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Alan Jackson Video Shoot on Coney Island Boardwalk!

Posted in Music, News, Photography, tagged Alan Jackson, Boardwalk, Coney Island, country, Eric Kowalsky, Paul's Daughter, So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore, video shoot on December 3, 2011| 1 Comment »

Coney Island remains a popular spot for video and film shoots, even after the amusement parks have closed for the season. On Friday, Nashville came to Coney when country music singer-songwriter Alan Jackson strummed his guitar on the Boardwalk in front of Paul’s Daughter. Thanks to Coney Island photographer Eric Kowalsky for being on the scene and getting these great photos of the video shoot.

The name of the song Jackson was singing is privileged info, but we guess it’s from his upcoming album set for release in the Spring of 2012. The backdrop of the shuttered store and closed-down rides made us wonder if the tune is about the end of summer or perhaps the end of a love affair, as country songs often are. Jackson’s last video “Long Way to Go,” released this summer, is up for Great American Country’s Top 50 Videos of 2011. You can watch it on his YouTube channel.

If the video crew had come a month ago, before Paul’s Daughter’s signage was removed to make way for the new “vision” for the Boardwalk, they could have used a masterpiece of Americana as a backdrop, not just the few signs left behind. The restaurant formerly known as Gregory & Paul’s and its frequently photographed signage were featured in the 1999 music video “Summer Girls” by LFO. It’s sad to see Coney’s hand-painted signage, which has a quirky character and an authentic patina, being forced out by the powers that be. Will the Coney Island Boardwalk remain a magnet for video and film shoots when it’s mostly shiny and new and neon?

UPDATE January 14, 2012…

The video for Alan Jackson’s new single was released yesterday and it’s a beauty! Music Video: Alan Jackson’s So You Don’t Have to Love Me Anymore

Coney Island Winter: Garland Jeffreys Live on Letterman

Posted in Music, Music Video, tagged Coney Island Winter, Garland Jeffreys, King of In Between on October 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Released in the spring, the Garland Jeffreys album “The King of In Between” has been called “as uncannily fresh and forceful as the songs on his debut record, from 1973” by the New Yorker. You’ll see why in this video of Garland Jeffreys and the Coney Island Playboys’ live performance of “Coney Island Winter” on “The Late Show with David Letterman” on Friday night.

The Brooklyn-born singer songwriter grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach and Coney Island, and riffs on the “Twenty-two stops to the city” from his boyhood turf in “Coney Island Winter.” You can read the lyrics in “Hail, Hail Garland Jeffreys! Coney Island Has a New Anthem,” (ATZ, March 15, 2011). We’d love to see a live performance on the Boardwalk!

Garland Jeffreys last New York area shows of the year are coming up at the Highline Ballroom on October 14 and At the Tabernacle in Mt Tabor, NJ on October 22. Says Jeffreys on his Facebook page: “And then comes Nashville, Chicago, Austin, Houston, Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles, and more !!!!”

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Pop Up Piano Returning to Coney Island Boardwalk

Posted in Events, Music, Music Video, tagged Coney Island Boardwalk, Luke Jerram, Pop Up Pianos, Sing for Hope, street piano on June 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Last year, British artist Luke Jerram’s “Play Me I’m Yours” project brought 60 pianos to New York City parks, including the Coney Island Boardwalk, in collaboration with local arts organization Sing For Hope. A couple of weeks ago we heard via twitter that the pianos –88 of them this year– were returning on June 18th.

We started looking for photos and videos of the Coney Island piano from last summer to include in a post. In addition to our friend Bruce Handy’s black and white shot of the Boardwalk piano waiting for a player, we found these entertaining videos of Manny Panta’s rendition of Joplin’s “The Entertainer” and Sandy Santra’s solo piano improvisation. “Play Me, I’m Yours was a dream come true for me: playing piano on the streets of New York in just about every location imaginable,” wrote Santra on the Play Me I’m Yours website.

The street pianos will return on Saturday, June 18th, for another two-week run. When ATZ visited Sing for Hope’s website in May, we liked the idea that one could reserve a date for a “Pop-Up Concert” at any of the locations. That option is not currently available, though on the Coney Island Piano’s page, someone has scheduled a concert for June 18 at 1:30 pm. “Sarah LeMieux will sing jazz and blues standards and originals! Visit her on MySpace and ReverbNation.” She’s going to be playing to a packed house–it’s just before the Mermaid Parade gets underway!

This year’s project is called “Sing for Hope’s Pop Up Pianos” instead of “Play Me I’m Yours!” because the arts organization has taken the artist’s original concept and made it its own. A story in today’s NY Times City Room describes “discordant notes” between the artist who originated the project and Sing for Hope, which led to a parting of the ways…

The artist, Luke Jerram, said his idea of putting a batch of pianos outdoors and letting anyone play them had spread to more than 20 cities. But he said the arts group that oversaw last year’s installation in New York — and is overseeing this year’s — had told him, “We don’t want you to come.”

We’re baffled and dismayed. But don’t let it keep you from playing the piano in Coney Island or anywhere else in New York. Somebody should bang out “Who Stole My Blue Suede Shoes” and dedicate it to Luke Jerram.