The Monthly - April 2018

April 2018

Scares with a Smile

Off-Script

John Krasinski, Emily Blunt co-star in new film “A Quiet Place” p.5

A reflection on how we talk about suicide p.10

Stars Into Constellations

Open Tab

Stephen Colbert, NU alumni to reunite for “A Starry Night” p.8

Bourbon N’ Brass speakeasy has wonderful 1920s flavor p.14

A P RI L 1 4 – AU G UST 5, 2018

H A N K

W I L L I S

T H O M A S :

UNBRANDED Images: Hank Willis Thomas, The natives will get restless, 1976/2015 [detail], 2015, and Bleach and Glow, 1975/2008 [detail], 2008. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Funding for this exhibition has been provided by the David C. & Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation, the Robert Mapplethrope Foundation, and the Illinois Arts Council Program.

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THE MONTHLY Contents

Scares with a Smile

John Krasinski, Emily Blunt co-star in new film “A Quiet Place”

Stars Into Constellations

Stephen Colbert, NU alumni to reunite for “A Starry Night”

Off-Script

A reflection on how we talk about suicide

Open Tab

Bourbon N’ Brass speakeasy has wonderful 1920s flavor

05 08 10 14

Staff of The Monthly Issue 10

Stavros Agorakis Monthly Editor

Ruiqi Chen Designer

Jane Recker Assistant Monthly Editor

Maddie Burakoff Writers

Cover photo and page 3 photo: Mike Gifford, TBD Marketing Group

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Let’s face it — Jane and I are not planners. While the tactic of flying by the seat of your pants or channeling frenetic energy to spark the creative process isn’t for everyone, it has served us well in our work so far.

That’s why our first meeting to discuss the revitalization of The Monthly as its recently re-appointed editors didn’t take place in the newsroom during work hours, but in Jane’s bedroom the night before I had to catch a redeye to New York. Our mission was to create a magazine that blends news and entertainment, and to attract readers looking for a fresh perspective on the content The Daily regularly publishes.

Armed with a stack of publications supplied by Jane’s magazine obsession, we spent the next hour paging through everything from Glamour to The New Yorker to find journalistic inspiration. After many rough drafts and a hefty bag of peanut butter pretzels, we devised the concept for the copy of The Monthly you’re holding now. A new Monthly, one that will aim to expand its focus outside Northwestern’s arts communities but still relate to your experiences as students.

At The Monthly, we pride ourselves in being trend-seekers but also trendsetters. Along with the A&E desk, we’re on top of all news related to art, theater, dance, film, music and literature at Northwestern, Evanston and beyond. Now, we’re hoping to engage in national dialogue on said topics. It’s impossible in our day and age to view the arts purely within their own sphere, and artistic expression has become inextricably woven into numerous aspects of our lives.

In addition to diversifying our reported content with more varied styles of writing — from first-person features, to Q&As and photo essays — I’m proud to introduce two new efforts in this installment of The Monthly. The first is a review section called “Open Tab,” for which our staffers dig into Evanston dining gems and discuss their immersive experiences in those spaces. The second is an endeavor to explode our web presence by putting up more web-friendly and multimedia pieces, and restructuring The Monthly landing page online.

One last note: We write for arts and entertainment because we prefer journalism that has a bit of personality.

Hard news can often feel dry, but in arts reporting, “dry” is most definitely a no-no. If you find pieces in this issue that don’t challenge you, provoke you, make you smile, laugh or cry, let us know. We’re here to stay.

Welcome to the new chapter of The Monthly. Turn the page.

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T

he only man more charming than Jim from “The Office” might just be the guy who played him.

A perpetual inviting smile on his face, John Krasinski peppers a Skype interview about his new film, “A Quiet Place,” with emphatic exclamations of “Great question!” and has a genuine candor when talking about his love for his wife — actress Emily Blunt — and children.

And if his amiable charisma weren’t enough, he’s sensitive too. In a recent profile on Blunt in Vanity Fair, Krasinski admitted to crying when he heard his wife sing for the first time, saying, “It was like finding out your wife could levitate.”

The sunny Krasinski is taking a turn toward the dark side this spring with the release of “A Quiet Place.” The plot follows a family who must remain quiet at all costs to hide from creatures that hunt solely through sound.

While Krasinski recently took a turn toward

the dramatic in his career, most notably in Michael Bay’s “13 Hours,” this is his first foray into the horror genre. This is unsurprising, as Krasinski is a self-proclaimed “scaredy cat” who hated horror movies before working on this film.

