JUNK KITCHEN #12

 SPRING CLEANING!

Friday April 26th 10pm $10

 The Lily Pad 1353 Cambridge St. Inman Sq. Cambridge 

Click here to listen to the show!!!

 Spring can really hang you up the most.  -Fran Landesman

There’s something about the beginning of spring that really annoys people. The longer days and mild temperatures make it feel like the budding flower is right below us. Yet endless overcast skies often greet us with more snowfall, forming slushy mounds on top of large tracks of mud and ice.  When it seems like the weather is ready to break, another six inches of snow falls on us and pushes back this anticipated rejuvenation. This often keeps that first walk in the woods or that stroll in the park just something to be desired. By April some of you may feel that spring has turned against you, and what seems to be just around the corner is still another month away. What you thought were songs of the Blue Jay may have been the evil Mocking Bird mastering its art of deception. 

Worry not friends, this is no “anti-Spring.”  This is just a slow thaw, a time of transition from the dormant survival of winter to the leap into the summer outdoors. For this growth, though, all of us must first endure change. Before we can fully indulge ourselves in the gentle pastures of lilacs and daises, we need to set aside the time to cleanse our heads and our homes of winter’s lasting grip, whose cold, soul-crushing fingers may stunt our growth. The Bunnies must clean their dens to make room for expected young.  The Squirrels will clean out their pantries of acorn shells to make room in those nooks, eventually, for… more acorns. And Artists and Musicians will need to unblock their minds of all of the old ideas that once meant something to them so that new pieces can be conceived. As tempting as it may be, “looking for sea glass at the beach” may be contrived at this time. Mother nature is teaching us to be patient by forcing us to slow down and be introspective.  She wants us to make space for future indulgences by putting behind us the memories and miseries of the past. Music not excluded. You can’t really hum “Joy Spring” if you have “Autumn Leaves” on your mind. 

Luckily Spring Cleaning is a night to help you achieve this change. While you’re scraping out the snow crud from the gutters, dusting the gunk off celling fans, and Windexing ALL the windows of your house, let this Junk Kitchen installment be your soundtrack. We will perform original pieces that have been sitting under piles of papers for years, just waiting to be played. Some of this music will be performed on instruments that haven’t seen the light of day for quite some time, too. You can pretty much let your imagination run wild of what sort of kooky things people have lying around in their closets. For example: an autoharp duet composition performed by William Kenlon and Ben Dicke. Audience members are strongly urged to bring their own well-wintered pieces and dormant instruments as well!

If spring cleaning at your home seems too overwhelming, let me suggest you “whistle while you work.” At this musical Spring Cleaning, the only work we’ll ask of you is to just… whistle. J  10$

Compositions and performances by:

William Kenlon

Ben Dicke

Andy Volker

Eric Hofbauer

Esther Viola

Brigham Hall - plus many others TBA

Special thanks to Brigham Hall for inspiring this show idea.

Anyone who would like to contribute an idea, theme or title for a Junk Kitchen show is more than welcome to do so!!!  WE WANT COLLABORATORS!

JUNK KITCHEN #11

      BURT BACHARACH BACHELOR PAD

SATURDAY MARCH 9th - 10pm 

 An encore  performance of an original musical inspired by the songs of 

 BURT BACHARACH 

THE LILY PAD - $10

 1353 CAMBRIDGE STREET   CAMBRIDGE  

Composer Alfred Bachelorach seems to have it all: hit songs to make hearts melt, upscale gigs where top-shelf whiskey flows freely, and a new chick every night of the week. His bachelor pad is furnished with inviting fauteuils and a fully stocked bar, and the air sways with the lush arrangements and luring melodies of his songs. Many a girl has gambled all to gain entry to this palace, only to be banished again by daybreak.

Edith, an aspiring singer, proves equally unable to resist the pull of Alfred's talent and charm. However, unlike others before her, she turns the tables of the chase, and in pursuing Alfred she discovers a secret neither his loyal bandmates nor his trusted lyricist, Hal, have ever learned.

As the mystery deepens, it becomes clear that Edith's friend Faith knows more than she initially lets on. And Alfred's drummer, Max, may have developed a smoother, truer technique in playing his hand in the game of seduction. Ultimately, Alfred Bachelorach will be forced to face the fact that while a chair may still be a chair, a bachelor pad penthouse is most certainly not a home. And if he is ever to get what he really wants, he may have to relinquish his womanizing ways. The question is not how he can make this change, but who will inspire him to do so?

