Having Fun - January 5, 2013

Since coming home from India, I've gotten out a bit, meeting friends for lunch
or dinner and seeing my favorite local entertainers.  It's nice to live in an area
where you can do that, even on a restricted budget. Zingari, a great Italian 
restaurant at the Hotel Donatello ( actually owned and managed by Krishan
Miglani who is from India! ) has a wonderful jazz club - intimate, romantic ( if
you're lucky enough to be there with a sweetheart ).  I've been going there 
for years, since the days when my friend, Sony Holland, used to perform there.
Subsequently, I've become friends with some of the other entertainers, many 
of whom are accompanied by my all time favorite piano player, Shota Osabe.

My friend, Kris, and I went Thursday night to see Anne O'Brien.  Shota was on
the piano and Chuck Bennett, on bass.  The place was almost empty for awhile
so it was like having our own private concert.  Anne, who specializes in "The Great 
American Songbook", has an incredibly lovely voice and delights audiences all
over the Bay area.

There is a nice dance floor at Zingari but I'd never seen anyone use it before.
We were surprised when a young couple came in and wowed us with their 
performance.  They looked wonderful together and really seemed to enjoy
themselves.  I know we enjoyed them!

Chuck Bennett, Anne O'Brien

The lovely Anne O'Brien

Terrific music!

Cheers!

Kris and I are the only audience, at this point!  What a waste of great talent.

Shota Osabe - sorry about the flash!!

The lady with the lovely smile - & a voice to match!

A young Fred and Ginger

They certainly burned off calories!

The dapper Shota Osabe

All smiles with my favorite piano player

With Shota Osabe, Anne O'Brien, and Churck Bennett

A Gift of Love - January 18, 2011

Musicians are pretty terrific people.  Ever since I met and became friends with
my favorite jazz singer, Sony Holland, I've gotten to know quite a few of them.
I jokingly call myself a "Shota Osaba groupie " ( well, maybe it's no joke since
I always try to hear his fabulous piano music whenever he accompanies a
vocalist and, through him, I've come to enjoy some of the Bay areas wonderful
performers - Margie Baker, Valeriana Quevedo, Anne O'Brien, Amanda King,
Kathy Holly, Lost Weekend, and several others.

Last week, I got an email about a benefit to be held last night for Jim Rothermel,
a fabulous reed player, who is a member of the Golden Gate Rhythm Machine
for the past 25 years.  I first heard Jim at a peformance of Lost Weekend,
a western swing group, for which both he and my friend, Shota, the pianist,
 perform.  I was just blown away by his talent.
Well, Jim, has leukemia and has been undergoing chemotherapy at Stanford.  He
has been accepted for a bone marrow transplant as soon as a donor can be
found.  His recovery will be long and tedious and he will probably not be able to
work for nearly a year following the procedure.  His fellow musicians proposed
last night musical event, with three groups, as a fund raiser to raise money to
help during that time.

What a joy it was to be there, with all these incredible jazz musicians, and share
in that outpouring of love and support.  I felt like I was taken back forty years to
the New Orleans of my youth, listening to the great jazz in the smoky bars ( but,
thankfully, there was NO smoke last night ) in the French Quarter.  There were
several great New Orleans songs, plus a couple of hours or other terrific music
by the group of which Jim is a member, the Golden Gate Rhythm Machine,
Pat Yankee and her Gentlemen of Jazz ( Shota Osabe was the gentleman at the
keyboards ), and others. 

"I Saw Her Standing There" from Shota's CD, "Happy Coat"

"Way Down Yonder in New Orleans" - the Golden Gate Rhythm Machine



"Why" - the Golden Gate Rhythm Machine



Music, Music, Music

What a week I've had, indulging my love for music!  Sunday I started off at the Burlingame Hyatt, listening to Margie Baker who I did the blog about recently.  I had sent her a copy of it since this delightful retired school teacher doesn't even use a computer ( she is over seventy ) - she has one, she says, but it is still in its box!.  She had called and left me an endearing phone message, thanking me profusely for what I had written.  She said it made her feel like crying, it touched her so deeply.  Margie was terrific, as always, and Shota Osabe, was on the piano - my dear friend, along with a great bass player and a drummer I hadn't seen before who was outstanding. 