While he’s usually not one for a scare, there was something about the family dynamic in the script that attracted him, he said. Krasinski came upon the story shortly after the birth of his second daughter, and said he identified with what the parents in the script felt.

“I was already in the state of terror of keeping (my daughter) safe … and whether or not I was a good enough father to be her father,” he told The Daily. “In comes this script about a family that relies on each other, about parents that would do absolutely anything for their kids. It doesn’t take a lot for me to cry, but I was wide open for this one and it connected to me in a big way.”

Krasinski loved the story so much, he decided to go all in with the project. Not only does he play the father, he also serves as one of the screenwriters and the director: the first time he’s worn all three hats at the same time.

Krasinski said he approached the film not with the intention to create scares, but rather to tell the story as honestly as possible. His goal: to make audiences fall in love with the family on screen to generate genuine fear for their wellbeing.

Krasinski’s own family has a big part in the movie, with Blunt co-starring as his on-screen wife.

Krasinski said he knew he wanted his wife to play the part as soon as he read the script, but was nervous about

asking her.

“I didn’t want to ask her to do the movie, if I’m honest, because I was too scared that it would go one of two ways,” he said. “I’d say, ‘Do you want to do this movie,’ and she’d say, ‘No,’ and that would make for a very awkward dinner, or she’d say, ‘Yes, I’ll do it for you,’ and I didn’t want her to do anything for me.”

Luckily, Blunt came to love the story as much as her husband. After reading the script, she said in the same Vanity Fair interview that she knew she had to play the part.

“I had this overwhelming feeling of ‘I don’t want anybody else to play this part,’” she said. “I said, ‘Would you feel weird if I did the movie with you?’ And (Krasinski) broke out into this sort of ecstatic smile.”

Despite initial trepidations about working with his wife, Krasinski said he’s never had a better on-screen partner. And Blunt didn’t stay out of the creative process, either. Before filming started, the pair made sure to have conversations about what their ideas and thoughts were on Photos: Source: Mike Gifford, TBD Marketing Group

the project to make sure they were on the same page. Krasinski said this was similar to their philosophy on their marriage: they talk about everything to avoid miscommunication and fighting.

Describing the film as “a love letter to his kids,” Krasinski said he’s never gone so “all-in” before on a project. And critics are resonating with his artistic vision. “A Quiet Place” currently holds a 96 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and grossed $50 million at the box office on opening weekend, sailing past industry expectations of $25 million, according to figures from measurement firm ComScore. New York Times critic Jeannette Catsoulis had kind words to say about Krasinski’s work.

“Mr. Krasinski … directs with skill and restraint,” she said in her review. “He knows that when the sound is turned down, we lean in, and he forces us to pay attention to facial expressions in a way that hearing audiences are rarely required to do.”

Of course, in a world where any noise is

potentially deadly, sound — or the lack thereof — is a running motif throughout the film.

The family uses a range of sound-dampening techniques to avoid the predatory creatures, such as paths of sand that muffle footsteps, strung lights that can be used as a warning system, and a soundproof room for when Blunt’s character gives birth in a world distinctly unfriendly for screaming babies.

The family’s greatest survival strength is their knowledge of American Sign Language, as a result of having a deaf daughter. Krasinski said it was essential to cast a deaf actress in the part, and was blown away by the work done by Millicent Simmonds. Simmonds played a major role in helping the rest of the cast learn ASL. Krasinski regrets not learning more of it, though, as he finds it the “most beautiful language in the world” due to its nuances, something Simmonds pointed out to him early in the process. “(She) said, ‘Well, the father is a guy who doesn’t care about anything in the world but keeping people safe, so all of his signs are very

curt and short,’” he said. “Emily’s character is trying to give these kids a much bigger life. So hers are much more poetic and gesture-y.”

Working on a nearly silent set for so long has made Krasinski appreciate all the little sounds in nature that usually go unnoticed. In a world of technology and distractions, he said people can often miss all the sounds that make up what we call ambient noise. Shooting in a “silent” forest, though, made him recognize just how much of our auditory world there is to discover when people learn to be quiet.

Krasinski found surrounding himself with these natural sounds so powerful that he’s begun to take his daughter out to fields to “get rid of all the distractions” and “just look up at the sky and listen.”

“Now she actually asks me to do that,” he said.

