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The Medicine Ball Band at the Sausalito Cruising Club

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, No Name Bar, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music with tags , , , , , , , , on September 26, 2011 by joetatesblog

The Sausalito Cruising Club often hosts the Medicine Ball Band Sunday afternoons from 5-9:30 PM. This group must be one of the best-kept secrets in the Bay Area music scene. Their excellent music far exceeds the notoriety they have been accorded.

Led by guitarist David Sturdevant, who moved here from upstate New York 38 years ago, MBB delivers a versatile repertoire with everything from swing standards to R&B with a distinct New Orleans flavor. If you ask, they will even play Dixieland. They were kind enough to play dinner music for a while so everyone could enjoy the buffet.

Basic Medicine: David Sturdevent, Ylonda Nickell, Larry Vann, Richard Howell, Kirk Harwood and Wendy DeWitt

Founded in 1971 by Sturdevant, the group started by playing in the street for tips at Union Square in San Francisco. Along with Sturdevant was a pair of banjos played by Dave Marty and Abe Van Der Meulen. The late Amanda Hughes started singing with them later as they moved on to clubs. Their first bass player was Randy Jackson, the world famous producer and arranger who is now a judge on American Idol.

John Stafford and Wendy DeWitt

Today they are joined by Wendy DeWitt, the Queen of Boogie Woogie,  on piano. With Ylonda Nickell on alto sax, John Stafford  on various woodwinds, Richard Howell on soprano and tenor sax, Larry Vann on drums and kirk Harwood on congos, the group is rounded out with vocals by Thea Rose, a sweet young singer adept in the ways of jazz.

Starting with a couple instrumentals, DeWitt sets the pace with one of her classic boogies rendered in her own inimitable way. Careless Love follows with John Stafford leading the way on tenor sax.

The beautiful Thea Rose takes the stage and belts out Who Could ask For Anything More?, followed by Otis Redding’s Dock Of The bay, sung in a clear tenor voice.

Thea Rose

Ms. Rose is in the tenth grade at Terra Linda High, and plays cello, piano and guitar. Her uncle gave her a Billie Holiday CD when she was seven and she has been enthralled with jazz ever since. Her Favorite singer is Ella Fitzgerald and favorite musician is Thelonius Monk, just to give you some idea of where she’s coming from. When time and circumstances permit, she sings with the Medicine Ball Band as she has for the last two years.

After a break she returns with Lullaby Of Birdland, which is completely over the top. Sturdevant and Stafford toss in an incredible harmonica-clarinet duet that makes the whole performance click.

Sturdevant sings My Blue Heaven, written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by George A. Whiting in 1924. The dance floor fills up with this one, and DeWitt’s keyboard work transports us to the 50s’ and Fats Domino. We get some more of the harmonica-clarinet instrumental section.

David Sturdevant and John Stafford

Apparently Sturdevant and Stafford have been working this routine up. They are planning a tour of the US to showcase what they have been creating. After the break they give us a demo of playing just harmonica and clarinet. It starts off seeming to be just amusing, but them morphs into a full blown musical tour de force.

There was some good blues on the menu too. The drummer, Larry Vann, is a true original as he delivers his song, Down In Shady Lane, played in 4/4 but overlaid with 6/8 time. It is slow and soulful and you know you are hearing the real deal.

Larry Vann

Vann played on many of the famous Motown recordings, toured extensively with Buffy St. Marie and has recently been playing dates with Martha Reeves. He is known as the Groove Merchant, and is the originator of something called the Oakland Scratch Groove. Often appearing at venues like Yoshi’s, Vann is in demand.  Check out his website at http://www.larryvann.com/

David Sturdevant, Ylonda Nickell and Richard Howell

Richard Howell, impressive to listen to, also has some serious cred in the business. Names like Etta James, Chaka Kahn, Don Cherry, Carlos Santana and Taj Mahal are just a few of the personalities that drop from his lips when he discusses his resume’. Learn more about Richard Howell at http://www.wireonfire.com/richardhowell/rhq/

Not to be outdone by all the name dropping, Ylonda Nickell, takes over the proceedings with her rendition of Misty. Starting a with a slow, roboto introduction, Nickell launches into something bordering on Rhapsody In Blue, Gershwin’s monument to stately blues. Nickell has a way of expanding a simple song like this into a kind of symphony with many movements.

