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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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Blue Monday at the Sausalito Cruising Club

Posted in Bay Area Music, Eugene Huggins, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 22, 2011 by joetatesblog

Blue Monday was fortunate this August 8, to have a visiting Band from the East Bay. Juke Joint plays classic R&B, with guitar, bass, drums and a little horn section of trumpet and sax. The house band, led by Joe Tate with Jeff Costello, Willie riser and Donny Kountz, warmed the place up before introducing Juke Joint.

Juke Joint: L-R Cayce Carnahan, Barbara Speed, David Bailey, Ted Stewart, Roger Bergen and John Bergen

Starting off with Otis Redding’s Can’t Turn You Loose, all the little horn parts are laid down over driving bass and drums under the expert control of Ted Stewart. Dave Baileys vocals sound very authentic in his own belt em’ out style.

Ted Stewart

Although these folks all now live in the East Bay, Ted Stewart has a long history here in Sausalito. After playing many years with the Redlegs, drummer Stewart formed Contraband which was later renamed Sugar Daddy.

Even further back in time, Ted Stewart and Joe Tate played with Salvation, a San Francisco 60s rock band that played numerous dates at both the Fillmore Auditorium and the Avalon Ballroom opening for Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and the Doors among others..

Stewart has enjoyed a career in jazz since moving to the East Bay. He is still perfectly at home with R&B. Just listening, you’d think he never played anything else.

David Bailey

Next up is knock On Wood, the Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper hit that has been covered by everyone from Otis Redding to David Bowie.

David Bailey really nails this one. Bailey does most of the vocals and plays the harmonica here and there where needed.

Juke Joint burns through Can’t Get Next To You, I feel Good and High Flyin’ Baby before kindly relinquishing the stage to other musicains. Learn more about Juke Joint at http://jukejointband.com/

Next up was Coyote And Crew with, among others, Gary Schevenstuhl who also brought his own band, who played a little later.

Ron Rosano, Harry Gold, Willie Riser and Bonnie Hofkin

There was also a visit by Oakland bluesman, Harry Gold, who sings in a high tenor, pitch perfect voice while wailing the blues on guitar. It is really a pleasure to hear him.

Ken Markowitz

Longtime Sausalito Cruising Club member, Ken Markowitz, was up next with Chris Pruess, both on guitar. Markowitz is sort of like a Dean Martin with a guitar, singing in a faux inebriated voice while looking super cool. They were joined by Willie Riser and Ted Stewart. Very amusing.

In the final jam, Eugene Huggins accompanied Kathy Holly on harmonica while she sang Crazy, Willie Nelson’s signature song that was such as smash for Patsy Cline.

Jeff Costello, Eugene Huggins, Jake Baker. Kathy Holly and Willie Riser

Holly has a great interpretation of it. With her jazz tinged voice, she presents subtle textures with a roboto timing. Jeff Costello confidently laid down the chord progression while Huggins’ soulful harmonica created shivers. Holly also produces Cabaret Night, a monthly show featuring many singers and always a great variety of music. Check out Holly’s site at http://kathyholly.com/

The Blue Monday schedule is supposed to be every other Monday. However, certain chaotic functions have altered that to almost every Monday this year. To see upcoming Blue Monday Jams, go to Joe Tate’s Local Music Vibe profile at http://localmusicvibe.com/band/joe-tate

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

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Cabaret Night at the Sausalito Cruising Club 063011

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark with tags , , , , , , , , on July 18, 2011 by joetatesblog

Every month or so, the Sausalito Cruising Club hosts Cabaret Night, produced by Kathy Holly, who brings together a wonderful retinue of singers and musicians to perform cabaret style entertainment. Tonight the theme is “Back To The Roaring 20s” with Kathy Holly et al in costume.

Roaring 20s Chorus; L-R Valeriana, Kat Fitzgerald, Connie Ducey, Debra Mugnani, Marilyn Cooney, Kathy Holly and Dorothy Donell

For the Sausalito Cruising Club, which usually hosts pop and blues bands, this is a bit of comic relief. These gals deliver some really fine music though. With their sweet voices and the expert backing with David Miotke on piano and Chris Amberger on bass, the music touches the senses in ways seldom heard nowadays.

