RICK MacLAINE and TERUKI ISHIKAWA, June 28, 2009

I mean no offense to singer Rick MacLaine and Teruki Ishikawa when I suggest that their names might not be as well-known as other musicians.  But they deserve much wider attention, as this clip — recorded on Sunday, June 28, 2009 — will show within four bars.

The how and the where?  Every Sunday morning and afternoon, there’s a wonderful farmers’ market (urban style) on the Upper West Side of New York City — Columbus Avenue, south of 81st Street.  I was on my way there and heard some special street music: a man purling his way ever so gently through a medium-tempo I’M OLD-FASHIONED with a subtle electric guitarist accompanying him.  I stood there, delighted and amazed . . . put some money in the hat when the duo had concluded, and scurried back to where I had my video camera. 

After chatting with Rick and Teruki a bit to be sure it was OK to capture them, and after positioning myself so that the people with dogs and packages didn’t walk in front of (and through me), I recorded this: EAST OF THE SUN.  I think it’s an understated but compelling performance, much better than a good deal of what you’d hear in a club.   

Rick has a speaking way of addressing the lyrics and an affectionate reverence for the melody without ever being stiff or formal.  If you closed your eyes, you’d hear his essential good humor coming through.  Please note the charming mixture of sincerity and casualness, the absolute absence of histrionics, the way both Rick and Teruki handle their phrases as soloists, and their lovely, quiet, intense interplay.  Wouldn’t they be splendid at a party?  I didn’t get a chance to ask Teruki the obligatory questions, but in a city full of guitarists who treat their instruments aggressively, his thoughtful swing is an oasis.  Rick is a graduate not only of Berklee but of the traveling university of Barry Harris — credentials enough for anyone! 

Bless them, and I hope they prosper.  You can contact Rick at bebop1@sprintmail.com., and Teruki at sound-of-teruki@hotmail.com.  See that you do!

P.S.  Before completing this post, I toyed with a variety of what I hoped were witty titles: SWING STREET, THE STREET SINGER, and simply WOW!  I decided to post their names — perhaps soon those names will be as well-known as Rick and Teruki deserve.