Tagged: Jacco Gardner

Coffee and Indoor and Outdoor Music

Seasonal creep

It’s when someone tries to hurry along the next season when we’re still in the midst of the current season. Some examples include Back-to-School sales in July, Christmas decorations in October, and Valentine’s Day swag right after New Year’s Day. I’ll even add registering for spring classes in the second week of the fall term.

I’ll admit that the weather this summer has been downright pleasant, temperatures in the low 80s with very low humidity, which hasn’t resembled the sultry summers of late. But yesterday, August 15, it was downright autumnal. Not only was it chilly enough for me to wear a sweatshirt when I saw the Boogaroos at the free outdoor show at the South Street Seaport last night, there were other signs of autumn:

  • There were NFL football games were playing on the big screens at bars across the city,
  • At one of those same bars, I saw a sandwich board easel advertising Oktoberfest beers,
  • On Thursday, I was handed a beer list that included four pumpkin beers,
  • Yesterday afternoon, I swore I saw NYU students beginning to move in to some of the dorms along Washington Square.

I really hate fall, despite the pleasant weather in September and early October. It signals the end of my lighter-than-normal workload, the end of softball season, long bike rides before more difficult to schedule, greenmarkets approach the end of their flavorful harvest, everyone is watching football, and I revert to wearing long pants. But before summer gives way to fall, here’s a few events still going on before it all ends in about two weeks.

Sadly, because the semester is about to start and I have work to do, I’ll probably miss all the outdoor stuff. Dang!

Immersed in the 1960s with Jacco Gardner

Over the last week, I’ve been in a pretty melancholic mood so I’ve been working long days and listening to music throughout most of that time. Upon the suggestion of a good friend, I’ve been listening to Jacco Gardner.

Immediately, Gardner’s music comes across as psychedelic, a throwback to the 1960s, which coincidentally is the period I’ve been immersed in as I write a dissertation chapter. You can choose your favorite artist to compare Gardner, such as The Zombies, Cat Stevens, Syd Barrett, but it’s not an exact replica of that era, either.

Jacco Gardner has two releases from 2013 easily available. His full-length album, Cabinet of Curiosities, is available on iTunes. In addition, a single bears an appropriate title for this time of year, The End of August is also available on iTunes.

New Yorkers can catch him for free with the Boogarins tonight at the South Street Seaport, part of the Seaport Music Festival. If tonight’s no good, Jacco Gardner is also playing tomorrow night, August 16, at Baby’s All Right in Williamsburg, where it seems there’s at least few good shows for me to catch each month.

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