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Mal Sharpe’s Big Money In Jazz Band

Posted in Bay Area Music, KGO, Mal Sharpe, Night Beat, No Name Bar, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life with tags , , , , , , , , , on September 7, 2011 by joetatesblog

Mal Sharpe is anAmerican television and radio personality who also leads a Dixieland jazz band in the Bay Area. According to Wikipedia, “In the early 1960s, Sharpe teamed with Jim Coyle to create a series of comic on-the-street interviews for San Francisco radio station KGO. Armed with a tape recorder, Coyle and Sharpe confronted pedestrians with unusual questions or strange behavior. In a 1964 interview with Newsweek magazine, Sharpe explained “We try to pose an almost plausible question, then proceed step by step into absurdity until the interviewee is seething.”

Big Money In Jazz: L-R Jeff Sanford, Leon Oakley, Bill Dekuiper, Mal Sharpe, Joe Mckinley and Carmen Consino

Mal Sharpe’s Big Money In Jazz Band has been playing at the No Name Bar in Sausalito, CA every Sunday afternoon since about 1990. Listening to them is an authentic trip down yesteryear. It’s like going back to the roaring twenties to a time before any of us were born (including Mal Sharpe) to an era of good times and no worries.

Mal Sharpe

Mal sings some songs you may never have heard of, but they really swing. He belts out Goin Back To Indiana, then gives it the trombone treatment as only he can do. With the clarinet, coronet and trombone weaving an intricate melodic web, it’s New Orleans in Sausalito. That Clarinet is played by Jeff Sanford who doubles on saxophone. Sharpe takes turns with Sanford on solos with equal time given to Leon Oakley on coronet.

Jeff Sanford

The sound is rounded out with a solid rhythm section consisting of Carmen Consino on drums and Joe Mckinley on Bass. Chords are laid down on guitar by Bill Dekuiper.

After a few songs they are all joined by Faith Winthrop on vocals for her rendition of Cheek To Cheek, the Irving Berlin classic. She sings with a well trained voice that is dripping with sweet inflections of the Jazz Age. Following this is Louis Armstrong’s Someday You’ll Be Sorry in which the full impact of the band and singer adds exponentially.

Winthrop, who grew up in Boston, came to Sausalito in 1955 where she lived for a while and during which time she sang at the hungry i in San Francisco.

Faith Winthrop and Carmen Cosino

After wandering to Los Angeles, New York and other points east, she returned here in 1965 and married. She was a featured singer at the Razz Room for many years and has lately been appearing here regularly with Mal Sharpe’s Big Money In Jazz Band. Here’s hoping she continues here for the foreseeable future.

There is a request for Basin Street Blues which is happily obliged by Sharpe who delivers the vocal.

Everybody solos including the guitar driven by Bill Dekuiper. This is Kenny Burrell redux with a strong taste of blues.

Leon Oakley

When the drums came in, it was in four bar segments, with Consino playing four bars solo and then four bars with the band  with maybe four reps.

Winthrop returned to the stage and sang Ain’t Misbehavin, the wonderful standard from Fats Waller. This song, written in 1929, is perfect for Dixieland with its drawled out melody and swing rhythm. A song called New Age Old age is next. This is a twelve bar blues that was written by Winthrop.

Bill Dekuiper and Joe Mckinley

Bill Dekuiper and Joe Mckinley

Winthrop continued on with Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams, written by Harry Barris, Ted Koehler, and Billy Moll but made famous by Louis Armstrong. This is an especially beautiful song and when her lovely voice gave way to the sax, it was music heaven, with new and inscrutable melodies filling the room.

Mal Sharpe took over for a few minutes with I Want A Little Girl, another song made famous by Louis Armstrong. Winthrop returned right away though with I’m Beginning To See The Light, a Duke Ellington song that was a hit for Ella Fitzgerald.

On this song, the coronet and and alto sax take fours. The rhythm section continues while Dekuiper and Oakley take turns at four bars each. It works up into a frenzy when they change it to two bars. They all come in climatically and then fall off as the voice comes back in. Dramatic!

At this point, Tao Jones, a regular performer at the No Name Bar, shows up and sings Just A Little While To Stay Here, a gospel favorite of unknown provenance.

Tao Jones belts out a couple

With a strong baritone voice, he leads the band into some new territory and it starts to rock. At least that’s what the audience was doing.

At The Jazz Band Ball, a fast tune by Louis armstrong, is played with hot instrumentals and drum breaks. The drum breaks aren’t just fours, but actual solos this time around.

Winthrop comes back and sings Georgia, with a false start and a key change. After changing from Eb to Bb, it comes off beautifully with a super solo on soprano sax as well as trombone.

L-R Jeff Sanford, BHill Dekuiper, Leon Oakley, Joe Mckinley, Mal Sharpe and Faith Winthrop

She gives us one more with A Hundred Years From Today, a song written by Victor Young, the lyrics by Ned Washington and Joe Young. The song was published in 1933. This song is about how we should enjoy life because what we do won’t matter in a hundred years, a contention that is losing favor these days.

Mal Sharpe ends the set singing The Song Has Ended, another by Irving Berlin but made famous by Ella Fitzgerald.

To learn More About Mal Sharpe go to http://www.keller.com/bass/bigmoney/

To learn more about Faith Winthrop go to http://www.faithwinthrop.com/bio.html

To learn more about the No Name Bar go to http://localmusicvibe.com/venue/no-name-bar

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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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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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No Name Bar and Presidio Yacht Club

Posted in Bay Area Music, Night Beat, Sausalito After Dark, Sausalito night life with tags , , , , , , , 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 , , , , , , , , , , 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 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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