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No Name Bar and Presidio Yacht Club

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life with tags Bay area music, boogie woogie piano, music in sausalito, Night Beat, No Name bar, Sausalito, Sausalito After Dark, wendy DeWitt on April 4, 2011 by joetatesblog

It was a bar hopping evening starting at the No Name Bar in Sausalito at 6PM. Joe Tate plays here every week at this time along with Lonnie Walter and one other of his rotating guests. This week, Jerome Phillips rounds out the trio with his very experienced keyboard playing. Joe Tate performs his usual New Orleans swamp blues along with a couple new numbers like Little Egypt, the famous Leiber and Stoller song best known for its Coasters recording.

Lonnie Walter, Joe Tate and Jerome Phillips

They also let loose with some good old Chuck Berry stuff like Nadine which Jerome sings to good effect. Jerome also performs some nice instrumentals here and there while Tate scurries around with the tip jar.

They were selling some DVDs of The Last Free Ride, a movie which chronicles the houseboat wars which took place here in the 70s. Tate also sells the Ukulele baby Songbook which come with a CD of him performing all the songs in the book. It is available at

http://ukulelebaby.org/

They finish up the night with Cab Calloway’s Minnie The Moocher and finally Chuck Berry’s Rock and Roll Music.

The next bar hop was to the Presidio Yacht Club where The Tickets, fronted by Debra Clawson, were playing. This joint is located in one of the most beautiful spots on earth on the edge of Horseshoe Cove at the foot of the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. Viewing the bridge and San Francisco is like looking at a post card come to life. If you haven’t been here you should check it out. For information go to

http://www.presidioyachtclub.org/

Anyway, The Tickets do a lot of the popular covers from the Rolling Stones and other great rock groups. They also do some very nice originals with clever chord progressions and diatonic melodies. Very reminiscent of the 60s. This is exactly the kind of music that Bill Graham wanted to get rid of. Happily, in spite of his best efforts, this stuff keeps coming back.

The Tickets at the Presidio Yacht Club

There was a good crowd and The Tickets kept the dance floor full with such tunes as Born To Be Wild, the Steppenwolf classic that idolizes biker chic. Sung by Peter Herbert, who doesn’t appear to be the biker type, the song brings back memories of when Steppenwolf used to play at the Ark in Sausalito.

Debra Clawson comes back with a ballad or two that showcases her one of a kind voice.

The next bar hop was back to the No Name Bar where Wendy DeWitt was making some very fine music with her excellent band. With Kirk Harwood on drums, Jan Martinelli on bass, and Steve Freund on guitar, this group is a force to be reckoned with.

Kirk Harwood, Steve Freund, Jan Martinelli and Wendy DeWitt

Freund’s mastery of the guitar is beyond words. But his powerful vocals leave little doubt that he is the real deal. Combined with the Queen Of Boogie Woogie’s over the top piano, it’s easy to see why Harwood and Martinelli get excited. Kirk Harwood in particular keeps bouncing up and down with every cymbal crash. He just can’t sit still.

Anyway, this was real fun evening and hearing these folks was the perfect ending.

To learn more about Wendy DeWitt go to

http://www.wendydewitt.com/

To learn more about Steve Freund go to

http://www.stevefreund.com/

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

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Blue Monday at the Sausalito Cruising Club 032811

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music with tags Bay area music, fun finder, guitar blues, harmonica blues, music in sausalito, No Name bar, Redlegs, Sausalito, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito Cruising Club, Sausalito music on March 31, 2011 by joetatesblog

Another fun night of jamming at the Sausalito Cruising Club was had with at least 25 musicians who came to sit in. Every one got a chance to play though. How this was done follows.

After a 40 minute set by the house band, Donny Kountz, Wille Riser and Joe Tate, the first jammers were brought up in organized groups. Starting with John “Coyote” Egan, who brought some of his students and other cohorts, the music was well arranged in spite of the “jam session” thing.

L-R Robert Hobart,Travis Yee, Andy, Don Nguyen and Coyote

Coyote is backed by Travis Yee on guitar, Robert Hobart on guitar, Don Nguyen on bass and Andy on drums.

Coyote has a bunch of original bluesy songs that all these guys know, so it’s good for them to all come up together. Coyote lays down a nice Albert King kind of blues but his student Travis is a smokin’ hot youngster and Coyote uses him to good advantage.

