2015 WCWP Homecoming Weekend, first few hours October 10, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Education, Football, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, Sports, TV, Video.add a comment
I was honored to kick off this year’s WCWP Homecoming Weekend with a live edition of Instrumental Invasion with Mike Chimeri yesterday at noon.
I went right to bed after getting home from the 50th anniversary celebration on Thursday night because I had to get up at sunrise yesterday morning. That allowed me time to edit pictures and video that you saw in the above post before getting a ride from my father up to WCWP at around 8:45.
As a result, I arrived 2 1/2 hours early, which gave me plenty of time to set up. I took a few pictures when I entered Studio 1:
The next six pictures were taken while my show was on the air:
Joel Feltman took this shot:
LIU Post/WCWP alumnus Tom Murphy caught some of my show on 88.1 FM. When he heard it was Homecoming Weekend, he decided to drop by the station. He was complimentary of the music I played.
His fellow alum Dan Cox requested a picture, and I was more than happy to oblige:
Tom wasn’t the only one complimentary of my show. Jeff and Pat Kroll, and the aforementioned Joel Feltman, were equally laudatory.
After my show, it was Jeff Kroll’s turn:
He’ll be on plenty this weekend.
Jeff’s setup:
Next on the schedule was Joel Feltman:
On my way to the bus stop, heading for home, I noticed a familiar name on the LIU Post Alumni Walk: Fred Gaudelli. This sign was posted by Pell Hall:
There’s also a Ted David sign by the Great Lawn, which I took a picture of two weeks ago:
I’ll be back later today for Homecoming itself and the announcement of the 2016 WCWP Hall of Fame class. (10/11 UPDATE: Click here for the recap.) I’ll conclude this post, no pun intended, with my show’s playlist:
…along with video and audio of my aircheck, which includes the beginning of Jeff’s show:
Two WCWP Homecoming Weekend shows September 28, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Phone, Radio.2 comments
I’ll be doubling my pleasure on WCWP’s Homecoming Weekend as Instrumental Invasion with Mike Chimeri will air twice. The first show kicks off the weekend next Friday, October 9, at noon Eastern. It’ll be my first live homecoming show since 2009. The second show will be pre-recorded, as my previous four shows were, and will air Sunday, October 11, at 2AM Eastern. The above picture is from the end of my pre-record session a few days ago.
You can listen locally on 88.1 FM or at WCWP.org. You can also listen on the TuneIn app. Just search WCWP.
The live show will include Ken Navarro, Brian Simpson, The Jeff Lorber Fusion, and two by Nelson Rangell.
The pre-recorded show is dedicated to songs from albums released between 1965 and 2015, sans 1970. Expect to hear Vince Guaraldi, Return to Forever, Ramsey Lewis, Bobby Lyle, and many more.
Outside of those two shows, I’ll be at the WCWP-FM 50th Anniversary Reception at LIU Post’s Great Hall on Thursday, October 8, and at Post’s various Homecoming activities on Homecoming Day, Saturday, October 10. Late Saturday afternoon, the 2016 inductees to the WCWP Hall of Fame will be announced. I look forward to catching up with my fellow alumni.
I hope you’ll listen to WCWP all weekend long. Homecoming Weekend shows begin at noon next Friday with me and end at midnight on Sunday (early Monday morning).
Will Donato at Houndstooth Pub May 11, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Internet, Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography, Travel.2 comments
Houndstooth Pub was the place to be Saturday night as saxophonist Will Donato took the stage.
This was the first time I had seen Will since he performed with fellow saxophonist Elan Trotman a few years ago. Both times, a significant personal event occurred the same day. Then, it was the removal of a curbside tree at my neighbor’s house, one that had been there since I moved to Wantagh in July 1993. Saturday, it was the tenth anniversary of MikeChimeri.com.
I was thrilled to see Will. He’s a ball of energy, winding his way through the crowd, connecting with every audience member, including me. He even has a humorous side, which he displayed when speaking to the audience between songs.
