We continue our daily profiles of the musicians involved in the making of the Brooklyn Babylon recording with a look at pianist and, ah, "melodica-ist" Gordon Webster (@gordonwebster on Twitter).
While Gordon maintains an active and varied freelance career as a forward-thinking NYC-based jazz pianist, he also leads a double life as a star bandleader on the current lindy hop scene.
"Wait, there's a current lindy hop scene?" Oh yes. It looks like this:
Gordon's 8-piece swing band is known and loved by swing dancers all over the world; he and his group have toured Europe, Australia, Asia, the continental US, and Canada. Gordon will also, on occasion, play lindy hop dances all alone — solo piano. (When we went to London, he played a solo gig on the Society's night off.) Playing for a roomful of dancers without the support of a rhythm section is pretty much the musical equivalent of performing in a high-wire act without a net, but Gordon takes it all in stride.1 When he's not on the road, he co-leads a trad-jazz jam session on Tuesday nights at Mona's in the East Village, as a member of the Mona's Hot Four.
Gordon hails from Ottawa, Ontario, and once cycled across Canada with his brother, saxophonist Mike Webster, in 53 days, which is possibly the second most Canadian way to see the country.2 As we mentioned previously, he's also a self-proclaimed coffee aficionado. His current rig (mine too) is this one, but he keeps a crumpled and dog-eared pamphlet for La Marzocco's La Strada under his pillow. Despite this, Gordon continues to insist that any coffee roasted darker than a pale cinammon tastes "burnt." My usual response is that if current trends continue, it won't be long before they'll start taking beans from berries that fell off the tree earlier in the day, dumping them in a bucket of water and leaving them for months to rot, then selling the resulting bilge as "naturally harvested, sun-roasted, cold-brewed artisanal iced coffee." We're at an impasse, is what I'm trying to say.
As part of our fundraising efforts for our upcoming recording, Brooklyn Babylon, we are offering you the opportunity to sponsor a Secret Society musician — if you would like to sponsor Gordon's appearance on our new album, or lend your support at any level, please visit our Kickstarter page.
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1. Oh sure, you groan now, but there is no way you would have been able to resist making that pun, either.
2. You know the first. Yes you do.
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MUSICIANS AVAILABLE FOR SPONSORSHIP: Erica von Kleist • Rob Wilkerson • Sam Sadigursky • John Ellis • Josh Sinton • Seneca Black • Tom Goehring • Matt Holman • Nadje Noordhuis • Ryan Keberle• James Hirschfeld • Sebastian Noelle • Gordon Webster • Matt Clohesy • Jon Wikan
MUSICIANS ALREADY SPONSORED: Ingrid Jensen • Jennifer Wharton • Mike Fahie
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