Strong Women

   I always admired my Mom's friends. In her later years- either because their husbands had taken ill, had mobility issues or had taken leave,  these women would gather for lunch and stay in constant communication. Some had some physical limitations and would find ways to have relatives drive them to the group but they found a way to get there. With each other they had a long and special history. They had witnessed many changes in society and in their lives as Asian Americans, women and partners.  It was a shock that my Mom, thought of as one of the healthiest would go first.

     To this day, Helen, Blossom, Bess (and May, who could not attend this date) still carry on; meeting when they can. Helen makes her way from Berkeley often negotiating public transportation on her own but on this day her daughter brought her over to...my parents house.

     After Mom died, the ladies group would make it out to the home to provide my father company, to look after him.  They are so sharp; an inspiration.  On my father's last night - after he had fallen (and unknown to us suffered massive brain bleeding) one of his concerns was that he needed to get the tooth he had just chipped fixed before he saw the ladies next.  I asked him if he was vain about how his looks and he said, "Yes!".

      We've seen them a couple of times in the last three years but it's been too long and not wanting to wait any longer, I reached out to all. Working with Aunt Helen primarily (her sister married Tom Hanks father, so if cousin Tom asks about me, please tell him I'm alright) we found a good calendar date and made arrangements. My sister would get Bess, Mike should get Blossom (Helen did) and we would all bring (turned out to be much) food.

        I also invited Harry and Linda Chuck (he's working on a documentary about Chinatown from the '60's-'80's!) and cousin Ronnie. Harry and Linda made it, and were in on the funniest moment of the luncheon when someone asked "I wonder if Harry Chuck is still alive?". It's nice to be able to affirm unequivocally  the answer of yes!
 
         Kevin and Jen came along too. Maria noticed a nice bond between Jen and Blossom. It was a really fine day; as excellent as any that we have.

                                It was also Aunt Helen's Birthday (+/-a day) This was February 5
                                       
                                     Oh yeah, some more cool women (and more, not pictured)

Birthday Kids!!

                                                     (thanks family for these pictures!)

Maria, aces!

It's Important

This entry is a bit of a cheat, as I'm just forwarding a sensible article originally on Michael Moore's Facebook page but it makes sense. It's something to do and it all adds up to action, not inertia.

Michael Moore, Do These 10 Things And Trump Will BE Toast

Big protests, little community ones, Town Halls or going to the beach and holding hands as a sign of solidarity. Whether its 50 people or more, it all matters.  Even if it's goofy but inclusive, I'm in.

I revisited this yesterday and it's important to be reminded how much an impact artists and the media impacted a situation that was awful and grim for many years. I always liked the video, the energy of the song and the reality shown of the then situation of  Artists United Against Apartheid. (1985)
(Plus Tony Williams gets screen time  for a couple of seconds!)
Here's the story and the video included in the link of :
The story of Artists Against Apartheid
An interesting piece to this to is recognizing how important rap would become in American culture, and having rappers included prominently and  joined by Gil Scott Heron was a smart call.
Miles Davis' trumpet blast at the beginning of the video intensely captures the tension of the situation- it begs for a release, and action.

                                                       Tony Williams and Ruben Blades


And today is John Lewis' Birthday! Thank you, and please stay around to see us out of this mess...

                                     Alameda Journal coverage captures Kathy and Bob!!

March For Truth, March For Justice, March for Kindness, March for Human Decency

No doubt about it. Our President is to my mind, crazy. Not fun crazy but bad, bad crazy. Bad hombre crazy. In my lifetime I never felt that we were governed by a crazy man until now. This is not a good thing by any definition. Not a day passes where this man has taken human decency and the dignity of the office and made it much less, made it into a spiteful little child's reactions to his own fears, proud to appeal to the worst of America.

This article from 2/24/17 : Slate, Jamelle Bouie
Who Matters In Donald Trump's America

     Money buys freedom so to this extent it has welcome qualities. To the reality that money, the desire for power and oil, to impose your will on those less fortunate, are qualities that I equate with evil, then I equate this administration as evil, uncaring, narcissistic, greedy, shameful.  It's not worth tempering words. It is no longer worth respecting the office if the office does not respect the many people it should be representing.

