Thursday, September 30, 2010

September Thirtieth, two thousand and ten

D lovelies

First off we have a bit of news. Karaoke on Thursday nights is on a hiatus. In the meantime we are going to hold a percussion jam, starting tonight. We've rounded up some great local drummers, including Mohammad Alidu, Alejandro Costano and Ben Long. This is an open session, which means you are welcome to join the fray. (Note, when we say "the fray" we don't mean "The Fray". This is not likely to confuse too many of you, but, as some of you old timers may remember, The Fray played a few of their first gigs in our room.)

Friday we have the next installment of our Art Walk. We have Matt Reniker and Matt Kirk up currently. Matt Reniker's work was brought to us by Moses, of The Clamdaddys. Matt Kirk's work was introduced to us by Zebra Junction. Come check it out, along with the artwork displayed in the rest of a revitalized Olde Town. At 5pm we have Cody Crump playing. This kid is remarkably good. At 7pm we have the FTP band. FTP's Steve Werge's is VP of Colorado Music Business Organization (COMBO) and has been bringing us some great music showcases on Tuesdays this last year, so it will nice to hear his band for a change. At 8:30p we have a new country-ish band THE MCCRAE. This band won Best of People's Fair this year. Come hear why. Then 10:30p we have the awesome Jonny Barber and The Rhythm Razors. Jonny Barber has played the D Note as Velvet Elvis a few times. Always entertaining in any guise. Plus, one of the hottest bass players you will ever see. $7

Saturday evening, at 6pm, we have something unique. Emerging Latina/Indigenous Composer and Saxophonist Asia Fajardo-Wright is debuting her show Omecihuatl Rising, A tribute to the Divine Feminine. Omecihuatl Rising consists of three works. These works utilize cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural improvisation fused with experimental musical
forms. That is, Fajardo-Wright has infused dancing, painting, symbolic staging, and world percussion into her musical compositions.We love having these one of a kind theater works at the D Note. Please come support. $8.

Saturday night at 8pm we have more unleashed creativity. James and The Devil is back with Denver Creative Movement. James And The Devil is a great band, perhaps even The Fray of tomorrow. Denver Creative Movement is a local collective that gathers in the name of expression. Tripsin Effect and North! to Nowhere also playing. There will be live painting at this show too. $5

So there you go, another fun-filled weekend brought to you by the letter D.

Ever,

D termined

Extra Credit: Poet and friend Michael Gizzi died a few days ago, age 56. Here are some haunting lines from his book My Terza Rima, shared with us by the poet Karen Weiser, via Facebook.


I often start over
in a dark wood
the door in the cloud

is not heaven
as newly dead
perhaps I'll become

a dream just night

Thursday, September 23, 2010

september twenty third, two thousand ten

D spectacled,

"Bowling for dollars has always been a treat." This is a quote from a recent interview of Robert Plant on NPR. We found it recounted in the New Yorker and, improbably, relay it here for you. We don't know what it means, exactly, but we like the sound of it. It is a treat.

Speaking of treats, Friday night we start off with our free Friday Afternoon Concert featuring J.T. Nolan at 5pm. Nolan is a song and dance man who has been entertaining us with his brilliance for awhile. We are really glad to have him back.

At 7pm Friday we have with a fundraiser to perpetuate culture through a Polynesian organization called FiaFia (Samoan for happiness). Several Hawaiin musicians will sweep in some aloha spirit, like a trade wind. $10 suggested donation.

At 9pm Friday we have a couple very cool indie rock bands, Pez and SuperSeed. $5.

Saturday we have our annual benefit for the Denver Family Institute. Silent Auction. Live Music. Auction opens at 4pm. There will be entertainment for the kids early and then Clusterfunk takes the stage at 8pm. $10-$20 suggested donation.

A reminder that we have plenty of opportunities for all of you performers. We have open stage hosted by Jay Ryan on Monday nights, and if you lean toward the blues, then The Clamdaddys would love to have you sit in on their jam on Wednesday nights.

Ever,

D minus

Extra Credit: Here's a fro of a poem by Allison Joseph.


Thirty Lines About the Fro

The fro is homage, shrubbery, and revolt—all at once.
The fro and pick have a co-dependent relationship, so
many strands, snags, such snap and sizzle between
the two. The fro wants to sleep on a silk pillowcase,
abhorring the historical atrocity of cotton.
The fro guffaws at relaxers—how could any other style
claim relaxation when the fro has a gangsta lean,
diamond-in-the-back, sun-roof top kinda attitude,
growing slowly from scalp into sky, launching pad
for brilliance and bravery, for ideas uncontained by
barbershops and their maniacal clippers, monotony
of the fade and buzzcut. The fro has much respect
for dreads, but won't go through life that twisted,
that coiled. Still, much love lives between
the two: secret handshakes, funk-bottomed struts.
The fro doesn't hate you because you're beautiful.
Or ugly. Or out-of-work or working for the Man.
Because who knows who the Man is anymore?
Is the president the Man? He used to have a fro
the size of Toledo, but now it's trimmed down
to respectability, more gray sneaking in each day,
and you've got to wonder if he misses his pick,
for he must have had one of those black power ones
with a fist on the end. After all, the fro is a fist,
all curled power, rebellious shake, impervious
and improper. Water does not scare the fro,
because water cannot change that which is
immutable—that soul-sonic force, that sly
stone-tastic, natural mystic, roots-and-rhythm
crown for the ages, blessed by God and gratitude.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

