby. It's Ike Turner. I'm in Austin. Call me." And on for a minute....Ike Turner leaving a message for Bobby Womack about Sly Stone. Surreal, but so cool, and indelible in my mind.

Ike was great to work with and when people ask who my favorite clients have been, I always think of him. He definitely was the most genuinely thankful artist I've ever worked with...see below "To Mark, Thanks for helping me begin again."

Birthdays: A Twofer

We celebrated Rebecca Shapiro and Nancie S. Martin's birthdays today with a sweet Hagen Dazs cake from our local Montegue St. location, which, parenthetically, is credited as the original outlet of the chain. Wish a Happy Birthday to Rebecca and Nancie, and stay tuned for more photos from our other two parties coming up this week!

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

Last week I found myself in St. Martin (the island so nice they named it after me), doing not much more than watching one gorgeous Caribbean sunset after another, immersing myself in the turquoise sea, and reapplying sunblock. Entirely "luxe, calme et volupté"(it's always a good day when I can quote Baudelaire), and no email. Perfect.
A highlight was reading the international edition of the Miami Herald while overlooking that selfsame sea at breakfast and learning that our client Herbie Hancock had earned a well-deserved but surprising Grammy nomination for Album of the Year for the extraordinary 'River: The Joni Letters.'
Herbie is the master of beautiful stillness. I dialed 'River' up on my iPod and let the music greet the sound of the waves.
I was a long way from Brooklyn.

Memories of extreme nerdiness...

Ages ago I wrote a post in this space after discovering the ascendent trend of nerdcore. Well it seems like the topic's on its way to a wider audience as a documentary about the genre nears completion. That trailer is definitely amusing - mental note to check out the movie when it's done.

But today on youtube I found my latest discovery, and for some reason it's killing me. I admit it, I was a total nerd in the old days. (Cue my office mates saying "What the hell does he mean by in the old days?") Anyways, like any good nerd of my generation the hobby was text-based adventure games.

My folks were college professors so I discovered the mainframe game Rogue first, but like many others my real touchstone was the Zork series of games. Many a late night after my parents had stopped me from banging on my drums I would sit for hours on the "IBM Compatible" machine in the basement trying to figure out the complicated puzzles and challenges, drawing maps, etc.

(PS - at the time I also didn't think there was anything remotely odd or silly about writing songs about the Lord of The Rings. But I digress.)

Well, basically I stopped playing video games completely some time soon after the first generation NES system, but seeing this video brought back memories. A rap about text adventure games -- now here's something you won't catch on Hot 97:



I think many years had blotted the concept of "grue" out of my mind. Heh. Does anyone else remember this memorable opening?

You are in an open field west of a big white house with a boarded
front door.

There is a small mailbox here.

> |

An Interfaith Shore Fire Weekend

How’s this for reaching across the aisle...

On Friday night, November 30, I caught Ween’s mind-blowing show at Terminal 5. Deaner and Gener played for over 2.5 hours! Seeing 3000 people singing along to “Reggae Junkie Jew” was a revelation. I met Deaner after the show and got to tell him about the time, circa ‘92, that I got kicked out of a Ween show at Trenton City Gardens. Something about not being old enough to drink. Feh.

Check out this great pic by Rahav Segev that ran in the NY Times, accompanying Kelefa Sanneh’s review. As the Boston Globe recently noted, Ween’s fog machine is no slouch.

Saurday night, December 1, I saw The Blind Boys of Alabama blow the roof off B.B. Kings. They played a mix of holiday songs and secular and gospel tunes, including their show-stopping version of “Amazing Grace” set to the melody of “House of the Rising Sun.” After nearly 70 years in the band, Jimmy Carter still can - and did - get a standing O for his infectious spirit. It’s impossible to go away from a Blind Boys show anything but happy. Here’s a pic of Shore Fire’s Nick Loss-Eaton (right) and myself backstage with the Blind Boys.

Bell X1, Levon Helm Have The Right Stuff

I love it when clients have something in common. In the case of Levon Helm and Bell X1, they may be far apart musically but they share something else: a relationship to the Bell X1, the airplane that broke the speed of sound in 1947.

In Levon's case, it's purely fictional. Here he is as Captain Ridley in the film "The Right Stuff" (also starring another hero of mine, Sam Shepard):



Bell X1 got its name from said airplane, now hanging in the Smithsonian Institution beside other landmarks of flight:

Pretty cool!

Hilary McRae's Shore Fire Visit

We were all psyched that talented musician Hilary McRae, whose debut album on Hear Music is coming this spring 2008 on the label launched by Starbucks Entertainment and Concord Music Group, stopped by for an office visit during a brief New York trip. Shore Fire's Carrie Tolles and Matt Hanks feted the soulful singer and keyboardist at one of our local faves, the Heights Cafe. Watch this space for more Hilary McRae news...we'll definitely be hearing more from her soon.

Another Great Pie. Oh, Also Matt's Birthday

Here's an action shot from last Friday's celebration of Matt Hank's birthday. Matt picked a food-coma-inducing peanut butter pie. Better yet, he got two of 'em. A big chunk of the second made for great lunch today!

You Be The Judge

Last night I competed in my third TSMMA Challenge of The Champions Tournament.
I've been training in Mixed Martial Arts for 2 years now and my stand up is stronger than my ground game so I wasn't upset that I lost in my first round of grappling. I put on a strong performance.

However, I was upset with the judges decision to call my kickboxing round a draw and then give the extension round to my opponent. Watch the video and you be the judge.


You can't win them all. Onwards and upwards I guess. Osu!

Let's Pardon St. John w/ Cold War Kids

Last Saturday I saw the Cold War Kids play Webster Hall. They played A LOT of new songs from their forthcoming 2008 release - not sure when it is coming out but I am already excited. The set was great and included their signature raucous encore of Saint John. Basically, all their support acts (We Barbarians, Derrick Brown) and friends join them on stage to make as much noise as possible using pots, pans and whatever else they can find. Watch the mayhem for yourself - this is from last April the first time I saw CWK:




Photo Credit:http://www.flickr.com/photos/joyandmisery/2076911583/