“She’s like, ‘let’s go out to the lawn and look up at the sky,’ and she’ll say, ‘Look there’s a bird and there’s a plane.’ And I’m like, ‘I know, and there’s Superman.’ It’s not a joke that she understands yet, but she’ll get there.” ◊

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Northwestern alumni to reunite for a one-night celebration of School of Communication’s star-studded legacy

I

n the fall, Anthony Forchielli and his fellow MFA design students were posed with a challenge: turn the brand-new Ryan Fieldhouse into a glimmering theater worthy of some of the biggest stars in Northwestern history.

“How do you turn a football field into a place where the Oscars happen, essentially?” Forchielli, a second-year student in the lighting design program, said.

This Saturday, the space, now complete with a full stage, massive set pieces and 2,800 audience seats, will be packed with some of NU’s most famous faces — Brian d’Arcy James (Communication ’90), Kathryn Hahn (Communication ’95) and Heather Headley (Communication ’97) — for a gala show as part of programming for the School of Communication’s CommFest weekend celebration. “A Starry Night” will feature performances by students and alumni, and be hosted by none other than Stephen Colbert (Communication ’86).

And Forchielli is just one of a veritable army of students, faculty, alumni and more working to bring the show to life.

The gala revival While in part a celebration, CommFest also ser ves a financial pur pose: Communication Dean Barbara O’Keefe told The Daily in October that she intends for the fundraiser to help kickstart a new MFA program in acting and the downtown

— by Maddie Burakoff

theater space she hopes will come with it.

The gala takes its inspiration from a 1980 fundraiser for what is now the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts. O’Keefe said she wants “A Starry Night ” to highlight accomplished NU students and alumni in the same vein as the earlier show, which was broadcast three times on television and featured some of the era’s biggest stars, including Ann-Margret and Charlton Heston.

Don Weiner (Communication ’79) was a production assistant on that original show, said Danny Bittker, a master’s student in Leadership for Creative Enterprises and the assistant to this year’s show producers.

Bittker said the original gala helped Weiner make industry connections that sent him on his way to a big break. Weiner, now a Hollywood director and producer, is returning to NU to help with the new gala — this time, as the executive producer.

The idea is to hold an Oscars-esque awards show, but without any actual awards, said Communication junior Jake Daniels, one of Weiner’s assistants on the production.

“The theme of it is going to be, ‘Look at all these cool things that Northwestern people did,’” Daniels said. “‘Let’s talk memories about what was so cool about being here.’ And then definitely also, ‘Let’s maybe give some money to the school because we all know that this was such a special part of our growth.”

Students set the stage Though alumni have been more than willing to help out, Bittker said a lot of the heavy lifting has been done by students — literally. Bittker said he has been managing a team of about 200 students working behind the scenes on everything from rigging stage lights to laying down 140-pound tiles across the entire indoor football field.

The school has been intentional about getting students involved, Bittker said, and Weiner especially wanted to pay it forward after seeing the impact of student engagement in the original gala. Though the “celebrity factor” of big-name stars is exciting, Bittker pointed out that for students like himself who want to end up behind the scenes, working with other alumni backstage might prove to be more valuable.

“It’s been life-changing for me. I’ve made a lot of really incredible connections,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of incredible people be involved with this who are at the top of the top of their game. They know how to do these things and do them well, and they put on productions like this in their sleep.”

During the show itself, dozens of students — Bittker estimates close to 80 — will take the stage. Many of them will perform alongside alumni, he said, like in combined Mee-Ow comedy sketches and a Waa-Mu number.

Daniels, who is a current Mee-Ow Photo: Source: Scott Penner

member and will perform during the show, said one major takeaway from working on the gala was his ability to connect with and learn from alumni in the industry. By working with both stars and behind-thescenes big shots, he said he was able to get a better “vibe” for what showbiz is like and feel like the industry was more accessible for him.

“Just being on the same stage as Stephen Colbert … it makes it feel more like, ‘Oh, this is what I’m headed toward,’” Daniels said. “‘This industry, I am a part of it, or at the very least I understand how it works because I’m seeing it happen for real.’”

The stage and lighting design for the show were put almost fully in the hands of MFA students, said Communication Prof. Marcus Doshi, with faculty mentors guiding them through the process. Doshi said he and the other design professors leapt at the chance to get their students involved, especially because many of their in-class projects are on smaller-scale shows or theoretical designs that never get carried out.

Joseph Franjoine, the other second-year lighting design student, said he has been working on the show for months in addition to his regular classwork. While he thinks

beautiful design can be done with two lights, he’s excited for the chance to work with hundreds for the gala.

