May 1999
Washington Square Hotel
Set:
Unknown Antonio Carlos Jobim song
Notes:
* Norah’s current biography states: “I had a day of panic in the summer of 1999: I would soon be doing my first gig at the restaurant where I was waiting tables, and I really wanted to impress them so they’d hire me to play again. The gig paid well, as opposed to my job waiting tables (which I wanted to quit). I already had a guitar player (Adam); we’d done one gig together, and I knew he was a great musician. What I needed was a bass player. I asked Adam for some recommendations, and he gave me four names, the last of which was Lee Alexander. Since Lee was last on my list, he was the last person I called—and the only one to pick up the phone. He was brand new to NYC, having moved here only a few months earlier from
* Lee’s story was slightly different in a 2004 Rolling Stone article: “Luckily, his list was alphabetical, so I was the first person she called. She was playing a Sunday brunch at the Washington Square Hotel. I wasn't really excited, and I had another gig that morning. I said, 'I'll try to get there by noon,' but I was, like, forty minutes late. They were already playing. I started unpacking my bass, and then I thought, 'Wow. She can actually sing.’”
Pictures:
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