Performing Songwriter/Guitarist - Jim Vick - News

Songwriters Circle Concert Sept. 2nd with Brad Warren and Kate Phillips

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

When I first moved from Boston to Seattle back in the early 90's and began seeking out places to hear and play acoustic music, one of the first people I met in the local singer-songwriter scene was Kate Phillips. I was immediately taken by this remarkable and incredibly talented young woman, who was then co-hosting and giving heartfelt solo performances at a weekly U-District open mic where I first introduced my own material to a Seattle audience. Only a year or 2 later (help me on this, Kate!) she and her former partner Bill Pritchard opened Madison's Cafe and Music House, a little musical miracle in West Seattle, where I met and began to make music with some of Seattle's finest performing songwriters, including the incomparable Brad Warren. My memories of touring the NW with Brad, in the duo that became the Vick-Warren Conspiracy (often with Eva at the wheel on those Eastern WA highways,) are among my fondest. I couldn't be happier to be sharing the stage again with my longtime friends Brad and Kate, and very thankful to Kate for pulling this show together for me during my Seattle visit. The concert will be held at a great new performance venue, Friends, Philosphy and Tea in Bellevue. (Details on the Calendar page.) I really hope you can join us for this long overdue reunion!

Only 1 more scheduled show to follow before I head back to the tropics: an outdoor afternoon concert on Sunday the 5th up in Marysville, WA, again sharing the bill with Brad. Details coming up next week.

Jammin' in Seattle with Marc & Perry

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

My NW mini-tour started Friday evening with a coffeehouse full of friends I haven't seen in years at my gig at Makeda, in the Phinney-Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle. Marc Smason played beautiful African percussion and trombone accompaniment on my songs and then took me as his guest afterward to a late night jazz jam party at a house right there in our old Phinney Ridge neighborhood. The party was given in honor of NYC clarinet master Perry Robinson by family members who live here, following his own gig at Egan's earlier that evening. There was already a guitarist in the mix, so I played the Fender bass when it was vacated for awhile, jamming with Perry, Marc, and constantly changing band of jazz luminaries (I counted about 20 rotating in and out of the chairs over a couple hours of listening and playing there!)

Perry was very sweetly welcoming and complimentary to me. Now 72 years young, his father was Earl Robinson, who wrote "Joe Hill" (the one Joan Baez made famous in the Woodstock festival movie) and songs for Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. Like something out of a dream, it was an amazing experience and an honor to sit in with Perry. If you're a music lover and don't know about him, check out http://www.myspace.com/perryrobinsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Robinson

Next stop is Ashland, OR, for a reunion with my daughter and first meeting of my new granddaughter, born just a couple weeks ago. Then back to WA on the 1st for a couple more shows before I head back south - details to follow shortly.

MUSICAL BARBECUE - Caribe Style

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The Big Mix returns tomorrow night to La Costa de Papito's beautifully expanded and remodeled restaurant, Que Rico Papito. And for both your visual and culinary entertainment, Walter will be cookin' up barbecue Caribbean-style on the new grill in the entry to the dining area, which is scheduled to continue along with our live music every Tuesday night until we take a break in mid-August. Meanwhile, back in the jungle studio, I've been finishing up mixes for a pretty big crop of those long-in-process new recordings I'm readying for release in the coming months. There are previews of a lot of that stuff streaming on this music player, with more on the MUSIC page. Hope to see you in Cocles!

BHAKTI BLUE, PHASE 2

Wed, 05 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

As the winter tourism season winds down this month in Puerto Viejo, we’ve cut back our performance schedule to our usual Tuesday nights at La Costa de Papito, which remain ongoing as long as there are hotel guests and the weather cooperates with bringing out an audience. Which means, be sure to call the restaurant before venturing out for a show (2750 0704.) We always hate to hear that people have gone out to hear us only to discover the music had been canceled that evening.

Meanwhile, our attention has shifted in rehearsal and recording mode, with the next Bhakti Blue performances taking primary focus for the band. The Wizard (a.k.a. Stephen A) is adding texture and color from his magical palette of multiple instruments and sounds to help more fully realize my musical vision for these songs in our live performances of this project. The beauty and power of Sandra’s voice in her dramatic interpretations of the Spanish translations of the lyrics are already wowing us at rehearsals, and we are all eager to bring them out of the studio for the new band’s first outing. “When?” is of course the question that local friends are asking, and the answer remains indefinite – sometime after Carter’s return from Europe in June, to be sure, and most likely after my own late summer Stateside travels. So, given all the time that has already passed since the first concert, I’ve decided to give you a little preview in the form of an inside look at the coming together of this project – sort of like those little “The Making of ___” extras that come on DVDs. The first installment is right here, on the MUSIC page: http://www.jimvick.com/music.html

Please let me know what you think – your feedback is always appreciated! - Jim

THE BIG MIX GOES LIVE

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

It has already been a very busy season for my new duo, now re-named jim vick's BIG MIX, with continuing weekly gigs at La Costa de Papito on Tuesdays, along with Thursday nights at Donte's Roadhouse (at El Tesoro, just across from Beach Break,) and additional shows coming up in the next week or so: at Le Cameleon in Cocles next Friday night and a sunset set at the new Mango Sunset club on the Puerto Viejo beach that weekend. On the recording front, the big news of this month was that one of my recent tracks was licensed for the soundtrack of a new film about the Limon coast that's now in post-production. I'll let you know more about that soon as the release date gets closer.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Following our debut at La Costa de Papito tomorrow night (starting at 7:00,) my new duo jv2 joins Chile Rojo's Andrew and company his both Thursday and Friday nights for a couple of his famous holiday turkey dinners. These feasts are a huge favorite of travelers and the ex-pat community here this time of year. And the show will feature our new arrangements of some of the best loved Christmas music of our time. And we'll close out the weekend with one more performance of this show at Chile Rojo on Sunday. So if you're dreaming of a white pile of chestnuts roasting among the sleighbells, come sing along with us! For reservations, call 2750 0025. And have a wonderful holiday season whatever you do and wherever you are this week!

