Late Breaking News, NYE Party at the Studio

I left the sound-stage up tonight for a rare Friday edition of Studio 12 to ring in 2011....
We'll get started around 9:00...
A less formal performing format as we play in the New Year!





Bonus Round:
Some more great pics from Michael Reitman!
Tonight he ran a slide show on his iPad of pics from 2010.... Wow!

Andrew, Ellen, Carrie

Charlie Potters & Malcolm Marsden

Greg, Rocky, Tim, Chuck, John & Charley

Snowblind

 

Poor Kids....
They got stuck shoveling but, bummer, no snow day!

There are no snow days at Studio 12......  See you Wednesday!


Heads up for next week.....
"From the King to Ziggy in 16 Short Years"
1/5/11 we will be commemorating the birthdays of Elvis Presley & David Bowie.

Consider this fair warning to dust off a few tunes.... Let's coordinate repertoire this week so we don't get 8 versions of  Moonage Daydream.

Three Wise Men

Frank Zappa, born December 21, 1940

Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart, RIP December 17, 2010

Santa Claus, born January 3, 1863

Three American originals for your holiday inspiration......

Back Story, Part 4: Lawyers, Guns & Finnegan

Haven't said a word about John Finnegan's music yet....

John started his gig at 12 Church Street in winter 2005 with Mike & Kenny.  We had live music prior to that but, when Finnegan started playing, all of a sudden people started showing up for the music.

In the local music scene John Finnegan is Montclair's answer to Reggie Jackson, the straw that stirs the drink. When Finnegan plays you know that a whole cast of characters too numerous to name will be invited onto the stage to play.

Finnegan is a masterful performer but, more so, he has an off hand seemingly effortless ability to stage manage on the fly and bring the best out of the players around him.

As my coach once said, "I'm glad he's on our team".

John can be seen & heard at Studio 12, various other open mics and with the f c band at Fitzgerald's and other fine area venues.

We Came Together

 

Come Together

Charlie, Tim, Carrie, Greg, Ilsa, Bru, Ed, Brett & Larry

 

   

Tomorrow Never Knows

Bob, Andrew & Brett

Photos by Michael Reitman

Where Were You Thirty Years Ago?

Hard to imagine that it has been thirty years since the rebel Beatle was taken from us on December 8.

It was a Monday night.  Tom Frasso & I were at The Phyrst, a favorite student watering hole in State College, Pa.  Red Rose Cotillion was performing their set of Grateful Dead and Neil Young covers.

The TV behind the bar was on with the sound off.  The 11:00 news was on.... At some point I noticed pictures of John on the tube.  With no sound & no graphics screaming the news it was not clear why they were running the photos.

About 10 minutes later, the band announced that John had been murdered.

Studio 12 performers - please be prepared with a song or two by John Lennon.

Three Thousand

The Studio 12 Dancers celebrating the blog's 3,000th hit!  

Random Shots

Erin Karcher

Carrie Cantor & Zara Phillips

Greg Spinelli & Jefferson Newman

12 Church circa 1924

Joe Franciscone

Kenny Cunningham

More from Mr. Reitman

Dave & Tim

Malcolm

Bob, Larry & Greg

Chuck

Rock n' Roll Cult Turkey Tribute

Two Turkeys

Four Turkeys

Cold Turkey

 One True Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving!

It Takes Two to Tango

Studio 12 has climbed into the 1960's and gone stereo!

The Dude Abides

Quoth Adam:

I have just a few more days left out on the road....
Flying home Sunday...

Pics From Meg

Mark

Carrie & Zara

So....  I'm minding my own business & Meg sends me about fifty pics from (looks like) Summer '09.

The other 46 to follow...

Jef & Michelle

Barefoot Meg at Center Stage (JK guitar in the background)

Finnegan's Birthday Party 2008 with Big 12

Sixteen of the seventy-five crazy kids that packed the Studio

Correction: Finnegan informs me that this pic is from an earlier Summer eve, not the night of his infamous birthday party.  Regardless, given the usual suspects, I suspect that the caption above is still accurate.   So... when exactly is Finnegan's birthday?

