1. Yeah too funny there’s not a single event you go to where they don’t play the cha-cha song during intermission while you wait for the band to get on stage. “Everybody clap your hands … slide to the left… slide to the right… one hop two times.” Or whatever.
2. Wow!! Family Stone just brought it. I mean they were just polished and kicking it from the very start. Sometimes you can get a little suspect with a band that’s been around for as many decades as they’ve been but they’re just as good as they ever were if not better and I’m tempted to YouTube or even Spotify some of their music. EVERYDAY PEOPLE was so refreshing. Makes you stop and think we don’t create music like this anymore at least I don’t know where I would find a song like that anywhere today. The bass line on THANK YOU is meditative.
DANCE TO THE MUSIC was ‘a fast ball right in the strike zone!!’
SUMMER DAYS brought a rush of childhood summer days and a fresh recall of the 60s and 70s that’s hard to express to a millennial. You just gotta love a great horn section and good arrangements. Although nobody beats Donald Fagen and Steely Dan long fade outs that groove like a Friday night on roller skates.
3. Having a concert in the middle of a park downtown really changes the experience especially watching everybody bob up-and-down on green grass with trees around them and then buildings around them makes you feel like you’re jammin in your basement with several thousand people. It’s kind a cool and it’s definitely different.
4. I think this is what I was imagining when I wanted to be in a band and I was 14. This is the kind of feelings and experience – I mean, yah… at least I think so.
5. I didn’t know that the San Jose Jazz Fest started out on one stage in 1990, 2 days eight acts, that’s it! And now it’s 14 stages over the course of three days – who knew?
6. En Vogue – OK but they didn’t perform as well as Family Stone. It’s funny, often at these events the marquee bands don’t hit the mark as well as other bands you would think would have a less professional performance. That was the case with Toni Toney Tone last year. The front of house mix was overloaded and the on screen special videos were more distracting than contributing. Overall … ‘Menh.’
7. It was psychologically hard to shift from 80s soul pop to New Orleans soulful jazz but we tried and it was worth it. David L Harris is straight up upright bass, drums, keys and a trombone. He’s continuously learning about what it means to be human he says and it shows even though he looks like he could still be in college. A worthy performance – but this wine needs some time in the cellar and then I’ll get to brag about how I saw him in a crowd of just 100 folks in an intimate setting. We left early he plays trombone better than he sings but a definite tip of the hat to him and his band.
8. I tried some barbecue ribs from an outfit called Lord of the Ribs … get it? like Lord of the rings. Never heard of them before but pretty darn good ribs …. may be as good as the Smoking Pig …maybe not quite…. but maybe… but the barbecue sauce was really awesome. They only cater and that’s probably why I never heard of them before but they are based here in Santa Clara so that was a pleasant surprise – definitely worth trying out if you ever get a chance.
9. Standing in line brings out the animal instincts in everyone and the concept of fairness grabs the attention whenever anyone makes a surprise move and disturbs the line waiting process. The person I can’t stand the most is the sidler who stands right next to you. Letting go of the self is the only way to stay sane. I don’t deal well with flaring tempers. I would never survive the Serengeti. Thankfully San Jose is not like that on regular days.
10. Sometimes people clap too much. Sometimes I think the best performances and the best venues should just not allow clapping at all and just let the music playing go on in silence with know audience interaction … kind a like a double sided album on a record player. But that’s just me.
11. Other times the sheer energy of a performance compels applause- that’s what happened at Cafe Stritch. If E=MC squared, the whole room was squared tonight- at least when the band kicked off. Who is this young powerhouse of a band? Sam Miller and the Congregation. Dammmn! From Los Angeles. Young but play like 60 year old veterans on Red Bull and Goose.
But they also play skits and funny bits – almost variety show-ish.
After awhile it became a little too much tongue-n-cheek. Talented group though. You just started to wonder if Bozo the clown would pop out of a box or something what with all the practiced jokes by the leader who is also the drummer. So you can’t be a serious jerk like me desperately waiting for a meaning-of-life tune that transports you somewhere you remember but never knew in that way before. Like Bobby Hutchinson or something.
We ended up leaving after 3 songs. It was like better-than-cheap champagne – a quick high that’s exhilarating followed by an equally quick dull let down, made only worse by a linebacker who decided to stand right in front of me without even asking or looking around-completely self-absorbed. That killed it. The someone started cat calling from the crowd and the mood seemed to suggest if people were a little drunker there’s no telling how the night would end. I think everyone was slap happy by the end of the night. All in all not a bad kick-off day but (Sly) & the Family Stone stole the show – totally worth the price of admission.
