Teddy’s memorial service begins with my friend Beppe playing singing bowls as a meditation. Then Isis from Dzieci cries aloud and comes forward in a slow dance as Matt and the other Dzieci rise from various different places in the congregation joining in the chant and moving forward until they are all together in the front of the sanctuary.
Jane speaks
I welcome everyone and explain that this service will be a presentation for us to see the width and breadth of who Teddy was at West-Park, That we believe in the unexpected intersections of unlikely people, of unqualified acceptance, and Teddy fully lived that out. Connecting, managing, bringing people together. My colleague Jane speaks of his heart and his desire to take down the wall to see what was inside.
The Teddy’s father speaks. When I met him the day after Teddy died, he was devastated. Could hardly speak. And at the funeral, said nothing. But tonight he has quite a lot to say. In his openness, his toughness, his humor, I see Teddy. He asks who doesn’t come from a dysfunctional family. He speaks of his intelligence. Inquisitiveness, taking apart every toy he’d ever been given. Including his bike which he had to put back together to ride. He plays off Jane’s wall reference. Teddy always taking down walls. How surprised he was to hear about Teddy’s life in the church given that he’d been so angry at God ever since his mother died. Of his many struggles. And deep appreciation for who Teddy had been able to be at West-Park. And how he had asked God to let him go before Teddy.
Tracy and Sarah
I explain that I’ve never written religious music but had written one after Teddy died. And I sing my Rest Awhile with Jeremy accompanying me. It really rolls and people are joining in. RL reads his Teddrick poem,(http://west-parkpress.blogspot.com/search?q=teddrick) his voice quavering then rising strong at the end. The the Sanctuary singers featuring Pernell Walker sing Golden.
Martin
Sarah and Tracy from the Sweatshop Free campaign talk about Teddy’s work with them. What they had learned from him. And both break down in tears. Kanaska comes up to talk about her time with Teddy in Occupy. An dhow he had taken care of her when she needed a safe place to be. Her street toughness giving way to an almost child like vulnerability then her voice rising strong and true in a passionate song of elegy and affirmation. Martin comes forward, walks over to the family to share his own experiences with Teddy’s family. What Teddy had meant to his daughter, his family.
I say that Teddy should have the last word at his ow memorial. So we play Zeljko’s movie Teddy. (http://west-parkpress.blogspot.com/search?q=zeljko+tribute+to+teddy)And once again, the sanctuary fills with the warm rough sound of his voice, his unique take on the world. Zeljko had seemingly captured all of Teddy’s facial expressions. It ends with a long take on Teddy’s face, slowly breaking into a big heartfull smile as Sekou’s music plays.
The the whole congregation joins in singing I Shall Be Reeased.
As we move to the chapel for refreshments and an open mic, there is so much sharing. Steamfitters saying they would do anything for us. Best memorial service thy’d ever been to. Teddy’s daughter saying how good it was to hear her fathers voice again Teddy III (Teddy Bear) had found a picture of he an dhis dad that Dzieci had used. People who had never met or knwon abiut each other embracing, sharign memories. I ke expecting him to walk any moment. And i missed him terribly.
Kanaska
Back in the chapel, RL is getting the open mic ready. The Buskers open and Teddy’s dad enjoys the Irish music. Amanda makes sure to play while Teddy’s dad is still there. We all play something special. In his spirit. I play my New Mexico song he liked.
Teddy Bear, Bob and Theodore Mapes, Sr.
And then the night is over.
Amanda and RL with the Buskers
Rest Awhile
When the crowd's so demanding and the need is so great
And you feel like you just can't go on
Come walk beside me and soon you will see
The victory is already won
And you can rest awhile, rest awhile
Come away and rest awhile
(Jesus says) rest awhile, rest awhile
Come away and rest awhile
When your boat is too small and the water so wide
And the shoreline's just too far to see
I will quiet the storm, I will silence the sea
And you can walk on the water with me
And you can rest....