***STARRING***

William Kenlon as Alfred Bachelorach

Esther Viola as Edith

Evelyn Hurley as Faith

Paul Jacobs as Sully, piano

Al Marra as Mugsy, vibes

Scot Fitzsimmons as Scott, bass

Ben Dicke as Max, drums

and special guest appearance by...

Will Dicke as Hal, lyricist

JUNK KITCHEN #10

I NEED YOU, I KNEED YOU, I KNEAD YOU

Friday, February 15 @10pm*
Lily Pad
1353 Cambridge St.
Cambridge, MA 02139




When Sir Paul McCartney penned the bridge for his immortal “Michelle,” he expressed his feelings of love though the simple words “I need you.” Those who have used these words before can sympathize with his feelings of endless yearning fueled by a passionate heart. But for some, Love's intentions can be less clear. Do we say we need someone as an expression of romantic affect? Or do we need chiefly because we are selfish people requiring constant attention? What drives us to pine after someone so much that the phrase sounds more like a cry for help than a call of love? In short, what can we find behind this common feeling, beyond the urge, the want, the desire? And what about all those other “needs?” We shouldn’t forget about them, right?

It's February! Love is in the air and need is at the Lily Pad, our new host venue for the series. In classic late-night TV format, host Ben Dicke presents I Need You, I Kneed you, I Knead you, a show dedicated to exploring the many facets of needing the one you love. But this first installment of the season picks up where Paul left off: Boston area musicians put their creative urges into emotional tunes and venture into need's phonetic equivalents, engaging special guests to demonstrate bread-kneading and massage, as well as effective self-defense techniques. Please join us as our special studio audience in this odyssey of desideratum, this exploration of exigency.

*Please note that this is not only our first show of 2013, but also our first time in the new venue, the Lily Pad, at a new time, 10pm. Most of all, we need you there to make this the most fulfilling show yet!

EXCLUSIVE VIP INVITE ONLY EVENT!!!

JUNK KITCHEN BIRTHDAY BASH and FUNDRAISING LAUNCH



SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8 2012 @ 8PM
(RSVP to Esther or Ben)

Has it already been a year?! The Junk Kitchen is turning one year old, and we want to celebrate with you!

The Outpost is where it opened its eyes for the first time, gazing into the portraits of musicians so inspirational, and unfurled its ears to the sounds of the preview show. Like any healthy, growing concert series, each night became a unique milestone in its development: Music for Toys taught Junk Kitchen how to play with others and proved that we still know how to be kids. Get Out Your Mini was short but sweet. With the clashing of pots and pans, the series made music out of Found Objects. Do You Do Duo, Too? taught us about relationships. We went through a time warp with the Raymond Scott Review, and New Music Night told us not to fear trying new things. Postcards from Brazil was a (field) trip, and Burt Bacharach was Junk Kitchen's first exposure to grown-up problems of love and loss. Reed It and Weep extemporized on the changing seasons and explored the depths of emotions. In short, it has been a great year and one that brings a tear to our eyes when we think of all the growing the series has done!

To celebrate, we are inviting past performers and patrons to a night of Junk Kitchen music, to let the concert series have its own concert for once. You provide the talent, instruments and booze, and we’ll supply the place, some leadsheets and... more booze! What will come out of it? We're dreaming of a... 7-minute "Light Works" jam, a drunken loopy-eyed “Look of Love,” and improvisations on empty beer bottles. Let's give Season One its proper send off, and ignite the flame for Season Two, which starts February 15th.

Now a note from Junk Kitchen "dad," Ben Dicke:

As I write this and think of earlier times, I can’t ignore the Junk Kitchen's current growing pains as it's becoming quite a destructive little devil around the house! The series is now crawling around with a full set of teeth and an appetite, pushing the limits of a baby-proof home environment: it's biting on extension cords, playing with staplers, figuring out what body positions are best for sliding down the stairs and, like all children at this age, it gets into cheerios-throwing sippy-cup-dropping temper tantrums from its high chair, shouting “NO!” (a “new” word, the understanding and usage of which I tried my best for months to delay.)

All in all, my tough love can’t hide the fact that the series needs new home. So starting next year the Lily Pad (1353 Cambridge Street, Inman Square, Cambridge) will host our shows. This will be the place where the series learns to walk, talk and get potty trained. (I spoke to Gill at length about this, and he said it was ok as long as I would take care of any “accidents.”) Also on the horizon is a new website which will post the current show updates, past shows' sound and video clips, and will help you keep informed of all our shenanigans throughout the season.

