Tuba or Not Tuba

Tonight was the fabulous Tubapalooza extravaganza at Zebulon in Brooklyn. I invited everyone I know in the NYC area & none of them showed up. Tuba haters, all of 'em. Zebulon is decorated with jazz vinyl album covers like classic Miles Davis & Thelonious Monk, so presumably it's a jazz club foremost. In the back there are two bathroom doors: one marked "ladies" & the other marked "women" at the top & "men" at the bottom. Watching those who have had a few try to figure out which bathroom to use must be a secret source of amusement to the bartenders. The doors also have frosted glass panes in them so that you can see the silhouettes of those inside conducting their business.

While the event's name suggests there would be dozens of tubas lined up to duke it out for tubular dominance, in fact there was only Beat Circus's Ron Caswell who sat in with all the bands. First round was Platz Machen, which is essentially accordionist/singer Judith Berkson backed by Caswell's mighty tuba. Berkson's formidable voice reminded me of a battery-powered moth trying to escape a bell jar. Round two was your favorite & mine, Beat Circus. For this set they traded their banjo player for a saxophonist. They were as good as always. I have no idea why those guys aren't legendary. Maybe they are. Act three was HUMANWINE, in slightly stripped-down form without Brian Carpenter filling in the gaps with harmonium, slide trumpet, brake drum, & whatnot. Their newer songs lead me to believe they have some sort of subversive demonic stage musical in the works. The audience didn't seem to know what to make of them. They listened politely (except for the weenie who yelled out "Freebird" & was promptly fed to the crocodiles in the cellar) but there was no stagediving during the waltzes like I was used to at their Boston shows. Nate the drummer is one of the most tasteful tubthumpers around, especially when he picks up the brushes.

Also I must add that between sets a bewildering selection of tunes was provided by none other than DJ Poodlecannon.