Greg's Excellent Seattle Adventure


Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 19:20:37 -1000 (HST)
From: Gregory B Beuthin 
Subject: Notes On Seattle [long]
To: a-jazz-l@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu
Intro: Seattle is nuts - at least coming from Hawaii. Nose rings and tattoos are de riguer. Espresso is so popular you can get a cup of java at a gas station or even in a grocery store. (I once asked for a regular cup of decaffinated coffee - they looked at me and said "We are sorry. We don't make drip coffee." Makes perfect sense if you think about it.) They are very serious about their beer too - every bar I went to had good beers as well as the Bud and Coor crap. I was in heaven at the Dubliners - a pitcher of Stout. :-)

ANYWAY.... Back to the music.

Wednesday, May 11: The Hip Swing (opening night) at And the Weathered Wall ($4).

Interesting night. Upstairs they had a really good (eclectic) live jazz group. From what I understand, they were a bunch of different artists from different bands just jamming together under the name Manhog. Really good, aggressive and powerful jazz. Artis the Spoonman (of Soundgarden fame) jammed at the opening night too. Now if you want to see a real incredible artist, check him out - any street fair, he'll be there (he hangs out at Pike's Place Market too.) Downstairs was a setup I've heard of, and seems to be getting quite popular. A DJ spinning records while other musicians play along. The regulars, if I've got it correctly, are the two horn players from Hungry Young Poets. A drummer played along for a while, which was cool, but there was a guy who played two congas which kinda messed things up. He was allright, I suppose, but he was minutely off on the beat, and he wasn't that clean, so it turned the assorted beats into a wall of noise. Then again, maybe I'm too harsh. I think he was playing too complicated a rythym, too fast for his own ability. The first DJ (Quest?) was mellow and jazzy, and the second DJ (Donald Glaude?) was a lot more "housey." Cool tunes, cool concept - I liked the fact you could go and chill out upstairs. Problems - I've never, *never* had so much broken glass and beer underfoot. People carry bottles onto the dancefloor (that's usually not allowed over here), and drop them everywhere. When I went back Friday night it was even worse. Sticky floors and glass shards in your shoes. Cool crowd... conciously cool, but not too bad. Pretty white and hetero - for those of you who care. The people downstairs seemed more ravers, the people upstairs more "chill-ers." Then again, this is all IMHO, and doesn't really matter - just if you care.

Friday, May 13: The Herban Tribe and others at Flowers ($4)

Flowers is a cool little bar two blocks away from where I was staying, on University and 43rd NE. Herban Tribe is a good band that features a reggae'ish singer who plays wild guitar without changing his expression, a flute, bass, a West coast style rapper, and a percussion man (timbales and congas). They were phat and had a varied sound. The flute was cool. They played a short set, and then DJ Hebegebe and DJ Funky Nasir took over. Mellow vibe, funky house and cool stuff. The people were allright, and the music was uptempo. This one guy exploded and starting shouting at this woman - and the music died instantly. When they finally got the guy out, Funky Nasir played a track by Tribe Called Quest ("check yo'self" or something - about people chilling out and not being dicks). Very well handled - and clearly showed what kind of vibe they were going for. Nice, small, not pretentious, and people don't look at you funny if you dance on your own. I recognized Stereo MCs and Urban Species (instrumentals unfortunately).

Saturday, May 14: Lemon Twist at And the Weathered Wall ($6)

This is the big night. Heavy house downstairs (with a big black guy with an afro dancing onstage in jockey underwear. Beats anything they have over here - at least in the straight clubs. ;-)) Upstairs it was DJ Funky Nasir again with his posse. I thought I was in heaven - I never thought I'd hear "Masterplan" over pumping speakers in my life. The night unfortunately did not get better - It's kinda awkward dancing on your own with everyone looking at you, especially at the beginning of the night - but that's about the only time there is plenty of room. It is definitely more of a pick-up night than Wednesdays, and the crowd reflects a well-pruned conciousness. Beautiful people abound, if you are interested in checking them out. However, between the broken glass and beer on the floor, and these two jerks sitting down grabbing women as the walked by and doing this whole "Hey baby" macho sh*t, I was getting pretty irritated. But the music was definitley one of the best mixes I heard while I was there. Other than "Masterplan", I heard more Stereo MCs, Tribe Called Quest, Break for Jazz, a remix of D-Influence's "Good Lover" (different from Rebirth of Cool), lots of flute house jazz and other good stuff I didn't recognize.

Wednesday, May 18: Dance Around this World at the Re-Bar ($3)

This club is the shit. Well, let me explain why. Firstly, don't expect a bunch of souk, soca, hi-life, salsa and mambo. DJ Riz spins house and jazzy tunes, and some remixed world music - but you can't tell. Re-Bar is a gay club, but the sign on the door says: "This is a mixed club. Gays and Lesbian welcomed. Bigots stay out." Well, they did. The vibe here was the best I've ever seen. The best racial mix I've seen in years, and that includes here in Hawaii - but even better, there were absolutely no color barriers/ blinders. Everyone was chill, and people were not necessarily there to pick others up. People were there to chill on others and the vibe, not on themselves... if you know what I mean. The crowd was definitely more hetero than anything else, but it wasn't aggresive or anything. There was also this older couple, fully granola semi-hippies, just grooving (he had a shirt on with "Sexy Feminist"... :-)) The music was good - DJ Riz played more "vocal" tracks, lots of interesting "world" house, and hip-hop vibes as well as the jazzy tunes. I recognized a remix of "Be Thankful for What You've Got" by Massive Attack.

Friday, May 20: Mocambo Lounge at Re-Bar ($4)

This is touted as the Acid Jazz night. They even have cool free '60s record cover look-alike postcards that advertise the night. It also advertises hip-hop and rare grooves. Lots of everything - including people. A helluva lot more people than Wednesday nights, and more of a pick-up joint again. The bigots tend to stay out, but it's definitely a "scene" (for those who care). Again, the racial mix is better than the Weathered Wall IMHO. DJ Riz was spinning some heavy shit - Carlene Anderson's "Nervous Breakdown", MC Solaar's "Bouge De La", a set from Stevie Wonder, new Arrested Development, Tribe Called Quest, ONYX and Queen Latifah. And NO BEER ON THE FLOOR. ;-) Finally - honorary mention - we were too burnt out to check it out (you think Acid Jazz is the *only* thing I do? ;-)) Check out MOE's on Sundays - DJ Funky Nasir hosts a mellow jazz funk and acid jazz night. Don't know the vibe, don't know the prices. Well, that's the nightclub scene in Seattle as Greg sees it. Basically, I enjoyed everything, and please don't get me wrong when I say that the people were self-conciously cool or something. We are, after all, about doing what you want. :-) That's just not me. Next - the music (purchasing) scene, and questions.
Greg "Boyteen" Beuthin             | Respect....              ___   Keep 
(gregbb@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu)    |                        /  |  \  the
Social Sciences Computer System    |  DJ Billingsley       |  /|\  |  vibe
University of Hawai'i at Manoa     |  ThePhatJazKat         \/_|_\/  alive