The Bast

Jazz-blues singer-songwriter pianist just about scratches the surface and fills the void for now for live music bookings, session vox

[The Bast @im_thebast]

@Waltika About sums it up. Glad you are here to share the fuckery, my friend✨

[The Bast @im_thebast]

@Electric_Mage Super timely and clear❤️✨

thanks brotha

(that’s my “I’m in the cool kids spiritual club so I am going to address a man I’ve never met who is clearly no biological relation to me as my brother” personality construct🤣🥳)

[The Bast @im_thebast]

Been a minit…here’s some chill vibes for ya…full moon fever aside, remember to just…breathe😌

https://t.co/yeFNlltYk0

[The Bast @im_thebast]

@kjdelay1 @DrLizaMD Hold steady. Brave the storm. Find your core. The you you were before they called you doctor. Remember, a Phoenix rises from the ashes.

https://t.co/7iIbdkPqK8

[The Bast @im_thebast]

@Amy022110 @outdoorlife2019 That if you have a goal, you will reach it faster and with more momentum if you roll with the ups and downs🤓

[The Bast @im_thebast]

@BstKidEva Y’all (and your universe within) got this😉🙌❤️✨

[The Bast @im_thebast]

@SarahDescending Whoa!

[The Bast @im_thebast]

I think humans react to repression, kids in conservative value homes tend to be allowed less personal expression, sm for their generation offers a lane for the repressed individuality to flow into the group of belonging for kids if they question their gender identity. Kids often don’t have language or framework to process or discuss their distress, and even less so if the safety of their family cohesion is threatened. In other words, true confusion, and a cry for help.

[The Bast @im_thebast]

The trauma she endured is not natural…our dismissal of abuse as just a part of human nature is a tragedy. Her legacy lives for us to wake up and break the chains. See the pain of those who cry for help, and love enough to hear the grieving, then stand up for a better way of being human.

[Ryan Buikema @prolificinvent]

-The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget-

"Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living.

When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away.
But, I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself. So I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute”, answered a frail, elderly voice.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90′s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940′s movie.
By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard
box filled with photos and glassware.

‘Would you carry my bag out to the car?’ she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. ‘It’s nothing’, I told her.. ‘I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.’

‘Oh, you’re such a good boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, ‘Could you drive
through downtown?’

‘It’s not the shortest way,’ I answered quickly..

‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. ‘I don’t have any family left,’ she continued in a soft voice..’The doctor says I don’t have very long.’ I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
‘What route would you like me to take?’ I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, ‘I’m tired.Let’s go now’.
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.

They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
‘How much do I owe you?’ She asked, reaching into her purse.

‘Nothing,’ I said

‘You have to make a living,’ she answered.

‘There are other passengers,’ I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.She held onto me tightly.

‘You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life..

I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day,I could hardly talk.What if that woman had gotten an angry driver,or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one."

[The Bast @im_thebast]

@RGRyan777 🤣

[Eric Alper 🎧 @ThatEricAlper]

You'll never feel alone when there's music playing.

[The Bast @im_thebast]

One of my favorite humans just started a Substack…and it’s gonna be good🙌✨ check it out🔥 https://t.co/7L4TwjxgxE

[The Bast @im_thebast]

have I told you yet today how much I love you?

😁 😽

[The Bast @im_thebast]

Reframe the Narrative, by @im_thebast https://t.co/SbvLVt5HY8

[The Bast @im_thebast]

Getcha OWN, baybee!!!😎✨

[The Bast @im_thebast]

Staci Braun - Ashes to Ashes https://t.co/yfUMroABMA via @YouTube

Thanks Blue Macaroon Theater Company and Matt Smith for recording this during the show last month - amazing place and beautiful connections!💙✨

#indiemusic #singersongwriter #ashestoashes #community

[The Bast @im_thebast]

🤣🥳🙌❤️✨