San Franciscan Jazz

This is sort of part 3 of my latest jazz "series" and this time I will write about my "backyard" SF. As a SF Bay Area resident for over 20 years, my go-to place for jazz is still Yoshi's in Oakland. For SF, the go-to place has gone through many many changes: it was Jazz At Pearl's near China town years ago. I went a few times around 2001 before it went out of business. Then it's Yoshi' SF, which also went out of business because of the high cost. Savanna Jazz got a lot of good reviews but it had to leave the expensive SF for San Carlos, which is further down South on the Peninsula. Fortunately the SFJAZZ center seems to be here to stay 'coz I think that's the type of institution the social elites like to associate with. I did "discover" a few new venues this year:

Black Cat: this club has definitely booked quite a few quality acts and with many show times weekly. The most recent one I saw was the group Beekman from New York, which has just released a new album named Vol 3: live in San Francisco (so I count this as San Franciscan Jazz :P)
Even though I heard good music both times I went, I need to give it thumbs down: for people going there just for music like me, the only place to sit is at the bar, which has limited number of seats, one-side facing the stage and the other side back to the stage! Besides, most people went there to talk to their friends, with jazz as the background. I actually don't understand the rationale. If you just want jazz as background for chit-chat, you don't NEED to go to a jazz club. And the neighborhood is not exactly where I like to hang out at my age :P

Mr. Tipple's Recording Studio: to be honest, one big reason I wanna go was the name. It just sounds too interesting. After being there once though, I can tell you the place has absolutely nothing to do with a recording studio. It's just a bar with live music. I do have to give it thumbs up for allowing people like me (drink only and didn't reserve table for dinner) to sit close to the stage. Yes, most people there are talkers too but at least I can still hear the music, performed by this fine jazz quartet:

The sax and piano solo were impressive. They definitely have their own sound.

Bird and Beckett Books and Records: this is a relatively small local store in the SF Glen Park area. No cover charge (suggested donation is $10) and no talker! Everyone in the audience truly appreciate the music of Adam Gay Quintet last time I went.

特別的週末

放完假一星期，生活大致返回正常軌道，星期六早上和好久沒有出動的行山友去了Rancho San Antonio，夏令時間又加上開始熱，所有行山客皆勁早出動，6:50am停車場已爆滿，泊得老遠，反正也是幫助消脂:) 行完8.2miles，行山友各自歸家，行程緊湊的我飲完咖啡食完lunch就去坐Caltrain，再踩單車去Fort Mason的ART MARKET SF藝術展，渡過很是充實的三個小時，再起程踩去Laughing Monk Brewery和家人會合，之前我上地圖check過路線，也不太遠，基本上沿海皮去球場，在China Basin沿著3rd street往南面走，經過的地方其實我全部均未去過， China Basin原來很多舊船塢，再踩多陣就見到Oracle Team USA的名字，我想那是service America Cup船的地方。 那天是該Brewery anniversary，又適逢Southside Festival，雖然鄰近地區出名不太太平，當日人山人海一片熱鬧氣氛，飲杯Coffee and Cream Ale就十分啱feel了。

星期日唯一scheduled activity是Flag football，繼上一個季打Cowboys，我兒子今季「效力」Packers,原本打算在賽前放低兒子和上星期教練（其實都是義工家長）給我的一袋器材(flags and footballs!)就去嘆咖啡，不過賽前練習只有兩個Packers隊友在等，事前教練說聯盟會安排人代替當日不能出席的他，卻不見踪影，作為唯一一個家長，總不成即走，硬著頭皮coordinate一下賽前練習，讓他們熱熱身再練幾個plays，那位10號仔和我兒子都是有比賽經驗的，也不用我input。到比賽開始也不見代教練，我唯有「A貨」Mike Holmgren上身，不過也沒有能力call甚麼plays，都由得隊員自由發揮，充其量只是一個跟著跑的啦啦隊吧。真.教練，我們熱切期待你回歸呀！