The aspirations of a growing concert series comes with growing costs. I have already spent plenty on organic formula, new baby shoes (every 6 weeks!) a few Baby Einstein DVDs, at 20 something dollars a pop! But when it comes to the cost of rent and a website (not to mention a musicians' payment fund) I just simply cannot find the coupons for all of it! So this winter we will be asking you, the Boston/Cambridge music and arts community, to help us with our indiegogo campaign, which we hope to launch with this event. I mean, what better way to celebrate the past year than to spark life into the 2013 season? With your help we can avoid malnourishment as one of next year's themes...

Your support of our series has meant a lot to me this past year, as it has given a place and a purpose for so much creative energy. Next year will undoubtedly be even better: sillier, savvier, more mature! But first, I want to celebrate our musical highlights with all of you who have been there for us by being a part of the Junk Kitchen community. Hope to see you on the 8th!

Best,

Ben

JUNK KITCHEN #9

REED IT AND WEEP
(an emotional coffeehouse for seasonal change)

FRIDAY SEPT. 28, 2012
@ 8PM
OUTPOST 186
1861/2 HAMPSHIRE ST.
CAMBRIDGE, MA
$10


Melancholiness always accompanies the twilight of summer as the days become shorter and cool air breathes gently through the brittle leaves of the resplendent trees. It wasn’t that long ago when we were soothing our bodies in the warm hands of endless sunlight, losing ourselves in barefoot explorations through thickets of tall grass and chirping meadows, only to find ourselves once again crashing our bodies to the earth at dusk with hearts beating, gazing beyond the heavens as a blanket of stars comforted us with a cadence of crickets drifting us to sleep, letting our minds frolic in imaginary pastures of dreams so real...

As we awake from our sleep now, the world around us is less forgiving of such adventures. Some of us are lucky to escape the inevitable winter looming over us: the geese fly south. But for the rest of us, we have to prepare ourselves for the colder months ahead: the squirrels must gather acorns.

Like the school children who spend their last day of summer vacation holding on to those final hours of independence and freedom, we are likely to spend these days before hibernation reflecting on the months gone by, while reluctantly outgrowing them. The squirrel cannot spend his time playing games during the acorn hunt or he will not survive the winter. We shouldn’t pretend that summer will last forever, for the sight of morning frost on bare trees will soon signal the specter of icy gloom. Yet another of life's cycles is nearing its end. Autumn leaves must fall.

This installment of the Junk Kitchen is dedicated to helping you come to grips with the seasonal changing of the guard. In true Junk Kitchen fashion we are transforming the Outpost once again. This time to a mid-90s open mic coffee house complete with dim lights, small tables and a written-in-chalk chalk board menu of hot drinks and day-old half-stale pastries. Performances will feature a diverse mix of reed players who will layer their somber tones underneath reedings of poetry that will help you ponder the past and contemplate the coming winter. Sorry, no Wi-Fi available.

NEXT SHOW!!!

This Sunday, September 16, the Junk Kitchen Players will be performing on the concert series

3rd Sundays @3 

Kumantzelis Auditorium
Bentley University
175 Forest Street
Waltham, MA 02452

See you there!

JUNK KITCHEN #8

BURT BACHARACH BACHELOR PAD

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2012
@8PM
OUTPOST 186
186 1/2 Hampshire St.
Cambridge, MA

Composer Alfred Bachelorach seems to have it all: hit songs to make hearts melt, upscale gigs where top-shelf whiskey flows freely, and a new chick every night of the week. His bachelor pad is furnished with inviting fauteuils and a fully stocked bar, and the air sways with the lush arrangements and luring melodies of his songs. Many a girl has gambled all to gain entry to this palace, only to be banished again by daybreak.

Edith, an aspiring singer, proves equally unable to resist the pull of Alfred's talent and charm. However, unlike others before her, she turns the tables of the chase, and in pursuing Alfred she discovers a secret neither his loyal bandmates nor his trusted lyricist, Hal, have ever learned.

As the mystery deepens, it becomes clear that Edith's friend Faith knows more than she initially lets on. And Alfred's drummer, Max, may have developed a smoother, truer technique in playing his hand in the game of seduction. Ultimately, Alfred Bachelorach will be forced to face the fact that while a chair may still be a chair, a bachelor pad penthouse is most certainly not a home. And if he is ever to get what he really wants, he may have to relinquish his womanizing ways. The question is not how he can make this change, but who will inspire him to do so?

