Events

Center Court

Events, My Dudes, Sports

Matisyahu paid a visit to the Knicks vs. Sixers game in Philadelphia last night to perform the “Star Spangled Banner” with Philly native bandmate Aaron Dugan (above right), and also a set after the last buzzer in celebration of Jewish Heritage Night.  Check the pic..

Here’s some fan footage of his National Anthem rendition…

And earlier in the day, the pair performed a stripped down version of “Thunder”, a song off Matisyahu’s latest album Light, live on Philly’s Preston and Steve radio show (stream full audio from interview and performance HERE thanks Ariel!!!!)…

You’ve come along way from those Highlands basketball courts Matis.  Westcheddar salutes you.  Cheah!!!!!

*Bonus*

Download/Stream Matisyahu’s brand new Daytrotter performance HERE…

Olympic Gold

Events, My Dudes, Sports

NBC is using Matisyahu’s “One Day” as part of their promotion for the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics.  Very cool.  Check the commercial above for a taste.  I hope they give him a chance to perform this at the opening ceremony or something.  And yo, Matis just told me the other day that he recorded a “One Day” remix with Akon.  Wow.  Keep your ears open for that.

Empire State Of Mind

Events, Sports

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Unless you’ve been under a rock, you should know by now that Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performed “Empire State Of Mind” before the start of game two of the World Series last night in Yankee Stadium.  Hov just keeps getting bigger and bigger huh?  Well today, they finally dropped the highly anticipated, Hype Williams directed video for everyone’s favorite new NYC anthem.  Check it out, it’s awesome…

On a side note, it sounds like Beanie Sigel and Jay-Z have some issues to iron out.  Beans released this diss track of sorts last night (timed perfectly with the Turnpike Series in full swing), and whether you like the message behind it or not, it’s hot.  I love the Prodigy sample on the hook.  But I gotta say, it’s sad when these rap crews fall apart and start beefing with each other.  Anyway, check the song out, it’s called “What You Talkin’ Bout”…

T.G.I.F…I’ll holla…

A Milli

Events, My Dudes

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Damn, my boy Matisyahu has over one million followers on Twitter!  That’s crazy.  Check out this article Pollstar published online about his use of the ever so popular social networking site…

Matisyahu’s Twitter Passion

Also, if you’re in the New York City area for the holidays, def try to make it out to this year’s Festival of Light (see poster above)….

Follow @Matisyahu On Twitter

Answer The Call

Events

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Jay-Z’s Answer The Call 9/11 Benefit Concert live broadcast on Fuse TV last night might have been the most amazing thing I’ve ever watched on television.  It was aired with no commercial breaks in its entirety.  My wife and I kicked back in the comfort of our humble abode and watched the whole thing over take out Greek food, and completely loved every minute of it.  He has so many hits!!!!!  Just on his new album alone he has more stadium rockers than most seasoned rap veterans.  And the rest of his career catalog is ridiculous.  Not to mention all the thrilling guest appearances.  Here’s some clips of my favorite moments from the show…

*Kid Cudi came out early on and did his thing on “Already Home”, which is slowly but surely becoming one of my favorite tracks on Blueprint 3…

*John Mayer?!?!?!?!?!?  Yes!!!!!  I’m a fan of his, and I’ve seen him live before.  At first I was cracking up at the hip hop guitar face he was making, but he was really awesome.  He rocked “You Don’t Know” and then murdered the sample on “D.O.A.” (he played a nice medley in betweeen too)….

