Little E's, Backstage Bar and Salsita!

I hope you have one of those devices that lets you reads email and
blog posts as they occur. I do. It's a mixed blessing, because while I
am able to keep up, sometimes keeping up with the digital minutia of
my life becomes far too much for me. I long for the days of rotary
phones and messages which, if returned within a week were considered
returned in a timely fashion, where business didn't occur on a nano
second by nano second basis....
And then I wake up and realize that with out this tech and
communication I and other artists I adore would not have the
opportunities we do as a direct result of living in the future, but
sometimes it freaks me out and I go into cyber hiding. I don't
actually hermitize, you see, I hermitize by not getting on the
computer and actually walking around my neighborhood and saying hi to
people in person. But then 20 voicemails and thousands of emails later
I wake up and say, "Holy mother of goodness I have a big show tonight
and unless they walked past a posted bill that either I or Vinni put
up no one knows about it! "

 So, hence my hope that you get this email within seconds of my sending it and you have the evening clear and would like to hear me tonight as I sing with Colter Harper , Tony DePaolis and Miguel Sague III.
We're at Little E's Jazz Club tonight April 30, 2010, from 8 pm to about 11. No cover, $10 minimum for food or beverage. Sweet little club, lovely staff, great food. And this is my last gig with Tony DePaolis before he leaves us to join the Joy Ellis trio as they sail
around the Mediterranean on a cruise ship.
http://www.littleesjazz.com/
FB event page

And tomorrow I have 2 gigs that I am hoping you may be able to attend if tonight is not on your radar!

May 1, 2010
5- 7 pm Backstage Bar! 655 Penn Ave from with Colter Harper and Miguel Sague III. Free, no cover. Enjoy a nice early evening hit to help your weekend get into gear!

Later that same evening, also May 1, join Miguel and I as we head over to Salsita!
A benefit for the Spanish language school.
8 -11 pm, at the Grey Box Theater, 3595 Butler St, in Lawrenceville. $35, tapas, sangria y salsa!
I am emceeing and singing a couple tunes. Live Latin Band Noel Quintana's Latin Crew, Local DJ, Dance tips for beginners and experts from Salsa Pittsburgh, our annual Silent auction, Salsa tasting Competition, Loco Sombrero Photo Booth. Handcrafted Tapas & Artisan
Drinks! Details and tickets available on-line!

After this I will be planning for Pop Up Pittsburgh, a party/ festival in my neighborhood on May 15 and on May 16 we are doing a big benefit at the Shadow Lounge for Climate Ground Zero, to help their efforts in fighting mountain top blast mining for coal by Massie Mining Group in West Virgina, with Machete, Typewriter Girls, Miguel Sague Jr and son, myself and much more.
For more info check the facebook event page!

I hope you have a beautiful day in Pittsburgh, PA, and I hope I can be
part of it. I am busy booking my summer festival schedule, so if you
have an event you would like me to bring some music to, please ask,
especially if it pays, I am putting my pennies together for another
album and everything I make goes towards helping me do this again.

May the Gods and Goddesses of your household bless you and those
around you,
Mandee

Watch in fascination, groove with definition.....

To my fellow lovers, livers and all who are generally engaged in  creating the stuff of life..... It's been such a fascinating journey  and I thank you for allowing me to share in yours. I hope your Equinox, or Passover, or Easter or jolly combination of the three and  then some were well spent with family and friends. I personally kind of had a horrific monster cold that I didn't wish to pass on to my mortal enemies, much less folks I care about, so I had to stay home, but thankfully my family sent on some ravioli with the Amoeba when he returned home. Fortunately I am over the cold, and ready for tomorrow's show, which I hope you can stop over to, if you are within  the realm of downtown Pittsburgh!

Tomorrow April 9, at 5 pm til 7 pm.
At the Backstage Bar, 655 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA
Come enjoy an early evening to start your weekend with sweet Pittsburgh jazz with silky vocals by Phat Man Dee, the incomparable guitar musings of Colter Harper and the Afro Cuban melodic and entrancing drums of Miguel Sague III. Light bite and cocktails, no  cover!! Watch in fascination, groove with definition as bassist Tony DePaolis shakes your inner every with his very heavy....