Monday night, I went to Zingari, the intimate jazz lounge at the Hotel Donatello, that is part of Zingari Restaurant, one of my favorite places to see performers - small, with just a few tables and a bar off to the side.  Shota told me Sunday that he would be playing for Kathy Holly,  who I know, so that's all I needed.  My friend, Silvia, went with me.  I was so delighted to find a handicapped parking place right down the street, which I always consider a good omen!

Kathy Holly is a native San Franciscan whose love of show business begin at the venerable age of six when she had the lead in a school play.  From then on, she began doing plays for her own family, elisting her young relatives as the actors and, of course, Kathy was the director!

Kathy is multi-talented.  She can sing, dance and act.  She sings in eight different languages and has performed all over the world.  Her venues have included hotels, cruise ships, clubs and restaurants.  That's what I love so much about her shows - she acts out her songs and they are all wonderful!  I was telling her how much "Scotch and Soda" impacted me the other night
when Anne O'Brien did it.  Kathy sang it for me and it was easier to hear this time.  Of course, I had been playing it on my computer all weekend!

The lovely Kathy Holly at Zingari Jazz Lounge at the Donatello Hotel, San Francisco

My favorite piano player of all time, Shota Osabe, with Kathy Holly

Getting close and making beautiful music

Kathy says every lady HAS to have a boa!

My beloved friend, Silvia Solorzano

Kathy Holly sings Anema e Core

Kathy Holly sings Danny Boy

Tuesday, Shota was playing for Amanda King at Zingari.  He's been telling me for the past two years that I should see her.  Well, all I can say is that I was completely blown away with this woman's unbelievable talent!  That I deprived myself of hearing her voice for the past two years is incredibly sad.  She is such a joy.  Amanda has songs that she absolutely will not sing -

some she calls "karaoke" and, when a patron requested, "Summertime," she said she would not do that ( though I bet she would be incredible singing it ).  She sings songs she likes though she does take requests.  Another patron asked for "New York, New York."  Amanda said, "Sorry, I don't do cabaret."  With a big smile, though, she offered to do her favorite song of the moment.  I forgot what it was but, oh, my goodness, was it fabulous!  I asked her if she did blues and she said she'll work on it.  Shota Osabe is her pianist and he's been working with her so I asked for some blues!

Toward the end of the evening, an Australian couple came in and joined us.  They were doing a month long trip of the U. S. and were staying at the hotel.  Another lady, a drug sales rep was also in the lounge.  She'd been to Zingari the year prior and saw Amanda.  When back at the same conference this year, she came to Zingari and was thrilled to find Amanda performing again.  She had requested a song for which Amanda didn't have the lyrics.  This young lady promptly pulled them up on her I-phone  ( modern technology ) and Amanda sang it.  After Amanda had announced her last number, the Aussies asked for "It's a Wonderful World" which, of course, Shota could play ( I wonder if there is anything this man doesn't know ) but, for which,

Amanda did not have the lyrics.  So Amanda sang it, with Mr. Australia, joining her, then we all began singing along.  It was really kind of moving and a very nice United Nations end to the evening!

The fabulous Amanda King

A magical voice!

Amanda, Mr. Australia and "It's a Wonderful World" - thanks to an IPhone!

Amanda King and Kim Nalley, Jazz at Pearl's, San Francisco

Amanda King at the Fillmore Jazz Festival 2008

Amanda King at Pearl's, Slap That Base, Shota Osabe on the Piano!

Since I constantly rave about Shota Osabe, whose piano is simply superb - he's actually the draw that got me to see many of the great singer's I've met in the San Francisco area, I've added a couple of links where you can hear him at work, performing with other artists.  He has a couple of great CDs of his own but I see no separate entire pieces on YouTube ( get to work on that, Shota-san! ).

 

Season - Jazz at Pearl's with Shota Osabe's great piano!

Amado Mio - Lydia Lau with Shota Osabe on piano!

Scotch and Soda

I went into San Francisco Thursday night to a really lovely intimate spot, called Zingari.  It's a wonderful Italian restaurant with a separate jazz lounge that is part of the Hotel Donatello, near

San Francisco's Union Square.  I first discovered it several years ago when my dear friend, Sony Holland, who rivals the best of the best jazz greats, used to sing there.  Sony, sadly for me, is now in Los Angeles. I went back to Zingari to hear Shota Osabe,  my favorite jazz pianist, who has also become a friend.  He plays for a number of vocalists in the Bay area and does arrangements for various artists as well.  He is truly incredible!  Thursday night, the singer was Anne O'Brien.  I had not heard her perform before but I enjoyed her selections from the Great American Songbook and her lovely voice.

