Olives in the Ears

75 Dollar Bill

On our second cassette, released in 2014, Rick and I are already bringing friends into the mix. Sue Garner, Andrew Lafkas and Karen Waltuch join us on two tracks here, both recorded live at Troost, the Greenpoint watering hole that was so crucial to us as we were getting our thing together those first few years (see _Social Music at Troost, Vols 1-3_). Sue and Rick have been in bands together since the mid-80s, so it was just a matter of time before her multiple talents as singer and bass/rhythm player came into the fold. It’s always a treat when we can work some singing into our sets and, despite the low-fi nature of this recording, Sue’s vocal and maraca playing really shine on the Allen Toussaint/Pointer Sisters classic, “Yes We Can Can”. I had seen Karen and Andrew playing around town and admired their playing, and finally got to meet them while playing amplified strings in a Tony Conrad ensemble circa 2012, right around when Rick and I were starting to play together. They were probably the first people to come rehearse with us and appear here on what has become our most often played (and recorded song) “WZN#3”. The title of this album refers to another pal (and excellent slide guitar player), Zeke Healy who, when seated right next to Rick’s stack of broken cymbals at a gig at Troost, put olives in his ears in lieu of earplugs. The influence of my visit to Mauritania the previous year is starting to show here too, with the various “WZN” titles referencing wezin, the instrumental dance numbers played at Mauritanian weddings, where the guitar/tidinitt players get to show off and work the crowd while the singers rest their voices. I seriously doubt that any of our tunes would fly at a Mauritanian wedding, but it was a way of at least paying homage to the incredible music I got to experience there, in situ, and my crash course in Moorish modes and rhythms with the great Jeiche ould Chigaly. The remainder of the songs in this collection are “studio” tracks, recorded by Rick during our practice sessions in our old practice space in the Pencil Factory building, and then adulterated with close mic’d cardboard tubes, feedback effects and the occasional looped figure… - CC August 2023