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/SEA ///CHANG/E

July 17, 2018

Things are moving! Erosion! Tides! Paradigms! Adjustment.

Paradigm adjustment, y’all. I’m super excited and emotional to be making a few announcements here. I’m gonna save the big one for the end, though, so read through for the juicy stuff.

/Nervo/us bu/t optimis//tic.

Firstly: I’ve got some awesome shows coming up:

You can catch me this Friday night at the Bethlehem SteelStacks.

I’m literally playing at the historic Bethlehem Steel industrial complex. Don’t worry, they’ve got a super fancy sound system and amenities galore nowadays. Make yourself comfortable. Did I mention it’s fricking FREE?!

Stacks on stacks on stacks.


Here’s the Stacks Facts® you all have been hounding me for all month:

  • The two largest furnaces are more than 230 feet tall
  • From the west side of the “A” furnace (most westerly) to the east side of the “E” furnace it’s approximately 1,100 feet – almost a quarter-mile!
  • The A furnace is the oldest, dating from 1915
  • Dot Levine will be appearing with an incredible quintet
  • The quintet will include the following indomitable personnel
    • Rob Curto — Accordion
    • Matthew Keppler — Upright Bass
    • Frank Rein — Trombone
    • Sean Bailey — Saxophone & Clarinet
  • The furnaces each produced 2,600-3,000 tons of iron per day. Producing one ton of iron requires 3,366 pounds of ore, 1,676 pounds of coke and 724 pounds of limestone
  • Most of the iron was used in steelmaking, but a small percentage went to the iron and ingot mold foundries
  • The furnaces were last operated Nov. 18, 1995
  • At one time there were seven furnacesMore info about this free show here.

This Saturday I’ll be playing at The Spotty Dog in Hudson, NY. This place is too dreamy. Part bookstore, part art-supply store, all bar, all historic fire-house, also clearly 115% music venue. Joining me will be the inimitable Stephen Bluhm and the indomitable Betsi Krisniski.

Also stacks on stacks on stacks?

August 4th I’ll be performing with The Singular Band for Deco On The Delaware. Grab the VIP package to see our singularness on a dreamy riverboat cruise from historic Old City, Philadelphia to the historic Glen Foerd Estate where there will be a day of 1920’s themed hyjinx and authentic traditional jazz. Read this article about this incomparable event. You’ll be kicking yourself if you miss this. The Singular Band – me, trombone, trumpet, tuba – on a fricking BOAT. Get your tickets here.

Did I mention it’s going to be on a replica 1920’s riverboat? Like Louis Armstrong used to play on!
Sexy Riverboat Vibes

Truly.

 

…Alright.

Here comes the juicy stuff, friends. I’ve got a secret which I’ve been keeping close to my chest for ten years:

I have chronic injuries
which affect my ability to play.
This is a hard thing for me to come out about because I have feared that it makes me seem less reliable, or less effective. I have worried that if more people knew about this, then I wouldn’t be able to get enough work to live. What’s more, these injuries have actually affected my performing schedule and availability. For the past ten years I would have to find subs for my gigs, or take months off at a time to heal.
Why am I letting this out now? Well, I’m going to be slowing down my performing schedule in an effort to develop more sustainable and prolonged healing. For ten years I’ve been doing yoga, going to physical therapy, getting massages, acupuncture. I’ve lifted weights, I stretch regularly. And I partake of some more esoteric treatments as well…
Some things have helped immensely, and some have made it worse, but there’s one thing I know will help: rest.
And so that is what I’m pursuing for now. I’m not retiring by any means, but I will be downgrading from my very busy performing schedule to something closer to once a week. So please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need music for a special show, event, wedding, party, or what-have-you. I promise to be lovingly judicious about my participation. Don’t worry, you can still catch me at Fiume every first Sunday.
This has been a massive (and challenging) identity shift for me, but I have to say that I’m really excited about some of what’s coming down the pipeline in my musical life. Spending less time fighting (and exacerbating) my injuries means that I have more time to work on my playing technique and writing, as well as recording more music*. While these pastimes will not be a surrogate for a performing career (anybody wanna pay me to practice?), I do find them immensely satisfying.
So I guess that’s that. Like I said, I’ll still be prepared to blow your minds at Fiume and at private events (and the occasional awesome show) but I gotta rest, too. I’ll probably be paying my bills more with private lessons moving forward (unless anybody’s got a big break they’d like to present to me). I’ve learned a lot as a full-time professional musician, and I’m working hard to be able to intimate that knowledge as effectively as possible to the student-base which I’ve developed in the past couple years. So hit me up for lessons! Or ask me to play your event (but know that I may choose not to for health reasons).
So many feelings. Fuck for-profit healthcare. Fuck not-funding-the-arts. But hooray for getting to teach my favorite thing to awesome people.

 

See you soon,
Professor Levine

PS. If you wanna know more about my teaching, head over to http://www.dotlevine.com/teaching or http://www.philadelphiaukestudio.com!