Back on the Block

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Hola! Yes, it's been awhile, but I'm returning to the live music world after an extended and much needed autumn break. The October - November low tourism season in Costa Rica is generally a good time for me to catch up on my recording projects and arranging and rehearsing new performance material for the coming year. It's been a pretty productive period for me this time, and this time I've been rehearsing a new duo with drummer/keyboardist Stephen Anthony that we'll be debuting at La Costa de Papito on the 22nd and at other Caribe Sur venues in the next few weeks. We're also working Stephen into the Bhakti Blue project for performances later in the coming season. Meanwhile, I'm putting final touches on some new music for the website - tracks from 2 of the new CD projects that have been competing for my time this Fall - an album of of all new material and a long overdue collection of previously unreleased tracks that a lot of US friends may remember from live shows up there over the years. But for now, it's time to get the gear ready and packed up for the new season's shows (many thanks to guitarist/luthier Chris Scott for the great setup on my Parker a few days ago!) See you out there soon, Puerto Viejo!

WOODSTOCK IN PUERTO V?

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It was August 15, 1969. Just one week before my 18th birthday. My friends' dad had agreed to lend us his car, and a small group of us were ready to hit the road for the 8 - 10 hour trip across NY State to spend the weekend in the Catskill Mountains countryside with what turned out to be about 400,000 other young people for what had been billed as an Aquarian Exposition and seemed sure to be the biggest music event of our lifetimes. By a long shot! My mom had said, "You're not 18 yet - you're not going," but I'm sure you can easily imagine my reply.

So yes, it's a bit late - we were delayed almost a month by a bad case of flu that hit me just before the actual anniversary date so that we had to postpone this show. But being a Woodstock veteran still carrying the memories of what a life changing experience that incredible weekend was for me personally, I am compelled to go ahead with this: a full evening of music that was played on those 4 music history making days by some of the top artists of the day - a virtual blues/rock, folk and funk guitar extravaganza, to be sure. More details on the CALENDAR page!

WOODSTOCK 40th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION CONCERT, TUESDAY, SEPT. 8, 7:00 - 9:30 PM at LA COSTA DE PAPITO

BHAKTI BLUE MUSIC

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

To celebrate the arrival of the summer (which around here means less tourists, resulting in slower times in the music performance department) I've found myself with enough free time on my hands to update my website a bit with some new photos and new music. The newest additions in both departments are connected with the debut performance concert of Bhakti Blue: The Rumi Songs, a new musical project I've been working on for the last couple years. The new recordings I've posted on the site are instrumental versions and samples of songs from that project and upcoming album, along with some new cuts from INSIDER'S LIMON. Hope you enjoy them!

Premiere of BHAKTI BLUE: The Rumi Songs

Thu, 21 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

On Friday, May 29, I’ll be premiering a collection of new songs based on the poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi. This will also be the premier of a new international group, assembled specifically for this project, featuring performance poet Sandra Isabel Vallejo Rivas (Columbia,) who will deliver Spanish translations of all the lyrics, along with my frequent collaborator, percussionist Carter V (Detroit, MI). Proceeds from the show will benefit the Green Iguana Foundation www.iguanaverde.com and will be presented in the beautiful performance space of Tree House Lodge in Punta Uva, Limon, here on the Carribean coast of Costa Rica. The poetry of 13th century Sufi poet Rumi has both inspired and shocked millions, with its profoundly intimate descriptions of the experience of human love as a divine ecstatic experience. Rumi's words celebrate love between two people as a spiritual phenomenon, presenting a kind of guide to Bhakti, the yoga of love and devotion. Yet, while the undisputed goal of his philosophy is meeting the Divine in one's lover, he fully embraces the physical and sensual elements of human love in a way that is often at once both sacred and erotic. I first discovered Rumi's work while studying with Sufi teacher Pir Vilayat Khan at the Abode of the Message in New Lebanon, NY, back in the mid-1970's. I later rediscovered his genius while I was attending graduate school in Boston during the early 1990's in the public lectures and readings of poet Robert Bly and the renown English translator Coleman Barks. But it was only after another 15 years of writing and performing my own songs in Seattle that I came to realize just how much Rumi's poetry had influenced both my life and my own work. I picked up a collection of Rumi poetry at a used bookstore in Costa Rica a few months after moving here in 2006, and I soon began to re-encounter images and phrases that had somehow (and mostly unconsciously) found their way into my own song lyrics over the years. it was then that I felt compelled to try working a Rumi poem or two into new contemporary songs of my own. Less than a year later I found myself completing a full album's worth of songs derived directly from Rumi poems - a collection that, because of its musical roots and devotional themes, I now call Bhakti Blue. If you're here in Costa Rica next week, I hope you can join us for this very special event.