***STARRING***

William Kenlon as Alfred Bachelorach

Esther Viola as Edith

Evelyn Hurley as Faith

Paul Jacobs as Sully, piano

Al Marra as Mugsy, vibes

Scot Fitzsimmons as Scott, bass

Ben Dicke as Max, drums

and special guest appearance by...

Will Dicke as Hal, lyricist

Photos from Brasil

Obrigada Brena for the beautiful photos of our last show, Postcards from Brasil!

To see more of Brena's fabulous photography, visit her blog, Treasure Chest.

JUNK KITCHEN #7

POSTCARDS FROM BRASIL

FRIDAY 27 JULY, 2012 @8PM

Outpost 186
186 1/2 Hampshire St.
Cambridge, MA





postmarked: Rio de Janeiro, 13 July 2012

Hey!

Hope you're having a great summer! We've been traveling all over Brazil for the past few months, and it is incredible! The food is amazing, the people are so warm and friendly—we're already talking about coming back next year. But what is really blowing us away is the MUSIC!

Everywhere we go—from Bahia in the northeast, where we heard the berimbau and saw capoeira on the streets, to here in Rio, where we saw Guinga live in concert (!) and met musicians who play with Hermeto Pascoal, and went to choro rodas—everywhere there is music playing. We're trying to record all this music with our ears, because we can't wait to play everything for you!

In fact, our flight gets back into Boston on Friday, July 27th, and we're heading straight to Outpost 186 to play all this music for you! We've had all kinds of ideas, and we've been talking about things like authenticity—can we as Americans just pick up and play Brazilian music?—as well as the definition of a “classic.” As always at the Junk Kitchen, we want to play music that's got a slightly different take on the common interpretation. So we've found some great classics here in Brazil, a few even from the late 19th century! While they're quite well-known here, we think back in Cambridge they will sound fresh and new, like instant life-long friends.

We've also heard so much music that doesn't sound at all like the standard Brazilian bossa export, and yet we've also heard some “bossas” which are so fresh and infectious—we've just got to bring it all back for you! So we're going to do our best, fully acknowledging that this music is pretty new for us, we're just going to dive in and do it—just like a gringa jumping into the samba de roda and shaking her hips like she didn't know any better! Why not? Life's too short not to groove, dance, sweat and swing!

So we hope you'll join us July 27th at 8pm! And don't forget to bring some limes for the caipirinhas!

Beijos,
Esther & Ben

JUNK KITCHEN #6

NEW MUSIC NIGHT

SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012


8PM @ Outpost 186
186 1/2 Hampshire St.
Inman Square
Cambridge, MA

If you were to go to your favorite diner and order lunch, you would expect (or at least hope for) your sandwich to be made fresh, just for you. Made minutes before your first bite, without the evidence of someone else’s, right?

If you were on the market for a new jacket, you wouldn’t expect to have some previous owner's loose change and half pack of cigarettes in the left pocket. Not if it was sold to you as new, am I wrong?

If you were to buy a new car, you would expect it to be brand new, wouldn't you? I mean we’re talking new-car-smell, reeking of well-fitted suede-barracuda-sport-coat new (no need to turn it inside out, unless you bought a convertible, of course.) It wouldn’t be right to pay full price for a “new” car that’s been owned and driven by other people, with a few thousand miles racked on the odometer and a few treads missing on the tires.

When it comes to new music, though, countless times don’t we settle for music that is, well . . . only sorta new?

I mean is John Cage really new anymore? Would you drink a 20 to 60-year-old cup of coffee? No! You'd expect it to be fresh, hot and tasty. So shouldn’t new music be the same way?

This Junk Kitchen show is dedicated to defining our standard for new music. All the pieces here are written especially for this night. And just as the FDA qualifies that food is only considered fresh within 72 hours of preparation, we are requiring that our composers create their pieces no more than 72 hours before the first performance – and I mean the very first, no rehearsals, no run-throughs – just as is, when served up steaming and aromatic, by our Junk Kitchen Players. The strike of the notes will be the first time ears ever hear it. (One might also call this a “sight reading” night but we figured that it would make it sound even more like a nerd event... Oops.)


Featuring NEW compositions by:
Ian Dicke, Todd Brunel, Eric Biondo, Brian Abbott, Rob Manthey, Pam Marshall and others

Played by:
Matt Samolis - flute
Deirdre Viau - flute
Esther Viola - oboe
Honjo Tsuyoshi - saxes
Ryan Fessinger - bassoon
McMillan Gaither - trombone
Marion Campos - guitars
Brigham Hall - piano
Paul Jacobs - piano
Ben Dicke - drums
...and others