When the day goes too fast and the night feels too long
From the moment that RL’s leaving his studio at West-Park became inevitable, it was clear that he would not be coming back to Open Mic. The Open Mic which had begun as Rhythms, Repair and Renovation.
The official poster
(With its own '70's styleposter...)Now by mid-March, the open mic had continued under the direction of the 3 D’s: David Lyons, Dion Thompson and David Smythe. They’d kept the doors open, kept the community alive and RL’s values intact. They each have their own reasons: the open mic brought out David Lyons as a performer, first one song, then two, then three.Then at other spots around the city "on tour." Dion found his own unique voice as a stand up comedian. And David Smythe began as part of RL's retinue and is now the church's go to handyman and sound guy. They do this at least in part to say thanks for what they've received and they've done well. But no question: RL was missed.
When Victoire and Henri returned from Brazil, the first place they came was to West-Park anxious to see old friends, West-Park was Victoire's first landing place when she first arrived here from France. She now appears regularly on the city club and cabaret scene. They were wearing their Dusty Withers fan club badg
Dusty badge
es in honor of RL. It was hard on me to tell them he would not be there. They were only two of so many more. So when word came to us (through Dion) that RL would be making an appearance, word spread like wildfire through social media. And when word leaked that he’d asked Dion to go bring down his guitar, we knew he’d not only be appearing, but playing.
Henri and Victoire wearing badges....
Even before he showed up, a record breaking crowd was showing up in the chapel. Many were there simply because this was a new open mic they had discovered. But many came to pay tribute to a mentor and friend to whom thanks was due. A truly eclectic crowd..worthy of what RL had created.
David Lyons opened the night.
David Lyons open
Shirley reads
David Smythe played
David Smythe
with his virtual drummer Kyle. Our new senior citizen contingent was represented by Helen Cohen . Journeyman Gene Cross, who's played with the best, backed Helen and then our young blues man Mike Handelman backed Gene.
Helen Cohen and journeyman guitar player Gene Cross
Shirley Eitan did her acapella classics.
Harold Zoloshevsky
did stand up and Joel Gold was back for what only he can do…his on the spot improv that takes us back to the Village coffee shops and Beat poets. More than once I’ve seen rap artists drop their jaws in amazement at Joel’s spoken word.
The one and only Joel Gold
Ross and Blain
Gene and Mike
Gene and Helen
Soon RL made his first appearance, doing a tribute to his friend and amiable rival, the godfather for a generation of singer -songwriters Jack Hardy,(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Hardy) ) whose last circle included my friend and collaborator Jeremy Mage. I remembered how the door to the open mic had been opened by RL’s 2012 sanctuary concert which was not only a tribute to Jack (Shut up and play the song) but also the farewell concert the P&G’s crowd had missed in its untimely closing. And I recalled how I’d gone to P&G’s with Amanda and saw this amazing cast of characters including RL, Piano Dan and Mandola Joe. The first open mic I’d ever been to.
RL speaks of Jack
RL brings the word
The young duo Beat Sticky, a nod to their use of the Chapman Stick.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapman_Stick),appeared next with their folk/r&b stylings reminiscent of a youngTracy Chapman.
Beat Sticky
A young woman fresh from Australia (who has since become a regular), Aimee Watson, made her first appearance with dramatic original songs on piano and guitar.
Aimee on piano
Aimee's first appearance
Ross Byron and Blain Nan played, Sharyn Schiller did a reading and Bernice sang Somewhere over the Rainbow. Young Nick Lantigua played the banjo. Now 20, he's been with us since he was 17.