“For me, the scale of this design is the really impressive part, and is what gives it variation for me in my portfolio,” Franjoine said. “It’s allowing me to work in a different way, in a different form. It’s taking my canvas and expanding it to a different scale and giving me a different set of paint to work with.”

A family reunion Franjoine said he and the other design students were inspired by the idea of a glittering, high-end gala — “something that sparkles and has a metallic, beautiful finish.” Scott Penner, a second-year stage design MFA student also working on “A Starry Night,” said the students wanted the stage to feel like a “big, epic spectacle,” decked out with chrome finish and hundreds of LED pixels.

The idea is based on a “starburst,” which brings in active, explosive motion, Penner added.

Franjoine connected the way the starburst brings the separate pixels together into one

“constellation” with how the design should help bring together an audience that will mix in all different members of the School of Communication universe.

“It celebrates the magnificence of the school,” Forchielli said. “But also when you walk into the space, it’s all about interconnectivity. It ’s about making everybody in the space feel like they’re one.”

Daniels added that the event is the biggest chance for attendees to make connections and friendships, as well as to make Northwestern feel more like a community.

From actors taking nights off their Broadway shows to perform at the gala to other alums who are thrilled to return to campus for the first time since graduation, Bittker said he’s found it clear that NU will always be a home people can return to. He added that he hopes the performances will both showcase the wealth of alumni talent and inspire current students who want to pursue careers in the industry.

“There’s a lot of passion for Northwestern that is really inspiring to see. There’s a lot of alumni that had deep connections to the school,” Bittker said. “This is going to be like a family reunion for so many people.” ◊

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Off - Script A reflection on how we talk about suicide This piece deals with the topic of suicide, sometimes in a graphic nature.

I

remember where I was when I watched the suicide scene in “13 Reasons Why.” Nestled in the comfort of my unmade bed on a Sunday afternoon, I watched the show’s protagonist — high schooler Hannah Baker — climb into a running bathtub with her clothes on. In almost deafening silence, she began to draw a razor along her wrists, panting like a wounded animal as dark, sticky blood pumped out of her arms to taint the water she lay in.

I am not one to shirk away from gore. I’ve watched Tarantino while eating breakfast, and didn’t bat an eye during the D-Day scene in “Saving Private Ryan.” But this got to me. Perhaps it was the loneliness and senselessness behind the death of a young person. Perhaps it was the incongruous nature of such a gut-wrenching scene in a series whose writing often felt more ABC Family than hardcore HBO. Whatever it was, it made me feel sick enough to close my laptop and call my parents.

“Hey, mom? There’s this show on Netflix called ‘13 Reasons Why.’ Don’t let Kate watch it.”

Of course, my then-13-year-old sister — always culturally three steps ahead of the rest of us — had already heard of the show and made the executive decision not to watch it, one of her few displays of self-restraint.

She said it had sounded too depressing for her. According to research conducted by Northwestern, my sister was not the only adolescent to self-monitor with the heavy

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material.

In a study commissioned by Netflix, a group of NU researchers conducted research in multiple countries to examine whether the show promoted parent-child conversations about the tough topics presented in the series. One piece of data tracked why certain viewers chose not to watch the show. Report co-author Alexis Lauricella, an associate director of Northwestern’s Center on Media and Human Development, told me many younger viewers possessed enough selfawareness to know they couldn’t handle the content.

— by Jane Recker 56 percent of parents said the series made it easier for them to discuss these topics with their children.

Yet, Lauricella noted that many parents felt the show didn’t provide the necessary resources for further healthy discussions. Even after watching “Beyond the Reasons” — a follow-up episode where the show’s actors discussed the messages they tried to impart through the series — 70 percent of parents reported the series didn’t do enough to direct viewers to appropriate resources.

The show’s inability to appropriately facilitate conversation around mental health has been one of its biggest criticisms. Julie Cerel, a licensed psychologist and president of the Amer ic an Association of Suicidology, said in an interview with Teen Vogue that the show’s “quirky” portrayal of Hannah’s descent into depression wasn’t an accurate representation of suicidal thinking, and the show failed to explore the actual mental health reasons that would cause someone to decide to take their own life.

“It’s just not a realistic portrayal,” Cerel said. “It’s a portrayal built for entertainment.”