The joint was a' jumpin'

There was lots of other good stuff including Feelin’ Alright, of Joe Cocker fame and sung here by Stafford. Sturdevant and Stafford team up for some vocals too, like on Sweet Georgia Brown, written in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard (music) and Kenneth Casey(lyrics). It’s good to hear some male harmony and these guys are getting ready for the road so they have really tightened it up.

They will be back from their tour in October. You can hear them at the Sausalito Cruising Club on Sunday afternoons a couple of times a month.

To learn more about the Medicine Ball Band go to http://www.medicineballband.com/

To Learn more about the Sausalito Cruising Club go to http://www.sausalitocruisingclub.org/

Also check out Last Voyage Of Th Redlegs at http://www.theredlegs.com/JoeTate.html just click on the PDF link

If you are a musician, please come to the Blue Monday Jam Sessions at the Sausalito Cruising Club every Monday at 7.

Go here http://localmusicvibe.com/band/joe-tate

 

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Sausalito Cruising Club, No Name bar, Taste of Rome and Seahorse

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 16, 2011 by joetatesblog

The Blue Monday Jam Session at the Sausalito Cruising Club on April 25 had over 22 participants, all of whom came to the stage and played. The house band, consisting of Joe Tate, Donny Kountz and Willie Riser, played the first set of lively blues, mostly covers of oldies but goodies.

There was a surprise visit by two members of the Average Dyke Band and they performed several exciting dance tunes. This refers to Staphanie Teel and Carrie Gesendasy who appear here every other Monday and thus alternating with the Blue Monday Jam Session.

Phil Berkowitz, Donny Kountz, Stephanie Teel and Carrie Gesendasy jam out!

There were also many other excellent players taking the stage this night including John “Coyote” Egan with several of his students, who are all proficient guitarists. The Cruising Club also welcomed harmonica wiz, Phil Berkowitz who joined with Teel and Gesendasy as well as Gary Berger and Anthony Lincoln who wails on the sax and vocalizes some good old Motown songs.

On Saturday April 30, Jerome Phillips and Lonnie Walter joined joe Tate at the No Name Bar. Joe Tate sang a couple things that brought the house down including Roosevelt Blues, which seems to clarify some things about American History.

Lonnie Walter, Joe Tate and Jerome Phillips at the No Name Bar

Jerome Phillips is an incredibly skilled musician who segues seamlessly between Gershwin, Leadbelly or The Beatles. This makes it easy for Tate to move around between the many genres he likes to dabble in.

By the way, you can see Joe Tate sing Roosevelt Blues at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6F7nYzcqJ8

In other news, Saylor’s Restaurant and Bar ended it’s music program on April 31st. Eugene Huggins and Chris Goddard played the final show there. Their many years of playing at Saylor’s Landing every Sunday night had become an institution of the Sausalito social scene.. This came to and end when Sean Saylor moved his operation to it’s present location at the former Guernica Restaurant.

Chris Goddard and Eugene Huggins with David Kemp and Sean Saylor sitting in

The wonderful times had at both these locations will be long remembered by many.

There is a happening scene at the Taste of Rome Restaurant at 1000 Bridgeway featuring music from 7-10 on friday and saturday nights. On May 6th, Joe Tate,  Wendy DeWitt, Lonnie Walter and Kirk Harwood were holding forth as “The Taters.”  The gig was supposed to be played with Joe and Cole Tate who call themselves The Taters but, Cole was away on important business.

Wendy really stirred the audience with her virtuoso piano. While Joe is belting out some old favorite, Wendy has his back and drives it home with lots of torque, so to speak.

