Thursday, September 29, 2011

Love letter 9/29/11

Dear Major D,

The key of D Major is well-suited to violin music because of the structure of the instrument, which is tuned G D A E. The open strings resonate sympathetically with the D string, producing a sound that is especially brilliant.

Tonight, Thursday 9/29, after Geeks Who Drink Trivia (so much fun) we have latin hip hop of Indigenous Peoples and Flowetry In Motion. If you are not already, get into it. $5.

Friday at 5pm we have Dustin Morriss playing. Free. Then we have the dance happy classic rock of PJ Zahn at 7p and then the blues rock of Big Muddy at 9pm. $5

Saturday night at 6:30 we have our annual benefit for Denver Family Institute w/ music by Clusterfunk (classic rock/dance). This organization always has a fantastic silent auction too. $10 suggested donation. Have fun and help out at the same time.

Yours,

Private D

Extra Credit: Here's yet another attempt at our own translation of French poet Stephane Mallarme's impossible to translate poem, Petit Air.

Little Air (in D Major)

Any solitude

(without dock or swan)

mirrors its disuse

in my gaze withdrawn

from vanity

too high to be held

the sky streaked

with sunset's gold


but lazily skirts off

like white linen doffed

a fleeting white bird

in exultation dives


into the wave come to life

your naked joy

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Re:

Re is usually an abbreviation for "regarding", and this is also true in the case above. But, since we always lead off with some variation on the "D"... it is also the name of the note D in the solfege system. "Oh, if you ain't got the do re mi, folks, you ain't got the do re mi." Woody Guthrie.

So, fa, la, tonight, Thursday, 9/22, after the hilarious good time trivia with Geeks Who Drink, at 6:30p, we have a DJ in the house, a genre bending DJ known as Aphonix. If you are into that, then come support a brother. 21+ free, under $5.

Tomorrow night, Friday, 9/23, we have a very cool line up. Starts out with Diet Folk at 5pm. Diet Folk's bio says "imagine Amos Lee leading Old Crow Medicine Show, Ray Lamagntane sharing a stage with the Avett Brothers, or Bon Iver and the Del McCoury band birthing a wild americana/bluegrass love child." After Diet Folk at 7pm is The West. The West is made up of local players we have long known and loved. 2 of the players used to be in The Reals. According to their bio "The West is a Denver-based rock band that has been compared with Spoon, The Smithereens, Elvis Costello, and Tom Petty." Then at 8:30 we have Firebird 4000 Project. According to their bio, "Influenced by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Brian Jonestown Massacre and Braid." Finally at 9:30p we have Offcolor, very tasty indie rock. Check out the poster for the show here. $5

Saturday at 1pm we have a poetry reading. We will be taking part 100thousand Poets For Change, the largest international poetry reading in history, Arvada chapter. There will be several featured readers, including Piper Mullins, D. Brooks, Ian Dougherty, Claire Connolly, Peter Aquino, Adam Degraff, Mary McDonough, Miranda McGuire, Kate Schilling, and more. Free.

At 4pm Saturday we have a swing dance lesson followed by the big band jazz of Serenade In Blue. At 7pm we have a salsa dance/ fundraiser for Addison Kleinhans. Addison is an awesome 7 year old with acute lymphoblastic Leukemia. We're really hoping to raise a bunch of funds to help this family and hope to see you there. $10 suggested donation.

There's a couple of cool bands playing next Tuesday too. High 20 (ska, reggae) at 8pm and Back To The Woods (Funk-Folk-Reggae-Acid-Jazz-Swing-Bluegrass) at 9pm. Free.

Awesome weekend! And we didn't even mention Zumba, Yoga, Baby Boogie or Sunday night salsa, which you can find out about at dnote.us

Yours,

La Re

Extra Credit: Somethings just have the spirit of poetry, even if they might not strictly be poetry (whatever strictly poetry means). So here's a found poem for you. You have to watch the youtube video for full effect. Thanks to Brice Hobbs for sending. See video here.


Reality Hits You Hard Bro

Well, I was just driving down Northern Avenue
I was just minding my own business.
And all of a sudden

BAM!
It hit me hard from the back!
FOOM!
The fire was everywhere!
FOOM FOOM!
Blowin' up, made a big loud noise like
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

I was like - OH!
The fire was arcing like a rainbow
SHEWW!
A little spark jumped up and I was like
WHOA!
Totally out of the blue.
Reality hits you hard, bro!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

D Note love letter 9/15/11

Alveolar Plosives,

One of the odd side effects of writing this D mail has been thinking far more than normal about the letter D. Today we are thinking about the sound of the letter D. In most languages using the Latin alphabet, D represents the voiced alveolar plosive, but in the Vietnamese alphabet it represents the sound /z/ (pronounced /j/ in the southern variety). In Fijian it represents a prenasalized stop /nd/. In some languages where voiceless unaspirated stops contrast with voiceless aspirated stops, ‹d› represents an unaspirated /t/, while ‹t› represents an aspirated /tÊ°/. Examples of such languages include Icelandic, Scottish Gaelic, Navajo and the transliteration of Mandarin. Who knew?

