Micah on Trombone

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.

Neither the bar nor the music disappointed. The Bistro is a perfect music dive bar, with an excellent selection of beers and a motley crew of patrons. Excepting present company of course, which included Hayward locals Savitha, Mike and Fong.

The band ran through a range of swing classics. Never one to miss a stiff drink, Frank Sinatra made a guest appearance on vocals and reborn in the body of a Berkeley Alum. And a wonderful female vocalist sang such as sweet samba that it made old married folks squeeze hands and make lovely eyes. On this damp night, the promise of a good murder mystery was the only promise unkept.

The band went to 30 minutes past midnight, at least if you tell time via the Times Square clock, allowing this Sam Spade to skulk back to Portola Valley before the coyotes began to howl.

Details