Kirk Harwood, Lonnie Walter, Joe Tate and Wendy DeWitt at Taste of Rome

Lonnie Walter plays bongos while Kirk Harwood has a pair of congos and other handheld percussion instruments. With the piano and guitar it all creates a very nice sound for a small place where a full band may get to be a little too much.

The high point of the evening may have been when a troupe of Girl Scouts sat in one section all singing the responses to Minnie The Moocher. This of course is the Hi de hi de hi de ho song made famous by Cab Calloway which energizes audiences everywhere.

Joe Tate and Miles Ceralde at the No Name Bar

The next day, May 7, Miles Ceralde  played with Joe Tate and Lonnie Walter at the No Name Bar in what is, perhaps, a prelude of things to come. Miles is just twenty and getting him to play here involved doing some research on the law and convincing the owners that this is legal. Under the rules, none of the other musicians are allowed to drink. That was easy for Joe, whose booze career ended long ago, though Lonnie Walter was a little chagrinned

Ceralde really showed what he was made of, burning up the fretboard with youthful riffs that were decidedly of the jazz and blues flavor. It’s refreshing to see a youngster with so much going on. Miles Ceralde will be back at the No Name Bar with Joe Tate on June 25.

The next week Sandy “Ukulele” Bailey joined Joe Tate and Lonnie Walter at the No Name Bar for a show that was quite different than the usual. Bailey sings and plays ukulele and bass, switching instruments between songs as needed. Joe Tate is an ukulele nut too and tonight he shares some of the bass duties when Bailey plays ukulele.

Joe Tate and Sandy Bailey at the No Name Bar

They performed many Hawaiian  songs interspersed with Americana of the blues and jazz persuasion. With Ukulele Bailey’s sweet smooth voice and Tate’s characteristic growl, the harmony achieved between them is remarkable, especially on the Hawaiian songs, some of which they deliver in the Hawaiian language.

Bailey tore the place up with his rendition of On Bridgeway, a paraody of On Broadway, the smash hit by George Benson. The song even refers to the No Name Bar itself. When Ukulele Bailey returns June 18, you’ll want to come just to hear this song.

A little later this same night, The Tickets played at the Sausalito Seahorse Restaurant which is located on Harbor Drive near Gate 5 Road. The Tickets sound great in this room which has pretty nice acoustics. Debra Clawson, who fronts the group, has an unusual voice which lends itself well to the blues and pop music that make up The Tickets repertoire.

The Tickets at Sausalito Seahorse Restaurant

This restaurant has good food and a nice atmosphere except for the lighting which is overdone. There’s all these weird computer driven LED spots along with colored lights on the stage which make the performers look like zombies. A lot of fun can be had here in spite of these small distractions.

To learn more about The Tickets go to

http://www.myspace.com/theticketsband

To learn more about Joe Tate go to

http://xrl.in/4y57

See the Ukulele Baby Songbook at

http://ukulelebaby.org/

The No Name Bar flyer Joe Tate and Ukulele Bailey

Here’s another video of Joe Tate  playing the ukulele and singing Don’t Think Twice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik8zVBZLJtk


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The Gaters at Saylor’s and No Name Bar

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music with tags , , , , , , , , , , on April 11, 2011 by joetatesblog

Maggie catfish and Joe Tate, best known as members of the Redlegs in their roles in the Movie, Last Free Ride, have been doing some gigs together as The Gaters. The name derives from having come from the Gates, an area along the Sausalito waterfront where Liberty Ships were built in WWII. The Gates had become a haven for artists and musicians, along with many other bohemian types who constructed makeshift houseboats on these Sausalito mudflats.

The Redlegs fit right in with all this and spent many years raising hell at all the local parties. They played a form of rock n’ roll that thumbed its nose at the world but was at the same time a joyous celebration of the local community. It all seemed hip enough during the late sixties before the area was rebuilt into an upscale houseboat marina.

These days Maggie and Joe are content playing conventional rock, old standards, hawaiian and just a few of the old Redlegs numbers that are still craved by a few diehard fans.  They delivered all this at Saylor’s Restaurant and Bar last Friday.