*Rihanna and Kanye West touched the stage for “Run This Town”.  That was my wife’s favorite part!  One of mine too.  It was, as they say, EPIC.  Kanyeezy added on with “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and “Good Life” also…

*Beyonce is sooooooooo ill.  Her appearance was brief, but extremely memorable.  Check her dance moves on “Diva”, especially right at the end.  Wow…

*Jay-Z killed every song.  Don’t think that because I’m not posting his solo performances he didn’t.  As I said before, HE HAS SO MANY HITS!!!!  And there were some heartwarming moments too in memory of 9/11.  Check the link at the bottom to watch the whole concert online via Nahright.  But to wrap things up here, I want to post how he ended the show.  It was fantastic.  After bringing Diddy out for “Encore”, Hov turned up the house lights and gave shout outs to different people he spotted in all parts of the audience, cracking jokes with them and of course showing lots of love.  Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

WATCH JAY-Z ANSWER THE CALL FULL CONCERT HERE

Jay-Z really is the greatest rapper of all time.  I love Biggie just as much as the next guy, but I’m not sure he could have ever gotten to the level that Jay-Z has.  Even Diddy admitted last night that Jay-Z is “The King”.  I was at Jay-Z’s star studded Fade To Black MSG concert back in 2003 and I felt the same way then.  And now, six years later, he’s bigger than ever, with yet another classic album on the shelf, and too many accomplishments in music and business to list.  Plus he’s a great guy.  A real people person.  I’ve been posting lots of his interviews and videos and music in the past couple months (this past three weeks especially), and I’m sure this won’t be the last of them.  Hollerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr….

Maui Wowie

Events

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Just wanted to quickly post this great picture of Band of Horses lead singer Ben Bridwell on stage in Maui with headliner and country music legend (and huge pothead) Willie Nelson.  That’s all for now.  Peep the show poster below, it’s pretty fresh….

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For more Band of Horses related Westcheddar posts CLICK HERE.

Birthday Dog

Events, Fly Spots

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Walter’s hot dog stand, located in Mamaroneck behind the high school, is celebrating its 90th birthday this week.  Pretty amazing.  I wish the picture above was more accurate, because every time I try to go eat there’s always a long ass line.  But I admit, they make a mean hot dog, and it’s well worth the short wait.  Check out a close up below of their most famous menu item, and peep the cut-in-half style and secret sauce.  Then, when your mouth is done watering, read the article from this morning’s Journal News about Walter’s b-day.  Here’s to 90 more years!!!!

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Walter’s Turns 90 in Hot Dog Years

When I’m 64

Events, My Dudes, Sports, The Good Old Days

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Happy Birthday to my Pops Jimmy Izo (above left dancing like a maniac with me at my wedding) who turned 64 this past weekend.  To celebrate, I took him over to the East Coast National Sports Card Show at the Westchester County Center.  It was a nice stroll down memory lane for both of us.  I used to frequent those card shows on the reg back in the 80’s, and he was enjoying the nostalgia of looking at all the baseball and basketball cards from his youth and sharing the stories of some of the great players of his generation.  It was a nice father/son morning.  Then we met up with our wives (my Mom and Dana Izo) for some Greek food, and my Mom was talking about The Beatles song “When I’m 64”.  I thought it would be cool to post it up here to rep for my Dad.  Check out the cartoon clip from The Beatles movie Yellow Submarine:

And here’s a nice reggae cover of the song from the Easy Star All-Star’s project Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band :

By the way, Matisyahu is featured on that album too, on their cover of “Within You Without You”…listen HERE

…I’m about to post the new Matis’ mixtape with DJ Roz right now so stay tuned.

I wonder what my life will be like when I’m 64?

River Ciphers Recap

Events, My Dudes, Stan Ipcus, Youth

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The first ever River Ciphers, live from The Rec Room in Dobbs Ferry, was an absolute success.  The store was packed, the performances were great, and the vibe was super positive and fun!  Special thanks to Bahr for helping us to make it happen and providing us with the perfect venue for our cipher.  And a shout out goes to all the performers (some of my young boys from the BGC did their thing as did my boy Matty B above), and of course my dude Marlon “Moshe” Sobol for holding it down on his 28 instruments…HAHAHAHAHA!!  Moshe and I performed some Stan Ipcus songs unplugged in between the open mic performances which came out pretty fresh.  Here’s my two favorites….”Wifey Material” and Let’s Walk”….peep it…

