Sam And Dave Knock On Wood
Jacqualine Henington
I initially was a track and field sprinter. Adept. But through time I have come to realize the solitary discipline of practice shaped my physical discipline. More than the actual competition. Running in the rain, out at the track at night while my peers were at parties, slogging through the snow, sprinting in the halls after school. But sprinting and knees are not necessarily the best dance partners. I then pursued bodybuilding attempting like a sculptor through toil to reshape my physique. From there the journey went into martial arts, various disciplines, black belts, self study taking techniques from different styles to define into my own.
I have been fortunate, knock on wood (insert audible sound of knocking) to never have had a major injury but a series of set backs physically here and there. With those set backs I tried, emphasis on tried, to use that as a catalyst to explore concepts I might have other wise. To make small victories along the path, merely an obstacle in the journey either to go through or around. But not back.
My personal aspirations or goals is an amorphous movement practice. Unable to be clearly defined as it continues to morph and change. Interweaving concepts, redetermining concepts, and forever on the knowledge pilgrimage. The destination is to always progress aspects of improving the definition of movement self. But the instruments and pathways to acquire that destination will forever be augmented. If enlightenment is obtained than what is next? That is one conclusion I will never reach and I do not wish to explore.
Currently I'm more on the restaurant and lounge/rooftop side of things. I'm a partner at Cafe Clover, The Lambs Club, JIMMY at the James and The Skylark. In the past, I was more heavily involved in nightclubs and bars, with Lotus, The Double Seven and Union Bar. We also consulted on the first Western-style supper club in Moscow back in 1993. We've got a few new restaurant concepts in development, and there's a chance I'll be involved in a hotel project (but everyone says that, so, I'm knocking wood at the moment). I've also got one TV project in development but we'll see if it makes it from "purchased" to "pilot", which is a long road. Long ago, I was a lawyer doing about 95% real estate and 5% entertainment, and due to the entertainment work, I was getting invited to a lot of fun parties. I kept running into one of my closest friends from college, who was on Wall Street but was very much in the fashion world and downtown scene. Over too much tequila back at Nell's one night we decided to quit our proper jobs and open a restaurant/club, which was Rex (a kind of mini-version of Lotus).
There have been a lot of changes that have dampened the sense that there is always that one place in NY that you must be, but to me, the three most pronounced are: Brooklyn, Tinder, and the explosion of festivals and 5-day events like Coachella, SXSW, Art Basel, Burning Man, and all the fashion weeks in Europe, plus extended weeks at pre-Oscars/pre-Golden Globes etc. I have a sense that for many of the people who used to "set the agenda" in NY, when they go out today, it's to eat dinner and then head home early-ish so they can wake up for yoga or meditation... because when they are traveling, they are going day and night on business/pleasure.
I've read about a few airlines that are trying to bring pricing down, such as Norwegian Airways. I think if fuel costs remain low, if some challengers can emerge on the scene and force ticket prices to come down across the board, people will be able to travel more economically and thus, more often. And I'm certain that on the hotel side, designers/developers are going to get more creative to combat the inroads of Airbnb. Selfishly, I think more of them should fully partner with people on the F+B side, the way the Nomad was done, because people who do what we do have great relationships developed over many years with guests who trust us to take care of them.
Do you have a magical time transporter? If so, a beach in St. Barth's or Brazil with a great book. If confined to close proximity, I'd take a full day to play poker (after a good work out or some tennis). For me it's about as zen as I can get--it takes so much focus to do well, your daily concerns are pushed away from the front of your brain and you get lost in the concentration and the game itself.
It would be for my parents. My Dad passed away when the economy was still in a bad place about 6 years ago, and we were just beginning our "comeback" with the opening of The Lambs Club and JIMMY. I think he'd love to be at The Lambs Club for a celebration. I'd invite some of his personal heroes and favorites (some living, some not) such as Martin Luther King, Beethoven, Mozart, Paul Robeson, Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger, Sandy Koufax, Jim Brown, Willie Mays, Arthur Miller, Mark Twain, Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, Red Holzman, Sid Luckman, Joe Louis, and more, and some of my parents' closest friends. My dad was a great mix: he worked in engineering sales to support our family, but his loves were literature, theater, classical music, politics and sports. And I think he'd love to see that our son is now 6'1" and would tower over him (and can shoot the 3).
