Contrinuted by Nasa.

This will be my first in a long line of "trips down memory lane".  About a week ago I was walking around in the East Village (my old stomping grounds) and realised so much of it had changed.  So in order to keep the spirit of the way things used to be, along with, my youth alive I'm going to start writing a bunch of random stories out of memory from that era.  I'm gonna call them all "NYC Circa 1997", but really these stories may have taken place anywhere from 1996 up until 2001.  Thus the "Circa".  So off we go.....

When I was in High School I signed up for a program that placed kids in internships for their last semester of school.  The deal was you basically had a "real job" for that last term, and you would recieve what amounted to an "automatic pass" on all the required classes you'd be missing.  That was fresh to me because I got a 60 on my first term of Math Senior year (65 passes in NY) and if you got a 65 or better the 2nd term, it counted for both and erased the 60.  Nice.

Of course, in reality I wanted to intern in a Music Studio or a Record Label anyway.  I actually interviewed at Rawkus (Pre-Company Flow) but that's a whole 'nother story.  I eventually landed a gig at studio called TMF which also went by All American Alchemy as well (don't ask why, no clue).  In any case, like too many other studios in New York, they aren't there anymore.  This studio will likely come up a lot in this series, some great stories from there.

Weather Report- SweetnighterAt the time, I was 17 and in a Recording Studio in NYC.  A pretty amazing feat looking back on it.  At that time I was just coming out of my shell musically as far as being a listener.  Up to that point, like many others, I was a Hip-Hop hard head.  If it wasn't hip-hop it wasn't cool.  But, with that said I had warmed to Reggae and some Fusion Jazz/Jazz-Rock.  Around this time, I got a hold of "Headhunters" from Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke's self titled record, "Bitches Brew" from Miles Davis and of course started to get into Weather Report.  That was pretty much the staple of any good Jazz Rock diet.

One day when I was waiting for the elevator I noticed the name "Zawinul" on the list of renters in the building.  He was partnered with someone else in a music company.  I figured it had to be him, who the hell else is named Zawinul?  But the guy was from Europe and toured the world, so what are the odds?  I filed it away and remained curious.

I always bugged as I walked in and took the elevator to the studio and as I walked down the hall when I got off on my floor about the name from my records.

Before we continue, you should know something else about my 17 year old self, I was strangly fascinated by elevators.  When I worked on the Stock Exchange I would regularly just ride in the elevator to see what was on random floors.  I would walk into some buildings just to ride the elevator in my even younger days on Staten Island.  Of course back then it was to tag them up.  But still, it felt like a time machine or something to not know at all what was gonna be on the other side of the door. My imagination was ill then.

So, with that sort of track record, you had to know I'd get curious.  So one day, I hit Mr. Zawinul's floor.  Fully expecting to sneak down the hall, stare at his door, bug out for a second out of respect and walk off.  Here we go, elevator up.  The door opens, and I'm in his apartment.  There is no hall way for his floor and he left his floor unlocked.  There he is on his couch with a keyboard on his lap, staring at me.  I don't really remember saying anything, just trying to act like "oops, sorry" and closing the door as fast as I could.

So that was it, my Brief Encounter with Joe Zawinul.  I wonder if that was anti-climatic or not?  I don't even really remember seeing him downstairs at all or in the neighborhood.  He must have been a hermit up there or been on tour all the time, or a little of both.

Unfortunately in doing some research for this little post here I found out he passed away back in 2007.  That's a real shame, RIP Joe.  You made some real fresh music, even if I only got to meet you for like 5 seconds in person.