In a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in October, researchers found that internet searches for suicide-related topics rose to 44 percent above average following the release of the show, with

“The content of the show, according to adolescents, isn’t that far removed from what they’re dealing with. They felt like the show was a pretty accurate depiction of high school life. This was a relevant and timely show for them.”

“A lot of (adolescents) made really smart individual choices,” she said. “They thought the content was going to be too much for them, they thought it was going to be too difficult to watch, they felt like they weren’t interested in it. A lot of (adolescents) do know themselves and know what they can handle.”

For those who watched the series, 72 percent of adolescent and young adult viewers said they thought it was beneficial for them to watch the show to better understand topics like sexual assault, depression and suicide, and

queries of “how to commit suicide” averaging at 26 percent above the norm.

However, Lauricella said the NU study found that the majority of adolescents reported they thought it was necessary for the show to handle the suicide in such a graphic nature to show how “intense and upsetting” suicide is. Findings also reported that 80 percent of adolescents and young adults said people their age dealt with similar issues presented in the show.

“The content of the show, according to adolescents, isn’t that far removed from what they’re dealing with,” Lauricella said.

“They felt like the show was a pretty accurate depiction of high school life. This was a relevant and timely show for them.”

We want to think of adolescents as retaining some semblance of innocence, to somehow have escaped the influence of the evils in our world, so it can be hard to hear that a show that deals with bullying, depression, substance use, rape and suicide feels like an accurate depiction of their everyday lives. But, if we really think about it, were our own high school experiences as idyllic as we like to remember them?

I remember where I was when I watched Photos: Source: 13 Reasons Why

Hannah Baker slit her wrists, but I don’t remember where I was when I was told that my uncle had been found unconscious in a motel room after overdosing on medication.

I remember being upset, and I remember my father’s face, travel-worn and tired from hauling back and forth to the hospital across state lines. But, if I’m honest, the rest is a bit hazy. There was an air of secrecy that kept it from feeling real. We never visited him; seeing my uncle in a coma dependent upon a ventilator was deemed to be too much for an 18-year-old girl.

We were lucky. By nothing other than the grace of God, my uncle miraculously surfaced from his coma a month later. His near-death experience gave him a new appreciation for his life and family, and he’s taken steps to work on his mental health.

We still don’t talk about the suicide attempt. In the rare instance it is brought up in conversation, it’s referred to as “the accident,” as if my uncle had dented someone’s bumper instead of been found cold and alone in a Motel 6 surrounded by scattered white pills.

We’ve managed to push it so far from our memories there are times when I genuinely don’t remember that it happened.

But it did happen. And it has almost happened again in my life since then. There have been late nights holding sobbing friends, weeks where I didn’t let any call go to voicemail in case it was a plea for help.

I’ve been blessed in my life to never have lost anyone to suicide as I know many have. But dealing with suicidal thinking has absolutely been a part of my everyday life, and I’d be telling a bald-faced lie if I said that “13 Reasons Why” wasn’t relevant as hell.

So, maybe the kids are right. Maybe our society needs a graphic depiction of suicide in popular media. Our society has worked hard to destigmatize mental health and suicide, but, if my family is any indication, we still have a long way to go. Yes, it is hard to watch.

Yes, it wasn’t done as safely and tactfully as it could have been. There are plenty of issues with the presentation of suicide in this show.

But maybe ultimately, as NU researchers pointed out, done correctly it could act as a battering ram, breaking down the door to conversation. ◊ * Note: All the Northwestern data referenced in this piece came from the U.S. study.

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This weekend, Northwestern Arts Circle

hosted a day of artists’ responses to their conception of equality. Through events at the Block Museum of Art, Ryan Center for Musical Arts, Norris University

Center and other venues on campus, students, scholars and artists joined forces

in presenting a lived experience of equality.

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Photos: Brian Meng/The Daily Northwestern

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Bourbon N’ Brass speakeasy offers deliciously vintage vibes to Evanston bar scene

“E

vanston” and “college town” have never been synonymous. The city is regarded as one of the birthplaces of prohibition, and was a dry town until 1972. There hasn’t been a ban on liquor in over 40 years, but with the death of The Keg of Evanston not long before our time and the tragic loss of Tommy Nevin’s just a few months ago, it can sometimes feel like Frances Willard and her Woman’s Christian Temperance Union still have a vice-like grip on good old E-Town.

