Tick-Tock…the Clock Is Ticking
PROFILE: Sal Cataldi
Sal Cataldi, Real New Yorker, playing his Fender Stratocaster (credit: Tracey Varad)iToo many membersof my inner circle have developed incredibly inventive excuses for vegging outduring these Days of Covid. If theyspent as much time pursuing their passion as Real New Yorker Sal Cataldi,they’d be far better off.
Cataldi is amaster musician and writer. Currently, he is creating on multiple fronts. Hismusic ventures include Spaghetti Eastern Music and the Vapor Vespers. Herecently scored a performance piece. He writes reviews of music and pop-culturebooks. He’s a beloved father to hisadult kids. He’s a supportive and trusted friend. And he’s an indelible part ofthe cultural scenes of New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley.
Sal’s love ofmusic goes back to his days as a kid in Queens, New York. There, he feastedwith friends such as Mark Muro on a steady diet of Mad Magazine, Sun Ra,Henry Miller, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa and the original spoken wordrecordings of the 50s and 60s from Caedmon Records. Today, his compositions andmusicianship are hailed by underground and mainstream media alike.
Guitarist/keyboardistCataldi’s solo project, Spaghetti Eastern Music, fuses Eastern beats, Spaghetti Western film soundtrack ambience,Krautrock spaciness and psychedelic and funkadelic instrumentals with gentleacoustic tunes straight out of the John Martyn/Nick Drake songbook. Time OutNew York writes: “Cataldi’s largely instrumental, Eastern-influenced jamsare infused with some delicate guitar work and hauntingly moody atmosphere,” whileThe New York Times proclaims he has “a beat unmistakably his own.”Called “truly excellent” by The Village Voice, “beautiful and unique” byWFUV’s Mixed Bag, “wonderfully melodic and off-center” by WFMUand “part Sergio Leone fever dream, part Ravi Shankar raga, a whirling dervishof musical creation” by Hudson Valley One, Cataldi keeps up a steadyschedule of performances at leading venues in the Big Apple and the HudsonValley.
But here’s the thing: he does not procrastinate. As my dadwould pointedly remind me, with his finger poking my chest back when I was akid, “there’ll be plenty a’ time for sleepin’ when you’re dead.”
Do yourself a favor: listen to Cataldi’s trio of critically-acclaimed atmospheric singles that have been heard around the globe, “Her Lemon Peel Raincoat – Because It’s Raining,” “Peace Within” and “And This is Their New Hoax.” The latter is a perfect COVID-19 musical editorial featuring samples of the former president’s most noted pandemic denials, set to Cataldi’s soundpainting guitars and synths. This is some powerful stuff.
His recent release, this year’s “Bluesfor A Lost Cosmonaut,” is a nine-minute plus maxi single, again in theambient mode.
And what of the Vapor Vespers? Here is Cataldi’s globally hailed venture with another Real New Yorker, his Bronx-born childhood buddy Muro. It’s most definitely an edge- and button-pushing transcontinental collaboration. Muro, a playwright, actor and slam poet, now resides in Alaska. Just weeks ago, on a rare east coast jaunt, Muro and Cataldi staged their first-ever ever public performances in New York City and Kingston, NY.
The Vapor Vespers in action: Bronx-born Mark Muro (left) and Cataldi (right).Drawinginspiration from music-powered spoken word icons like John Cooper Clarke,The Last Poets and Lord Buckley, Vapor Vespers unwrapped theirsaucy One Act Sonix, their critically buzzed debut album on BadEgg Records and two singles, “Sex” and “You Changed.” VaporVespers music can be found on Spotify and Bandcamp at http://vaporvespers.bandcamp.com including new studio tracks and piecesrecorded live upstate at Green Kill. The singles are slated to drop inDecember, and the album in early 2022.
Notices for theVapor Vespers debut album demonstrate how critics, radio djs and generalmusic-lovers now venture beyond the vanilla mainstream to embrace this godly fusionof furious sound, words and humor. Underground radio institution WFMUcalled the Vapor Vespers “a supremely cool fusion of spoken word andprogressive sound,” while NYSMusic.com praised its “blend of spaceysynths, spicy guitar, ethereal drones and deep lyrics that redefine what musiccan be.” Astute listeners can revel in the mix of outrageous lyrics and storytelling with expertmusicianship that recalls everyone from Steely Dan to Was (Not Was) to FrankZappa.
But wait.There’s more: Cataldi’s Guitars A Go Go, his ambient/experimental duo guitarproject with Rick Warren from Hudson. Says Cataldi: “We’ve beenperforming and recording for over two years, released our debut album TravelAdvisory during Covid in June 2020. We have played at art galleries andclubs in the area, with our ongoing monthly residency of live and livestreamsfrom Green Kill gallery in Kingston.” Cataldi’s armed with a palette of effects pedals in his quest formeditative and melodic adventure. You’ll find a galaxy of musical influencesand attitudes that evoke Fripp and Eno and Tangerine Dream.
That’s it? Nah!Cataldi is reviewing a book on uber-guitarist Marc Ribot book and another withthe owner of Big Pink, the storied Ulster County, New York home to The Band.And then there’s his recent take on Frank Mastropolo’s fine book on theFillmore East. I can recall thosehalcyon days (well, mostly early mornings) of Fillmore East music, Gem Spa eggcreams, beef barley soup and dense black bread next door, after a night ofmagic from Janis, Carlos, Jimi, Dwayne and Gregg, Elton, and so many more.
Recently, Cataldi’s Spaghetti Eastern Music released a new EP containing the solo electric guitarscore for “2 x 2 x 4.” The EP was recorded during a liveperformance of this piece last summer by performance artist Charles Dennis atthe Avant-Garde Arama Festival in Woodstock, N.Y. The three-track,20-minute collection is available as a digital download exclusively onSpaghetti Eastern Music’s Bandcampsite (Bad Egg Records 3100).
Premiering in1989 to raves in media like The Village Voice, Charles Dennis’ “2 x 2 x4” is an offbeat dance duet performed with fourteen wooden 2 x 4s, one whosemood is now heightened by Cataldi’s atmospheric, looped and layered guitarextrapolations captured on this live EP. Praise for his guitarinnovations included coverage in The New York Times and Jazz Times.
Cataldi’s threemovement score was informed by his love of the pioneering ambient stylings ofguitarist Robert Fripp and experience performing with avant-garde guitarorchestra composer Rhys Chatham. Cataldi utilized multiple loop pedals,delays, fuzz tone, a string simulator, harmonizer, arpeggiator, an Ebow notesustainer and other effects to create the 20-minute score.
The music movesfrom gentle chording and symphonic loops to a rhythmic pulse with dueling,echoed melodic fragments to a minimalist four-chord organ pattern underpinningfrenetic soloing and wailing wall of infinite sustained, harmonized noteclusters at the culmination.
In-betweenpractice, scoring, and gigging, Cataldi took a breather to reflect on thisethereal piece.
“Thecollaboration with Charles was a pure joy,” says Cataldi. “It was achance to extend on what I have been working on with my recent SpaghettiEastern Music releases – to be ambient and minimalist and wildly maximalist, atthe same time. It was also a way to challenge myself to create amulti-layered soundpainting completely solo, in a live setting, without a net,re-dos, etc.”
Working withouta net. Non-stop. In this Time of Covid. Imagine that.
So listen,people. Get your booster shots, stay safe, but cut the crap about “I have notime or energy for any projects.”
Like my grumpy dadsaid, there’ll be plenty a’ time for sleepin’ when your dead. So keep pushing.Keep plugging. Keep the ball rolling.
Tick-tock.We’re not here forever. No excuses.