The Gaters: Joe Tate and Maggie Catfish at Saylor's

Not surprisingly, there were a few people there from the old days. There was also a large contingent of folks who came to hear the Hawaiian music. They weren’t disappointed. Maggie Catfish lived in the Islands for many years and has absorbed the culture and music of Hawaii. Likewise, Joe Tate sailed to the Islands in 1977 but didn’t study the music until much later. He now plays with the Ukulele Friends Ohana which specializes in the Hawaiian.

The first set was mostly Hawaiian but gradually gave over to standards and old Coasters songs. Later, some of the old Redlegs songs came out like Nasty Little Boy and Old Matt. There were a some good sit in performances too. Tom Barr played harmonica on many of the blues numbers and Skip Dossett sang some Elvis songs. Joe Tate’s rendition of  Whiter Shade Of Pale is noteworthy because it uses a harmonica to play the Hammond organ solo made famous by Procol Harem.

The Gaters at the No Name bar

The next night they are at the No Name Bar where they usually appear with percussionist Lonnie Walter,  who couldn’t make it tonight. Tom Barr came though and he assisted on blues. There were more Redlegs fans tonight than Hawaiian aficionados so, rock n’ roll prevailed. There was also an extra helping of RedLegs songs including Sailor’s Love Song, Love won’t Change and the ubiquitous Nasty Little Boy.

There was also plenty of New Orleans sounds like Rockin Pneumonia and some Fats Domino tunes. Joe also sang a new song called Roosevelt Blues which tells a story of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. This song tells it like it is, a must hear for all Americans.

Joe Tate had some DVD movies of the Last Free Ride he was selling. These are always available here on Saturday during his performance. He also sells the Ukulele Baby Songbook which has a bunch of songs arranged for ukulele. This is also available online at

http://ukulelebaby.org/

To learn more about the Redlegs go to

http://www.theredlegs.com/

To learn more about Joe Tate

http://www.theredlegs.com/JoeTate.html

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Chris Goddard, Joe Tate and Lonnie Walter at the No Name Bar

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 21, 2011 by joetatesblog

L-R Lonnie Walter, Joe Tate and Chris Goddard

Chris Goddard was substituting for Johnny Nitro, who was to have played the No Name Bar this 19th of March, 2011. Unfortunately, Johnny died just four weeks ago, shortly after booking to play here. Everyone was excited that he was coming.

Myron Mu, who owns the Saloon, where Nitro has played for many years, was here that night and he told us the news. Lonnie said “We’re gonna have to cancel Johnny’s date.” It was with sadness that we marked his passing but we tried to rock out for him just as we thought he would have wished.

Joe Tate and weird guitar

Joe Tate and Chris Goddards crutches

Chris Goddard showed up on crutches himself, but still determined to entertain. It’s raining hard again tonight and the regulars are here along with a couple of Nitro’s friends

Joe Tate started off with Little Richards Slipping And Sliding then segued into a few New Orleans style tunes that were beautifully backed by Chris Goddard’s well versed guitar.

It’s a groovy sound, based not on having full band, but more like a coffee house thing with the bongos and guitars. It’s good listening mixed with some get up and dance numbers.

Chris Goddard also sang a few songs. Even though he’s not dancing around, he has still got it going on.

Tom Barr and lonnie Walter

Tom Barr and Lonnie Walter

Tom Barr showed up with his harmonicas and hammered out some nice solos on many of the blues renditions.

Tom regularly plays with the UFOs in San Rafael at a secret location known as Area 51. Joe joins in the fun there too, playing stuff you never get to hear at the No Name Bar.

Tom and Lonnie did some nice backup vocals on some of Joe’s songs and at times sounded like an old fashioned gospel quartet.

At intermission Lonnie talked about Johnny Nitro and in between the sentences you could here the rain coming down hard. Lonnie let us all know how much it hurt him. They knew each other well and both had been living above the Saloon on Grant Ave.