Luckily, there’s a new hidden speakeasy in town whose secret location should allow it to evade the hawk-like eyes of the alcohol intolerant. Sure, the giant sign out front proudly advertising “Bourbon N’ Brass” may not exactly scream “underground joint,” but, once inside the building, it is surprisingly hard to find. Visitors to this 1920s-themed joint — part of the new “Evanston Rocks” complex at 1012 Church St. — will have to find and go through the secret bookcase on the second floor to get their sweet liquor fix.

Inside, the intimate space is a warm, eclectic blend of 20s decadence and grandmother’s attic. The pastel settees, billowing white curtains and crystalline

— by Jane Recker lamps combined with the unfinished walls, exposed beam ceiling and assorted period knick-knacks create a scene straight out of a Fitzgerald novel — you’d almost expect to see Daisy leaning over to get a light from Gatsby in the corner.

Instead, the room is incongruously filled with modern-clad individuals with an array of glowing technological devices.

The crowd is predominantly yuppie; the vibe is more cocktail and conversation than brawling and boozy. The price of drinks might be a factor in the older draw, as most cocktails are around $12.

From what I sampled, the cocktails err toward the sweet side. The “Rockin’ Rye” had mostly pineapple and orange flavors with just a hint of the bitter rye and an interesting cinnamon aftertaste.

The “Bee’s Knees” had a juicy strawberr y taste with a pleasantly surprising tart and limey finish.

Don’t mistake the sweetness of these drinks as a mark

of being stingy with the booze, though: I was feeling a happy glow halfway through the first drink, and was bobbing my head to the music a little too passionately after finishing the whole thing.

I felt better that I didn’t seem to be the only freak in the joint feeling the music a little too much, as many other sloshy patrons were grooving to the beat of the live band as well. The jazz trio played a tasteful mix of standards and funkier modern selections, providing the perfect backdrop to any patron’s foray into the flapper lifestyle.

Will this reincarnate the Nevin’s vibe as the next Thursday night college bar? No, not even close. But does it have the potential to be an eclectic new venue for students to enjoy live music and a laid-back drink without having to take the Red Line? Absolutely. ◊

Q&A Sam Wolsk and Louis Danowsky are doing A-OK. Their jazz band, DW Jazz Orchestra, played its first live show ever at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Lincoln Center in New York City last August. Since then, they’ve made their Evanston debut at SPACE and have another gig there May 29. The Daily caught up with them to see how they were doing and what is next for them. The responses have been shortened for clarity.

The Daily: You guys recently performed at Dizzy’s in New York. What was going through your head when you were performing there?

Danowsky: Oh my god.

Wolsk: I was gonna say “oh my god,” too.

D: I was having stress dreams about it before it was happening, but the day of the concert you’ve just got to go, otherwise it’s not gonna happen. By the time I was finished I felt like I had just run a marathon.

It was so exhausting because you’re running on adrenaline and you don’t realize how much energy you consume.

Photo: Source: Sam Wolsk

Sam Wolsk, Louis Danowksy on performing live in NYC

W: It was definitely very exhausting. I had reasons to be stressed going into it, but I was mostly just really excited. It helped that, even though it was our first live show, it wasn’t the first thing we did with that band, so I knew that we had charts that would sound good and great musicians that would pull it off.

The Daily: You have an upcoming performance at SPACE, what are you doing to get ready for that?

W: For this next SPACE show we’re writing a ton of vocal charts. I feel like most people with mixed musical backgrounds might be more familiar with vocal jazz than purely instrumental jazz, so we’re hoping to reach out to the other side of the aisle in that respect.

The Daily: What does it mean to be a jazzer?

D: I feel like a lot of people who that title would apply to don’t like being put in that box. For me, jazz is one piece of the musical puzzle. Being in jazz has given me a really

— by Jane Recker good foundation to understand what goes on in music today. It’s been particularly valuable for me when I’ve tried to branch out and do other things with contemporary bands or work in production.

The Daily: Playing as a part of Jazz at Lincoln Center is a huge honor for any jazzer.

Was there a feeling of “I’ve made it?”

W: When we first got on stage it was packed and I didn’t know half the people there. We play our first song to all these people cheering us. I wasn’t super sure of (who would) show up, (would) it just be our friends and family? It was definitely a pretty mixed crowd. It’s hard to say if I made it; it’s a continuing goalpost that I’ll move for myself.

D: One of the best stories that night was when this South Korean family came up to me and this little 5-year-old kid wanted a picture with me. They were visiting New York City, and they were like “we came to Jazz at Lincoln Center because we wanted to see jazz live in America.” We were that representation of jazz in America to that Korean family that night.

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