I don’t know how many times Jeff from New York has seen us play. Maybe he does, but he left that out of his email letting us know that our set at Maxwell’s on this date in 1986, a benefit for Raybeats/Contortions/”Let It Blurt” guitarist Jody Harris was: my first (and the first time I recorded you). And speaking of firsts, it was was also the one and only time we covered Neil Young’s “Bad News Beat.” And speaking of benefits, 19 years later we took part in a fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina at the Angel Orensanz Center on Norfolk Street. What a lineup! Steve Buscemi was the m.c. Masada played first–completely unmiked (as I recall) and sounding incredible (for certain). The Jazz Passengers were fronted by both Elvis Costello and Deborah Harry. William Parker was all over the place, with the Little Huey big band and several small groups. Including ours: We were an octet–joined by Other Dimensions in Music plus Sabir Mateen–for a wild ride beginning with “Our Way to Fall,” followed by Georgia’s rendition of “Ruler of My Heart,” “I Heard You Looking” and a climactic “Ooh Poo Pah Doo.”