Nick on the banjo
RL took his time to play for us. To tell of the beginnings…how he was approached by someone asking him to sign a petition …something he’d never done before…to save West-Park. And how Amanda got him to play in a balcony music festival in a ruined church with no heat and no restrooms. How he was moved to get involved. Build those restrooms. Then launch his project of Rhythms, Repair and Renovation. His two loves (outside of Harvey, of course)…rebuilding the church (the building, not the churchy part) and keeping live music alive. That is, on his terms. Where everyone always gets three songs, which gives you enough time to screw up and recover. In an atmosphere of acceptance and encouragement. Where one is safe to grow to what they could become. In a feeling of community. And collaboration, not jams. For RL, jams are all about can you top this while collaboration is what can we create together. He told us all that again. So we'd remember. Tales about the gong player,the rappers and the tap dancer who tapped without music.
RL Plays
And he played his most special, rarely performed song, Rustling Winds. He wouldn’t be RL without tearing up, which he did. And so did we. He is in the end a classic romantic.
Many of us performed in special thanks. I did my Queen of the Factory Town and Carolina Goin Home with Victoire.
Bob and Victoire
She sang the song she wrote about this open mic, about the old chapel and old cowboys, (RL).
Victoire sings of cowboys
Young Jeremy and Jessie surprised RL with Full Moon on the Water, an RL song in an Ian and Sylvia style, like he’d shown them.
Jessie and Jeremy
RL closed out the night with Stay Awhile, as he always did. As was fitting . With probably the largest collection of musicians we’d ever had onstage at the same time. Ever. And we all sang together. Collaboration, not a jam.
The night was exactly the right way to say thank you RL. What it was supposed to be.
An all-star line up for "Stay Awhile"
He came back a week later. Thought about performing. Decided not to play. That would be anticlimactic, he said.
…..ain’t no trains at the station, seems about like to rain…..
****
This is not an obituary.
OK.So that’s the story of a great night. It’s not the story of RL. I’ve delayed way too long in writing this, partly because I don’t want to write a book and it’s hard to know what must be said and what to leave out. But more because to write this is in a sense, to admit that he has left the building, which is something I’d prefer not to do. (The why’s and wherefores of his leaving will not be dealt with here. Besides, RL has frequently stated he doesn’t do soap operas..) What can I say about RL?
RL is an American original. He is as much an expression of Americana as a Bob Dylan album. (the Michelangelo and Da Vinci of his craft, says RL... And my favorite bastard.) To truly write about RL, you would need Hemmingway and Garcia Marquez with an occasional dollop of Hunter Thompson. RL is a character of his own creation. He has a unique way of looking at and being in the world, courtly, mannered in a late 19th century way and yet a bit psychedelic. Obviously, his view of the world does not always (often?) coincide with that of others. Thing is, I found myself preferring his view. And there is of course this Zelig-like quality to RL and the pop music culture of oh, quarter century or more. This tour with that band. Lights for another. Watering Lennon's pianos. And a few fistfights. (Won't say who won.) Those Studio 54 photos... More than once he's quoted to me from Elwood P. Dowd, the main character of the play Harvey, (for whom RL nicknamed his wife, who was in the cast). In response to being told by a doctor to Wrestle with reality, Dodd replied: Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it. And so has RL.
He was there. From the days we reopened in a building described as somewhere between Berlin and Brooklyn (well, more like Havana, really, someone added.) From the fateful night at the end of Amanda's 2010 Balcony Music Festival when after leaving, he returned to read his Red Ryder and the Fat Lady.When Danielle and I were the only ones on a daily basis keeping the doors open, he was there. If something needed fixing, he got it done. From big sanctuary doors to sidewalk metal grate doors to light bulbs. He’d hire a crew, call on one of the numerous skilled retinue of people he kept on retainers. Spent thousands of dollars. Just to get things done. And never kept receipts, because that’s not what it’s about.
He was there as paternal protection and support for Danielle and for Priska when she had a studio above his. (How I miss Priska and Jeremy!) He was equally protective and proprietary on the building as a whole, sometimes annoyingly so. He was the unofficial night watchman, “policing the building” before heading home.