荒謬世界三藩市篇之鬼祟加價

早一排很少出三藩市金融區，最近連出兩次，感覺實在一般：幾條街道及部份建築物在進行維修，嘈吵又塞車。東西越來越貴，反而是意料中事；今時今日在SF吃個午餐，budget是十元或以上。要便宜最好去唐人街，十二年前吃越南（牛角）包三元有找，對上一次吃是$3.75，早幾天去見餐牌還是寫同一價錢，但老闆收我$4，抱歉地說餐牌還未更新價錢。今天外賣印度飯盒，餐牌也是舊價$8.75，收銀收我$10.4，我想稅沒有那麼重吧，原來餐牌上新加：所有食品均加收10% service charge! 那應該把餐牌全部加10%才對呀，老實說明碼實價$9.6也不算過份，巧立名目更令人反感。其實SF街頭的流動餐車（香港政府說要引入那種）很多午餐都標價$10。講開又講，這種餐車好像越來越多，今天發現一架賣雞的，以前未見過。

Christmas jazz

I went to two jazz shows last December and (surprise surprise!) both played quite a bit of X'mas music. The first one was the great organist Joey DeFrancesco and his trio playing at Cafe Stritch right in the heart of downtown San Jose. He also played the night before at the Yoshi's (Oakland) and I missed it so I was glad that he played another show in the Bay Area (and it's even closer!) Joey DeFrancesco carried the great tradition of funky and soulful organ jazz (think Jimmy Smith and Dr. Lonnie Smith) Even though the venue is kinda small (compared to the big SFJAZZ center where I saw him play with Bobby Hutcherson and David Sanborn last time) and still have a few empty spaces (I got a table on the balcony all by myself), he definitely brought his A-game. Nothing beats catching a performance by a player like Joey D in his prime. This show is actually part of a regular Hammond B3 organ series organized by local jazz radio DJ Pete Fallico at Cafe Stritch. I also saw a performance by the great Tammy Hall (I consider her the first lady in jazz organ in the area) earlier.

And I finally went to Yoshi's to see smooth jazz guitarist Peter White's show (featuring guest saxophonist Mindi Abair and trumpeter Rick Braun) All three are arguably the biggest name in the smooth jazz scene this year (check out the 2014 Smooth jazz charts and you will see their current albums respectively) Even though I normally prefer performances with more artistic than entertainment value, I gotta say I enjoyed the show and had lots of fun watching them playing familiar holiday tunes (Abair was a decent vocalist as well) and their own pieces. You could hear great techniques and creativity "under the cover" so to speak.

Before ending this post I just wanna mention one more piece of (sad) news regarding Yoshi's: I wouldn't need to qualify the venue with the city where it is located anymore because there's only one Yoshi's left, the one in Oakland. Yoshi's SF has officially changed hands in November and it's called the Addition now. I felt quite disappointed as a jazz fan since THE premiere SF jazz club is gone (the Addition is said to be focused on world music and more. Here is another detailed analysis by SFWeekly.) I had fond memories of great performances by Pat Metheny, Pat Martino, Pharoah Sanders, Mads Tolling... etc at Yoshi's SF. It seems that the "new" ownership group (which was formed by formerly minority owners) blamed the financial failure on low attendance (because of the music genre?) and the menu with high-priced Japanese food. In addition to different styles of music, the Addition will feature a different type of cuisine and a different seating model (assigned seat vs first-come-first-serve) The new system sounds like an improvement (to be honest I don't miss the old way of getting my seat.) And I hope the new menu works out for them. (even though I thought the pricey Japanese food on the old menu actually deserved it because of the quality and the location. Hey, it's SF after all) The writing was kinda on the wall about its demise though since it filed bankruptcy a few years ago and also SFJAZZ opening its door. RIP Yoshi's SF. You will be missed alongside other formerly awesome SF jazz clubs like Jazz At Pearl's.

Jazz clubs in SF

As a jazz fans, nothing beats living in Manhattan, the capital of jazz IMO. SF is probably the second best in US though. While living in the SF bay area, I could count on a few clubs for good jazz most of the time. Yoshi's has been a staple in the East Bay. The old Claremont location has its charm and it got bigger and better after moving to the Jack London Square. It was basically THE place for big names to play for decades (Milt Jackson, Chick Corea, Regina Carter, Charlie Haden to name a few) From the 90s to early 00's, SF has Jazz at Pearl's. In the past few years, Yoshi's SF (its 2nd location) has fill the void after Jazz at Pearl's went out of business. Pat Metheny, Pat Martino, McCoy Tyner, Roy Hargrove, Pharoah Sanders ...... were among some of the remarkable concerts I saw there. However, I sensed a changing of the guard ever since the grand opening of the SFJAZZ Center last year. Regina Carter and Hiromi no longer played at the Yoshi's. I saw both of their recent performances at SFJAZZ.