Jane Koestel, who was also a friend of Johnny, was there, but declined to speak.

Joe Tate will be back next Saturday with Wendy DeWitt and Lonnie Walter. Wendy, who was playing with us when Myron told us about Nitro, is a terrific pianist who has the boogie woogie in her soul. Her and Joe have done this gig a few times and it always smokes. It starts at 6. Check it out. http://www.localmusicvibe.com/event/wendy-dewitt-joe-tate-and-lonnie-walter

Johhny Nitro's final booking

To Learn more about Johnny Nitro go to

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/21/BAN81HR1FE.DTL

or  http://www.facebook.com/johnnynitrotribute

To learn more about Joe Tate go to

http://www.theredlegs.com/JoeTate.html

or

http://xrl.in/4y57

For this weeks show go to

http://www.localmusicvibe.com/event/wendy-dewitt-joe-tate-and-lonnie-walter

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March 14 Blue Monday at the Sausalito Cruising Club

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 16, 2011 by joetatesblog

Well whaddya know? Monday night was frittered away playin the blues and more. The house band, with Joe Tate, Willie Rizer and Donny Kountz did the opening set with “Blue Monday” and some other simple stuff to get the evening started.

Debra Clawson,Tom Barr, Joe Tate, Jeff Suits and Oz

We had a couple of surprise visits. First was Mike Adams who, as a young teenager, played drums occasionally with the Redlegs. Everyone was amazed at how good could he play when just a boy. Tonight, he took over the drums after Andy Mendell, who was the first jamer of the evening. Andy came up before the end of the set so Donny got some quick downtime. Suzie Olsen also assisted on vocals during the set.

As soon as Tate took a break, John “Coyote” Egan took up the guitar like a menacing weapon. The Flying V is just a little scary. At his request, Tate hung on to his old bat guitar and assisted with Coyote’s set.

Jamers: Mike adams, David Kemp, Coyote and Jim Presta

There were generous portions of wailing harmonica with Tom Barr, Scott Sherman and Diver Dave taking turns. Paul Seaward got in on the action too.

There was also some good horn action too. Ray DeFazio had his baritone sax and his friend, Bruce, played a really melodic trumpet. These guys came in real handy during “I Got A Woman.”

The second surprise was that four members of the Tickets showed up. Lead singer Debra Clawson dragged her crew down to the club after Monday Night rehearsal. Apparently they hadn’t had enough howling at the moon yet.

They had some new songs they had been working and we got to hear some of the stuff. Some of it was high energy rock with a kind of swing beat. Their drummer, Peter Herbert, has a certain touch that sets these rhythms off.

Some Tickets: Will Leidenthal,Peter Herbert, Debra Clawson and Oz.

Debra Clawson and guitarist Will Leidenthal do some really nice duets and of course she can belt of the blues like nobodies business. They were joined by their regular bassist, Jeff Suits and  drop in guitarist, John “Oz” Gordon.

Jerome Phillips

Near the end we were treated to some excellent funk led by pianist, Jerome Phillips. It is always a pleasure to hear Jerome play. He has been playing at Seahorse on Monday nights and showing up here near the end. He also plays with Joe Tate at the No Name Bar and will be there with him on the 2nd and 30th of april. Joe Tate plays the No Name every Saturday with various other artists. You can check out his show there in the early evening, starting at 6 PM.

To Learn more about the happenings go to

http://www.theredlegs.com/JoeTate.html

Video is at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS1ZOiyK06o

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Blue Monday at the Sausalito Cruising Club

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 8, 2011 by joetatesblog

Your regular host, Joe Tate, took the night off due the laryngitis. Jesse Kincaid ably took over for the evening with happening results.

There were over 15 musicians who signed up to play and everyone got a turn on stage. There were guitarists, pianists, drummers, bassists, vocalists and a couple of good harmonicas. Larry Seeger was also there with his “bones” which, surprisingly, can be heard above all the electric guitars and stuff. He holds two bones in each hand and, with a deft wrist motion, a staccato rhythm is produced.

