Cranky the Clown School Dropout
Solo saxophone circus jazz, klezmer and pathetic clown themes
Laziness Cranky will give you the benefit of the doubt that you are just too lazy to speak two extra words. You know how people tend to shorten names, calling somebody named Joseph, Joe, or a Jennifer, Jen, without considering if they prefer the longer name, their actual name. Or perhaps you never noticed Cranky's… Continue reading It makes Cranky cranky to have to repeat himself, Cranky is not a Clown!
Cranky just put the finishing touches on his set list for the 2017 season. This year may see nine new song, bringing the Cranky Hit List (CHL) total to 77 songs. Cranky is hedging on the actual number of nine songs making the cut, since, if past years are any indication, some of these new… Continue reading Black Coffee and other Delights
Cranky’s seasons have a long tradition of ending on a sour note, so to speak. There was the time that Cranky was playing in Congress Square on a cold Friday evening toward the end of October. A derelict fellow came up and insisted that that he should have a dollar out of Cranky’s bucket. When… Continue reading Equipment Failure – Achievements in the Pathetic.
If you blinked you missed it. Cranky's "soft-launch" of the 2016 season. A 90 minute appearance at the Portland Farmers Market in Deering Oaks. The big new Cranky accouterments this year (the picture is self-explanatory). Cranky changes the top and the bottom, everything in the middle remains the same.
A brief peek into Cranky's brain. Here’s a behind the scenes story of Cranky’s that you are probably better off not knowing. So for all of you who have a rosy image of Cranky out there wearing his multi-colors, in a sax playing utopia, you can stop reading right now. No need to dirty up… Continue reading Cranky’s dream comes true, a bad dream that is.
Cranky has a kind of annual amnesia when it comes to compatible places to play. Every year Cranky thinks it's a good idea to play at the First Friday Art Walk only to find out that it has become a different animal than it was in the early days eight or nine years ago. There's… Continue reading Cranky digs the Old Port. (Well, not really, but it just happened to work out tonight because it totally sucked on Congress St. during the First Friday Art Walk.)
Friday, May 22nd 5pm. So Cranky headed up to last year's main haunt, Longfellow Square but there was a troupe of gregarious young actors in tunics preparing for a street performance of Shakespeare. They looked rather silly to Cranky, but who is he to judge. So that was out. Proceeding further downtown to last weeks… Continue reading A tale of 2 Cities
Cranky has been hard at work prepping for the coming 2015 season. The illustrious Keilwerth Straight Alto is in the shop for some much needed TLC. Some new pads and adjustments were long over due, but the well adjusted horn will be back in play by the end of April. In the meantime Cranky's back… Continue reading Cranky’s Spring Training
Many, many years before the origin of The Clown School Dropouts and the creation of Cranky. Ur-Cranky or Proto-Cranky, lets call him, discovered the early jazz trumpeter Jabbo Smith. Interestingly enough the discovery wasn't made through music but from a written story, a comic book, to be precise. The eye opening moment came from reading… Continue reading Cranky luvs Jabbo
Another Cranky inspiration. Long time member of Cranky's playlist is Everybody Stomp by the Cotton Club Orchestra (Duke Ellington). http://youtu.be/2rl6zY4Wcz4 Cranky likes songs that offer much more than appears on the surface. Sort of a, the whole is more than the sum of its parts, but inverted. The parts are more than the whole. So… Continue reading This is your Cranky on Ellington.
Cranky the Clown School Dropout 