Archive for Jesse Kinkaid

The New Rising Sons at the Sausalito Cruising Club

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life with tags , , , , , on March 14, 2011 by joetatesblog

The New Rising Sons genesis dates from 1964 when Ry Cooder , Taj Mahal and Jesse Kinkaid formed the Rising Sons in southern California.  The group also included Gary Marker and Ed Cassidy. They were a popular band in the Los Angeles area and often played clubs along the Hollywood strip. They recorded an album with Columbia records but, because they didn’t have a hit single, it was never released. The LP was widely bootlegged and after some 35 years was finally released.

In 2007 Jesse Kinkaid  and his new group became the house band at Mill Vally’s Sweetwater. With Jonathan Lovitt on guitar, Jake Baker on drums and Kurt Huget on bass, they were employed as the anchor band of the club. They decided to call themselves the New Rising Sons.

The current lineup includes Jesse Kincaid on guitar and fiddle, Mark Banning on guitar, Kim Carrigg on bass and Jake Baker on drums. Boudeeka O’Connor is the lead singer who also stars in the Summer Of Love Revue. In the Summer Of Love Revue she portrays both Janis Joplin and Grace Slick. She has an incredible vocal range and intensity which allows her to cover many genres. Mark Banning is also a phenomenal  player with a seemingly endless repertoire.

Having fun with the New Rising Sons

The evening started off with Jake Baker singing Otis Redding’s “Dock Of The Bay” followed by Jesse Kincaid on Jimmy Reed’s “Bright Light Big City.” Mark Banning performed a rendition of the Bobby Troup classic, “Route 66,” after which Boudeeke came to the stage and delivered a number of beautiful renditions.

Starting with “Blue Bayou,” the wonderful Roy Orbison song. This was followed by Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” and Janis Joplin’s “Piece Of My Heart.”

More classics followed, like “Long Cool Woman” sand by Jake Baker, “The Midnigt Hour,” “Brown Eyed Girl” and many more. Boudeeka came back with her “Chain Of Fools/Born On The Bayou” medley which filled up the dance floor.

The New Rising Sons L-R Jake Baker, Jesse Kincaid, Kim Carrigg, Boudeeka O'Connor and Mark Banning

Mark Banning

Mark Banning

One of the best things to hear them perform is “Light My Fire,” the Doors smash hit. In their rendition all the complicated organ parts are played by Banning on the guitar. With some signal processing, it still doesn’t sound like Ray Manzarek but some whole new thing that is refreshing and nostalgic at the same time. It doesn’t sound quite like a guitar and certainly not an organ but something new and different to be appreciated.

Another great song performed by the New Rising Sons is “Stairway To Heaven,” Led Zeppelin’s iconic anthem one can often hear being played in music stores by beginners. These guys do the whole thing which is long and complicated. This is the only band I know which covers this song.

There were a couple of folks who sat in this evening too including Paul Seaward on Harmonica and Joe Tate who sang and played guitar on a couple of songs.

Paul Seaward assists on harmonica

Boudeeka is now engaged to be married and is moving away from the Bay Area. Her last dates with the New Rising Sons will be at the end of May. Time is running out to hear her sing in the area with the NRS so make a date soon to hear them.

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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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New Rising Sons and Fiver Brown

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 10, 2011 by joetatesblog

NIGHT BEAT on Rhythm Street                 Joe Tate

Friday

Taste of Rome at 1000 Bridgeway is a great place to hang and enjoy what is probably the best coffee house in Marin. With a collegiate atmosphere, it seems to be populated with a cross section of local writers and  artists.

When the weather is nice, like it is this evening, the front glass is folded back so the interior and sidewalk area become one. You can enjoy a glass of wine, beer or sample the offerings from the menu. These include pizza, sandwiches, salads, quiche and pasta.

This evening the New Rising Sons are playing from 7: PM till 10: Pm. This group’s genesis dates from 1964 when Ry Cooder , Taj Mahal and Jesse Kinkaid formed the Rising  Sons in southern California.  The group also included Gary Marker and Ed Cassidy. They were a popular band in the Los Angeles area and often played clubs along the Hollywood strip. They recorded an album with Columbia records but, because they didn’t have a hit single, it was never released. The LP was widely bootlegged and after some 35 years was finally released.

In 2007 Jesse Kinkaid  and his new group became the house band at Mill Vally’s Sweetwater. With Jonathan Lovitt on guitar, Jake Baker on drums and Kurt Huget on bass, they were employed as the anchor band of the club. They decided to call themselves the New Rising Sons.

Tonight the set started with Jonathan Lovitt singing the jimmy Reed standard “Hush Hush.” Jonathan makes good use of his ample guitar skills while simultaneously providing an authentic sounding Jimmy Reed rack harp.

Continuing on with light rock and blues, the groove spread out onto the sidewalk where passersby stopped to enjoy the sounds and gyrate a little. Jake Baker sang a nice rendition of Elvis’ “Little Sister.”  Kurt Huget, who was playing guitar tonight, gave of a nice version of the folk rock clkassic, “The Might Quinn.” Duane Van Diemat, formerly of the Tasmanian Devils, played bass instead of Kurt because Jesse Kinkaid was absent. So Kurt took over Jesse’s guitar spot.

Veronica Page came to the stage and sang “I Fell In Love.” At this point, the soft rock program was over. Fine with me. Veronica has a smooth bell tone voice that morphs into a squall as she belts out this number.

Jake and Kurt team up for some tight harmony on the Everly Brothers’ “Dream. This is really nice. Kurt also sings a tribute he wrote for the late Francis Clay, the legendary drummer of the Muddy Waters band, titled “ Ain’t  Gonna Muddy the Water Any More.”

The New Rising Sons return to Taste OF Rome in Sausalito on July 26.

Just a short walk down Bridgeway brings us to Piccolo, at 660 Bridge way. This is right at the intersection of Princess Street and fronting Yee Tock Chee Park, which is built like a sort of pier connecting between the sidewalk and the Bay.  You can sit outside here at the restaurant or in the park. It’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. However, there is strict rule here not to bring your alcoholic drinks beyond the perimeter of the restaurant.

They have good coffee as well as wine, beer and an assortment of other goodies. Take your pick: appetizers, Pizza, salad, panini, pasta, croissants and more. Owner Mauro, who used to operate Caffé Divino, keeps busy scurrying from table to table, making sure everyone is happy.

Fiver Brown’s band is playing outside facing the Bay. Fiver received the name from his mother because of her fascination with the seer rabbit in Watership Down.

The group features Fiver singing his many original songs with a sprinkling of covers scattered throughout the set. He is backed by Dave Zuckerman on guitar, Mary Pitchford on fiddle, Gregg  Galbraith on Keyboards, Scott Lipsitz on bass and Rocky Vogler on Drums. They develop a nice ensemble sound which drifts across the water  and envelopes this downtown hub with a nice Sausalito groove.

The songs carry popular themes with vocals interspersed with nice solos from guitar, keyboard and fiddle. All in all, it’s a very nice sound. These folks seem like real professionals and they can be heard at various functions around town. Look for them at Bay Model functions and occasionally at the Presidio Yacht Club.

Many patrons are dancing on the concrete slabs in the park. It is a nice night and many people are walking in and out from the street. The crowd is made up mostly of locals, though some folks have expensive cameras hanging from them. The atmosphere is very congenial though and, I would recommend hearing music here whenever it is warm.

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