     How is this different from how very conservative people felt about President Obama? Very different. Obama's Presidency was not about the man or his ego. Obama's past and dedication was born from community work. He could be approached. He respected the media. President Obama acted with decency, humility. He practiced this in office, when he engaged with other leaders, and the Americans he met.

      Protests in Oakland and San Francisco, despite cold and wet weather, across the country were peaceful and loud. In this united community was joyful resistance,  If the crowds in the Bay Area were larger than expected led to some confusion as to the where and when, or created an impasse in movement, all the different faces, ages of Americans with their clever pointed signs lifted the spirit and provided hope. This does not end. This is the beginning before we begin.  These are the sparks before the fire of our action. But it will need to be more than words, more than signs, more than a weekend.

      When the President activated his Muslim ban that he said was not a Muslim ban (contradicted by his adviser, Rudy Giuliani who boastfully said that Trump asked him how to create a Muslim ban legally), Americans gathered in force at  airports in the nation. At SFO, thousands peacefully and loudly protested. This was well organized as there was many snacks, pizza, water bottles and fruit passed around, shared and offered that everyone could be fortified to continue. Dexter even slid some airport police a case of water as a peace offering as we were recruited (must be the muscles) to distribute food and water. We are inspired by everyone across the nation who participated and will continue to protest. This is a long haul.

        We have to lose many battles (Trump's nominees to his cabinet will likely all be approved) before we win some.  It is as rebuilding a team. You build heart, character and a strategy. You expand on it, practice it, learn from your losses, get everyone on board and push, push, push. The wins will come. The change will come. It won't be easy. It will take time. The fight continues. It will not die.

This generation of young voters now know that nothing will be given to them. They must be advocates, activists for justice. They must seek knowledge and question authority, and provide care for those less fortunate.  We aren't all from the same start point. 

Together, we will overcome.

Tony Williams

     We went to a Tony Williams tribute night at SF Jazz loaded with musicians. I found the most invigorating joyful piece to be the very first with Zakir Hussain, Eric Harland and Joshua Redman. Here the interplay between the musicians was constantly changing, rapid, fun, with sustained bursts of ideas, call and response, stumbles, recovery, tension, release, a journey we all were invited to.

young Tony with Max Roach, who gave Tony a cymbal that he used on his early recordings with Miles

     As a young drummer, Tony Williams served as a mentor to Cindy Blackman and she led the second act of music played with some of the SF Jazz Collective, later playing with an electric jazz rock group after the full performance of  Williams' suite, Rituals, with the Kronos Quartet.  Nearly 30 years ago we saw Kronos perform this with Tony and Herbie Hancock; a beautiful piece but never recorded.  Tonight we learned that in some of the rehearsals then teenager Cindy Blackman played the drum parts while Williams conducted or listened to make adjustments. Very cool that Blackman would perform this now.

SF Jazz bandstand for the tribute night

     Who was Tony Williams? Tony Williams was my favorite living musician from my mid 20's-until he died twenty years this month from complications from what was supposed to be minor surgery. The story has it that he suffered a heart attack after relatively minor surgery. He had been working on long forms of writing, already having building a book of strong work.  As a teenager Williams was a drumming phenom, already a brilliant musician (runs in the family) in Boston playing early with Jackie McLean's group, and then at sixteen/17 with Miles Davis' band of musical warriors that also included Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter. They penciled a mustache on Williams so that he could sneak into the clubs to play. According to Miles, Williams was the most responsible member of the band, and would wake everyone up in the morning besides duties driving the music on the bandstand, at night.

     His playing style was influenced by those before him and he quickly learned and built on the playing of Max Roach, Art Blakey, Philly Jo Jones, Kenny Clarke. He mastered his craft. He found his voice. To me, his solos never felt showy or as traditional drum solos. His work always connected to the composition or was a complete composition in itself. His use of pace, sense of swing, incredible dynamics from a whisper to thunder, several rhythms played out on one or different drums and using the ride cymbal more extensively perhaps than anyone else before him. His shimmering cascades of sound, always crisp and full.

