Event Horizon

Sometimes I wonder weather to stay and tell the story or move on and wait for what comes next.

Ca The Ewes, Christopher Layer

Here is a video my friend Chris Conrad made on my camera. It's me playing "Ca The Ewes" last Sunday, Feb. 12th, 2012 in Moonflower Canyon, near Moab Utah. I played a Sweetheart keyless flute made of rosewood, pitched in the key of F. BTW, please excuse the low Q sound, and the dog sneeze at the very end, featuring Cache, the 90-year-old dog!
Cheers, Chris
www.newharmonymusicfest.com

New CD liner notes and a new festival and school!

Stay tuned for the extended liner notes folks....coming soon! Sorry they are not up sooner: have been very busy with the new school and festival web site for this summer in New Harmony, Indiana.

Here is that site:
www.newharmonymusicfest.com

New CD ;iner notes and a new festival and school!

Stay tuned for the extended liner notes folks....coming soon! Sorry they are not up sooner: have been very busy with the new school and festival web site for this summer in New Harmony, Indiana.

Here is that site:
www.newharmonymusicfest.com

december music fun & new recording:-)

Hi all,
Here is the latest music news!

-I had a super fun night last night sitting in with composer/poet/musician David Amram at Cornelia street cafe here in Greenwich Village.
-Tonight playing my regular Tuesday session at Swift with Danny Noveck and Eamon O'Leary.

-The big news is that my NEW Seasonal CD: "A Long Winter's Nap" will be arriving at my door this week. If you would like to order a copy or copies send a check for $15 per copy, plus $3 shipping to: Chris Layer, 719 Greenwich Street 4N, NYC, NY, 10014

-As some of you know, I have been working very hard on creating/founding an acoustic music festival and 5-day summer music school in my home state of Indiana: The New Harmony Music Festival & School will officially "launch" with the opening of the website next week. The dates for the festival will take place from July 8th-14th of 2012. Registration for the school will open January 1st, so stay tuned for details!!!

-Remember that Bob Currie's annual Scottish "fiesta" of pipes, pipe organ, fiddles, harps, poets and music will take place in two weeks time, December 17 & 18. Here is the web site for tix! http://www.pipesofchristmas.com
That's it for now my dears...Go out and hear some music before it's next year!
Chris

BLT Pasta!

Here is a yummy one I made up for Summer.
Enjoy,
Chris






BLT Pasta from CL
So the idea here is all the stuff in a BLT sans mayo...which is almost there, but no egg-y things, sorry. You can change the proportions of ingreeds to suit. I tried to come close to my original formula, but it changes every time.

Ingreeds:
-loaf of 2 day-old bread or plain store-bought croutons
-1 clove garlic chopped
-good olive oil
-1-3 tablespoons of cane sugar
-10-12 strips fave bacon, fried crispy and drained and chopped into 1/2 pieces
-4-5 cups cheery tomats, sliced, or quartered if large, in a bowl...
-baby arugula, spinach, or Maché lettuce, washed and spun (bout enough leaves to fill a medium sized bowl...)
-half a big sweet onion, fine chopped
-4 tblspns fresh thyme
-4 tblspns fresh basil chopped or torn-up
-bout 12-16 oz. of good pesto sauce
-salt and pep
-four good sized lemons, juiced, and the zest of at least one of them.
-1 box dry pasta(organelli, radiatore, farfalle, all are good)
-grana padano, or fresh reggiano parm for grating
-some flat leaf parsley chopped if you wish.
-big platter

Croutons:
(I ALWAYS take bread that is more than a day old and cut it into cubes for croutons ahead of time, but you can start with plain prepared ones from the store or start using day-old bread, cubed up.)
-The croutons may be prepared ahead of time and will keep in the freezer for up to a month in a zip-lock baggie. Make sure they are properly cooled before packing them in the bag, though or they will turn soft.
-Preheat oven to 300º F.
-Combine lemon juice, thyme, salt & pepper, one clove crushed garlic, tblspn of pesto, tblspn of bacon fat, and toss well with 4-6 cups of bread cubes. Cubes should be slightly moist to the touch after tossing.
-Once all the cubes are coated add one half cup grated parm or padano cheese and toss again.
-Spread mixture in a 9 X 12 baking pan so it is easy to toss during baking and put in oven, turning every 10-12 minutes until croutons are dry and crunchy, but not burned!
-Should take about 40 minutes. (If you are starting with day-old bread it will of course take longer.)


Tomato dressing:
Combine 6 tblspns lemon juice, sugar, salt and pep, garlic, 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme, 2 tblspns fresh basil, 2 tblspns olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of melted bacon drippings in a jar and shake well. Dress the tomatoes, toss, and set aside. (Balance the sweet/sour as you like, but don't be afraid to add more sugar or lemon juice as you balance the flavor.) Set aside about 2 tblspns for finishing the dish at the end if you like.

Pasta:
-Simmer the diced onion over low heat until soft in remaining olive oil and 1 tblsp bacon fat in a high-sided sauté pan,set aside. (Pasta will get tossed with the onions and pesto sauce in here before the dish comes together.)
-Cook pasta to "Al Dente", drain, and put in sauté pan to toss with pesto sauce and simmered onion.

Assemble the dish:
-On the large platter, or in a nice yellow bowl, arrange the elements in layers descending in size so you can see each layer. Place the pesto pasta first, then the washed and dried lettuce, the the dressed tomatoes, then the bacon and croutons. Finish with the reserved dressing plus the juice half a lemon just before serving. I usually DON'T do the grated parm shower thing with this dish, but you can put out cheese for your guests.

-Serve with a nice sancerre, pinot grigio, or pouilly fuisse white wine...something a bit tart to complement the bacon etc...
-Can be served warm as a main dish, or at room temp as an antipasto salad....

Swell-egant Caramoor, a swingin estate!

Yes it was just too swell to play music up at the old Caramoor Estate this last July 1st. We did a splendid program of music from the library of Thomas Jefferson: some classical, some trad folk...My favotire combination!

But the real treat was posing in our bedroom dressing rooms in "the big house" with these two beauties! (Mazz Swift on the left and Kerry O'Malley on the right) Each is a talented singer and Mazz also plays the violin like a little birdie as well! Anyway, there will be a few more updates this week covering my last month of travels.

Much love,
Christopher Layer

Rolling the Woodpile Down

After a weekend of fun and frolic, I am finally headed off to Indiana for work and play both. Those that requested lessons in Indy would be obliged to email me and set up an appointment if you would be so kind!
Much love,
Christopher