Will was mostly on alto saxophone:
Bill Heller on keyboard:
Kenny Harris on bass:
…and Chris Marshak on drums:
SET LIST
1. Kenny’s Groove (Kenny Harris)
2. New Life
Originally heard on: “Will Power,” 2004
3. I’ll Be Around (The Spinners cover)
Originally heard on: “Will Call,” 2007
4. Italia
Originally heard on: “Will Power,” 2004; “What It Takes,” 2010
5. Funkability
Originally heard on: “What It Takes,” 2010
6. Show and Tell (Al Wilson cover)
Originally heard on: “Universal Groove,” 2014
7. Working Day and Night (Michael Jackson cover)
BREAK
8. Always You
Originally heard on: “What It Takes,” 2010
9. Jaywalkin’
Originally heard on: “Universal Groove,” 2014
10. You’ve Just Been Had (Kenny Harris)
11. Down & Loaded (Bill Heller)
Originally heard on: “Find the Way,” 2014 (Bill Heller)
12. What Is Hip? (Tower of Power cover)
13 (Encore). Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry cover)
Originally heard on: “Universal Groove,” 2014
Now that you know the set list, let’s move on to various pictures of Will in the audience and on stage:
He switched to tenor sax for “Down & Loaded”…:
…before returning to alto for the last two songs:
Now for pictures of the rest of the band, starting with Bill Heller:
Vocals on “Show and Tell”:
Vocoder on “Working Day and Night”:
…and “Play That Funky Music”:
Kenny Harris:
Vocals on “Kenny’s Groove”:
…and “You’ve Just Been Had”:
Chris Marshak:
Wide shots:
“New Life”:
“Down & Loaded”:
“What Is Hip?”:
“Play That Funky Music”:
What a wild show this turned out to be. I had a blast. I spoke to Will and the band during the break and after the show, and before I left, Will and I posed for a picture:
Thank you to Will, Bill, Kenny, and Chris for making this a night to remember.
Ten years of MikeChimeri.com! May 9, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Internet, Personal, Radio, Technology.add a comment
Today marks ten years since I launched MikeChimeri.com. For its first seven years, it was a WYSIWYG site created with Yahoo SiteBuilder. Then, I merged it with the four-year-old Mike Chimeri Blog.
I originally created this site to replace InstrumentalInvasion.net, following my last Instrumental Invasion show at WGBB-AM a few days earlier.
I can’t believe it’s been ten years. Thank you to everyone that’s visited. Here’s to ten more years.
SJFS 2015 Night 1 recap April 27, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Travel, Video.add a comment
To borrow guitarist Jay Dobbins’ song title, it was “That Time Again” on Friday – time for me to head up to Milford, Connecticut, for Jay Rowe‘s Smooth Jazz for Scholars benefit concert. This was the 13th year of SJFS and the third with two nights of shows. Unfortunately, I could only make the first night this year because of the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony on Saturday.
The headliners on Friday night were Peter White, Marion Meadows, and Vincent Ingala.