September sixteenth, two thousand ten

D vine,

Has anybody seen a dog dyed dark green? About two inches tall with a strawberry blonde paw, wearing sunglasses and a bonnet and designer jeans with appliques on it? If so please let us know. Her owner is very worried and is offering a large reward of five dollars. Five dollars is not so large, but the afro that the artist has drawn upon Lincoln's head on this particular five dollar bill is ginormous.

Now, for the weekend. Our Friday Afternoon Concert commences at 5pm with one of our all time favorite chanteuses, Melissa Ivey. Free. At 7. You will be charmed. Possibly even moved.

At 7pm Friday we have a local band, Ironwood Rain, with musical ties to both the harmonies of CSN and the bounce of Jack Johnson. $5.

Then at 9pm Friday we have the gorgeous Zydeco R&B of Curley Taylor and his band, who have come all the way from Louisiana. Great music to dance your cares away to. $15. Sponsored by Colorado Friends of Cajun and Zydeco.

Saturday we start off with Zumba at 10:30am. Great way to get in great shape while having a great time, greatly.

Then at 1pm another great big band jazz group, Sentimental Sounds at 1pm. We have three big bands making regular rounds to the D Note and we just think that's just amazing. Come dance, or just listen. Free.

At 4pm Saturday we have the Music Train Family Concert Series which features a cat named Monte Selby. Here's what the Music Train website says about him. "Monte Selby is a songwriter with over 100 published songs for adults & kids. As a recording artist with MDM Records, Nashville, his CDs include legendary and Grammy-winning musicians, songwriters and producers. He loves helping all ages of learners, has a Doctorate Degree in education, and is the co-author of eight books. Selby’s comical performances leave audiences laughing, singing, and applauding across North America and Europe. Music Row Magazine describes his songs as “a delightful variety” - “funky” - “astonishing” - “Wow”!"
Wow. $7 adults/$3 kids

7pm Saturday is a local HS rock band with a lot of energy and drive called Synergy. $5 adults/$3 kids

8:30pm Saturday is a local blues rock band called Blind Child. $5

And 10pm-midnight we have a couple good heavy rocking indie bands, Finding Nowhere and Gang Forward. $5

For Sunday we should remind you that we have Mello Cello Brunch from 11am-1pm with beautiful live cello music by Monica Sales, excellent breakfast pizzas, and bottomless mimosas and bloody marys. We should also remind you about our unique baby boogie from 2-6pm: bring your kids to hang out with other kids while you eat and drink and be merry. Aaand we should also remind you that we have one of the best salsa nights in the world on Sunday nights with lessons starting at 8pm and a band at 9pm.

Next Tuesday is Adam DeGraff's birthday party at the D Note and to celebrate he will be playing his songs in rotation with some of his very favorite favorite local songwriters, Melissa Ivey, Tony Medina and Mike Whalen. Adam wanted us to let you know that he really hopes you can make it. 7pm. Free.

So much to choose from!

Ever on,

D splay

Extra credit: Here's a nice example of the intricate and inimitable way poet Paul Muldoon's lyrical mind works...


A Hare at Aldergrove

A hare standing up at last on his own two feet
in the blasted grass by the runway may trace his lineage to the great
assembly of hares that, in the face of what might well have looked like defeat,
would, in 1963 or so, migrate
here from the abandoned airfield at Nutt's Corner, not long after Marilyn Monroe
overflowed from her body stocking
in Something's Got to Give. These hares have themselves so long been given to row
against the flood that when a King
of the Hares has tried to ban bare knuckle fighting, so wont
are they to grumble and gripe
about what will be acceptable and what won't
they've barely noticed that the time is ripe
for them to shake off the din
of a pack of hounds that has caught their scent
and take in that enormity just as I've taken in
how my own DNA is 87% European and East Asian 13%.
So accustomed had they now grown
to a low-level human hum that, despite the almost weekly atrocity
in which they'd lost one of their own
to a wheeled blade, they followed the herd towards this eternal city
as if they'd had a collective change of heart.
My own heart swells now as I watch him nibble on a shoot
of blaeberry or heather while smoothing out a chart
by which he might divine if our Newark-bound 757 will one day overshoot
the runway about which there so often swirled
rumors of Messerschmitts.
Clapper-lugged, cleft-lipped, he looks for all the world
as if he might never again put up his mitts
despite the fact that he shares a Y chromosome
with Niall of the Nine Hostages,
never again allow his om
to widen and deepen by such easy stages,
never relaunch his campaign as melanoma has relaunched its campaign
in a friend I once dated,
her pain rising above the collective pain
with which we've been inundated
as this one or that has launched an attack
to the slogan of "Brits Out" or "Not an Inch"
or a dull ack-ack
starting up in the vicinity of Ballynahinch,
looking for all the world as if he might never again get into a fluster
over his own entrails,
never again meet luster with luster
in the eye of my dying friend, never establish what truly ails
another woman with a flesh wound
found limping where a hare has only just been shot, never again bewitch
the milk in the churn, never swoon as we swooned
when Marilyn's white halter-top dress blew up in The Seven Year Itch,
in a flap now only as to whether
we should continue to tough it out till
something better comes along or settle for this salad of blaeberry and heather
and a hint of common tormentil.