Photos by Reitman

When he's not playing blues in drop D or leading the Studio 12 Midnight Ramble,
Michael, the Right Man, Reitman is taking pictures.  Here are a few....

Takeo Shugihara

   

 Acoustical Guys

Fine Grinders

Tele Tele

Back Story, Part 3: Cookin' in the Kitchen

Carrie Cantor & Greg Spinelli

After Jan Loe pulled her Johnny Appleseed routine, Carrie & I were the gig at (pre-Studio) 12 Church Street.  We started out playing on the first floor in front of the northeast window of the restaurant crammed in between the booths.

One night, a year or two later, Cheryl gave her blessing to moving the furniture in the northwest window to make a more spacious performance area.  Not to miss an opportunity, I showed up at 7 am, power tools in hand & re-configured the dining room.  I was the recipient of a serious WTF when Cheryl arrived to open lunch.

The larger "stage" created a much more appealing performance space & opened the door to an expanded cast of characters, i.e.musicians, to join in on the fun.  At about that point, the music / jam night seemed worthy of a name & was thusly dubbed Cookin' in the Kitchen.

Photo by Michael (The Right Man) Reitman....

PS - Desperately Seeking Susan.... Meg has loaned a Yamaha PSR-4000 to Studio 12.... Help!!!  We need a tutorial.  all replys confidential....

Brett Calls the Tune

    (L-R) Tim Tansey, Bob Cannon, Andrew Klewan, Greg Spinelli, Brett Vallone & 
    Pancakes O'Malley rocking out to Bob Dylan's 'Isis'


Drummer Brett Vallone is a Rocker.  He's also a nice guy, so nary a peep as he plays along with whatever  blues, shuffle, folk, country, jazz or reggae beat that emanates from Studio 12.  Once in a while, though, he puts his feet down (hi hat & bass) and leads us into the promised land of Rock n' Roll!

Check the comments section below for this week's Rock n' Roll birthdays.

Photo by Michael Reitman (otherwise he would have been playing).

Special Guest Host Tonight!

Jan & Bob at Jiggs

Jan Loe will be the special guest host tonight as I will have a late escape from my "new" job.  Jan who, as noted in an earlier post, is the Godmother of Studio 12 has graciously agreed to to cover for my tardiness.

Come hell or high water, I'll be back to Studio 12 while there is still plenty of time to play in the sandbox & enjoy the vibe...

Cheryl is covering the food so, of course, we'll be fed with Mama's TLC...





 

Iris at the Steinway

 
I'll be meeting with a sweet young couple, booking them the hottest band on the East Coast for their wedding.

Yep, at my advanced age, I'm learning another business - booking major bands.  I am working for IGMC (no, it's not Indira Gandhi Medical College, nor is it Inspector General of the Marine Corps).  It is a full service event & entertainment company owned by an old friend of mine, Iris Gillon.

Maybe we'll get Iris out to play one night....






Just in case you need inspiration for material.... Rock & Roll Birthdays...

This week... Paul Simon, Cliff Richard & Bob Weir

Next week... Chuck Berry, Laura Nyro & Manfred Mann

2nd Annual John Lennon Tribute

John Lennon's Birthday is October 9....

This week at Studio 12 will be our
2nd Annual John Lennon Tribute....

All performers should include at least one of John's songs tonight

The 1st annual John Lennon tribute was
last year outdoors on the late, lamented
Montclair Center Stage...

Who knew then that it would be
the final show on "our" outdoor stage?        

Notes from the Old Northwest

Adam Turbiner, architect of the Summer of Ovation
here at Studio 12 just checked in....

"I've been  thinking about all of ya’ll over these few weeks out on the road.  I’m at a nice RV park in Wisconsin…. I’m just outside of Dubuque, Iowa which is just across the Mississippi River.  Things are good, but I miss home and all you really groovy-cats at Studio 12.  Say hi to everyone for me and hope to see you in about another 60 days…" Adam 

And we miss you, too!
 
Hmmmm... 60 days.... Sounds like a Thanksgiving bash on November 24.