It was a cold and rainy Tuesday night. The smell of wet dogs and dry martinis wafting across the bay. The perfect night to slip out the door in an overcoat and head for an dark, dank watering hole. And so I gingerly nudged the Q5 into the wilds of Hayward to see Micah Roschelle take the lead on Trombone with the Berkeley Alumni Big Band. That Micah, always ahead of his time! He is not even graduated yet, and yet he is already in the Alumni Big Band. No mystery there; Micah is a first call trombone on the Cal Bears jazz scene. ...

“I’ll take you there” sings Mavis Staples, famously, and she did – it was a soulful, happy place. The minimalist backup band, guitar-bass-drums, was outstanding – filling the space with energy. We especially loved Rick Holstrom, a blues guitar player. He made his Telecaster sing in every way it should, extracting a series of tasty, and thrilling tones. The church is still in Mavis Staples; we felt we were in a wonderful Sunday gospel service, with Mavis ever urging our spirits higher. The surprise song of the set was the Talking Heads cover, Slippery People ( “What’s a matter with him? He’s alright.”" ) It fit perfectly. “Friendship” was also a touching song. ...

Dance we must, as the motown groove of San Francisco favorite “Pride and Joy” is undeniable! And dance we did, all night long, with our friends Mike and Fong. The packed house brought out every 55 year old in Menlo Park California who isn’t afraid to boogie. When they band closed with “Shout!” it was quite entertaining to look around and see everyone (including us) complaining that we can’t “get a little bit softer now; get a little bit lower now”—our knees hurt! ...

Although I’m not much for attending fundraising events, I was glad to go out and support my favorite jazz club, the Bach Dynamite and Dancing Society. The San Mateo Community College Jazz band was a real treat. And I participated in the auction and won this cool framed photo, taken at the Bach. Details Location: Bach Dynamite and Dancing Date: February 11, 2023 Attending: Jeremy

Fred Armisen introduced his show as “comedy for musicians” - and indeed, it featured lots of funny talk about music. An evening with Fred Armisen is a bit more like hanging out with a slightly off-kilter, ironic cousin than it is like traditional standup comedy. He did impressions of punk rock in every country across the world. He put trotted out a bass guitar and chomped on the headstock, which turned out to be a brownie. He played a great sounding Rickenbacker bass for a bit. Sitting at the drums, he did impressions of every punk rock band stretching across two decades. He’s smart and funny, and got us home in time for bed on a school night. ...