Connie Ducey, David Miotke and Chris Amberger

The ladies take turns doing a couple songs each, starting with Connie Ducey who lays down More Than You’ll Ever Know and My Baby Just Cares For Me, the Walter Donaldson/Gus Kahn song written for the Ziegfeld comedy, Whopeee, Staring Eddie Cantor.

Kat Fitzgerald takes the stage and gives out Wild About Harry,a song written in 1921 with lyrics by Noble Sissle and music by Eubie Blake for the Broadway show Shuffle Along. The interaction between her and the piano is sweet syncopation that quickens the pulse. The response is manifested by the folks on the dance floor.

Kat Fitzgerald

Some of the other solos included Kathy Holly singing Hard Hearted Hanna,the much recorded tune written by Milton Ager, with lyrics by Jack Yellen, Bob Bigelow, and Charles Bates. Her energy is overflowing and infects everyone listening.

The grand finale, shown above, was Anything Goes, from the Cole Porter musical of the same name.

The Cabaret Night will return to the SCC on September 22.

To learn more about Kathy Holly and the Cabaret Nights go to

http://www.kathyholly.com/

To learn more about the Sausalito Cruising Club go to

http://www.sausalitocruisingclub.org/

Just down the street at the No Name Bar, Joe Tate and Friends hold forth every Saturday evening at 6. Tonight, Tate is joined by Miles Ceralde, a very talented young guitarist who adds just the right touches to Tate’s vocals and rhythm guitar.

Joe Tate and Miles Ceralde What is that chord?

Both are backed by Lonnie Walter on bongos, giving the music a coffeehouse flavor. Although Tate throws in a few protest songs, it’s not the folksinging style of the sixties, but rather a mix of sophisticated standards and regular old blues and pop. Tate sings a few songs of local interest too, like Sausalito Girl, his own composition about the artist women of Sausalito. You might also hear him sing Dock Of The Bay, the famous Otis Redding song written when the soul/bluesman visited here shortly before his death.

Gabe Navarre and Miles Ceralde

Gabe Navarre and Miles Ceralde

Sitting in tonight is Gabe Navarre, a local guy who could play Hendrix licks when he was a teenager. Now he has developed a wonderful singing voice that is powerful and distinct. When he sings Randy Newman’s Guilty, the walls shudder from his deep baritone setting everything in motion.

Occasionally, Gabe appears here with Tate for the entire gig. They are scheduled to play here August 27. If you haven’t heard him, this is the opportunity.

To learn more about the No Name Bar go to

http://localmusicvibe.com/venue/no-name-bar

To learn more about Joe Tate go to

http://fwd4.me/02ts

Please check out Joe Tate’s Ukulele Baby Songbook

http://ukulelebaby.org/

Contact Joe Tate for parties and stuff at

joebtate@gmail.com

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Michael Skinner’s Final Touch Band at the Sausalito Cruising Club

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life, ukulele music with tags , , , , , , , , , , on June 29, 2011 by joetatesblog

The Final Touch Band comes to the Sausalito Cruising Club as part of the legacy from the Blue Monday jam sessions that were led by Billy Dunn and Michael Skinner here some years back. Although The Final Touch Band predated the jam sessions, it was some time before FTB would be playing their spectacular brand of rhythm and blues at the  Sausalito Cruising Club. Joining FTB tonight are guitarist Steve Gannon and bassist Larry James, both members of the old SCC jam band. Although The first Sessions featured Pat Wilder on guitar, Gannon became the regular for several years.

The Final Touch Band; L-R Steve Gannon, Michael Skinner, Larry James and Richard Younger

The Final Touch Band is the brainchild of Michael Skinner, a talented drummer/singer who grew up in Richmond, CA where  as a youngster he played and sang with the Spiritual Corinthians. He learned music from his late brother Melvin and his uncle both of whom were members of the Spiritual Corinthians. He graduated from Harry Ells High School in 1984. “Charisma” was his first band.

Michael Skinner at work

Soon he would be playing with Beverly Stovall at the Serenader Club in Oakland, CA where he met up with Billy Dunn and later Curtis Lawson.  This was his core group leading up to the formation of the FTB, which at first was with Leonard Hawkins, Dale Whitmore and Larry James on guitar. Tonight, Richard Younger is subbing for Hawkins on keyboards. He’s a funny guy all laughing and joking. The way he moves around the keyboard, he looks like Ray Charles.