I foresaw clubs like Yoshi's losing big names to SFJAZZ when I learned about the plan in 2011. And my worry was rightfully justified: it's indeed more expensive to go to a concert at SFJAZZ than at Yoshi's. For comparison, tickets I bought for my SFJAZZ concerts ranged from $25-$75 (mostly in the middle) while it's $20-$50 at the Yoshi's (mostly on the lower side) So, what does the media say about these competitions? East Bay Express published an article about the rise of non-profit, which included SFJAZZ and the Sound Room in Oakland. In addition, it mentioned Yoshi's SF's financial situation and switching focus from jazz, which sounded rather sad to a long-time fan like myself. The days of big names playing 2 shows per night at the Yoshi's in Oakland from Thursday to Sunday are over too. Still, there are big names. Just for this month, Hiroshima, Cassandra Wilson and Arturo Sandoval play there.  Nevertheless, I will check out the less well-established acts at the Sound Room when I get a chance. While researching this topic, I've also found an article about another SF jazz club dealing with changes. I am putting Savannah Jazz on my list of clubs to visit.

GDC = Game Developers Conference

Just found out what those people I saw near SF Shopping Center (and at the food court) on Monday afternoon were! A lot of them were wearing a big badge with the big letters GDC. While there were a whole bunch of Asians, there were also a good amount of Caucasians. And I just read this article mentioning it being held at the nearby Moscone (Conference Center. BTW, the article was about one of the company attending the conference used balloons to promote its new game but drew heavy criticism because all those balloons went into the bay!) I have not been to the downtown shopping area since X'mas. Sad to see that yet another store was closing: the big Borders bookstores inside SF Shopping Center. I bought two magazines at 40% off. All those stores in that area with stuff that interested me seem to have gone out of business: CompUSA, the Virgin Megastore, Cody's, Stacey's and now Borders! It seems that only stores that sell clothes and food could survive these days! (I heard from the news that Old Navy didn't do well though) Things like books/music/movies have all gone online. (Even the Blockbuster in my neighbourhood is going out of business!)

How to spend 3 days in SF: Day 3

On day 3 we're back to SF. I met my friends at the Ferry Building. We're supposed to have an early lunch at 11:30 at Hog Island (known for its oysters) but it opened late that day (the day after superbowl! Someone partied too much I guess) so we ended up having a not-so-early lunch but it was still tasty as expected. Next, we drove to the Pacific Ocean. They missed seeing the ocean very much because there's none where they live. Then we headed to the beautiful Golden Gate Park. The tulips under the windmill and the Conservatory of flowers were all worthy of taking a few pictures. From there we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge (the drive was surprisingly quick. It's really a short distance and there wasn't much traffic on a Monday early afternoon) and I drop them off at Sausalito. They took the ferry back to the Ferry Building and walked to Japan town for ramen for dinner (Man, they could really walk a lot :D) That's how 3 fun-filled days were spent!

How to spend 3 days in SF: Day 2

After hitting the major tourist spots in the city on day 1, we switched our focus to THE "Silicon Valley", which I loosely defined as places between SF and San Jose that are related to computer technology. My friends started their day walking around Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square and China town. Then I drove them down South 101. Our first destination was the headquarter of Oracle at Redwood Shores. It was a pretty day with the fountain operating and the BMW Oracle Racing Yacht USA-17 on display at "Lake Ellison" We have also visited the campus of another Silicon Valley heavyweight: Google! While Oracle's HQ had that big corporation feel, Google's was more in line with the stereotypical "free-thinking" IT workers. We saw a few families playing at Google's beach volleyball court that Sunday. And we drove by (didn't go in) Steve Job's house in Palo Alto. Of course, we needed to visit his company at One Infinite Loop in Cupertino (their security guys were very hard working and immediately asked us to leave the parking lot) Finally, we went to where all these Silicon Valley ideas were originated from: Stanford University. (No exaggeration! Stanford's Dr. Terman was widely known as the Father of Silicon Valley) We had a good walk around the campus and reminisced about our college days. Finally we headed back north to Burlingame and had a good prime rib dinner at Broadway Prime. Stay tuned for Day 3!