      No other musician contributed to the joy Maria and I found in being together and enjoying the Tony Williams Quintet, the band he formed in the mid-80's, in his return to playing in a more traditional jazz setting, with musicians that had moved through Art Blakey's school of Jazz Messengers. We often would run out to Oakland or SF, or wherever they were playing to catch a set or two of this great band. He was the only one who could keep Maria up late!  The arrangements of this band were always interesting, not following any of the usual patterns of solo, solo, solo.  Sometimes the leader would share smiles with his band enjoying the playing of the other musicians. They were always very good and very inspiring to us. One particular evening we remember distinctly; watching Pharoah Sanders at Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill then driving out to the old Yoshi's in Oakland, where we embraced the sound and joy of this fine band.

I grabbed a copy of this photo from a club after the last set. Favorite thing I ever stole.

     At the tribute concert there were to my mind, too many Miles Davis compositions  due to the lack of time the musicians had to prepare. While Tony's contributions to the Davis band of the 60's were crucial, his own writing (he spent years in the 80's studying composition) are more than worthwhile and excellent.  Besides Rituals, SF Jazz did play two or three other Williams works. Originally Williams asked Terance Blanchard (tp) to join the quintet but he couldn't (Wallace Roney, Bill Pierce, Mulgrew Miller and finally Ira Coleman, bass) but he played tonight, and sharing the stage with Joe Lovano (ts) it was nice to hear their playing and their spin on the music although the ensemble pieces were not nearly as tight as the Williams Quintet.

later used as the cover for Diane Ackermans History Of The Senses

    Williams/Hancock/Shorter/Carter/Davis pushed jazz into a different place; with harder rhythms, playing without convention, using space and silence or roaring sounds, each individual equal contributors to the music. After leaving Miles, Williams led some of the first Jazz-Rock groups, Tony Williams Lifetime! and played with many musicians from Sonny Rollins to Bill Laswell, Artists United Against Apartheid, John Lyndon, and Carlos Santana.  At the time of his death he was about to work with Max Roach.  I left work early for his memorial service at the chapel at USF and I remember Max providing a memorable eulogy, as well as Hancock, Wallace Roney, Wayne Shorter and others in attendance.

     I wanted to believe in karma when I was working at Double Rainbow on the night Williams came in with a friend for ice cream sundaes.  I couldn't believe my fortune! Are you kidding me??? I knew that he lived in the Bay Area but this was still too incredible.  He was in a great mood that night, and I was happy to make them sundaes and engage in short discussions about Duke Ellington, and inquire why Bill Pierce didn't play in the Jazz In The City (now SF Jazz)Tony Williams concert at the Herbst Theater. He let me know that Pierce ( an underrated player that Williams wrote well for) had just gone skiing for the first time and broke both his legs. I made a ridiculous joke about how they should have considered having Pierce play in a wheelchair and just moving him around on stage. Fortunately Williams was amused and played along with the idea. All was good in my world. The Original Bad Hombre, Donald Trump could never be President of this country (well okay, Reagan was President at the time). When I made a comment on how I was impressed with the record art, Williams called his friend over Michelle Clement and we talked about her art design.(There's a piece he wrote for her called, "My Michelle").  Then, with my discreet phone call, Maria came charging down the hill but fortunately we didn't lose our cool. How often do you get to serve your favorite musician an ice cream sundae?

   
         What we all need to be now: Warrior, Tony Williams Quintet
          A standard for his sister        Sister Cheryl, Tony Williams with Bobby Hutcherson
           A sweet melody                  Geo Rose, Tony Williams
           and we can play hard           Birdlike, Tony Williams Quintet (Freddie Hubbard)
           tribute to Miles                    Elegy, (Williams), Hancock, Shorter, Carter, Williams, Roney
           or cover a pop tune             Blackbird, Tony Williams Quintet (Beatles)
            An article from Jazz Times : max-roach-remembers-tony-williams/jazztimes

         Tony Williams at 51. Lara at 41. Gone far too soon. So much we all will miss.