Next up was another rehearsed group playing under the leadership of Gary Berger. Anthony Lincoln was an exciting singer and he doubled on saxophone.

L-R Bonnie Hofkin, Ron Lando, Mike Adams, Don Nguyen, Anthony Lincoln, Ken Markowitz and Gary Berger

In addition, this lineup had Ron Lando on guitar, Mike Adams on drums, Don Nguyen on bass and of course Gary Berger on piano. Bonnie Hofkin and Ken Markowitz assisted on harmonica and guitar as was needed.

This group had a lot of torque and this made people dance. They did a few familiar rock and blues numbers while changing the lineup here and there. There was some pressure to get more of the waiting players up but this played out peacefully with only minor hurt feelings.

"Little Mike" Adams

“Little” Mike Adams drifted from group to group all night which only makes sense because there was a shortage of drummers. There were plenty of guitars though which made it easy on Joe Tate who only had to manage all the others who wanted to play.

Another interesting group on this night was the “Freewheelers.” Fronted by Ilene Vossen, who rocks out on cello, she is backed by Buzz Vossen on bass and Bonnie Hofkin on harmonica.

With house drummer Donny Kountz and guitarist Gabe Navarre, they have a solid beat and got it on right away with stuff like Route 66. Ilene delivers some really nice solos on what is usually thought of as a classical instrument.

The Free Wheelers with Gabe Navarre, Bonnie Hofkin, Donny Kountz, Ilene Vossen and Buzz Vossen

What matter though, the sound was new and different and we need some of this stuff just for comic relief from all the serious themes that are carried by the blues.

Anthony Lincoln and Linda Seabright

Throughout much the evening there was some wailing sax coming from the corner of the stage where Anthony Lincoln was hanging with his ax.

There were also some harmonicas working the edge of the room including Scott Sherman and Tom Barr in addition to Hofkin who worked the stage. They had their own amplifiers set up so they would chime in whenever asked. Tate had all three harmonicas blowing at once sometimes. This might have been in poor taste but it was fun.

There was also a performance by “Daylight Again,” a tight harmony trio consisting of Sana Hoffer, David Kemp and Gloria Lopez.

They really lit up the Cruising Club with Ooh Baby Baby, from Crosby Stills and Nash. This was paired up with Have Mercy, a song made famous by Loretta Lynn. They were backed by house band members Donny Kountz on drums and Willie Riser on Bass.

Daylight Again L-R Gloria Lopez, David Kemp and Sana Hoffer

Sana Hoffer also sang solo on Better Off With The Blues, the Delbert McClinton swamp blues hit.

All the jammers made it a great evening and thanks is given here to others who played and sang including Suzie Olsen vocals,Ron Rosano drums, Charlie on guitar and Paul Bohan guitar.

The next Blue Monday Jam session will be on April 11 starting at 7 PM. Bring you instrument and enjoy the buffet dinner for just $5.

For more information about the Sausalito Cruising Club

http://www.sausalitocruisingclub.org/

For more information about Joe Tate go to

http://xrl.in/4y57

To see the Joe Tate’s “Ukulele Baby Songbook” go to

http://ukulelebaby.org/

Here’s the Redlegs playing FBS

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

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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 Bay area music, blues, boogie woogie piano, fun finder, fun on the bay, guitar blues, harmonica blues, Joe Tate, Last Free Ride, music in sausalito, Night Beat, No Name bar, Redlegs, Sausalito, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito Cruising Club, waterfront 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 Bay area music, blues, boogie woogie piano, fun finder, fun on the bay, guitar blues, guitar harmonica duo, harmonica blues, Jesse Kinkaid, Joe Tate, Last Free Ride, music in sausalito, Night Beat, No Name bar, Redlegs, san francisco music, Sausalito, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito Cruising Club, Sausalito music, waterfront 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 acoustic blues, Bay area music, blues, fun finder, fun on the bay, guitar blues, guitar harmonica duo, harmonica blues, Jesse Kinkaid, Joe Tate, Last Free Ride, music in sausalito, Night Beat, No Name bar, Redlegs, Sausalito, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito music, ukulele, Ukulele music, waterfront 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 acoustic blues, Bay area music, blues, fun finder, fun on the bay, guitar blues, Joe Tate, Last Free Ride, music in sausalito, Night Beat, No Name bar, Redlegs, san francisco music, Sausalito, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito music, Ukulele music, waterfront 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 americana, Bay area music, blues, Curtis Lawson, fun finder, fun on the bay, guitar blues, music in sausalito, Night Beat, No Name bar, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito music, waterfront 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