For once the small room was quite crowded.  At a table near me, there was a group of six women, laughing and clearly having a wonderful time.  I walked in while the band was on break and immediately went and put ten dollars in the tip jar on the piano.  One of the ladies at the table commented, "That's generous, you haven't heard them."  I laughed and told them I knew the piano player, at least, would be outstanding.  I stopped to chat with the women and found out that they were nurses ( of course, that explained the rowdiness! ) and they were from Montana, attending a conference in our fair city.  They were delighted to escape the cold for a few days!

When the band returned, Anne tried to come up with a Montana song but had to settle for something with a Western flavor.

During the course of the evening, I met Anne O'Brien and chatted with her a bit.  She is such a lovely lady.  While they waited for their dinner, always included with their gig, Shota played solo piano for several numbers which is sheer magic.  I just sat there, mesmerized.  His fingers glide over the keyboard, eliciting melodies that transport me into other worlds, other times.

Mary, the bartender, at Zingari, is a lovely young lady, always pleasant and smiling.  Of course, it is nice to have a job where there is great jazz almost every night!  That would make me pretty happy, too.  At the end of the evening ( the group played till 11PM  and, of course, I was the last one there ), Anne announced, they were going to do a song for Mary.  Well, when she started singing, I sat bolt upright, my heart began pounding and tears welled up in my eyes.  In her beautiful clear voice, she began singing, "Scotch and Soda."  I was suddenly 19-years-old again and a student nurse back in New Orleans, dancing very close with a young ear, nose and throat resident, the love of my life, in the Attic, a smoky bar, our hangout, in the French Quarter.  During his residency, for four years, we came to San Francisco every two weeks for his Navy active duty so this city is filled with memories of him as well.  For the next six years, that man was an intimate part of my life and he remained a dear friend until his death three years ago,  He was a wonderful doctor and, all of my nursing school classmates who married and remained in New

Orleans, went to him and took their children to him.  May he rest in peace.

Scotch and Soda

 Click to hear the Kingston Trio sing my snuggly dancing song.


Scotch and Soda

Scotch and soda, mud in your eye.

Baby, do I feel high, oh, me, oh, my.

Do I feel high.
Dry martini, jigger of gin.

Oh, what a spell you've got me in, oh, my.

Do I feel high.

People won't believe me.

They'll think that I'm just braggin'.

But I could feel the way I do and still be on the wagon.
All I need is one of your smiles.

Sunshine of your eyes, oh, me, oh, my.

Do I feel high.

People won't believe me.

They'll think that I'm just braggin'.

But I could feel the way I do and still be on the wagon.
All I need is one of your smiles.

Sunshine of your eyes, oh, me, oh, my.

Do I feel higher than a kite can fly.
Give me lovin', baby. I feel high.

Dave Guard

Margie Baker

I am constantly reminded about how lucky I am to live in the San Francisco area.  Margie Baker is one of those reasons.  She is one of the incredible entertainers I've met through my friendship with Shota Osabe, one of the best jazz pianists around.  

Since his arrival in San Francisco in 1968, Shota has played with greats such as Liza Minnelli, Bob Hope and Dizzy Gillespi and many of our Bay area stars.  I first met him when he played for my favorite jazz diva, Sony Holland.  He accompanied her to Tokyo for her three month gig at the New York Bar at the Park Hyatt ( a real plus since he is Japanese and a native speaker! ).  Shota has two CDs of his own:  Happy Coat and Happy Count.

At any rate, Shota plays and does arrangements for a number of artists.  Margie Baker is one of them.  I first went to see her when Shota played keyboards for her at a San Francisco restaurant and jazz club called Shanghai 1930.  I fell in love with Margie, a delightful African American woman, over seventy, retired from the San Francisco school district with a doctorate in education!  Margie, originally from a small town in Texas, was born in poverty.  She moved here when her mother came to be a riveter during World War II building Navy ships.  Margie finished high school at fifteen, then went to UC Berkeley on a scholarship.  She finished up at San Francisco State and went to school nights for her masters and PhD.  

