Just Hanging Out

Trouble had on one of my heroes tonight.  “Hero” may be the wrong a word.  Joe Bataan, Afro-Filipino, Mr. New York, Subway-Joe, Ordinary Guy, Fania All Star, I do not know all of Bataan Nitollano’s oeuvre, but I know his earliest in the mis-sixties for the next dozen years after that very well.  I hope Joe’s alright as I only heard the interview last night.  Trouble aired it four years ago. I just checked Wiki and it looks like his heart is still beating strong.  You go ahead on Joe. 

I got a chance to see him in Lower Manhattan in 1992.  It was, as I recall billed as a big come-back for the man and the audience was full of Joe’s peers who many of whom seemed to know him and they were yelling things like “I’ve been waiting twenty years for this!”  It was lovely to see him play piano and sing and command the three-trombone thunder from his salsoul band.

He sounded warm and thoughtful, veering toward cocky, as the former head of the Spanish Harlem gang the Dragons ought to sound, and at the same time there was a buoyant humility that seemed to jive nicely with Trouble and the other guest whom I somehow had never heard of despite my deep, deep dive into New Yorican salsa, twenty-five years ago, the one, Harvey Averne.  And though there are many classic Joe Bataan moments on record, I was reminded of one small incident that always spoke volumes to me:  In the middle of a Larry Harlow and Ishmael Miranda record, I believe it was “Orchestra Harlow Presenta an Ismael Miranda” on Fania, from 1971, that Ishmael Miranda suddenly stops mid-song and asks aloud in a friendly voice: “Hey Joe Bataan, whatchu doing on this record?”  To which Joe barks a reply in not-so-friendly voice: “Just hanging out.”

Listening to Trouble announce the upcoming show Joe would headline, that I missed by four years made me miss New York.  I don’t know how much time I’d have for Joe Bataan shows if I actually were back home.  But we can be sure he won’t be playing Beijing any time soon.  The jazz greats of the fifties have largely moved on.  Now alas, it’s time for these great stars from the sixties and seventies to play their final shows as well. 

Tuesday 9/18/18