I’ve missed a lot of things during this forced shutdown and at the top of that list has to be seeing and hearing the great performers that are a part of the Palladium family. It is these folks, who rely on shows like ours for their livelihood, who have borne the brunt of this dark period.
I’m looking forward to getting them back on the Palladium stage later this summer. For now, you can spend time with them through a series of blog posts that will feature some of our favorite performers.
We’re starting with Nate Najar, who was supposed to play a mainstage show in March with an all-star band and his singer, Daniela Soledade.
Here’s my conversation with Nate from Wednesday, May 20:
PALLADIUMPAUL: When was your last paying music gig?
NATE NAJAR: In early and mid-March we were still doing club gigs. March 20 we were meant to play Hough Hall and of course that was the beginning of all the cancellations. In the past month I was meant to play the West Texas Jazz Party, Blues Alley in DC, Mezzrow in NYC and a few other things around the country, all of which have been canceled.
PAUL: Do you have a paying gig coming up in the next month?
NATE: No! It looks like the reopening of the Palladium at the end of summer will be the first time we can get back on stage. I had 2 major jazz festivals scheduled in the autumn and both have preemptively canceled in order to avoid the major logistical and financial cost with possibility of another shutdown or poor attendance. So it looks like we’re staying close to home for the foreseeable!
PAUL: What has kept you busy during this shutdown?
NATE: I’m always thinking of things to do. Since we canceled our March 20 Palladium concert, I said to Daniela “why don’t we play a show on our balcony” and we live-streamed to facebook. Since then we’ve done a livestream concert every week, at the same time – Friday evening at 7:30pm. Mostly from the balcony but occasionally from another location. Last week we did our concert (the 9th one!) from the Studio@620.
At about week six, Daniela and I decided to do something nice for this beautiful city we love so much, so we went to our studio and recorded a Bossa Nova arrangement of the great Charlie Chaplin tune “Smile” and then we shot a video for it all around DTSP. The finished product “Smile DTSP” can be seen on Daniela’s YouTube channel. (Here’s a link to that video.)
Daniela Soledade
PAUL: Has there been a silver lining, personally, for you?
NATE: I have no excuse for not having the time to practice! And we’re being forced to complete all sorts of mundane things that have been buried at the bottom of the to-do list. When you’re constantly prioritizing, nothing gets done! Well now everything’s getting done….
PAUL: Is there anything you’d like to share with your Palladium fans?
NATE: We miss you all and cannot wait to see you again
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