Hi, all,
To start, Darice deserves our hugest gratitude for being the instigator and
coordinator of this thing -- Darice thank you, and I'm so glad I got to chat
with you for a while before the music began! And mucho kudos to Richard for
suggesting the locale.
When I got there, Darice had already arrived, as had Richard G. and John G.
and their domestic partners; I had in tow my two friends and houseguests,
Evan and Dave; my own partner Robert arrived a little later, and to my huge
surprise, so did my newest friend Alberto (a young Spaniard whom I met --
long story short -- because he and a friend left a backpack full of wallets,
passports, camera, etc. on a bench in Alamo Square -- that little park from
which one can take picture of gingerbread houses with the cityscape in the
background; R & I took the bag to the nearest SFPD precinct, and the desk
sarge hinted heavily that whoever left it there would be better served by our
trying hard to locate the parties ourselves -- so we did, and Alfredo was one
of the young lads we met as a result -- and he came to the Cafe!!). Also
arriving late was Julius, whom I did at least get to meet briefly, but I
didn't get a chance to really talk to. In fact, that was the only flaw in
the evening, as far as I was concerned -- I only got to chat with the other
jmdlers briefly at best -- but the good news was the music!
There were three performers -- Garrin Benfield, who also MCs these things
(gay and lesbian singer/songwriters, first Wed of ervery month -- Richard,
correct me if i got any of that wrong) -- Holcombe Waller, and Mitchelle
Tanner.
Someone -- was it Darice or Richard or someone else? -- had made these sticky
patch thingies of Joni as Van Gogh from TI, and all jmdlers were given one --
and Garrin and Holcombe wore them too. (I don't seem to recall Mitchelle
wearing one, the obvious comparison between her first name and you-know-who's
last aside.)
Garrin's music was spectacular -- his lyrics are mostly about relationships,
the ups, the downs, trying to maintain one, monogamy -- ring a bell? As
broke as i am, I bought his album during the intermission. His voice ranges
from a mid baritone most of the time to an occasional pretty deep bass; hard
to compare voices, but maybe a little James Taylorish, although his writing
style reminds *me* more of Marc Cohn or John Gorka. Only a cute gay male
instead. Down to earth, accessible, but with great zingers. I keep playing
his album, along with Holcombe's (more about him shortly). His website is
<www.garrin.com>, and his record label's is <www.eighthnoterecords.com>.
Check him out. I am btw no-one's agent :-).
Holcombe, in short, blew me out of the water. The songs he performed were
all roller coaster rides, huge swings of emotion, and he acted every atom out
of them. During the intermission, while he was signing the cd I was buying,
I asked him he could do that -- sing songs like that and then immediately
return to the "real world" (I want to ask that of all singer/songwriters of
merit, of course, but he was the one I was talking to) -- and he just
shrugged and smiled. His voice is hard to pinpoint... Do any of you know
Kenny Rankin or (even more obscure) Brian Kennedy, who sounded eerily like
Joni on the one CD of his I'm aware of ("The Great War of Words" -- the
single that was released was "Hollow" -- released in '90', and i never saw
anything else by him). But I digress. As usual. Back to Holcombe: he
isn't afraid to swing back and forth between the male and female sides of his
voice. Think maybe the great Laura Nyro, Kate Bush, Tori Amos.. sorta like
that, but a cute gay male instead. His site is (not surprisingly)
<www.holcombewaller.com>
The third singer, Mitchelle, was, I gathered, better-known than the others,
and I would swear I'd heard her name before. Anyone heard of her? Maybe
she's done a Lillith or some such? Anyway, I wasn't overwhelmed by her. I
should say I tend to like women singers more than men singers, so this
shouldn't be read as a male/female thing (please!). I can't say she had an
off night, because as far as i could tell, she was comfortable, seemed
confident on stage. Her voice was fine -- I just wasn't impressed by her
songs... They were competent, but not... thrilling, like Garrin's or
Holcombe's. Go figure. That said, her website (or I guess just e-mail) is
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
I know -- this was supposed to be about Bay Area jmdlers, and I've written
mostly about young singer/songwriters. But that was mostly what the evening
turned out to be about. Nothing to gossip about, since we all barely met.
I'm really looking forward to the next Bay Area jmdler get-together; perhaps
we can find a place -- maybe even someone's pad (I volunteer, but it's so
small, it'd be a tight fit), or cafe on an off night, where we can talk and
get to know each other. Maybe something in Hayes Valley, where two of us
jmdlers live (John G., any ideas for a place?).
In the meantime, I'll be back at the Cafe Bazaar (ooo! the address! Damn --
I know it's between 21st and 22nd avenues on California -- Richard -- help me
out here) next first wednesday (12/5) to hear more new singer/songwriters.
hugs to all -- I've posted myself into exhaustion today!
walt