[Update: found a visitor's guide to Silicon Valley, which is quite similar to what I mentioned]

How to spend 3 days in SF: Day 1

That's what I did last weekend 'coz my friends Eric and Lea (my best friend from high school!) visited from out of town. They followed my advices and booked a hotel at Fisherman's Wharf. The first place I took them to after they got off the plane, was a Hong Kong style restaurant in Millbrae for lunch (yeah, the airlines are so cheap these days and actually charge for those horrible airplane meals) Then I drove them to checkin to hotel. And I suggested them to take the cablecar from Fisherman's Wharf to downtown (Powell & Market) Unfortunately none of the cablecar (from Taylor or Beach St) worked and they ended up just walked around Ghiradelli Square. The next stop was Cliff House (and we stopped before Golden Gate Bridge since it's on the way anyway) and the beautiful pacific ocean, where we saw a bit of the sunset. Finally, we had dinner at Thanh Long, famous for its Vietnamese crab made with its secret recipe. It was really crowded of course (To be continued...)

Topic of the day: Caltrain unfriendly to folding bike users

I like my folding bike a lot 'coz I could carry it in my car without a bike rack (and worry about the bike falling off or scratching the exterior of my car) I used to like the idea of taking my folding bike to ride Caltrain and then bike to where I work (without my bike, I need to walk 30 minutes) but it doesn't seem to be a good idea anymore after a few incidents:

1) This happened a year or 2 ago: a Caltrain passenger/cyclist told me I had to fold up my bike instead of parking it in the bike car like every other cyclist do, so that a space could be "saved" for other cyclist with non-foldable bikes. The intention was good but where am I supposed to put my folded bike? Caltrain's rule says that folded bike should be put under the seat (which is not possible for mine or most other reasonably sized bikes) or on luggage rack (which is 3 cars down. Dragging my bike through 3 cars was a workout that I didn't need) so I declined and that dude wanted to continue to argue with me but stopped by other fellow passengers. I didn't say another word and problem solved.

2) This happened today: instead of asked by a passenger, I was asked by a Caltrain conductor to do the same. To make things worse, this time another passenger (a 架兩) actually chimed in to support the conductor! I explained the problem again. And the conductor gave me permission to violate the aforementioned rule: she told me to put my bike on the seat! (And allowed me to seat in another one) Well, how was I supposed to refuse such a good offer? Since the aisle is too narrow for me to push my bike thru, I have to pull it off the ground and carry all the way to the empty seat in the back of the car. And this was the by-product:



Oh yeah, I told the 架兩 it's none of his business.

[Update: the bike chain grease stain on my pants were safely removed by Shout (Triple Action Stain Remover)]

Topic of the day: It's hard not to like SF

The title sounds like an old jazz standard but it's not (That would be "I left my heart in San Francisco") For one thing, you could always count on hearing live music somewhere. I went to Fishermen's Wharf earlier this week. Saw a guy playing classic tunes on violin and another guy playing blues guitar and harmonica. It was good entertainment. And during one of my regular bookstore trip, a gentleman saw me skimming through Michael Lewis' latest book "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine" (about the current recession and its cause: sub-prime mortgage) and started chatting with me. He was a teacher and had met Lewis in person at his school and gave high rave about this book.

The only disappointment in SF this week was actually not its fault: my buddy, a visitor, wanted to buy a Sony product so Sony Store immediately came to our mind. The Metreon (a complex with shops and movie theater) had a big Sony presence. It was a "flagship"-type of store that showcase Sony's great products (like TVs, camcorders and most prominently, video games) Too bad they were all gone! What a pity! There was a time that people flock to Sony Store. That's when people ridicule that Apple was trying to open its own retail stores!