Groovin' in a four-car garage

There we were, Wayne and I and our friend George, lounging on a leather sofa in a garage in Berkeley, groovin' to some pretty fantastic live blues along with maybe 50 other people. Outside, rain poured down. Inside, young guys popped cans of beer and older gals like me pulled bottles of wine out of cloth bags.

We were at Birdland Jazzista Social Club. A guy in Berkeley, a professor at City College, has opened up his four-car garage, outfitted it with a stage and a sound system, booked bands, and even fired up a grill and smoker in the front to feed his guests. He calls it Birdland (he makes birdhouses, which are all over the garage). It started out to be free, because that's the custom of the guy's homeland, the Phillippines. Then it got so big that people spilled out into the street, and of course the city of Berkeley got involved. I know, you're thinking, well Berkeley - everything goes in Berkeley. Apparently not partying in the street all night!

Anyway, the guy turned his weekly party into a social club and limited it to whomever could fit into his garage with the door closed, and into his little backyard behind the garage. It costs $10 to come in, and that pays for the bands. The BBQ (chicken legs, smoked ribs, sausages) is still free, as is the rum bar in the back of the garage. Otherwise its BYOB.

We left about midnight after hearing two great bands, and even boogying a bit in the aisles! Ernesto had just announced that the third band would come on shortly and would probably play till 3a.m. Yikes, just a little too much action for us, but what a deal!

We slid into the rainy night and back to reality.

Here's a link to Birdland's website, and the history of the Social Club (kind of long-winded). http://birdlandjazz.org/about/history/. It's been going on for two years, and will now end in a few weeks when Ernesto returns to the Phillippines. Maybe he'll be back!

Warm days and awesome music!

Clearwater Jazz Holiday 2012 was awesome! As my girlfriend Donna said, the weather had "cooled down" to the 80s, and it was beautiful - not too hot, not too humid. Good thing, because all the music was in a park on the water and it was terrific! Here's the view at sunset from our seats in front of the stage:

 My favorite acts were: Jazz saxophonist and Tampa Bay Area native Mindi Abair & Friends, which included  Jeff Golub and David Pack from the 1970s-80s group Ambrosia. Wow, they were fabulous!
The Avett Brothers, not jazz at all, but a kind of alt-indie-rock group from North Carolina that had the whole place jumping. So much fun!
I also loved Esperanza Spalding and saxophonist Tia Fuller, both of whom perform more straight-ahead jazz and are beautiful talented young women. Whew!

(I missed Bonnie Raitt, darn it, because I arrived in Tampa too late. I think she would have been one of my favorites too - Donna said she was wonderful.)

Of course, very dear to my heart was the food! When I'm in Florida, I feel like I should eat fish, preferably fish I can't get on the West Coast. More to come soon on where we ate Grouper Salad and Bang Bang Shrimp. Yum!!