The house band, consisting of Jesse Kincaid, Donny Kountz and Willie Riser, was joined by Gary Berger and Jim Presta on piano, Gabe Navarre, Ken Markowitz, Craig Caffal, Paul Bowan and Swanee on guitar, Ron Rosano and Ian Lee on drums, Linda Seabright, Gloria Lopez, Sana Hoffer, David Kemp, Suzie Olsen, Donna Dacuti and Sheila McEnary on vocals, Diver Dave and Scott Sherman on harmonicas all sometimes accompanied by David Kemp on bass.

Craig Caffal, Ron Rosano, Linda Seabright, Willie Riser and Gabe Navarre

Jesse performed a very nice set including some R&B standards like “Midnight Hour” as well as some good blues from Jimmy Reed to Chuck Berry. Gabe Navarre was first to join the jam and gave us some renditions of Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimmy Hendrix.

Kempers and Sana rock out

Gary Berger and Jim Presta took turns on the piano while Scott Sherman and Diver Dave did harmonic harmonicas. That’s two harmonicas at once for a powerful blues motif. Suzie Olsen gave us a number of old rockers and also assisted on vocals for Jesse and Gabe.

Ron Rosano took over drums for a while and there were some great vocals from Donna Dacuti. We also heard from Sheila McEnary  and Linda Seabright. Linda dedicated her performance to her friend Herman, a drummer for Dr. John who had just died.

There were also excellent performances by guitarists Paul Bowan and Craig Caffal. These guys are great singers too so they were give a little extra time to unload.

Dueling harps, Scott Sherman, Ian Lee, Paul Bowan, Gabe Navarre, Diver Dave, Suzie Olsen and Gary Berger

The highlight of the evening was the singing trio “Daylight Again” with David Kemp, Sana Hoffer and Gloria Lopez. They sang three songs in perfect harmony starting with Eric Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally”  featuring Kemp on lead Vocal. This was followed by the fifties rocker “Don’t Say Nothin’ Bad About My Baby” and finally a soulful “Long Time Coming” in which Miss Lopez stretched out her voice.

Center, Daylight Again, L, Jesse Kincaid, R, Gabe Navarre

The last performer of the evening was Swanee who gave us some swamp blues overlaid with grunge guitar with some extra nice backing from Jesse, Ken, Gabe and Ian.

The Sausalito Cruising Club is such a great venue for this stuff and the best deal in Marin for Musicians. If you play at the Blue Monday Jam you can have buffet dinner for a mere 5 bucks. It has a great deck area overlooking the bay where the smokers can usually be found. SCC also has a full bar with a wisecracking Quito mixing the drinks.

Swanee closes the show

The next Blue Monday is scheduled for March 14. Please call Joe Tate at 415 385 1606 if you would like to play or attend. If you play guitar or bass all you need is your instrument. You can bring your amp if you like though.

The Department Of Inhalation Therapy

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Jesse Kincaid, Joe Tate and Lonnie Walter at the No Name Bar

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 7, 2011 by joetatesblog

It had been a nice Saturday in Sausalito and by 6:00 PM it was starting to mist. Joe Tate, Lonnie Walter and special guest Jesse Kincaid started on time as usual but Joe wasn’t singing. His voice had gone out Friday for no apparent reason.

The doctor had given him some Codeine cough medicine but this didn’t do any good. He was able to make the evenings introductions in a broken Jimmy Durante voice but, singing was out of the question.

Jesse knew all this before arriving and he dutifully took over the vocals for most of the evening. Fortunately, he brought his books and Joe was able to follow all of Jesse’s songs with only minor failures.

Lonnie Walter helped out plenty with numerous bongo solos. His ability t0 do this is astounding, with dozens of intricate patterns flowing effortlessly from his hands.

Lonnie Walter, Joe Tate and Jesse Kincaid

The usual crowd was there along with a few tourists. The bar wasn’t as full as usual and this could have been because of the weather. It could also because Joe Tate wasn’t screaming at the folks outside on the sidewalk to come in. This has been known to work in the past.