There are so many I'd like to try so I don't think I have the right answer yet. I think the nicest I've ever stayed in was Claridge's in London. However Jeff Klein once hooked me up and gave us the penthouse at The Sunset Tower and that felt quite glam in an old Hollywood kind of way. I have tons of friends in LA so I love to be out there.
Russia was much crazier. Among the things I can discuss, we woke up one Sunday morning to an enormous explosion (we lived in the PH of the hotel in which the club was housed) and it turned out a rival group had used C4 to blow up 1/4 of our club (while empty) as a "message".
Hmmm. There are so many amazing people on the food side it's hard to pick one or two. Clearly, dining "healthfully" is a growing phenomenon and we hope to continue to work in that sphere. Although I'd love to do a great sports spot that isn't overly macho, as I think there's still room for that in NY. On the nightlife side, I'm really impressed with what Richie and Ronnie have accomplished in the last few years making their brands so celeb-centric and keeping them relevant. As a pure biz, you have to admire the Tao guys and their empire. I think there's a good chance that the Babel crew is going to do some great stuff with their events and the venue they are building. I think you guys built a spectacular spot with The Edition in Miami--it feels quite grand and yet really fun. I think my partner in Cafe Clover, Kyle, is going to develop some great stuff as he has perfect taste, and we have a few ideas together. And there is one person who is not in hospitality but has a great network with whom I'd like to do a cocktail bar one day along with Kyle. We'll see if we can make that happen.
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We caught up with Soul Asylum frontman Dave Pirner about navigating live performances in the age of Covid, and what it felt like to hear Prince covering "Stand Up And Be Strong," which appears on the posthumous Prince album Welcome to America. Stream audio of the interview with Sean McPherson above, and check out a full transcript of the conversation below.
SEAN MCPHERSON: You're tuned in to The Current I'm chatting with Dave Pirner from Soul Asylum. Dave, thank you so much for taking time out of your traveling schedule and your life schedule to chat a little bit with The Current.
One reason we wanted to reach out and connect with you was A.) There's always a good option to get the chance to chat with you. But it's pretty cool to see that the song recorded by Prince but penned by you "Stand Up And Be Strong" came out on Welcome to America. Can you tell me a little bit about the history of finding out that Prince was going to cover one of your tunes and also what you think of the actual performance?
Sure I can Sean. I wrote the song a long time ago, and it was almost--it's like the last, I think it was the last song we put on The Silver Lining record. And Michael Bland, my drummer, called me up and he was at Paisley Park. And he said, "Prince would like to do 'Stand Up And Be Strong' and he wants your blessing." And I said, "I'd be honored," and that was kind of it. Then I just figured it'd probably end up in the vault forever. I didn't really think it was going to see the light of day.
So some time passed and somebody told me it was gonna be on the record, and I was as surprised as anyone. I was really thinking that that vault was going to not not open up so quickly. But yeah, we got a copy of it. Me and Janine listened to it in the car, and we did not anticipate a woman singing the first verse. So in the first line of the song when the voice came in, we both thought something had happened to Prince's voice or he discovered some new effects or something. But then he comes in on the second line and it's like, "Oh! There he is." But yeah, it's pretty different, and I like it. I think it's really cool. It's got almost kind of a gospel flavor to it, and I love gospel music, and I'm a big fan of interpretation. So I'm--what is the word? I'm pinched? I'm pleased, something. I'm surprised and delighted.
Now is that particular track, "Stand Up And Be Strong"--when you were writing that song did you think like, "Oh, this might be the one that an artist like Prince would smile upon," or for you was it just another tune as you're working through getting out a bunch of Soul Asylum material and you just said, "Oh, cool. I'm glad it's this one," but it didn't have a sort of--it didn't seem particularly coverable to you, or did it seem like one of those ones that might go further?
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