Accidental Choro

Ok, I was trying to be all cynical and ho-hum about New York, but it turns out I really love it. I've been here many times before - I grew up in New Jersey and Boston, so I've been through NY quite a bit - but this time is different; it's the first time I have been here as a musician, and as an adult who now enjoys going out. New York's greatest asset to me in the old days was simply that it was, inexplicably, the best place in the US to rent a horse. (It is the only US city where you can take a horse out all by yourself - no guide - and gallop, not just walk.)

But now I see everything else that it has to offer. And after having spent so many years on the West Coast, all of New York's East Coast aspects are swamping me with nostalgia. So it feels like coming home; but also feels fresh and new. Small-town New England, and huge and glittering, at the same time. And it's still the best place to rent a horse!

I managed to find a bunk in a decent hostel on the Upper West Side for only $35 a night - and the big dorm rooms are even cheaper at just $26!! I was amazed you can get a decent bunk in New York City for that price. It's just standard hostel fare - tiny rooms crowded with bunks, tiny lockers, shared bathrooms, and backpacks everywhere - but the bunks and bathrooms were clean, the shower was hot, and the security good, and it turned out to have free wi-fi (not on purpose, I think). Central Park Hostel, if you ever need a cheap bed in NY.

Met my great friend Fernanda on Wednesday - a grand reunion for both of us. She's a Brazilian; we met in the Seattle bloco VamoLa, where she played caixa. We could not hug each other enough when we first saw each other! It was so, so good to catch up with a such a dear, dear friend. We just talked and talked and talked from 6:30 clear to midnight. Turns out her friend Flavio, a carioca who plays guitar for Bossacucanova, is coming to town this weekend too! It'll be fun to see him - and I'm sure I'll see him in Rio later.

We finally said goodbye and headed to our separate subway stops. I got down into the station, then mistakenly thought that entrance was closed (the turnstiles were locked, but the revolving doors weren't, turns out) and headed back up to the street, and what should I walk past but a little sign directly in my path reading "Tonight: Choro Ensemble". Down in a tiny basement bar was, sure enough, a genuine Brazilian choro ensemble called, accurately if unimaginatively, "Choro Ensemble". Three cariocas, a paulista, and a charming Israeli clarinet girl, who carefully pronounced the name of each song into her clarinet pick-up. There was a two-drink minimum but I begged the waitress and bouncer to let me stay for free. They did - and it was great choro. Highlighted for me by a really beautiful, nimble solo by the pandeiro player. I thanked him afterwards and mentioned I was going to Rio to study with Celso Silva. He said, "Tell him Ze says hi!" Small world!!!