[ CONTINUED FROM PART 1 ] after an enthusiastic standing ovation they played one more tune (a slow one) then i had to say goodbyes quickly because i was on the way to see TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS next at "BB Kings". in a nice reciprocal gesture, doug and sara had invited me to go with them to that show. BB Kings is on 42nd street. a very different scene, in contrast with the Lower East Side. shiny glass and metal buildings, huge signs, corporate wasteland. (sure downtown is changing, but it's not like that!) our cab took us right through Times Square. BB Kings is between 6th and 7th. major neon action. mcdonalds... its the "new" 42nd street. i'm pretty sure i've never been to a place like this before. well big clubs, yes, but not on 42nd street. what a Machine... i was worried about the "mandatory bag check" because i still had my laptop from work, didnt want to check it, but luckily just ignored the problem, walked in with it, bypassing the bagcheck line, and had no trouble. inside, the place was HUGE, with a world class ventilation system (sara even mentioned this specifically as an item of contrast with tonic, and i had to agree that the airflow was impressive), some tables with booths, a large dance floor which was filled. we timed it perfectly, because the opening band was nowhere to be seen and we didnt have to wait too long for Toots and the Maytals to come out. this being a, uh, jamaican band, and despite the new totally non-smoking NYC rules -- which have generally improved the atmosphere at clubs, i think it is safe to say! (safe for me anyway as an EX-smoker (finally, <phew>)...) -- um, anyway, there was smoke coming from the audience as soon as the band started to play. so then these security staff people, one guy in particular, would wade into the crowd with a flashlight, and apprehend the suspects and haul them off somewhere, confiscate what they had, whatever. i did see some of them again so i guess they werent necessarily killed, but man it was some heavy enforcement! kinda distracting in the beginning. but it calmed down a bit... [2:24am: taking a break to eat the food alice gave me at tonic. ginger rice chicken peppers stirfry, yum!!! Hit The Spot] anyway talk about DANCEABLE. this was music to which one could hardly not *NOT* dance. i found myself walking more or less in place a lot. i don't listen to a lot of ska or reggae, but i sure do seem to like it when i do. there are some nice intricacies in the way all the different parts fit together, and the "little freedoms" people have with their part. i found it interesting to watch the keyboard player on my side of the stage (there were two) and by watching his hands, i could then pick out his sounds in the overall texture of the music. in addition to the two keyboard there were also two guitar players, bass, drums, two backup singers, and Toots. from the first beat it was *quality* grooves. not frenetic, very smooth. walking music. (i have a "bach in brazil" cd where the first track does the same thing to me. it's the italian concerto played by a samba band, or a samba-ish band, or something.) the show was superbly paced. the audience was large but it wasnt crammed too tight, pretty much the whole main mass (where we were) was moving with the music. (to almost quote madonna, eh?) toots played to the crowd, Put On A Show, there was almost always some back and forth of call and response where toots would sing some phrase and the audience would sing it back. of course some people knew the songs... not me. i recognized a few, including "louis louis", and "country road" (i vaguely recognize that, but now i really want to know more about it, including maybe learning how to play it -- it's gospel, basically, from what i could tell, and really nice, i am sucker for that too). the lyrics to "country road" were kinda funny in NYC esp in midtwon in middle of this vast inhuman corporate machine environment. as doug and sara pointed out, this club probably got a lot of tourists. anyway it was weird, why did the lyrics of "country road" (to the extent i noticed them) resonate with me? i've never lived on a road in the country... but it sounds nice... ok it's getting late i gotta wrap this up. what a great double-header. masada and the maytals. zorn and toots. zorn doesnt work the audience like toots. there's no "better" or "worse" really, its two different scenes... doug and sara made a remark about masada being "art", about having just witnessed "high art" or something. masada can get the feet tapping, but toots and the maytals got everybody moving everything. near the end of the show, the entire stage was filled with people from the audience, dancing up there with toots. there are those who find masada the least appealing of zorn's music, in context of the zorn shows it is on the far end of the spectrum as far as accessibility, danceability etc. so it was interesting to go from that, to THE REAL THING. toots and the maytals put things into better perspective for me. ellen, you should have come; we could have danced :) but gotta save energy for tomorrow, i know, KEITH JARRET GARY PEACOCK JACK DEJOHNETTE at carnegie hall, now that is another interesting contrast isnt it..... looking forward to another favorite band :) -ed