    Oddly I found on YouTube a tune (sung!) by Williams called, "Lawra", (and an instrumental version)                  which is funny to me as I always was concerned about saying Lara's name incorrectly.

                                         (Nearly are the photos are from the internet)

Two drummers that I enjoy when they come around are Brian Blade (The Fellowship Band, and plays with many others) and Stanton Moore (Galactic+side projects). 

56

       This year Maria took me to the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley for my birthday. The evening we went to La Mediterranee in Berkeley, and then hopped over to Yoshi's Oakland to see Booker T and his band. Pretty excellent evening it was . Our room had a great view of the long steep hill we climbed up to get to it, the lobby grand, the spa an interest (never fulfilled), and a giant bathtub that I was excited to climb into for a birthday bubble bath. Only thing was, the stopper didn't work- this grand tub in this grand bathroom in this beautiful hotel would not hold any water. We called the hotel as the bathroom was the best part of our room. As we waited I thought to undertake either or solution or a temporary fix before the hotel would need to send someone upstairs. Amazingly is somehow I threw my knee out with the most minimal of movements. The pain was so intense, I could not move. We were able to get me onto a chair where I hosted not only housekeeping (couldn't fix the bathtub), and security (called by housekeeping for me).  The young man seemed confused as to what he should do  I didn't know either. I wasn't going to a hospital but I couldn't move so when he offered a wheelchair, I accepted.   While Maria and the nice housekeeping lady sought another room (with a large bathtub- I was determined), my security buddy and I found a way to get me into the wheelchair. We became close friends.

Booker T. Jones (file photo)

         Two rooms and a ride later, we had what we wanted and although this room had a little less charm, it was larger and also had the same grand bathtub . But still frozen in movement full with intense pain, I could not use the tub. I could not move from the chair.  Hours later it took all a lot of energy for Maria and I to roll me onto the bed. I saw a future of Kaiser exams, bills and perhaps surgery.

          In the middle of the night I noticed that I had moved my leg without noticeable of pain. In the morning the pain was absent.  I could stand. I took that marvelous bath and it was excellent, surrounded in lavender foam.  As was her plan, after coffee Maria took me to Amoeba Records and I did indulge myself in an hour's browsing, purchasing 12 discs for only $65.

            The later afternoon and evening quietly at home with the boys and a cake made by Maria.  I took a long time making many wishes (they thought I fell asleep) but there's much to wish for, these days.

       

Odd boy with 25 grapes. stopped before choking, calling it a tie.  Young children, do not do this at home.

       

                                              Shared with Hale!   Thank you Burckins!
   

In Memory of Lara Anderson

    I haven't written in awhile. Wanting to, many topics piling up, falling behind. All lost beneath these horrible days of the Trump Administration. Today I received a phone call from my friend Johanna. Our friend and great spirit, Lara died in a car accident yesterday.  It's hard to imagine facing these next years without Lara's humor, marching against injustice and just knowing she's around. Fact is, I haven't seen her much at all the past five years but through Johanna, Tim, and Jenny a Lara update was always ready.  I know that this personally had become a good time for her, secure in her place in the world and love found. Love has lost, as we no longer will have this wonderful, fun, sarcastic, kind friend. I feel most of all for the loss that Johanna, Tim and Jenny will suffer for they have lost a sister as well, a comrade in arms.

    Sometimes when I think back to my early Peets days I easily recall Lara's laughter and wit, and her greeting people with a "hi buddy!".  I met her my first days at my first store, on Chestnut Street where we all prospered under the leadership of Jenn Sackett.  Lara and Jenn were particularly close as they both shared qualities of kindness, rooting for the underdog, calling an asshole an asshole (although Jenn's way was to deliver the message so it seemed as a compliment. Lara's method was a direct verbal punch to the ego). Lara liked my sense of humor, categorizing it as zany as sometimes responding with a full laugh- that was distinctly hers.  While I most wanted my co-workers to see me as fair and reliable- not caring as much to be liked, it was important to me that Lara like me. Later on when I became the store manager at Fillmore we often had heart to heart discussions about business, policies, employees, people, what we could tolerate, what we could disagree on but still exist in.

