My two Heimlich Maneuver experiences: 1988 and 2008

Now it's been two times in my life--fortunately at public places--that I choked on food and someone nearby knew how to do the Heimlich Maneuver! Twenty years ago it was a burrito that I snarfed too fast and my friend Ed took me out on the street in front of Tacos Morenos in Santa Cruz and forced an almost golf-ball size bolus out of my throat. Then, a week or so ago at Trancas Steak House In Napa over lunch with my friend Kathy I was eating a French Dip sandwich too fast, and it happened again. Kathy offered me water (the worst thing) and I was able to croak "Heimlich" so she fetched the waitperson who applied several Heimlichs until I could swallow and breathe again....I scared the hell out of Kathy (I only felt bad that if I died I'd leave a mess behind for others), but it made me decide that we should have a Heimlich session here at my Moon Valley Park as part of our Emergency Preparedness Task Force program, and also that I need to learn how to do a self-Heimlich! Probably everyone should learn this!

Will

See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heimlich

June 5, 1968 -June 5, 2008

Will remembers:
Yes, that date is etched in my memory as the other assassinations of the '60s. Earlier on Tuesday on my way home from teaching I had voted for him in the California Primary. I was at home mesmerized in front of my little GE color TV watching the vote counts and the celebrations from around the state, staying up late. It was a little after midnight Wednesday when there was a sudden cut in the regular network feed with that awkwardness when the unexpected happens. It switched to the Ambassador Hotel in L.A. where he had just been shot, with all the noise and confusion imaginable. I stayed up at least another hour, numbed to the core.


My friend Linda remembers:
Amazing how it all comes back to me...40 years ago today, Paul and I were on the Oklahoma Turnpike on our way to California; the news came on that Robert Kennedy had been shot in Los Angeles...then back to music and there was Scott McKenzie singing, "If you're going to San Francisco Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...and The Mamas and the Papas' California Dreamin...
June 8th, my 40th anniversary landing on the shores of The Bay...and not a regret except I wish I could do it over a million times; an unforgettable 40 years...

Will's mini-review: Last night of Sonoma Jazz Plus 2008: Al Jarreau and Bonnie Raitt

Both final shows were superb, more than making up for any shortcomings from Diana Krall's near-disastrous performance the night before. Classic and classy jazz vocalist Al Jarreau's sweet style has been captivating those of us who have heard him for as many years as I can remember, so this first show of the night was a real pleaser for my friend Kathy--who was unfamiliar with him--and I, who have heard him since the early '60s. His repertoire ranges from R&B to blues to standards, as did his backup band tonight. If you have never heard him, check him out! he's one of those jazzmen's jazzman!

The for-weeks-now sell-out crowd for Bonnie Raitt, in a return visit to Sonoma Jazz from its first year was on its feet most of the night. It's hard to think of anything she hasn't put her finger to in her career in vocal styles, advancing music and musicians, or racking up achievements. Her brother Dave on harmonica and slide guitarist Roy Rogers (whom I first saw years ago at Moe's Blues Alley in Santa Cruz) were wonderful additions to the band backing up Bonnie. I'd write more but you get the idea, I'm sure, and after four spectacular nights of music, and four well-deserved encores for Bonnie Raitt, I've got to hit the hay! Thanks for tuning in....

Al Jarreau

Night Three of Sonoma Jazz: Taylor Eigsti Quartet with Julian Lage; Diana Krall Quartet

After two excellent nights of Sonoma Jazz Plus 2008, the third was a mixed bag. I almost started this with my infamous "Don't get me wrong" line, because the third of whatever is usually a charm. I have now seen jazz stylist extraordinaire Diana Krall three times, twice in Santa Cruz, once at the late lamented Palookaville, when she was in her late 20s, and once at the Kuumbwa), when she was in her mid-30s, but--now in her early 40s--she wasn't sick either of those times. Let's just quote her words after her first raspy number: "Steroids do wonders for bronchitis, even on top of the cigars and vodka last night." (I attended what turned out to be Luciano Pavarotti's last performance with the San Francisco Opera in a production of "La Boheme" in the 1980s under similar circumstances. His hoarse performance was so painful that my friends who adored him and I left after the first act, and then-opera manager “Lotfi” Mansouri subsequently 86ed him from S.F. Opera productions.) This was as pitiful. Why she didn't cancel...who knows? Well, there were the three other musicians of her quartet--the drummer and the bassist were especially good. And at times Krall could have been doing impersonations of her husband Elvis Costello (or croaking Tom Waits). But, unfortunately, Elvis was not present in the building...er, tent.

The lead-up group, Taylor Eigsti Quartet with Julian Lage, were another story! 22-year old pianist Eigsti and his buddy 20-year old guitarist Lage belied their age with their musical sophistication, wit and creativity. Both original pieces and covers were fresh and sensational. Bringing all 3,000 or so of us to our feet, the quartet ended their performance with the most imaginative and awesome interpretation of that old jazz war horse, Duke Ellington's "Caravan" that I've ever heard. That more than made up for the later peccadillos of mama Krall. (in the photo, Krall, Bettye Lavette and Elvis Costello)

Taylor Eigsti and Julian Lage

Second night of Sonoma Jazz Plus 2008: Rev. Al Green and Herbie Hancock

Truly, Sonoma Jazz Plus is becoming the Monterey Jazz Festival of the 21st century. Why do I say that? Early on at Monterey in the beginning of the '60s I went each year with a buddy of mine, but we stopped going when it got too big and was no longer as intimate as this festival still is. And yet, each night has had its own incomparable peaks! I've heard both these greats before, Al Green back in the '70s, and Herbie Hancock back then and also two years ago here at Sonoma Jazz Plus in 2006, before he did his Grammy-winning "River: the Joni Letters." Both have such a repertoire by now that each show tonight was a blockbuster. Al Green's unique sense of sacred soul rocked us out like cosmic gospel; no mention or use of the usual cliches, his artistry gets more powerful with age. Herbie Hancock, just a couple years younger than me, and so I followed his career, started out playing with classical piano, then played with Miles Davis and subsequently became one of the fathers of fusion, always turns over new leafs. Not only did we have two vocalists style some of the Joni Mitchell numbers he crafted, but his group included an amazing scratching DJ, C-minus, an incredible harmonica player from France, and a guitarist from Benin who knocked us out.

Lead-off in second night of Sonoma Jazz Plus 2008: Rev. Al Green

Kool and the Gang

Thursday was the first of four nights of the Sonoma Jazz Plus Festival 2008, and featured Kool and the Gang, whom I first and last experienced live almost 30 years ago with my then-partner Allen on a west coast tour date in San Francisco. As my nephew musician, radio show host of "Sonoma Valley Music Scene" and entertainment writer for the Sonoma Sun, J.M. Berry aptly said after the show, if you missed it then you got it tonight. The front of the huge tent right in front of the stage was a disco floor and I found myself dancing my ass off for an hour and a half with people the same age I was 30 years ago. It was incredible. They re-created some of their famous anthems, "Celebration" and "Ladies Night" though their great revival numbers when they re-emerged in the mid-90s. A couple of them are still the same guys, but don't expect those details from me; I'm sure you'll find them in James's column. Go to the Sonoma Sun online. Meanwhile, I reminisced that we occasionally passed the little spoon around at such parties back in the day to get ourselves up on the disco floor, but I and most of the crowd were so energized and inspired by the Gang that we didn't need any last night!

My two schoolmate Pulitzer Prize winners

David DelTredici was a school chum in my Marin Catholic days (1951-1955) who won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1980. In high school he won several music scholarships, including the Liberace Prize, for which he was kidded goodheartedly but mercilessly. He had to play "Bumble Boogie" endlessly for benefits until he hated it. He finally came out in the later 1980s and we met again at a Mavericks Concert at the S.F. Symphony in the summer of 1995. We chatted quite a bit at our high school class's fiftieth reunion. He's regarded as the father of neo-romantic music, starting with his many compositions based on the two Alice books.

tinyurl.com/48eh3q

Robert Hass, co-winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, is the younger brother of my classmate Fred Hass in my St. Raphael's Grammar School class of 1951. Fred was one of my nemeses and has turned out almost opposite to his poetic brother, who wrote a moving poem about a loveless and wistful Dominican nun we had in fifth grade who gazed out the window as we sang Robert Burns' poems set to music.

tinyurl.com/66odpu