As always, Kevin McCabe had a few opening remarks:
Then, Jay Rowe took the stage. Jay was on keyboards:
Dave Anderson played bass:
Trever Somerville on drums:
Steve Scales on percussion:
…and for nine songs, Rohn Lawrence on electric guitar:
SET LIST
1. That Time Again (Jay Dobbins)
Originally heard on: “Anything for You,” 2013
Featured musicians: Jay Dobbins (electric guitar), Jay Rowe (keyboards)
2. Pleasure Island (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: “Laugh Out Loud,” 2001
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Vincent Ingala (tenor sax), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)
3. Can’t Stop Now (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: “Can’t Stop Now,” 2012
Featured musicians: Vincent Ingala (tenor sax), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)
4. Kimi Trick (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: “Can’t Stop Now,” 2012
Featured musicians: Vincent Ingala (tenor sax), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)
5. Real Time (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: “Soul Traveler,” 2015
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows (soprano sax), Vincent Ingala (tenor sax), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)
6. Humanity (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: “Soul Traveler,” 2015
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows (soprano sax), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)
7. Caravan of Dreams (Peter White)
Originally heard on: “Caravan of Dreams,” 1996
Featured musicians: Peter White (acoustic guitar), Vincent Ingala (tenor sax)
8. Bright (Peter White)
Originally heard on: “Good Day,” 2009
Featured musicians: Peter White (acoustic guitar)
9. How Deep is Your Love (Peter White; The Bee Gees cover)
Originally heard on: “Reflections,” 1994
Featured musicians: Peter White (acoustic guitar)
10. In Rainbows (Peter White)
Originally heard on: “Smile,” 2014
Featured musicians: Peter White (acoustic guitar), Vincent Ingala (soprano sax)
11. Here We Go (Peter White)
Originally heard on: “Here We Go,” 2012
Featured musicians: Peter White (acoustic guitar), Vincent Ingala (tenor sax)
12. Wish I Was There (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: “Can’t Stop Now,” 2012
Featured musicians: Vincent Ingala (electric guitar)
13. Coast to Coast (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: “Coast to Coast,” 2015 (released five days later [tomorrow])
Featured musicians: Vincent Ingala (tenor sax), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)
14. Suede (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: “Player’s Club,” 2004
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows (soprano sax), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)
Unlike previous performances, Marion did not start in the audience and work his way to the stage.
15. Treasures (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: “In Deep,” 2002
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows (soprano sax), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)
16 (Finale). I’ll Be Around (The Spinners cover)
Featured musicians: Everyone
Now for various pictures of each musician.
First, Jay Rowe:
Dave Anderson:
Trever Somerville:
Steve Scales:
Rohn Lawrence:
Making his SJFS debut, Jay Dobbins:
Vincent Ingala:
Tenor sax:
Soprano sax:
Electric guitar:
Marion Meadows:
Peter White:
On to wide shots, starting with “Pleasure Island”:
“Kimi Trick”:
“Real Time”:
“Humanity”:
“Caravan of Dreams”:
“Bright”:
“In Rainbows”:
“Here We Go”:
“Coast to Coast”:
The finale – “I’ll Be Around”:
The last note:
With the night complete, Jay gave thanks:
Afterward, I packed up my equipment and headed for the meet and greet in the lobby.
The musician I met and greeted was Peter White:
It had been five years since I last saw him in person, aboard the Guitars and Saxes Smooth Cruise in 2010.
After speaking with Peter, I moved on to Marion Meadows, Rohn Lawrence, and Vincent Ingala.
Here I am with Vincent:
Rohn and Jay Dobbins:
While waiting in line, Jay Rowe asked if anyone had a Sharpie he could use for autographing. I gave him the one in my backpack and let him keep it. I can always get more.
I said my goodbyes and headed to the nearby Hampton Inn for the night. I left for LIU Post in the morning.
Five days of scanning January 30, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Bowling, Education, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, News, Personal, Photography, Radio, Sports, Technology.add a comment
As snow fell outside Monday afternoon, I was going through a drawer in my room where I keep some personal mementos. Then, I was struck with inspiration. I had been using my Epson WF-3520 All-in-One Printer in the guest room to copy a few documents this month, via the printer’s sheet feeder. Why not use that sheet feeder to scan any personal mementos that were on letter-size paper? That’s what I did all this week.
I started with bowling scorecards between 1998 and 2006, plus a handful more between September 2007 and September 2014. Then, I moved on to my final college transcript, a paper I wrote for Introduction to Journalism, an e-mail reply from Tom Snyder, two e-mail replies from voice over talent Dan Chandler, a flyer promoting my Mike Chimeri Show interview with Colin Mochrie, and radio show and Live365 radio station playlists. I scanned anything that wasn’t letter-size on the traditional scanner platen. This included dot matrix score sheets from AMF Wantagh Lanes and two desk calendar pages that were dated September 11, 2001. Playlists that were handwritten on letter-size legal paper had to be scanned on my Canon CanoScan LiDE210 in my room. Since what I wrote on the other side could be seen, I had to scan in black and white – not grayscale – giving the scans an old photocopy or fax look.