    I always felt an appreciation for our sharing a similar journey from Chestnut to Fillmore, experiencing the company moving from a private cool place to corporate questionable soulless entity- although some of our discussions we disagreed as to how far over the change was.  I am a vegetarian now and Lara is one of the reasons that I ever considered this a possibility. Once, she came over to my parents for dinner and although I had informed my Mother that Lara didn't eat meat, my Mom made her a special chicken dish. Lara then discreetly worked her way to enjoying my mom's vegetable offerings and was a wonderful guest.

     I still have the photo Lara took of me when I left the Chestnut store to go to Fillmore.  She wrote a sweet message on the photo.  After settling in at Fillmore (and meeting Johanna), I checked with Lara to see if she wanted to transfer over.  As Jenn had previously left Chestnut, she soon agreed to transfer. Those years with Lara at Fillmore were very good years with taking care of business but more importantly! having fun with her and Jo, Steve, Lucie, Korin, Josef, Anatole....so many good people.  I was proud of what we established in the community  and Lara was a large part of this; creating a friendly, good go to place, but heaven help you if you were an jerk.  She would recognize all kind hearted folks even if no one else did. Very excellent with the swear words too.

     Early one morning I recall her in an intense and friendly discussion with customer Chris Thile who Lara was not aware of as being a player mandolin extraordinaire. She may have said something disparaging about country music and Thile was attempting to illustrate the many virtues, history and relevance of the idiom. That was part of Lara; by sharing her honesty and with her own virtue of being open to discussion, invited you to discuss topics of meaning, for reconsideration.  Unless of course you were an asshole.

      Because I was the store manager sometimes I felt Lara didn't completely trust me representing the man but she knew that deep down I was the most un-man man that Peets could have so although there were times we drifted apart some, I always felt that I could count on her, and trusted Lara without any doubt. She was kind and playful with Dexter, and a friend to Maria and later Oliver.  I helped reunite her with Jenn for a time at Bush and Battery, and I know that she left us on occasion but came back.  Lara always did her work and helped us crush the morning rush with super fun efficiency.

      There were dinners and store events during and after my time at Peets. The last time I saw Lara as I recall was at Jenny's and I was so happy to have her company, her laughter and silliness near us again. Prior to that I was honored that she came out for a goodbye dinner that the team had for me, not even living in the city at that time.

      There were many occasions when she made me laugh hard, and I enjoyed surprising her with a caustic remark or doing something unexpected.  Perhaps my fondest memory is a day Lara, Josef and I went to the Academy Of Sciences on a behind the scenes day.  We participated on a tour of how the systems worked in the old Academy, seeing how the large filtration and water pumps were at work, held some lizards and snakes and spent a half hour dropping buckets of meat to the alligators.  It was a nice mix of people; Josef with his observing subtle qualities -although outside of work his humor and joy were more readily shared, and Lara's buoyant energy. We had a great day. I wish there were more.  Lara Anderson, one of the best and favorite people I will ever know.  When people like her leave us too soon, living is misery.
 

Last words on 2016

    For the holidays we asked the boys (as well as what Maria and I gave each other) to donate to charities that they know we would support, and perhaps one or two that might be a new one.  They were thoughtful and made donations to IRAP (The Immigration Reform Project), Planned Parenthhood, and NRDC (National Defense Resource Council). We are very proud of them.

     Other family donations went to the American Heart Association, Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter (FAAS), ProPublica.org (investigative journalism), Doctors Without Borders, Season Of Sharing, Greenpeace, American Civil Liberties Union, NPR/KQED, Glide Memorial, The Dolphin Project, Chinese Progressive Association, La Casa de las Madres, Sweet Relief, and Care.

      Going forward this is what we will ask from each other (although can't help but get the boys stuff too).

      Alright new year. Let's get it going. This is morning, no longer mourning.