Last night I arrived at the TED conference and had a chance to start catching up with friends. One of those friends who I always am excited to see is Bill Bragin. I met Bill a couple years ago at TED through our mutual friend June Cohen and I have been trying to live vicariously through Bill ever since. Bill's job for the last two decades has been to find the next great musician and give him or her a stage on which to play. And my sense was that Bill was pretty much as good at spotting the next great musician as anyone in the world. While he ran Joe's Pub, he "discovered" many stunning musicians. Better yet, he encouraged people to collaborate in ways you wouldn't think of. I was saying to Bill last night that I had found an amazing video of the string quartet Ethel playing on Conan O'Brien with Todd Rundgren and Joe Jackson. Turns out Bill had made that introduction and encouraged that collaboration. I should have known.
Perhaps one of Bill's crowning achievements to date is the nurturing of the musical "Passing Strange" that is about to open on Broadway. It is a fun, exuberant, quirky musical written by a wonderful singer songwriter named Stew. Stew's wit and style turn out to be a great match for Broadway but who would have known it? Bill Bragin, that's who. And this Thursday "Passing Strange" opens on Broadway to impressive aclaim and a whole lot of deserved buzz. For those of you reading this who are New Yorkers, go see "Passing Strange." You will enjoy it. And you have another treat. Bill recently left Joe's Pub to oversee Lincoln Center's summer programs. They are now guaranteed to be spectacular.
Congratulations to Bill for the great article in the New York Times. And thank you so much for all the great music.
This whole blogging thing is Andrew's fault. He is the one who sucked me into it five years ago. And it has been down hill ever since. Think of the countless hours of time I could have had on my hands if I hadn't blogged over the last 5 years. I could have written a novel. I could have taken up painting. I could have slept. I could have had another child (God forbid). But No! Andrew had to convince me that blogging was a good idea. And 5 years later I am a shell of the man I used to be. Thanks Andrew. I really appreciate it.
Have you ever struggled to solve a Rubik's Cube? I have. This video made me feel a little bit inferior.
It makes me happy that this amazing piece by David Park hangs in my office. I hope the Anderson Collection doesn't send it off to a museum any time soon.
