The Wednesday Night Residency at Minton's Continues!

The JC Hopkins Biggish Band in action at Minton's. Photo by Gabi Porter

Every Wednesday since last May, the JC Hopkins Biggish Band has been seriously tearing it up at a newly-revived Harlem hot-spot called Minton's -- the place where be-bop was born.  Thankfully, we get to keep that ball rolling into 2015.   With six horns, a rhythm section and a very grand piano, it's not exactly a big band.  We swing hard, though. Some of the hottest players in the city are in that band, gliding through beautiful arrangements of unexpected standards and original songs that shine.

Charles Turner is a wonder.  Strangely, we sound like we've always sung together. 

Sit at the bar and have a drink and let the music embrace you. Dance, if you like. And yes, the Lowcountry cuisine is kind of fantastic.

“The birthplace of bebop, Minton’s on 118th Street, has been reborn as a venue that is as classy as it is historic. The long-neglected room has now been remodeled into one of the most attractive venues in the city, with a menu that puts most Midtown clubs to shame. The combination of pianist-bandleader JC Hopkins and vocalist Queen Esther expertly recapture the vitality and energy of Harlem jazz and blues of 70 years ago without slavishly imitating anyone and are thus a perfect fit, and they should help the relaunched room attract the attention of dancers as well as diners.” — The Wall Street Journal

Minton’s — 206 W. 118th Street at St. Nicholas
Doors open at 6:00pm.
Performances at 7pm – 11pm.
Music charge: $10 at the bar, $20 at a table.
Dinner reservations are recommended.

For more information: 212 243 2222

Happy New Year!

I slid sideways into the new year, starting on New Year's Eve Eve when I sang at Lincoln Center to a packed house (with a line out the door, down the street and around the corner!) with the JC Hopkins Biggish Band.

Here we are at a well-attended soundcheck in the Lincoln Center Atrium.

From there, I sprinted downtown to The DL for The Salon's annual New Year's Eve Eve fete. (That was a sold-out situation -- three floors, over 50 performers, two orchestras, lots of burlesque. Crazy.) 
Thankfully, I left after my set so I could sing my heart out at Minton's (which was filled to capacity) with the Biggish the following night.  The band was all the way live.  Truth be told, the party we were having onstage was as hot if not hotter than the party in the room -- or next door at The Cecil, which had its own boogie down going with The Kennedy Administration and their New Year's Eve party, Forgive and Forget. Somewhere in there, Jazzmeia Horn gave birth to a baby girl -- after 40 hours of labor.  (WOW!!!) 

Needless to day, I slept until I could sleep no more. After a long movie with MPB (The Hobbit), a long walk and some righteous, incredibly unpedestrian Chinese food, I felt recalibrated.  I'm shifting my life around in bold ways, shaking new ideas loose and reconfiguring my goals and priorities for the year in weekly/monthly increments. Its easy to get lost in all of the pop and verve in my head if everything is all over the place.

I'm going to start this year by breaking some bad habits and creating new ones. Once upon a time, scientists believed that it took 21 days to create a good habit. As it turns out, it can take anywhere from 2 to 8 months.  A habit takes time to stick and how long that takes depends on the individual, amongst other things.  Commit to the process will have to be my mantra.

The first thing on tomorrow's agenda? Running shoes.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Here's a snapshot of JC Hopkins, set adrift somewhere in that no man's land that exists in between songs as he leads the Biggish Band -- along with myself and singer-songwriter Ben Fields -- at Iridium. 

I think that putting your time in with a big band is a required apprenticeship for the serious jazz singer because all of that soloing from all those horns changes your ear drastically -- and eventually, you're soloing, too. The best jazz singers have done this -- or they found a way to climb inside of a horn, or become one -- and eventually, they have a musicianship that's untouchable.

Then again, it was easier to sing with a big band back in the 1930s - 1940s because they were everywhere and there were so many of them.  They would do breakfast sets. Breakfast sets! That meant that when I got out of work at 8am as a domestic or whatever, I could meet up with my girlfriends, have eggs and toast and lindy to Cab Calloway. Unbelievable -- but since there was no Muzak and the culture demanded live music and couples dancing, it made perfect sense. When you're practically playing around the clock -- morning set, lunch gig, cocktail hour, a revue, after hours jam -- you're bound to get great.

I definitely miss singing with a horn section...