Miss Suzie Olsen was there to lend her voice. Having her there gives the whole affair some Sausalito waterfront cred. She belted out “Love Potion Number Nine” and “Louie Louie.”

Suzie Olsen lends her voice.

Paul Seaward also helped out on a number of songs with some harmonicas he just happened to have with him.

Jesse Kincaid does a lot of Beatles, Elvis and regular old Jimmy Reed. Joe skipped around between guitar and ukulele though he didn’t do any of the Hawaiian stuff, probably something to do with the voice issue. His guitar is unusual and has a distinctive sound. It’s one of those new fangled carbon fiber things with a small hollow body and a real old fashioned delta blues tone.

Paul Seaward joins on harmonica

They played on continuous set for the whole evening. The gig only lasts from 6-8:30 so it only makes sense. Though the blues was in the minority, the songs that Jesse sang were all old favorites along with one new original song that he had just written called “Runaway train.”

Near the end of the evening, Chad Brown showed up sang a couple country songs. He was there with his dad and Frank Simpson who is married to Maggie Catfish, a regular performer with Joe Tate at the No Name bar and also Chad’s mother in-law.

Twas a very nice closing after Chad finished. With everyone milling around and chatting, the next performers arrived, namely Wendy DeWitt and her band. Wendy forgot to bring a mic stand so she borrowed one from Jesse. At least he didn’t have as much stuff to bring home.

Chad and Dad

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Saturday Evening At The No Name Bar

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 27, 2011 by joetatesblog

This Saturday we welcomed Jerome Phillips to the No Name bar for the first time. Jerome is a first class pianist who can play bass with his left hand while doing all the other stuff like melody and vocals. With Joe Tate on guitar, the sounds of New Orleans rang out like the French Quarter for the first set. Lot’s of blues and rock followed and Jerome sang some nice country stuff.

It was one of the coldest nights this year and the Irish Coffees were moving. Joe’s usual friends were there along with some new people who showed up to see Jerome. Also in attendance were numerous unsuspecting passers-by who stopped in for the warmth and grog.

Unfortunately, Lonnie Walter of the bongos, didn’t show. He has been pretty down since Johnny Nitro died and we can only hope that he can get over the hump soon. We missed his wonderful rhythms though. But we made do with what we had. Fortunately, our audience didn’t care and we sailed through it all with jovial ease.

The missing Lonnie Walter, Joe Tate and Jerome Phillips

Learn more about Joe Tate at  http://xrl.in/4y57

Check out Joe Tate’s “Ukulele Baby Songbook” at  http://www.theredlegs.com/JoeTate.html

For booking call Joe Tate at 415 385 1606 or write to joebtate@gmail.com

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Curtis Lawson at the Sausalito Seahorse

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 25, 2011 by joetatesblog

Curtis Lawson celebrates 55 years of singing the blues in the Bay Area on this occasion. It’s also his 77th birthday and the man is still going strong.

He has a tight quartet backing him tonight. With Nick Otis, son of Johnny Otis, on drums, Matt Silver on guitar, Kevin white on bass and the great Bobby Webb on saxophone, the evening starts out with some solid instrumentals including “Sissy Strut” and “Night Train.”

Matt Silver, Nick Otis, Kevin White and Bobby Webb

Curtis, dressed in his snazzy red suit, takes the stage and pumps out “Turnin Point,” a song made famous by Tyrone Davis back in the 70’s. This is followed by the hearfelt “My Woman,”  Curtis’ own poignant song about his wife, Linda.  After covering a few Jimmy Reed numbers, he moves on to James Brown, Wilson Picket and Otis Redding.

It was raining so hard that the noise on the roof could be heard over the music. Curtis thanked everyone for coming out in such rotten weather, of course.

He invites Jay Johnston of KPOO Radio to the stage who recounts the history of Curtis Lawson and reminds us to tune in to 89.5 FM to hear his regular broadcast, Blue House Party every Monday. Bobby Webb also has a blues show on KPOO every Tuesday at 9:00. Before taking the stage Jay showed us some of his really cool moves on the dance floor. Just sitting there at his table, you have no idea how agile he is.

