Summer in the City

7/26/03. Ah San Francisco summers… 60 to 70 degrees.. no air-conditioning required, & great farmers markets Living in Louisiana part-time helps prevent me from taking for granted some of the great things we have here around the Bay.

Some of those things includes the very nice, smoke-free clubs we have here and the variety of Cajun and zydeco events that we have available. From the blow-out big production dances and events at Eagles Hall on Friday nights to the more folksy Cajun-Creole emphasis of the music at Ashkenaz to the funky clubs in Brisbane (Razgulay), Oakland (Jimmies's), El Sobrante (Pizza Company -a Indian restaurant/pizza joint with CZ on Thursday nights.. how Bay Area is that?), to the small neighborhood hominess of McGrath’s at Alameda to the street scene events at The Music Company in the Portola neighborhood of San Francisco to the regular Wednesday night jams at Blair and Steve’s in Berkeley, there is always something going on.

In July, I did some Bay hopping, attending events at several of these places. On July 8, the LaFleur et Basile Band from Southwest Louisiana played Ashkenaz. Featuring showmen Mark de Basile on accordion and Steve LaFleur on bass, and featuring Jonno Fishberg (also with Charivari) on fiddle, and Cutts Peasley on percussion, this band plays in a high-spirited style drawing from both traditional repetoire (Pine Grove Blues, Bayou Pon Pon, Quo Faire) and original tunes, including a beautiful waltz written by Jonno for his wife (Maria’s Waltz). I got a chuckle, when during the break, Steve had changed from wearing a plain white shirt to a tie-dye number. When in Berkeley…

I hadn’t been to the newly remodeled 23 Club in Brisbane, now Razgulay, and boy was I shocked to see a new stage, curtains, new floor, new wood paneling, and Russian beer on the menu! The acoustics there are still the best in the Bay Area. Sauce Picante put on a very nice show there on July 20, sounding confident and definitely maturing as a performing group.  Sauce Picante recently released their 1st CD (email  bkilpatrick@mac.com for CD info)

I also attended Andre Thierry’s show at Eagles Hall on July 25. I hadn’t seen Andre since January and, while his stage show remains low key compared to other zydeco performers, the fieriness and inventiveness of his accordion playing belies his nonchalant appearance.  Unfortunately,Andre's performance this evening was hampered a disjointed backup band.   Not many players can beat Andre when the sound is tight and I was sorry this wasn't one of those nights.