He was there for all of the intense craziness of the Occupy Wall Street Occupation of West-Park and especially Teddy, who became our sexton.RL maintained, that Teddy was one of his fastest gets, i.e. they got each other within two days. I sometime wonder how the last years would have been different had Teddy lived and we had been able to enjoy this adventure with him. Teddy was the quintessential expression of what we were trying to become. He.like Danielle, intuitively and completely “got” my vision and would have done anything to help bring it about. He had my back in every way.
RL was there through out all kinds of artistic residencies like Bread and Puppet. Warm memories of RL and B&P creator and genius Peter Schumann at the party at the end of their 50th anniversary celebration. Something about the two of them that fit. Two originals.
He was there to encounter and engage the many street folks who were part of the scene from Rachel and her shopping carts (who said why he danced lasciviousy at me!) to legless Sean and his electric and... acoustic? wheel chairs. (Teddy had “saved” Sean. it just didn’t last.)
He was there during Zeljko’s shooting for his as yet unfinished docufairytale about New Yorkers and their dreams…
He was there. Especially for me. As much as he disclaimed the “churchy” part, that’s as much his overall allergy to institutions. ( I don’t do committees. I do projects, he says…) Even though he is an officially licensed shaman, when he shared with me Myles Connally’s 1928 inspirational Catholic classic Mr. Blue, about an eccentric follower of Jesus, I knew RL understood and respected my vision and would do everything he could to help it succeed. Out of care for me and more out of respect for the vision beyond me.
He was there . During the darkest days for me, the days when I didn’t want to go home because there was nothing there but a card table, bed, folding chair and two weeks worth of clothing, his studio was a safe space. A place to stop by to catch my breath, or drink a cold one or catch an episode of Leverage. We'd watch other series, like Nero Wolfe, but Leverage was my favorite. How could I not be attracted to a show that opened with:
The rich and powerful, they take what they want. We steal it back for you. Sometimes bad guys make the best good guys. We provide... “leverage". If the light was on in his stained glass window, (the bat signal), I knew there was welcome.
How many times would a tourist couple encounter RL at the Gate and wind up in his studio with an impromptu concert evolving for one great story to take home about the best vacation ever?
Fact: during one incredibly bad stretch of time, there are nights I would not have eaten if it were not for RL.
The open mic gave rebirth to my music life after 30 some years. RL a great critic for songwriting. But more, he got my guitar rebuilt and got it hooked it up for electric amplification. Got me my first gig bag. Helped me to feel like I had joined the fraternity.
RL has added to his preferred business practices. In addition to no more partners, he has added no more working with churches ...or Christians. It’s not supposed to work out that way. As we become more …professional? uh..? we are like a gentrifying neighborhood that as it improves, runs the risk of losing what drew people there in the first place. We are not as rich without RL. Of the good that remains, RL was part of opening the door for that.
Check out the video made by Zeljko to raise funds to finish The Dream….watch as RL finishes his song Pinto, turns and slowly begins to fade…something prescient in that shot… as he turns and fades, part of my dream fades as well…
****
Epilogue….months later, there is this moment. RL has called for a tribal council meeting at the Gate. The first time I heard him use that expression, six years ago, I took it literally, like there was a secret society of musicians and others with RL at its center making important decisions about important matters. Even though I now know that wasn't quite true, it's still cool to be included in a tribal council…
He has brought the keys to every lock at West Park. I mean EVERY. And he wants to go over one more time with Dion and the Davids the rules for open mic. No 2 song sets, it’s got to be 3…do whatever you want as long as you don’t offend me, which means taking what you ae doing seriously enough to be prepared…and keep your clothes on…
The sun broke thorough the front windows warm and bright as he passed on the keys.
Never say never,but.... says RL. This is not an obituary.
Tribal council
To read more, simply search "RL Haney" on this blog.for more posts than you would never want to read. To learn more about RL and his music, go to http://www.rlhwindtide.com
Award winning Serbian filmmaker Zeljko Mircovic has taken his interview of Teddy for his new project, My Dream Is, and edited it to a 18 minute film. Here is the link:
