Unk

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/2007-08-22/m...-improvisation/ Economic Improvisation As Yoshi's prepares a second act in San Francisco, the club broadens its sound. By Rachel Swan Published: August 22, 2007 Forget the edamame and the moderately popular Blue Note jazz artists. These days, a Monday night at Yoshi's is tantamount to a Friday night at any other club in the world. It's certainly the only night you'll see sweat vaporizing on the club's ceiling. Once the domain of local or lesser-known musicians, Mondays at Yoshi's now belong to raucous ten-to-twelve piece swing, Afro-Latin, or Cuban son bands, often equipped with large horn sections and coordinated guayabera dress shirts. Patrons cha-cha across every available inch of dancefloor as waitresses scurry to keep pace with the steady demand for cocktails. On a good night, the joint fills up well before ten. Yoshi's got a brand-new bag.Yoshi's co-owner Kaz Kajimura attributes the boom in business to the club's recent efforts to expand its definition of jazz. It has traded in some of its jazz bookings for more neo-soul and world-music acts; the July calendar included R&B celebs such as Amel Larrieux and Latin bandleaders like Fito Reinoso. Yoshi's made an even more drastic maneuver by overhauling its Monday night format. While the rest of the East Bay drowns its sorrows in self-pitying "Blue Monday" blues jams, the club opened up its dancefloor, something the owners haven't really tried since moving to Jack London Square ten years ago. They have booked the Cuban timba band Tiempo Libre on August 27, swing band Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers on September 17, and Balkan dance act Ivo Papasov on September 25. Box office attendants say the dance nights have had consistently high turnout. The moment Kajimura knew he was onto something good was July 9's bash with Orquesta la Moderna, which was almost sold out an hour into the show — a rarity for a Monday. He was all a-tizzy. "That was a good one," he said. "I was very, very happy." He'd like to keep it that way. The expansion is necessary for Kajimura to sustain his 35-year-old business as the most important jazz club on the West Coast, the only one that A-list artists such as Ahmad Jamal and Christian McBride will visit while they're on tour. It is, arguably, the linchpin of the efforts to develop an "entertainment district" in the Jack London Square area. Now, Kajimura is risking everything by opening a second Yoshi's in San Francisco's Fillmore District in November. He'll now have to fill roughly eight hundred seats a night, a daunting if not impossible proposition if he were relying on traditional jazz alone. The roots of the Yoshi's expansion date to about three and a half years ago, when the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency decided to devote a parcel of land in the Fillmore Heritage Center to jazz. Kajimura said he wanted to nail down the project before New York's venerable Blue Note jazz club beat him to it. He thinks an efficient business model will allow him and partner Yoshi Akiba to run both venues concurrently. While Kajimura isn't exactly seeing green, he's at least cautiously optimistic. "We're hoping the San Francisco market is different from Oakland, and there's a lot more people out at night," he says. Even on Monday. Shrewd business decisions have kept the Yoshi's brand alive for 35 years and have helped it stave off the hardships that killed other Jack London Square nightclubs — the square's slow foot traffic and relative isolation. Yoshi's avoids a lot of these problems because it's set up as a "destination location," Kajimura says. People come from across the Bay Area to see bigger-name acts such as Joshua Redman or McCoy Tyner. By parsing the ZIP codes on credit card transactions and handing out frequent questionnaires, he has concluded that about 20 percent of his customers hail from San Francisco. Although Kajimura believes his business would benefit from more development in Jack London Square, he doesn't depend on foot traffic the way a smaller club such as the nearby Silk Road Lounge might. His business didn't suffer when TGI Friday's closed in 2004, and whatever happens at the nearby Ben & Jerry's or Jack London Square movie theater doesn't seem to affect him. Unlike neighboring venues, Yoshi's hasn't seen a consistent trend in sales. "Business is kind of up and down in the last few years," Kajimura says. "We thought last year was gonna be a record year up until September or so. Then it took a nosedive." He can't explain the aberration, but insists that his decision to expand into San Francisco has nothing to do with a dearth of business in Oakland. Even so, Kajimura will have a lot to contend with if he plans to successfully duplicate his Oakland jazz club. The success of Yoshi's San Francisco depends on its customer base being distinct from its East Bay clientele. Yoshi's will be able to book national acts at both clubs concurrently, either by splitting the week or by having top-tier artists play San Francisco one week and Oakland the next. If either premise fails, Yoshi's will be competing with itself, which could lead to an economically unsustainable situation. Artistic director Peter Williams says concurrent bookings shouldn't be a problem. He notes that Yoshi's won't have to deal with exclusivity contracts — agreements that limit the number of venues a touring artist can book within a certain area — because it's a single business. Still, setting up in a second market may prove tricky. There will be more competition in San Francisco, and if Yoshi's plans to fill two large venues every night, it'll either have to snag bigger-name jazz artists on a regular basis or switch to a more popular genre. Even an artist at the level of Blue Note vibraphonist Stefon Harris won't sell out a four-hundred-seat venue five nights in a row and then be able to sell out a separate three-hundred-seat venue the following week. Nor will the Oakland formula translate easily to San Francisco. While the Oakland club benefits from having a large parking garage, the Fillmore building lacks any such structure. It's questionable whether the upper-middle-class crowd Kajimura hopes to attract will be willing to park in a tenuous neighborhood several blocks from the venue and then queue for 45 minutes for a show they paid $35 to see. Kajimura says the lot beneath Yoshi's San Francisco can handle roughly one hundred cars, and he's discovered an underused city-operated lot just across the street. The new club also will offer valet parking. As for waiting in line, he's solved that problem by making all seats pre-reserved. "We decided the clientele mentalities are different," he explains. Still, some Bay Area jazz artists are rankled. "He made his reputation on hardcore jazz," says Broun Fellinis saxophonist David Boyce, who traces the "diversification" in programming back to 1997, when Yoshi's first moved to Jack London Square. "I mean, the old Yoshi's on Claremont was about that particular kind of edgy, creative, so-called 'jazz' music. But economics always rears its ugly head." Boyce points to August's calendar, which includes Latin kingpin Pete Escovedo, jam-band scenester Marco Benevento, R&B singer Sunny Hawkins, studio guitarist Lee Ritenour, Blue Note hip-hop pianist Robert Glasper, and fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth. The only jazz player in the "creative, edgy, hardcore" sense is James Carter. There was a time, Boyce says, when Holdsworth, Ritenour, and Benevento would have played only concert halls like Bimbo's or the Warfield — not a jazz club. Given the business demands, can Yoshi's even afford to remain a jazz club? Indeed, it was incredibly risky to have an artist like Benevento, who draws a crowd that would probably prefer drinking beer and smoking pot. Unfortunately, the club didn't pull it off, Kajimura says, noting that ticket sales completely tanked on those nights, faring only slightly better on Thursday. If Yoshi's wants to stay afloat, it may have to dip more heavily into smooth jazz, booking more acts in the vein of Keiko Matsui, Lalah Hathaway, and Ledisi, who could be marketed on KKSF. Boyce fears the venue may eventually go the route of Emeryville's now-defunct Kimball's East, replacing traditional jazz with the Howard Hewetts of the world. "The more higher-end the jazz club is, the more willing they are to shelve that word 'jazz' and just pander," he says. "I don't think Yoshi's is any different." But the owner explains that he's gotta do what he's gotta do. "If we could really sustain Yoshi's business just with straight-ahead jazz, we would have done it," Kajimura says. "We have to make it profitable enough to carry on this formula of presenting jazz seriously. Unfortunately, we just have to branch out a little bit." --------------------- end of article ---------------------------------------- I hate to be a cynic, but I'm not a big Yoshi's fan, so I tend to agree with this concern: "Boyce fears the venue may eventually go the route of Emeryville's now-defunct Kimball's East, replacing traditional jazz with the Howard Hewetts of the world. "The more higher-end the jazz club is, the more willing they are to shelve that word 'jazz' and just pander," he says. "I don't think Yoshi's is any different." Kimballs East (and Kimballs San Francisco) were both fine clubs that just couldn't make it with a straight-ahead jazz, national act lineup. Yoshi's has done pretty well so far, so I hope they can survive. But the number of acts passing through that interest me (I'm not in the Bay Area often to act on my 'interests) is rapidly slipping.

I'm not a particular Zorn-o-phile, but I like both the Masada and Spy vs. Spy. I'll admit upfront that I haven't listened to SvS for a few months, but I didn't find it 'violent' so much as uninhibitedly frantic...in a generally good way. More sax unison lines than I originally expected, and sticking more closely to the head-solos-head formula - albeit with collective solos in many cases. If I can say it without sounding negative, it strikes me as cartoon music on hallucinogenic amphetamines. Or some such thing. I think it'll grow on you, provided you don't compound the effect by indulging in hallucinogenic amphetamines yourself before listening. Through headphones. On "11".

The ones I saw at J&R were $11.99; 12.97 at Amazon...with free shipping at $25. $11.99 at DeepDiscount with free shipping.

I have SR60s, SR80s, Sennheisers and a variety of others. I like the SR60s just fine, though some find them a bit uncomfortable ("vice-like"). In terms of sound, they give about 87% of the quality on gets from a far more expensive pair, so they've always seemed like a pretty good trade-off to me...even if they're not fully up to the hype. In general, IMO, it's best to listen to audio things before buying, though, arguably on a (roughly) $69 purchase, it's not worth a lot of running around.

Today's e-mail. -------------------------------------------------- Introducing Monterey Jazz Festival Records! http://www.mjfrecords.org/promos/ Monterey Jazz Festival Records is a not-for-profit indie label under the umbrella of the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival and in partnership with Concord Music Group. All of the MJFR releases are truly unique: incredibly rare live performances by legends such as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Diana Krall, Joe Henderson, Dave Brubeck, and more. MJFs profits from these CDs go towards their year-round jazz education programs. Monterey Jazz Festival Records will open its vaults on August 21st, one month before the 50th Anniversary of the glorious Monterey Jazz Festival. When we say 'vaults', we mean it: it's the first time that these never-before-heard (unless you were there!), priceless recordings will be released commercially. Hundreds of amazing artists have poured their souls out on the stage at Monterey these past 50 years and this is just the beginning. We are sure that you will enjoy these albums as much as we did while working on them. Visit http://www.mjfrecords.org/promos/ to learn more! ---------------------------------------------------- Looks like some of these are included in the J&R sale, though I didn't see them all.

All confirmed CD orders to-date shipped this morning from San Jose, California.

Updated.

Yes, even online. http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...c=35463&hl=

LEAVING TOWN - STORE CLOSING...FOR A WHILE. THANKS. Much of this was ‘trade bait’ before it got reissued, but there are still a few goodies. Shipping will be somewhere between free and ‘at cost’, depending on how much you order and where you live. Paypal payments preferred. Art Blakey, Live in Japan, Jazz Round, Sealed, $7 Art Blakey, Meet You at the Jazz Corner Vol 1, Blue Note TOCJ, Offer/Trade Johnny Coles, Little Johnny C, Blue Note Conn, Mark thru UPC, $6 Johnny Coles, Little Johnny C, Blue Note Conn, $7 Miles Davis, Cookin' at the Plugged Nickel, Columbia, Sealed, $7 Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges, Side by Side, Verve Master Edition, Sealed, $8 Bill Evans, Conversations with Myself, Verve Master Edition, Sealed, $8 Bill Evans, Everybody Digs, Riverside K2, Sealed, $8 Stephane Grappelli, Just One of Those Things, Black Lion, Sealed, $7 Wardell Gray, One For Prez, Black Lion, Sealed, $8 Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Jasrac (?) Japan, "Jazz Master Series", Sealed, $6 Barry Harris, Bird of Red and Gold, Xanadu, Sealed, $8 Alvin Youngblood Hart, Big Mama's Door, Okeh, Writing on Cover,$5 Tubby Hayes and Clark Terry, New York Sessions, Columbia, Offer/Trade Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame, Blue Note Collectors' Choice, $7 Pedro Iturralde, Featuring Hampton Hawes!, Blue Note, Sealed, Offer/Trade Lee Konitz, Motion, Verve 24bit, Sealed, $8 Pete LaRoca, Basra, Blue Note Conn, Offer/Trade Yusef Lateef, Contemplation, VeeJay/, Collectibles, Sealed, $8 Leo Parker, Let Me Tell You 'Bout It, Blue Note Spain, Sealed, $7 Horace Parlan, Happy Frame of Mind, Blue Note, Offer/Trade Duke Pearson, Wahoo, Jasrac (?) Japan, "Jazz Master Series", Sealed, $6 Bud Powell, Strictly Confidential, Black Lion, $8 Dizzy Reece, Blues in Trinity, Blue Note TOCJ, Hole in spine, Offer/Trade Wayne Shorter, Speak No Evil, Blue Note (1987), $7 Horace Silver, Finger Popin' (sic), Blue Note (1988), $7 Sonny Stitt, Autumn in New York, Black Lion, $8 Navarro/Eager/Jaws/Kai/Brew, Various, In the Beginning The Bop, Savoy/Denon, Sealed – Sawcut, $7 Weston/Hanna/McShann/Hines/C. Taylor, Various, Tribute to Duke Ellington Montreux 1974, Black Lion, Sealed, $8 Eddie Vinson, Jamming the Blues, Black Lion, $8 Little Walter, His Best, Chess 50th Anniversary, Sealed, $8 Dinah Washington,The Best in Blues, Verve Elite, Sealed, Offer/Trade Randy Weston, Berkshire Blues, Black Lion, $8 Non-jazz Kraftwerk Trans Europe Express Capitol $8 Elvis Costello My Aim is True Rykodisk 22 cut extended $7

If built correctly, the mudslide should have no affect on a house's foundation. My house is built on a hillside (though not with those frightening pillars - they scare even me!) but it's built on concrete pilings that go down 40 feet into the bedrock. It's rock and not "mud," of course, but even if the hillside that our house was built on were to wash away, the house would still be standing on its foundation supports. Exactly what happened to my old house...before it burned in the Oakland Hills fire.

I'm another long-time Wallace fan and I keep reading favorable reviews about this one. And so it's on 'the list'.

North Carolina? Don't y'all have some natural disaster hazards of your own? No offense intended, but it does amaze me how frightened by earthquakes people who live in non-earthquake zones are, and how indifferent people who experience earthquakes regularly are. My favorite 'jab' toward tourists in California is to say "Now THIS is earthquake weather!"

Drat. Gone. Thanks anyway!

I wouldn't have predicted it, but...Django.

Blue Notes: http://www.jr.com/JRSectionView.process?di...7658&Ne=500 All Jazz: http://www.jr.com/JRSectionView.process?N=...51&Ne=10000 The whole sale: http://www.jr.com/JRSectionView.process?N=...+151&Ne=150

Broadly speaking, my health and fitness. That means exercise equipment, choosing hotels and gyms and "buying" the time to exercise and be active (substitute a fast taxi for a slow bus, for example).

But don't re-use them for more than a week at most. There was a pretty gross segment on all the bacteria in water bottles that were being re-used. Now this was specifically on people refilling store-bought bottles (which you can't wash) with tap water, but I would suspect that even with the sports bottles, most people don't wash them frequently enough. thank you. i didnt know that. you may have saved me some serious trouble. The answer is Nalgene. http://www.rei.com/product/664604 Also keeps empty water bottles out of the landfill.

just a sincere effort to help a member or two. aloc hasnt been drinking enough water, and too much pepsi, and still has an occasional pepsi. Thanks for the clarify. As for me, I drink way too much soda (all diet and caffiene-free). Trying to migrate to tea and coffee - only the 'quality' stuff. Doing better than a gallon a day of good ol' tap water as part of exercise/sports routine.

Sorry, I'm kind of an outsider here. How does the topic and original article relate back to the original poster's board name? Just want to make sure I'm not missing the undercurrent here.

I think I saw one on eBay. Or perhaps that was a holey Grail.

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=20869 http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=28202 http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=13034 Some places mentioned (like Tower and Aron's) are now gone.

You say you've got a down-home internet connection?

The Ayler "Crypt" is lovingly packaged. It gives up some utility/ease of use, but I still enjoy it overall.

they only put meat on the pizza if you ask for it. True, but most cheese contains meat (rennet, made from the stomachs of calves). And for me, I don't do dairy or yeast. Or eggs, though they're more rare in pizza crust, I s'pose. And yes, sometimes I feel like I'm 'missing out'. That means you gotta make a pizza with this stuff.... Although, I don't know how you get around the no yeast thing. Yeah, the no-yeast thing is a drag. Think: beer. Hell, if it wasn't for all the sex with hairy-legged women, I'd have quit this vegetarian thing long ago.

see also: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=230 One I particularly like is Diz's Sonny Side Up, with Rollins and Stitt. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:hzfqxq8gld0e