Caught a fish this big once.

You are great.

*PPS. The record’s coming along! It’ll be ready in the spring! So psyched to ship it out to y’all! (If you didn’t grab it during the Kickstarter, click on “SHOP” in the upper right! Or just click here!)

Filed Under: News

Comments

  1. eve says

    July 17, 2018 at 7:29 pm

    i love you, your music, and i really struggled with my own health especially hand heath) over my 10 years of touring … so i get where you are coming from (😊to the degree that i can). change is beautiful and hard and scary and illuminating all at once … here’s hoping your changes bring as much joy to you as you have brought to us ❤️

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Paradigm shift. Here we go. This is a Gergo keybo Paradigm shift. Here we go.

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Surely, you didn't think me a square! Look at all Surely, you didn't think me a square! Look at all these circles! I call this my O face on account of all the O shapes on it.

Come see my precious #oface in just an hour at Fiume! Me and the band will be making  incomparable #livemusic until 11pm. There's no cover. But we will play covers if you ask pretty please and tip us and they're good requests.

Here's the lineup:

Sean Bailey: #altosax #clarinet
Frank Rein: #basstrombone #trumpet
Steve Rice: #accordion
Matt Keppler: #uprightbas
Me: #resonatorguitar #banjo #electricguitar #ukulele #jazzvocals #vocals

See you soon!

#westphilly #phillyjazz #phillylivemusic #phillyigers #genderreveal #genderrevealparty
You can take me out, but you can't take the leaves You can take me out, but you can't take the leaves out of my nose, which I put there in the restaurant because I'm a pretty full-grown lady who deserves luxurious natural adornments. #naturalbeauty #naturalcosmetics #pyramidscheme

Come see this beautiful #enby make some fantastic music for you and yours tonight at Fiume from 8-11. #genderreveal #genderrevealparty As per usual, I will not relent until all parties are unprecedentedly and permanently satisfied.

Get your #drinks and your #tradjazz. Pick up some #jewishmusic while you're there. I will provide. I got you on the #guitar front, as well. Also #banjo, #ukulele, and #mellifluous #vocals. I also got people to help you with your needs around the #trombone, #accordion, and #uprightbass. Also, there'll be extra-special special guests.

TONIGHT! 8-11! NO COVER! Great drinks. Great friends. Great feats of strength, emotional fortitude, and intellectual adeptitude.
It me. Evan Cory Levine, The Hot-Kid. Come see the It me. Evan Cory Levine, The Hot-Kid. Come see the Singular Hot-Kid in all their glory tonight at Fiume. I've got a POWERFUL quintet and special guests. We're gonna play some #tradjazz we're gonna play some #jewishmusic we're gonna play #tvshowthemes probably. #phillysports themes. #garbageychristmasmusic

We got #trombones. We got an #accordion! We got #uprightbass! I'll be on #electricguitar, #banjo, #ukulele, #resonatorguitar, #vocals, and #bandleading. It really doesn't get much better than this. The #Hot-Kid approves so hard. Fiume! They got #cocktails they got #fancybeers they got #cheapbeers THERE'S #NOCOVER! How lucky is #westphilly to have this beautiful engagement available to us?! I fear we may become spoiled. The Hot-Kid fears.

See you in six hours. OR LESS!
Have you ever wanted to see me play with a child? Have you ever wanted to see me play with a child? That sounds really wholesome and nice. Come see me make music tonight with this child pictured here. It's been twenty-five years since this picture was  taken and Frank's finally ready for tonight's show. @tilted.head was born for this gig.

Come on out tonight. Fiume. 8-11. No cover. Killer quintet. Fantastic drinks. See you in nine hours. Or less!

#tradjazz #resonatorguitar #jazzbanjo #jewishmusic #klezmer #yiddishmusic #trombones #basstrombone #uprightbass #livejazz #westphilly #cocktails #accordion #jazzaccordion
How do you fix an amplifier? Honestly, if you don' How do you fix an amplifier? Honestly, if you don't know: You open it up and (without electrocuting yourself) bang it around with a (non-conductive) chopstick until something starts making too much noise.

I just "repaired" my homemade amplifier for tomorrow night's show. I opened it up, smushed an eating implement around in it, and it inexplicably started working normally, so I put it back together. Get to the show early, because it will probably stop working at some point during the show.

8-11. No cover. Fiume. Incredible quintet + special guests. Incredible drinks.

#tradjazz #jewishmusic #klezmer #yiddishmusic #tvshowthemes #accordion #trombones #electricguitar #homemadeamps #diyamplifiers #jazzbanjo
Hey geniuses! Y'all should really know that this c Hey geniuses! Y'all should really know that this coming Sunday, the twenty-fifth of November, I'll be bringing an incredible quintet to Fiume. 8-11P @keppler_bass on bass. @tilted.head on bass trombone. @st.simmons on tenor trombone. @sricenw on accordion. NO COVER.
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