Michael Skinner’s rendition of Mustang Sally is something to behold. With his powerful gospel trained voice, he lends incredible power to this Wilson Pickett classic. The ending, which Michael arranged, is like no other and is an apt demonstration of this band’s power. All their songs have great endings.

Larry James wails with Steve Gannon L and Richard Younger R

Bassist Larry  James, who doubles on guitar, can really belt out some oldies but goodies too. His version of Shake rattle and Roll segues into shout, the Isley Brother smash from yesteryear.

Steve Gannon sings the blues

Steve Gannon delivers up some good blues with Howlin’ Wolf’s, Baby, How Long. This man can play some guitar too, and in a most pleasing way. His playing can be searing and laid back at the same time. Sort of like sweet and sour, it’s delicious.

Gannon, who grew up in London, came to Oakland in 1985 after the end of a ten year marriage. When he was invited to Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland, he played with Beverly Stovall and Sonny Rhodes who took him on tour of Canada with his band.

Steve wound up playing in the house band at Eli’s three nights a week. There was an after-hours club called Deluxe Inn where he finally met Michael Skinner sometime in the 80s. Later he hooked up with Billy Dunn in Curtis Lawson’s band where he shared guitar duties with the late Drake Levin.

Joe Tate medleys with Michael Skinner

There was one other little surprise for the night; Joe Tate showed up and sang a couple of old favorites like Blueberry Hill and High Heeled Sneakers, which is done in a medley of songs traded back and forth between Tate and Skinner. It went sort of like this; Tate sang a verse of High Heeled Sneakers then Skinner sang a verse of Big Boss Man. Bits of several songs were strung together with alternating singers in a sort of faux competition. Amusing.

The Final Touch Band will return to the Sausalito Cruising Club on Friday July 1 at 8:00 PM

To contact the Final Touch Band go to

http://www.gigleader.com/band/michael-skinner-and-final-touch

To learn more about the Sausalito Cruising Club go to

http://www.sausalitocruisingclub.org/

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Blue Monday at the Sausalito Cruising Club 41111

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

The House Band: Donny Kountz, Joe Tate and Willie Riser

After some interminable chit chat and milling around, the house band starts at 7 and, after about 45 minutes, Joe Tate opens up the stage for others to sit in. On this occasion, there were many fine players in attendance including the wonderful Lisa Kindred who really rocked the house with her rendition of Let The Good Times Roll.

The band starts the evening with Blue Monday as usual. Then, after Blueberry Hill, Fats Domino is absent the rest of the set. Then there’s some Creedence Clearwater, Chuck Berry, the Coasters and finally Tate sings something called Roosevelt Blues which tells the rather poignant story of Franklin Roosevelts life. We will be hearing more of this song, written by McKinley Peebles, after the Presidents death.

Let The Good Times Roll: R Lisa Kindred

First up to sing is, of course, Miss Lisa Kindred who, as mentioned, starts the house rockin on that first number. Then she gives out her feminized version of the much recorded Lee Dorsey classic which she calls Get out Of My Life Sweet Thang. This is over the top but nothing prepares us for what she sings later. The most sublime voicing for House Of The Rising Sun was showered down upon us in an unmitigated feast of harmony.

Next up is John “Coyote” Egan with his guitar students, Marco Ugolini and Robert Hobart. Coyote, as he is known, plays a bright and vibrant form of original blues. One of his songs that stands out is Rolling Into Texas. He carries the vocal and segues into some scorching guitar. His students imitate and sometimes upstage him at this game. It’s all in fun, even though Coyote sometimes feigns annoyance.

Marco Ugolini, Andy Mendell, Coyote and Willie Riser

There was also a harmonica section, with Diver Dave and Scott Sherman, that hangs out at the edge of the dance floor. They take turns on solos whenever they get the high sign from whoever is leading. They worked intermittently with all of the performers, helping out here and there with solos and train rhythms where needed.

Scott Sherman, Robert Hobart, Marco Ugolini and Andy Mendell

There was more good stuff to come with Anthony Lincoln providing vocals with his partner Gary Berger on piano. It’s just an old upright with a microphone jammed in the back but it sounds good as long as the guitar players don’t get carried away with their volume knobs.