Also, in the now, and for another 28 days, the cast of the opera I was in last fall, "How to Survive the Apocalypse, a Burning Opera" is engaged in a communal fundraiser. We are trying to raise about $8000 to complete the cast album. I sang on the record, and helped write the melody to my character's solo song! We did this all last fall, after our sold out run at Teatro Zinzanni in San Francisco, we caravaned together to my friends' Renfey and David Bergeaud's house in the Hollywood Hills to make the record, while it was fresh in our minds and bodies. Renfey was in the cast as the Fire Elemental, and her husband turned their palatial home into a giant recording studio. It was an incredible recording experience. The album and dvd from the live show will be great, but we need to complete them. We the cast, writers (Mark Nichols and Erik Davis) , producer , crew , band and David all made intensedonations of our time and talents but love and talent can only go so far, at some point we need to ask for a little help. I am not asking any one of you to give me $8000 to finish this work, in fact we already have over $5000 of the monies needed pledged already. But if you could think to put $30 or more towards our efforts, I would really thank you. Check it out online, you can see
teaser video from the show and get more info:



And while we are talking about fire and how to survive the apocalypse......
My friend Eroc moved back to town. It was such event, the paper wrote about it....
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10053/1037275-388.stm

Anyhoo, Eroc is a pretty fascinating guy, though he is from Pittsburgh, I met him in NYC with my art star freaks up there, he was a founder of their Madagascar Institute, and LEMUR (League of Musical
Electronic Robots) and he is now living in Squirrel Hill. And he's about to teach a course in building your own personal artistic flame thrower. I can't attend these classes because of gigs and commitments,
but I am hoping it goes well so I can study another time, I have been needing some fire sculpture (or at least some fire elements for my scooter, don't you think?) for a while now.... and it's not like
Pittsburgh Center for the Arts is offering these classes....yet......

For more info:

 http://www.hackpittsburgh.org/flame-cannon-clas 

So, as much as I would love to see your beautiful faces tomorrow, I understand that not all things can happen as I would order them, mayhap I can see you at a gig towards the end of the month?

Save some dates if you would:

Saturday April 24 at the Club Cafe! 21+ , $10. The Return of Yawp!

Carnevale Poetica! Featuring Salena Catalina, Bingo Quixote, Alexi Morrissey, ErinEvanErin, Kevin "the nerve' Wenner, Borderless Puzzle, Phat Man Dee, Dr. Awkward, Gary Musisko, Jim "DOG" Cvetic, Over Responding Monster, Leslie Ann McIlroy and more guests TBA... plus the return of yawp Magazine. Poetry/Performance/Music/Art!

Friday April 30 at Little E's Jazz Club
8 pm, no cover, $10 min food/drink, with Tony DePaolis, Colter Harper and Miguel Sague III

Saturday May 1 at Backstage Bar
5 - 7 pm, no cover, with Colter Harper and Miguel Sague III
Later that same evening, 8 pm at the Grey Box Theater for a benefit for the Spanish language grade school in Squirrel Hill

Sunday May 16 at Shadow Lounge
"Go Tell it On the Mountain" a benefit to send legal defense funds to Climate Ground Zero, as they fight the Massie Corporation from immoral and illegal mountaintop blast coal mining. With Phat Man Dee, Emay, Typewriter Girls and Mike Roselle of Climate Ground Zero, more info forthcoming. All $$ to benefit Climate Ground Zero.

And last but not least, please to enjoy some video I shot and edited of me singing with Genia of Machete and Carlos Pena at the Latin American Cultural Union's presentation during the Caribbean and Latin American Festival at the University of Pittsburgh. I am hoping to start a trio with her and Cha of Guaracha Latin Dance Band, maybe called Trio Los Mereguitos.... Until I can announce our debut performance, I hope this video whets your appetite...