This Friday we have Bill McKay from Leftover Salmon playing for free at 5pm. Killer dinner music! Then at 7pm we have the classic rock dance band The Bucktones. This will be followed by the horny funk/ska band In Due Time at 9:30p and then rock band Broken Parts at 11pm. $5.

Saturday we have the season opener of The Music Train Family Concert Series, featuring JT Nolan and friends. JT Nolan is an amazing songwriter and performer and generally has the best players in Denver on board. $7 adults/ $3 kids.

At 7pm we have The Jazz Partners (jazz) followed by Portobello Road (alternative blues rock) at 8pm. Then we have a super uper 3 band show put together by Matt Dougherty; Hellfire and The Mother Dog, Stealth Hippo and Firemouth $5. Great night of music. Check out Dougherty's poster in which he cleverly incorporates all 3 band names into the art here.

Sunday night we have the best salsa night in Denver (so says the authority on such matters, Salsa Central.)

Next Tuesday we have Jay Ryan's Acoustic Showcase w/Jay Ryan, Holly Lovell, Adam Lockwood and T. Strickland. FREE.

For the rest of what's going on check out www.dnote.us

Love to you and yours,

Aspirated Stop


Extra Credit: There was an article about the French poet Arthur Rimbaud in a recent New Yorker. The author Daniel Mendelsohn includes an except from an unnamed poem by Rimbaud that gave us a special feeling and stuck in our memory. Almost a haiku.

I have recovered it.
What? Eternity.
It is the sea
Matched with the sun.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

D Note love letter 9/8/11

D flower

Look how full and beautiful you are! We love to watch you grow. This weekend is the Harvest Festival in Arvada and so the metaphor is apt. Come enjoy the Harvest Festival and stop in the D Note while you are at it.

Friday night we have an incredible Led Zeppelin tribute band called Zeppephilia playing at 7pm. We're excited for this one! $7. After we have Junk Drawer, a bluesy Ween-like band that we have grown to love over the years.

Saturday there is a Music Lessons Of Westminster Garageband recital at 1pm. Then at 7pm we have Blues Torch back by popular demand. Super fun. At 9pm we have Hazardous Matthew, also back by popular demand. And to end the evening we have Squidlick. $5

Note: Sunday Harvest fest continues so we won't be having baby boogie this week. Everything else is as scheduled.

Down and through,

D rain

Extra Credit: An oldie but goodie by Walt Whitman.


A Noiseless Patient Spider

A noiseless patient spider,
I marked where on a promontory it stood isolated,
Marked how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launched forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be formed, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

D Note love letter 9/1/11

D purple,

The horror writer H.P. Lovecraft said "Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane." George Carlin said "Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music." We're with George.

Friday night we have Alicia Fall a 5pm (free). At 7pm we have Bailout and Reunion Drive, rock and roll. $5. And then salsa and bachata lesson at 9:30p with DJ Juanito.

Saturday there is a bellydance swap 1-5pm (kind of like a yard sale, with clothes jewelry etc). Then at 7pm Pinetree Refugees (bluegrass), The Constant Tourists (indie folk rock) and Blow The Vault. (Americana folk bluegrass rock). This will be a fun night fo sho. $5.

Also you should know that we have started Tango/Swing dancelessons at the D Note on Wednesdays. $7. Led by Jess Rodriguez and Elizabeth Baker. A perfect dance lesson to lead into the music of the legendary Clamdaddys on Wednesday nights.

Heads up, next Friday we have a Led Zeppelin Tribute band Zeppyphilia. If you are a Zep fan mark your calendar.

Out and out,

D and wide

Extra Credit: An inspiring poem by Ellie Evans found on Daily Poetry website. How to make warts cool? Make them magic...


They were Too Poor for Buttons

They were too poor for buttons, so her mother would collect
cherry stones, apricot kernels or conkers, and would crochet round them.
When she went cleaning she was given cast-off jumpers
which she unravelled and made up again, re-mixed, so Jean
had a cardigan blue as Quink ink, with yellow walnut buttons
and a scarlet rose in a mohair mix, that covered up a hole.

I sat beside Jean in Sunday School, admiring the silver paper
she'd saved from a cigarette packet and used to line her pencil box.
How I liked the lettuce-green of the blanket stitch around her cuffs,
but most of all, I envied her for the magic warts proud on her knuckles.