The radio show playlists spanned my career to date: The Mike Chimeri Show, The Instrumental Invasion, MCJN (Live365 station), a few demos, the night I filled in for Martin Phillips on the defunct Thursday Night Jazz show, Evening Jazz, CJazzPlus (Live365 station), and all my homecoming weekend shows.
In addition to the copy of my Intro to Journalism paper, I also saved papers by two of my classmates. The paper had us write a profile of a few of our classmates, based on press conference-style interviews our professor, Bernard Bard, previously a reporter for the New York Post, had arranged one week in mid-semester. I remember little about my presser, but there was one quote each of the classmates that wrote about me used:
Broadcasting is my thing, my calling. I belong in that field.
This was in March 2001. Seven months later, I began at WCWP. While I may have had volunteer success, I’m still waiting and hoping for professional success. If “my thing, my calling” doesn’t pan out, at least I have photo and document scanning to make a career of.
My experience at Day 1 of 2014 New York Comic Con October 10, 2014
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Art, Books, Comedy, Internet, Interviews, Media, Personal, Photography, Radio, Technology, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.add a comment
Other New York Comic Con recap: 2012 Day 2, 2017 Day 1, 2018 Day 1, 2019 Day 1, 2021 Day 1
Yesterday marked my second trip to New York Comic Con, held annually at the Javits Center in the Midtown West portion of Manhattan. This time, I went with my girlfriend. We met each other at Penn Station, going our own ways to get there. I came from Wantagh, she came from Wallingford, Connecticut.
My way to her began at around 12:15 when I walked two blocks to a bus stop for the southbound NICE (Nassau Inter-County Express) n73. The bus arrived at 12:28, two minutes ahead of schedule. That ensured I would arrive at the Wantagh LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) station in time to board a 12:32 train, an earlier train than I had planned for. If I hadn’t bought my round trip ticket the day before, I’d have to wait for the 12:57. 50 minutes later, I was at Penn Station. I met up with my girlfriend and we began the half-hour walk to the Javits Center.
We entered at West 38th Street, tapping our badges before going inside. Conventioneers were greeted by giant inflated Teen Titans – and, by extension, Teen Titans Go! – characters.
Beast Boy and Starfire:
Cyborg and Robin:
Time to head inside…
My first plan was to meet voice actor Billy West, whom I interviewed back in 2005 at WCWP. Since autographing was involved, and not knowing offhand where Booth 1280 was, despite going to NYCC two years ago, I headed downstairs.
A fellow conventioneer informed me that Booth 1280 was on the show floor. So, my girlfriend and I headed there.
On the floor…
We searched the aisle numbers and headed for the 1200s. It was there that we found Billy West.
Billy and I had a brief conversation, he signed my copy of Futurama, Volume 7 – which has Zoidberg on the cover – and my girlfriend took our picture:
He signed the cover this way:
To Mike!
…Zoidberg could eat…
Billy West
It was the highlight of my afternoon. But there was more to do. My girlfriend and I walked the floor back to a downward escalator.
Along the way, this is what we saw:
We finally reached a downward escalator:
There were a few panels I was interested in attending, but the one we settled on was here in Room 1A21:
It was for the latest (and upcoming) Transformers TV series, Transformers: Robots in Disguise. The panel began at 4:00, but we got in line at 3:00.
The line was small when we arrived and we ended up near the front. It pays to show up early. After 50 minutes in line, the door was opened. We ended up sitting front row center. It was fantastic.