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 acoustic blues, Bay area music, blues, boogie woogie piano, fun finder, fun on the bay, guitar blues, guitar harmonica duo, harmonica blues, Joe Tate, music in sausalito, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito Cruising Club, waterfront 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

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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Wendy DeWitt and Joe Tate at the No Name Bar

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, Uncategorized with tags acoustic blues, boogie woogie piano, chamber blues, guitar blues, No Name bar, san francisco music, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito music, UFO, Ukulele music, waterfront, wendy DeWitt on February 21, 2011 by joetatesblog

Wendy DeWitt has an unbelievable left hand for the piano. While the left is playing a driving bass line, the right is drawing out a melody. All the while, the voice is singing and sometimes shouting. With Joe Tate laying down some guitar riffs, Lonnie Walter mends it all together with a rhythmic tattoo. Also sitting in was Kurt Harwood who brought his congo drums. These added a nice bass spectrum to the percussion. He also doubled on tamborine and some other small gadgets.

Wendy and Joe took turns on vocals every two songs. Starting off with some New Orleans sounds, the genre drifts to rock, country and a little Hawaiian. Joe sang “Over The Rainbow” while Wendy peeked over his shoulder at the chart. For this, Betty the bartender came out and stuffed money in the tip jar. Others followed her, though it’s not clear why except it’s clear people love this song.

It was a cold and rainy night and the tourists came in shivering. Quite a few Irish Coffees disappeared and there was quite a bit of merriment. There may have been some intoxication too. In spite of this the mood was upbeat with plenty of laughter.

DeWitt’s playing was spectacular as usual. Lonnie Walter played a few bongo solos that were extraordinary. Tate held the middle together as well as possible between the staccato drums and the piano orchestrations.

The evening ended with Joe’s rendition of Minnie The Moocher to which the audience sang along.

Myron Mu was there to pick up Lonnie and he told us that Johnny Nitro had died about an hour earlier. Lonnie, who was really upset, told us we would have to find someone else for March 19 when Nitro was schedule to play at the No Name bar.

Check out Joe Tate’s “Ukulele Baby Songbook” at

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

You can also download a PDF of “Last Voyage Of The Redlegs” from this site.

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The Gaters at the No Name Bar

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music with tags acoustic blues, Amazon, Bay area music, blues, boogie woogie piano, chamber blues, fun finder, guitar blues, Joe Tate, Last Free Ride, music in sausalito, Night Beat, No Name bar, Redlegs, san francisco music, Sausalito, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito Cruising Club, Sausalito night life, Ukulele music, waterfront on February 13, 2011 by joetatesblog

NIGHT BEAT on Rhythm Street

The Gaters consist of some left over Redlegs including Joe Tate, Maggie Catfish and Jeff Costello. They are joined by Lonnie Walter on Bongos. The name has nothing to do with alligators but rather with the fact they are all from the Gates, an area of the Sausalito waterfront where Liberty ships were built in WWII. There still exists three distinct areas that still have their WWII names; Gate 3, Gate 5 and Gate 6. There is also another section referred to as Gate 6 1/2 but, this is not historic nomenclature, just a convenient name for what would be an extension of Gate 6.

Anyway, Joe Tate plays the No Name Bar every Saturday with various artists. The Gaters are a special feature for Joe because of their long history together with the Redlegs.

On this night, they played some of the old Redlegs numbers along with some standard rock and blues. Maggie did a wonderful rendition of “What A Difference A Day Makes” as well as some very appealing songs like “Smokey Places.”

Jeff Costello maintained excellent work on the guitar, providing brilliant solos as needed. Jeff also helped out with some vocals and, as always, Lonnie Walter held it all together with the bongos.

Joe covered all his usual basses, singing in a strong baritone voice. While narrating the early history of the No Name bar, he does a little Name dropping about the various celebrities who have hung out there over the years.

There was a nice crowd of friends who attended along with many unsuspecting passersby who just popped in when they heard the music.

The flyer features a picture of Maggie and Joe taken at the drydocks of Richardson Bay many years ago.