May 1999

Washington Square Hotel

New York, NY

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 San Francisco. He was still short on gigs, so although he was playing with a swing band at a 7AM Breast Cancer awareness walkathon on the morning in question, he decided to take my noon brunch gig right after. He said he might have to be five minutes late, which was fine with me. So at noon that Sunday, Adam and I started playing a song, and at 12:03 pm, Lee walked in, smiled, set up his bass, and began playing with us (I think it was an Antonio Carlos Jobim tune…but I’m not sure which one).
* 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.’”

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