From my book, OMA’s Milstein Hall: “Just as abstract programmatic adjacencies are confused with circulation systems in the design of Milstein Hall, there is also an implicit conflation of a type of performative athletic movement—whether featuring trained dancers, ‘free runners,’ or skateboarders—with the type of movement in and around buildings that constitutes useful circulation.”
I went to the Nocturnal Cafe open mic in downtown Ithaca last Wednesday, and played three songs accompanied by my classical Goya guitar (my first guitar, purchased when I was 12 years old in 1964). It’s an interesting place — very low key, in part because they don’t have alcohol but rather serve things like elixers, expressos, CBD infusions, juices, tea blends, and kava. Here’s a song from the open mic that I wrote in 1980, called Just Another Bad Dream. The iPhone video was shot by Susan Schwartz and I “enhanced” the iPhone audio using Logic Pro X.
As part of my ongoing project to record covers of songs that were influential in my musical development — one for each year, without repeating any artists (with some exceptions) — and having chosen Dire Strait’s “So Far Away” to represent the year 1985, it occurred to me that Carole King had also written a song with the same title on her Tapestry album in 1971. So, I decided to record both songs.
The Dire Straits version was written by Mark Knopfler, who also does the lead vocal and adds his characteristically amazing electric guitar. Carole King, on the other hand, accompanies herself on piano. Naturally, I decided to do the opposite: the primary instrumental voice on my DIre Straits cover is a Yamaha digital electric piano, played live and input directly into my Focusrite audio interface (without making use of the keyboard’s MIDI capabilities); whereas the primary instrument for my Carole King cover is an acoustic Ibanez guitar. Click on these YouTube links (DIre Straits or Carole King) or watch the embedded videos here:
I shot the Dire Straits cover with my iPhone mounted on a tripod, with a green screen behind the piano, allowing me to inhabit an imaginary world inside of Cornell’s now-gutted Rand Hall. Both the piano and guitar parts were recorded live. The Carole King cover was shot by Susan Schwartz on a pier at Cass Park, Ithaca, NY. I recorded both songs using Logic Pro X, and edited both videos using Final Cut Pro. I sang all vocals and backup vocals, and played all the instruments, some real (e.g., guitar, digital piano) and some software instruments played live on my MIDI keyboard (e.g., bass, drums, organ).
Find links to all my music and videos on my music homepage.
You can check out the studio version of “Graduation Day,” which features a guest appearance by Bill Clinton and some lead guitar by brother Kurt. And all my songs and music videos are linked from my music homepage.
I played two sets at the Coffeehouse Plus in the basement of the Universalist Unitarian Church in Cortland, NY, on Saturday evening, May 31, 2025. Yes, the show was in direct competition with Game 6 of the rekindled Knicks-Pacers rivalry — which, sad to say, the Knicks lost, ending their playoff hopes. Susan captured the performance with her iPhone, and two of the songs are embedded below. The audio is just what the iPhone captured, so it’s not ideal, but really not that bad, all things considered.
Check out the “studio” versions of these songs, along with all my other songs and music videos. And there’s more information about the Cortland performance, including the complete set list with links to the studio versions of all the songs I played.
Once again, I’ll be playing at the Cortland Coffeehouse PLUS in the historic Unitarian Universalist Cobblestone Church (3 Church St., Cortland, NY; use side entrance on Elm Street) on Saturday, May 31, 2025, starting at 7:00 PM (doors open at 6:30 PM). The first time I played there, in September 2024, I did a guitar-oriented set; the second time, I brought my Yamaha digital piano. For the May 31, 2025 performance, I’ll do one guitar-oriented set and one set with piano: but all “new” songs (i.e., songs that I haven’t performed before, including my latest composition, We Only Had a Few Good Years).
I returned to the Cortland Coffeehouse Plus on Feb. 22, 2025, playing two sets of mostly original songs* in the basement of the historic Unitarian Universalist Church of Cortland, New York. Unlike the Sept. 2024 performance, which was guitar-oriented, all the songs in this performance were played with my Yamaha digital piano. Here are two iPhone videos recorded at the performance (with the audio also taken directly from our iPhones).
* The full set list, with links to “studio” versions of the songs, can be found here.
And, of course, you can find links to all my original songs and covers on my music homepage.
I’ll be playing at the Cortland Coffeehouse PLUS in the historic Unitarian Universalist Cobblestone Church (3 Church St., Cortland; use side entrance on Elm Street) on Saturday, February. 22, 2025, starting at 7:00 PM (doors open at 6:30 PM). I did a guitar-oriented set at the Coffeehouse last September; this Saturday, I’ll be bringing my Yamaha digital piano, and playing all new songs (i.e., songs that are different from those played in September).
I started writing “We Only Had a Few Good Years” in July 2024, and completed it a half year later. Three months after starting the lyrics, I came across Elizabeth Kolbert’s New Yorker piece, and incorporated some quotations from the article into the song’s “long digression” — a rather unusual bridge between the second and third verses that I always thought of as being the pop-song equivalent of Melville’s Moby Dick (which also famously contains some rather incongruous digressions).
1. Much has happened to us Hominins since we’ve been around We started in the trees and now we’re on the ground But with the water rising we’re more likely to be drowned As we watch while the coastline disappears Looks like we blew it cause we only had a few good years
2. Everyone wants a scapegoat — someone they can blame But time is running out in this idiotic game They’ll tell you they can fix it as they stand up and explain All the while throwing sand in the gears We definitely screwed it up big time cause we only had a few good years
BRIDGE:
To avoid misunderstanding I provide this long digression My point is — we’ve always lived with constant warfare and aggression So when I say we’ve had a few good years I’m just talking ’bout the weather We’ve had 12,000 years in the Holocene to get our act together (let me explain)
Hominins emerged in a long ice age, the Quaternary Glaciation Within which was an interglacial period called the the Holocene formation When global temperatures began to warm and glacial ice receded Giving human civilization the conditions that it needed
But instead of production based on science and cooperation we build fences at our border Eat or be eaten, beat or be beaten — nothing’s changed in this new world order The Holocene gave us opportunities we’ve consistently been squandering All those wasted years, blood sweat and tears — that’s the subject I’ve been pondering
Now Elizabeth Kolbert* wrote in the New Yorker that it really is no mystery Why (and I quote) “this is the period that includes all of recorded history A coincidence that, presumably, is no coincidence,” she writes, since in that span (and I quote again) “Temperatures settled down and a time of relative climate tranquillity began.” (end quote)
Instrumental verse
3. Our economists adore property and competition And so we live with war, poverty, and superstition Always under threat from more bombs and ammunition Designed by our brightest engineers People we blew it cause we only had a few good years3.
Outro
Production notes:
Music arranged and produced by Jonathan Ochshorn Recorded with Logic Pro X software Vocals: Jonathan Ochshorn Background vocals: Jonathan Ochshorn Real instruments: Jonathan Ochshorn’s leg-slapping intro drums Software instruments played live on midi keyboard: Jonathan Ochshorn (drums, bass, piano, organ, electric clav) Recorded at home in Ithaca, NY, February 2025.
I made the video using Final Cut Pro, with my lip-synced simulations recorded on my iPhone, placed on a tripod in front of my portable green screen (except that the final “outro” video was recorded live; hence the headphones and mic). The underlying video background is a live screen-recording of the Logic Pro X interface (with the Logic Pro transcription of the electric clav solo superimposed).
Links to all my songs and music videos can be found here.
Find my original music video of Ran Through My Mind from March 2008 here. And, of course, all my original songs and covers are linked from my music homepage.