Curtis Lawson turns 77

Curtis Lawson turns 77

Anyway, when Curtis comes back, he starts inviting his friends to the stage starting with Joe Tate who belts out a couple of rockers, “High Heeled Sneakers” and “Down Home Girl.” Gail Muldrow followed with some high powered vocals and superb guitar shredding. After some various artists sat in on drums and bass, Curtis came back and sang James Brown’s “Please please please” with Tate and Muldrow backing the vocals. Before they could step down it was “The Night Time Is The Right Time,” the Ray Charles classic.

Curtis Lawson has to be one of our greatest local artists. He can be heard at the Saloon in San Francisco, the Sausalito Art Festival, the Marin City Festival and occasionally at the No Name Bar in Sausalito.

Her’s a nice You Tube clip of Curtis at the Art and Soul Festival in Oakland

A recent show at the Seahorse

All in all, it was a great show. If you get a chance to see Curtis, don’t miss out.

Obedie William,Linda Lawson, Curtis Lawson, Joe Tate and Jay Johnston

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Blue Monday at the Sausalito Cruising Club

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2011 by joetatesblog

Another great night of fun was had at the Sausalito Cruising Club Blue Monday jam session on Presidents day. The house band consisted of Joe Tate on guitar, Willie Riser on bass and Donny Kountz on drums. Don Bradley also assisted using a hand drum mad  from some weird plastic container. There was also some wonderful harmonica from waterfront local Diver Dave who assisted throughout the evening.

Jim Presta, Joe Tate Willie Riser and Donny Kountz

Also assisting was Jim Presta on the upright piano which was dragged over to the stage and had a microphone jammed between the sound board and the frame. This actually works pretty well and the piano can be heard along with the electric instruments. Jim lays down a mellow kind of New Orleans groove that works well with the mixed bag that Joe Tate plays.

The house band Don Bradley, Donny Kountz, Joe Tate, Willie Riser

Joe Tate played a nice set of songs culminating in “Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt,” which recounted the life and death of our greatest president. This old song was written by Mckinley Peebles to mourn the death of FDR. The song also outlines the importance of Abraham Lincoln in freeing the slaves. Tate says we’ll be hearing more of this rockin number.

The jam session started with Ken Markowitz singing some standard blues with Cole Tate adding some scorching solos. Cole then did a couple of original songs that were captivating in their simplicity. Next, Jim Swanee sang something like “Peace and love” with Cole, Donny and Willie doing the backing.

Drummer, Ron Roscano took over the drums and Suzie Olsen sang “Love Potion Number Nine.” At this point, Scott Sherman joined in on harmonica. Diver Dave let him use his mic and amp. Joe Tate handed Diver Dave another mic and we were treated to dual harmonica solos. This sounds like a harmonica that never runs out of breath as it weaves in and out from one melody to another.

Ray DiFazio, Cole Tate, Donny Kountz

Ray DiFazio brought his baritone sax which added a whole extra dimension to the sounds. Ray has a group “Scary Larry And The Monsters” and they are playing at the Seahorse Restaurant on Friday March 4 at 8:30.

Donna Dacuti treated us to some fine blues vocals and threatened to sing “Georgia” but no none knew the changes in her key. She will bring the chart next time. Lastly we had John “Oz” Gordon on guitar then Joe Tate closed out the evening with everyone singing “The Last Time” an old spiritual that was remade by the Rolling Stones.

The Blue Monday flyer

Blue Monday at the Sausalito Cruising Club is held every other Monday. The next one will be on March 7. If you want to attend or play, please RSVP to Joe Tate at 415 385 1606 or joebtate@gmail.com

To learn more about Joe Tate go to

http://xrl.in/4y57

or

http://www.theredlegs.com/JoeTate.html

Here’s a new video called Sausalito Girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBFRSqqAi8w

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