WHAT I DID LAST SUMMER: 3 NEW SONGS AND A COUPLE OF DATES

Here's that homework essay you always had to write for your new teacher on the first week back in grammar school. As usual, I'm late with mine, for many legitimate reasons, the main one being that I'm Bob Crespo. These things happen. At least this time around, I'm not making stuff up the midnight before it's due. This stuff actually happened. Mostly.

As a little boy, who knows what you did all summer? How many ways can you say "messed around?" Who remembered to keep a record of doing jack-shit for 3 months? Not that the teacher gave a rat's ass what you did or didn't do with your so-called life, she just wanted to see if any of her newbies could put two coherent sentences together, or was this going to be yet another long fourth grade term.

After a few years in grade school it dawns on you that this essay will define your student/teacher relationship for the coming year, so the wise youngster throws together a disjointed and barely legible pack of lies that guarantees that you won't be laboring under the heavy burden of high expectations. This thoughtful act also spares your teacher one more crushing disappointment.

When your favorite thing mentioned in your history text book is The Diet of Worms, just for the laugh value, odds are you won't be a candidate for a full scholarship anywhere other than the penitentiary, and it's best for both of you that the teacher knows this upfront.

Boys are born for summer, not grade school, so the clever boy lets his teacher know right off the bat that his mind will be otherwise engaged for the next 9 months, so mindless repetition is pretty much their only shot of getting us to remember anything about new math, the capital of Bulgaria or the War of the Roses.

Never let them know you've got the fatal flaw of potential, that's a ticket to more work and less messing around, and an even bigger disappointment than life inevitably hands to the very young. If the teacher thinks you're a little dull, you'll get better marks for your shoddy work than you would if she thought you could do better. Don't go there.

Which brings us to today's report, which finds me still messing around; writing, composing songs, playing music and going to the recording studio. Not exactly life on Easy Street, but it's not breaking rocks for a living. This past summer was actually a very productive one, with 3 new songs recorded and loaded onto THE SECOND BEST WEBSITE EVER: http://www.bobcrespo.com. Go there to hear these new songs.

For the past year and a half, my main partner in musical crime has been Dave Forman, chief cook and bottle washer at Footprint Studio in Brooklyn. Not only is he a superb engineer and producer, but this lifelong master drummer also plays bass, keys and guitar and can really sing. When I bring Dave a song and an idea, what I wind up with is a song with a whole bunch of fresh ideas, and a better record.

There are other fine musicians on the sessions for these 3 songs, Peter Mancuso, banjo on "Waltz For Louise," A.J. Burdo, piano and organ on "Underneath A Yellow Moon" and "Waltz For Louise," his father Tony Burdo on bass for "Underneath A Yellow Moon" and Natasha Kozak plays the violins on "Let Me In." A.J. and Natasha are both members of Tony's band, The Tash Brothers Band, which was my band too for about 25 years and with whom I still appear occasionally. Speaking of which:

MARK THESE DATES:

Friday, October 29, 8 PM: Bob Crespo plays the Coffee House at Bay Ridge United Church Fellowship, 636 Bay Ridge Parkway (75th St) between 6th and 7th Avenues. Donation - $5. Doors open at 7:30, performance between 8 and 11PM. I'll be playing around 9:30 or 10. This is an intimate showcase kind of setting where you will get to hear a number of talented performers.

On Sunday, November 7th, 10AM, 88th Street & 4th Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, the Tash Brothers Band plays our 20th consecutive New York City Marathon. A fun and unforgettable NYC thing to do on the first Sunday of every November, the Tash Brothers Band and Special Guests provides high-octane rock & roll for 40,000 maniacs in speedos. Each year the crowd gets bigger and so does the fun and excitement. Come out on November 7th for one hell of a spectacle and some great music!