Anthony Lincoln

Anyway, this duo is joined by Joe Tate on guitar, Ron Rosano on Drums and willie Riser on Bass. With Tate assisting on vocals, Lincoln burns through some good R&B numbers, like Mustang Sally, Shotgun with Lincoln on sax, Hit The Road Jack and Spooky just to mention a few.

In the middle of the set, Suzie Q takes the stage and gives out her rendition of Love Potion #9. She is the sweetheart of the waterfront and everybody loves her.

The last set is played by the one and only Craig Caffall who has his own popular band and plays flawless guitar blues. Willie Riser takes a break here while Tate takes over bass.

Caffall leads off with some basic funk then moves on to Rot Orbison’s Born On The Bayou. He delivers it up in Creedence Clearwater style then follows with The Thrill Is Gone, the Rick Darnell/Roy Hawkins tune that has been recorded by so many.

Donny Kountz, Craig Caffall, Willie Riser and John "Oz" Gordon.

Willie Riser returned to the stage and Caffall belted out a few more tunes including Before You Accuse Me, a song many don’t realize was written by Bo Diddley. In any event, this version sounded as good as Clapton.

The house band finishes the night with Tate’s rendition of Minnie The Moocher. The Hidee Hidee Ho’s are returned from the audience in one last spasm of musical exuberance.

But wait! Gabe Navarre suddenly shows up and we squeeze one more song out of him. What it was, nobody knows.

The Craig Caffall Band plays the Seahorse Restaurant this Friday night. Here’s the listing

http://www.localmusicvibe.com/event/craig-caffall

Joe Tate plays the No Name Bar in Sausalito every Saturday evening at 6. To learn more go to

http://xrl.in/4y57 or    http://www.theredlegs.com/JoeTate.html

Joe Tate’s Ukulele Baby Songbook is here

http://ukulelebaby.org/

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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 , , , , , , , , , , 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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The Average Dyke Band at the Sausalito Cruising Club

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

Every once in a while you encounter a band that is dripping with happiness. I don’t mean in a forced smile kind of Hollywood phony thing but people who exude the stuff. That’s the Average Dyke Band. And that goes for their audience too. They are all having so much fun, dancing and prancing and loving each other. A feeling of merriment pervades.

What can be said about this Motown-Rhythm and Blues machine on the stage though? They start rockin’ the house right away, churning through Heat Wave, I Heard it Through The Grapevine, What’d I Say and Chain Of Fools.

The Average Dyke Band and friends

Everyone headed for the dance floor and stayed there for most of the set. These girls can dance too. It looks as if many of these couples have practiced a lot and their moves are graceful and coordinated.

The Average Dyke Band consists of Stephanie Teel on guitar and vocals, Carrie Gerendasy on bass and vocals, Robin Roth on drums, Rosa Koire on saxophone and Sheri Kline on keyboards.

Carrie Gerendasy and Stephanie Teel

They have been together for about six years except for Stephanie Teel, who joined the band last december. According to Ms. Gerendasy, they have been employed “mostly at prides and stuff” plus many private parties.

Stephanie has her own “Stephanie Teel Band” and they regularly appear at the Sausalito Cruising Club and the Sausalito Seahorse. Stephanie often shows up at the Monday night jam sessions and shows the big boys how to handle a guitar. This woman always gets it on.

Rosa Koire

Anyway, after the break, they came back with something like Rockin, Rockin, Rockin, which must be an original song. Nobody knew the title but it had a great sax solo played by Rosa Koire and, of course, the dance floor was full again.

Teel had a great vocal on Runaway, the Del Shannon classic. The organ solo, played by Sheri Kline was magnificent.

Then it was somebody’s birthday and they cranked out the Beatles I Know it’s Your Birthday or whatever the title is. Then they just kept gettin’ down with Motown, funk, soul and some more good old rock n’ roll.

It was a really fun evening here hopefully there will be other chances to hear these folks.

The Average Dyke Band will be back at the Sausalito Cruising Club on April 4 and May 2. They will also play at THE LAST DAY SALOON in Santa Rosa on Friday, April 22. Corner of 5th and Davis
Doors at 8 pm Show at 8:30-12:30.

L-R Carrie Gerendasy, Robin Roth, Stephanie Teel and Rosa Koire Front; Sheri Kline

To learn More about the Average Dyke Band go to

http://www.averagedykeband.com/

To learn more about Stephanie Teel go to

http://www.afm6.org/ArtistProfile_StephanieTeel.htm

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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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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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