Friday, September 10, 2010

September tenth, two thousand and ten

The Boulder newspaper said a few days ago that the best chance of containing the Boulder fire would be to pray for rain. It seemed strange for a city newspaper to call for prayer. Were they serious? Was it tongue in cheek? But then, lo and behold, it rained! So that begs the question: was the rain the result of fervent prayer, or was it pure luck? Which would you tend to believe? Either way, hallelujah!

This Friday we have George Christiansen playing the Friday Afternoon Concert at 5pm (free). Mike Morter (from Churchill) plays a solo gig at 7pm, Then the Jagtones at 8:30pm and Empty Affair at 11pm.

Saturday day we have Serenade in Blue Big Band at 2pm (free). Then we have a student Belly Dance show at 5:30pm (free) and then we have 4 indie bands to close out the night, Icarus Thump (8p), Firebird 4000 (9p), Off Color (10p) and My Friend Tom (11p) $5.

Finally, for you loyal fans. If you have the time to put up a positive review of the D Note on YELP that could really help us out. And for taking the time and effort to share their view we would like to buy you a beer next time you come in. Just bring us a copy of the review or show it to us. Thanks!

And thanks for being you,

D fine

Extra Credit: Our friend Cedar Sigo has a new book out on City LIghts called Stranger In Town. Here is a terrific poem from that book, somehow relevant for the D Note.


Port Orchard

When the song birds arrive

liquormen of the world
will squirm
& snarl
& scheme
It is more about
what the ROOM wants

I wish she were Duke Wayne

But with face and figure

willingness to come apart
smoke up
&
drink down
To be a con man
is gathering dust

drifting in &
changing then
the walk of
the little town

us purple hearts just care for
that passing life (Lives)
I am growing to love the wait

"fancy" a toss. What is the
cost to drink in
the other room?

A first born son, one silver
Piece,
A wedding
under chandelier
in DARK COMMAND.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

September second, two thousand and ten

D Port

When you think of all that really happens in a week it is overwhelming. If you tried to write every thought and occurrence down it would fill a few gigabytes of data, a fat set of encyclopedias at least. And yet it seems to our hurried mind as if the last week has gone by in a wink.

Therefore let us slow down this weekend and appreciate some art. This Friday we are excited to be part of the first official Olde Town Arvada Art Walk. Several establishments around the area will be showcasing art. For our part we have a show by Scramble Campbell with a soundtrack of live jazz. Scramble currently has some work up at The Arvada Center. All of his pieces are painted during live music performances. One of the works up now is a beautiful black and white portrait of Henry Butler playing the D Note a few years back. Come meet the artist and get involved in the art scene in Olde Town.

We have a couple of blues rock bands playing their first D Note gigs Friday night, Blues Torch at 8pm and The Average Joe Band at 10pm. $5.

Saturday we Raising Cain at 7pm, which features Anya Thompson of Music Train Fame. Then we have Jonny Barber and The Rhythm Razors at 9pm, which features Jonny Barber of Velvet Elvis fame. And we end up the night with one of our favorite local Ween-style rock bands, Junk Drawer at 11pm. $5.

Sunday salsa is always great on a three day weekend. And Monday? Be laborless. Also, come down for some open mike madness with Jay Ryan.

Ship is sailing,

D bark

Extra Credit: Here's an inquisitive poem by David St. John that was published in the Denver Quarterly, 2010.

Ghost Aurora

All of the apostles, the fortune tellers, all of those committed
to the origins of reason or faith—each is now lost in the hum

of her or his own deepening meditation. What could be the purpose
of those songs the troubadour from Avignon brought us in his leather bag?

What could be the meaning of the carvings of green falcons along
the gourd-like back of his lute? What could be more useful than a loving

principle lifted slowly out of particles, like the frond of a morning fern
uncurling? Take up your coat; take up the morning. This is what it means

to lure the phantom out of the dark, until she lifts us into the space of song.