The panel was moderated by Mike Vogel, the Vice President of Development for Hasbro Studios:
From right to left on the dais, there was Jeff Kline, executive producer:
Adam Beecher, producer and writer:
And the voice talent:
Will Friedle (Bumblebee):
Khary Payton (Grimlock):
Constance Zimmer (Strongarm):
…and Mitchell Whitfield (Fixit):
Now that you know the stars, here are random panel wide shots:
Khary set up the clip about to be shown:
Q&A:
After 45 minutes, the panel came to an end:
Constance and Khary stuck around to sign autographs:
Transformers: Robots in Disguise premieres in early 2015 on Cartoon Network. I can’t wait. I’m so glad I chose this panel.
After a few fun hours at New York Comic Con, my girlfriend and I called it a day:
We didn’t go right home, though. We walked down 11th Avenue to West 35th Street, taking that to 8th. We stopped in Trattoria Bianca for an early dinner. An hour later, we boarded an express LIRR train back to Wantagh, which also took an hour.
As I did for my 2012 Day 2 recap, I’ll leave you with a picture of the ticket holder I wore and the badge it carried:
10/11 UPDATE: There is an in-depth recap of the Transformers: Robots in Disguise panel at Newsarama.
And unbeknownst to me, because I didn’t look at the NYCC schedule beyond Thursday, there was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles panel yesterday. Bam! Smack! Pow! has a recap of that, while IGN’s Scott Collura interviewed Rob Paulsen (Donatello), Greg Cipes (Michelangelo), and executive producers Ciro Nieli and Brandon Auman.
If tickets for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday hadn’t sold out so fast, I would have gone either of those days. But I’m glad I went when I did. As I noted in the original recap, I got to meet Billy West in person and to whet my appetite for Transformers: Robots in Disguise, sitting front row center for their panel in the process.
WCWP Homecoming Weekend show to air October 19 October 6, 2014
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Phone, Radio.add a comment
I was on the campus of LIU Post on Friday to record my annual Homecoming Weekend radio show for WCWP, the campus radio station which I was originally part of from October 2001 to May 2004. CJazzPlus with Mike Chimeri will air very early on Sunday, October 19, at 2AM Eastern (Saturday, October 18, at 11PM Pacific) on 88.1 FM and WCWP.org. If you are outside of the signal range, choose the latter (WCWP.org) or browse for WCWP on the TuneIn mobile app.
In the two hours of CJazzPlus, I’ll be playing The Jeff Lorber Fusion, Mindi Abair, Gerald Albright, Brian Culbertson, and many more, including one of my favorites by the recently departed Joe Sample. The show took just over two hours to record and an extra hour to edit, plus additional time editing at home on Saturday.
The name CJazzPlus comes from a short-lived Live365 station of mine from late 2010. It’s short for “contemporary jazz plus.” The “plus” refers to various sub-genres of jazz and instrumentals from other genres. I try to go beyond what you’d hear on a typical smooth jazz station, such as SiriusXM’s Watercolors.
Hours before the show airs, on Saturday, October 18, I’ll be at for Post for their Homecoming festivities, as well as for WCWP’s. The latter of those includes the announcement of 2015 inductees to the WCWP Hall of Fame. I look forward to that announcement as much as I look forward to the annual announcements of National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees and Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinees. My guess is as good as yours. You’ll have to listen that afternoon to find out who got in this time.
MikeChimeri.com 
2014 in review December 31, 2014
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Audio, Commentary, Film, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio.add a comment
The following is an excerpt of an end-of-year post WordPress created for MikeChimeri.com. Scroll down for my editorial.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
Click here to see the complete report.
Despite seven more posts than last year, 2014 was more for reflecting than recapping. Only six posts recapped jazz concerts, two recapped WCWP events, and one was a recap of my day at New York Comic Con. A lot of work went into those posts, however. You can find them in the archives (screen left) for January, February, April, June, and October.
As for reflection, I reflected one year with an iPhone, one year of running with the help of the Nike Running app, ten years since my college commencement, and twenty since the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. You can find those posts in the archives for May and June.
I always hope the best when a new year approaches and this time is no different. I hope you, the reader, I, the writer, and everyone we know have a happy, healthy, and gainful 2015.