Oh, and we played a game of “SWITCH” with Moshe too.  That was fun, though towards the end he started to auto-switch….ha!  Check it out…

Thanks to everyone who came out to the first ever River Ciphers.  Hope you can make it out for the next one.  All performers and listeners are welcome.  We’re gonna do it again before Labor Day so stay tuned.  Come through and perform, or just sit back and enjoy the music and have a glass of wine or sangria or iced tea.  Or do both!!!!  For more videos from the event, including clips of the open mic performers, please click the link below.  See you next time!!!!

RIVER CIPHERS PERFORMANCE VIDEO PLAYLIST

Best of Westchester’s Top 5 Tables of 2009

Events, Interviews, My Dudes, Published Material

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My wife and I, along with my dude Killa Kam, attended the event of the year last night, Westchester Magazine’s Best of Westchester party at the Glen Island Harbor Club in New Rochelle.  Over 2,500 people came out to celebrate the finest Westchester County has to offer.  Best of Westchester winners had tables set up all over the premises, giving out free samples of different foods, drinks, and products.  It’s mad fun just hopping from table to table, schmoozing, and tasting all the amazing dishes (and indulging in every free alcoholic beverage on the premises).  Plus, there’s live music playing inside and outside, and plenty of locals to meet and talk to.  We had a blast (and got blasted) just like last year.  Having lifetime free passes to this event is one of the great perks of writing for Westchester Magazine.  Thanks to “Lawyer Mike” Martinelli for the hook up and hospitality.  And for this year’s Top 5 Tables, I once again will refer to Pelham Bay’s finest food critic and Westcheddar correspondent, Billy Henderson…

Shout to Uncle Ralph for hosting my friends and family. Shouts to the Martinelli’s, Hayes’ and the Krueger’s for being so kind. Shout to Caitlin Krueger for burying Bronxville by her lonesome while Carlito had a national championship ring on his finger. Shouts to Stan Ipcus, Mrs. Ipcus, Killa Kam, and Miss Info. On to the food.

1. Crabtree Kittle House
    11 Kittle Road
    Chappaqua, NY 10514
    www.kittlehouse.com
    914.666.8044

I was served a shrimp dumpling in a ginger broth.  My broth was served by two blondes warm.  Sorry, that’s the effect I have on blondes.  Delicious.

2. The Willett House
    20 Willett Ave.
    Port Chester, NY 10573
    www.thewilletthouse.com
    914.939.1894

Best steak at the place.  Frankie and Johnnie’s or Johnnie’s and Frankie’s need to to step their steak game up.  Holla.

3.   Sushi Mike’s
      146 Main Street
      Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
      www.sushimikes.com
      914.591.0054

They were #1 for three years.  Did they fall off?  Absolutely not.  Did they leave the only Japanese speaking chef alone with me to explain what I was eating?  Yes.  A Westchester County can’t miss.  God bless.

4.    BLT
       Ritz Carlton Westchester
       White Plains, NY 10601
       www.bltrestaurants.com
        (914) 467-5500

They served a braised beef cheek with a jalapeno mashed potato and mango mayo (which is a version of something close to a French Aioli).  I take notes like a retarded two year old.  Sorry.  Very tasty.

5.     Sonora
        179 Rectory Street
        Port Chester, NY 10573 
        www.sonorany.com
        914.933.0200

 A free range chicken/ avocado/ yogurt mix served on a corn cake with a beet vinagarette (a Venezuelan Pepeiada ladies) and a chive oil.  

*Sorry little Iron Chef you didn’t make the list.

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Nice job Billy as usual.  Cop the new Westchester Magazine, at your local news stand now, for the complete rundown of this year’s Best of Westchester winners (cover above).  And check out my Groom Guy blog and Wedding of the Month feature on Westchester Magazine’s website if you missed it.  See you next year.  Scream.