Margie always sang but she didn't begin singing professionally until 1973.  When a guitarist friend coaxed her out of the audience to sing at  Henri's Room at the San Francisco Hilton, she was immediately hired by Baron and Conrad Hilton who were in the audience.  She sang at Hiltons for the next twenty years.

Currently she sings at several San Francisco area locales, including Burlingame's Hyatt Regency where she performs at Sunday brunch.  That's where I saw her today.  I join the "family" table off to the side where the musicians gather during their breaks and delight in being able to chat with Margie and Shota.  Also, it is wonderful to be so close when this amazing lady belts out a sultry blues number, or sings a sexy samba, or gets the joint jumping with, "When the Saints 
Go Marching In."  

I usually forego the $38.00 brunch and just get a latte and have a couple of hours of wonderful
music to begin my Sunday.  One song I especially like that Margie sings is "I Want a Pig Foot
and a Bottle of Beer."  That one appears on her CD, "Margie Baker and Friends Live at Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society." 

All I know is that I leave the Hyatt on Sunday with a smile on my face, my toes tapping, ready to tackle just about anything, my aches and pains forgotten for a little while.  Thank you so much, Margie!  You are one hot tamale.

The delightful Margie Baker

Making music

Enjoying their work

Valeriana Quevedo

Living in the San Francisco Bay area affords us the opportunity to experience a great diversity of entertainment, often at reasonable prices and almost any night of the week.  A few years ago, I had the great pleasure of becoming a fan of jazz singer, Sony Holland, even going to Japan while she spent three months performing at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo.  Shota Osabe, a jazz pianist since 1963, accompanied Sony to Tokyo.  Recently, Sony and her husband, Jerry Holland, relocated to Los Angeles, much to the dismay of all the fans in San Francisco but Shota Osabe continues to play piano for many incredible singers and to arrange music for them as well.  I've certainly gotten to know a lot of performers through my attachment to Shota.  One of them is a wonderful Latin singer and dancer, Valeriana Quevedo.  Valeriana is the daughter of entertainers and she has been singing and dancing almost since her birth!  She would go to San Francisco's Dolores Park with her father, a singer who played the guitar and was also a percussionist.  She would join in  and play bongos and congas with the group that would gather there.  Her mother was a singer and dancer.

Valeriana states she began dancing professionally at the age of five!  She has always been singing.  She attended City College of San Francisco, studying music, dance, piano and drama
and performed in San Francisco's  famous "Beach Blanket Babylon," the longest running musical in the world.  She became the assistant choreographer there.

Sunday night, I went to see her, along with Shota Osabe on keyboard, Chuck Bennett on bass, Gerry Kennett on drums, and Sammy Ramirez, on percussion.  They played in San Francisco's
Mission District at Cava 22, a warm and friendly Mexican restaurant with excellent drinks and 
very good food.  There was no cover charge or minimum and the music had the joint jumping.
My friend, Silvia Solorzano, and I had a great margarita and a bowl of seafood stew, a basket of bread and almost three hours of nonstop, sizzling entertainment with Valeriana singing in both 
Spanish and English, sultry sexy songs, hot Spanish numbers, and she took requests.  It was impossible not to get up and dance!  She and her percussionist, Sammy Ramirez, also dance
occasionally and they are something to see!  I keep asking my piano player friend, Shota Osabe, when I'm going to see him get up from the keyboards to salsa or do a meringue!  No response there!

Valeriana Quevedo

Valeriana Quevedo and Sammy Ramirez

Gerry Kennett, Drums & Vocals - Chuck Bennett, Bass - Shota Osabe, Piano - Sammy Ramirez, Percussion

Carmen Henesy and Silvia Solorzano

Shrimp passing by

Silvia Solorzano dancing with Mr. Martinez, Sr.

The Dancing Queen

Shota Osabe

Gary Kennett, Drums and Vocal

Carmen Henesy and Silvia Solorzano

Cava 22 waitress, Erica, and our bartender

With Mr. Martinez, Jr, celebrating his 23rd birthday

Silvia and the birthday boy

Dancing with Mr. Martinez, Jr.

Friends

Valeriana Quevado performs frequently in San Francisco.  In addition to her show this past Sunday, I have seen her at Amante and Enrico's in North Beach, where she performs regularly.  If you have the opportunity, do not MISS an evening with this incredible entertainer.