Years ago, blues sax player Terry Hanck played in San Diego with Elvin Bishop when he was on tour out of San Francisco. He was back in town on Sunday with his band at Patrick’s Pub. Joining them on stage was Johnny Vernazza, who used to play with both Elvin and Terry.
Patrick’s isn’t an easy place to get good quality video, but for the Terry Hanck fans, it will be fun to watch.
San Diego Blues
It was a slow (always that way after a holiday weekend) but good jam night at Patrick’s Pub. Here is a clip of newcomer to the jam, Fred Lawson, on bass and singing You Better Pray. Great song and some great solos from Johnny Vernazza on guitar, Chuck Arcilla on sax, and Walter Gentry on sax – our beloved jam host, along with Matthew Burgher on drums.
Note: Video is a bit grainy and a few times out of focus, which happens when the lighting isn’t that good where the sax players stand. But still very worth watching.
San Diego Blues
Last night at Walter Gentry’s Chicken Wings blues jam at Patrick’s, we had a house full of brass (sax, trumpet and trombone).
In this video, visiting Australian Somerset Barnard is playing guitar and singing a Mojo Webb (another Australian bluesman) tune called Hands Like Mine. The vocal sound quality isn’t that great, but the rest is really good and catches solos from everyone on stage. Along with Somerset is Leonard Lee on guitar, Bert Hammer (visiting from Canada) on drums, Gary Stutts on bass, Steve Lang on harmonica, Chuck Arcilla on sax, Carlos Serrano on trumpet, Phil Lozano on trombone, and also on sax – a 21 year old I’m waiting to get the name of, who was amazing.
San Diego Blues
Walter Gentry’s Tuesday night jam was another packed evening on and off the stage. Who ever said blues is boring hasn’t been to a San Diego jam!
Here we have Ray Zvetini playing guitar and singing an Albert King (and later Eric Clapton) cover song Crosscut Saw. With him on stage are Doyle Thomas on guitar, Seth Webster on bass, Lisa Viegas on drums, Tim Sutherland on keyboard, Ray Brown on trumpet and John Brooks on sax.
Some of the musicians switched out and Ray Brown took over the vocals and belted out that great Commodore’s cover song Brick House. Justin Fools joined in on harmonica, Fuzzy Rankins played the keyboard, Matt Taylor was back on drums, and I’m not sure who was playing the other guitar. Seth was still on bass, John was on sax, and I didn’t catch who joined them on trumpet. The sound got a bit loud, so it didn’t pick up too well on my mic.
Earlier that night, Somerset Barnard, visiting from Australia, was performing one of his own tunes Nobody’s Fault. He was joined by Seth Webster on bass guitar, Johnny Vernazza on guitar, Matt Taylor on drums, Ray Brown on trumpet and John Brooks on sax.
San Diego Blues
Here’s a clip from Walter’s weekly Chicken Wings Jam at Patrick’s Pub. I’m afraid it’s a bit grainy and dark, but it captures Shaaron Schuemaker on bass and singing that great cover song You Got Me Hummin, along with “Harmonica John” Frazer on harp, Johnny Vernazza on guitar (not sure who other guitarist was), Matt Taylor on drums, Tim Sutherland on keyboard, Chuck Arcilla on the sax, and Phil Lozano on trombone.
San Diego Blues
I’ve been away too long from Walter’s weekly blues jam at Patrick’s Pub, which always brings in a great crowd and a good group of musicians each week. All the different blues jams around town are unique and draw in a different mix of musicians from each other, and this jam is always lively, jammin and a good time! I will be back more often 😉
Last night’s jam started at 9pm with members of the house jam band (who give up their spots to other musicians who come in after the first set) and last night they included Johnny Vernazza on guitar, Victor Marquez on guitar, Jim Reeves on bass guitar, Matt Taylor on drums, Tim Sutherland on keyboard, Chuck Arcilla playing the sax, Lampchops (Carlos Serrano) on trumpet and Phil Lozano on trombone. Most of these guys have their own bands, and you can find them around town on other nights.
In this clip, Victor Marquez takes the lead with BB King cover song Why I Sing the Blues.
And in this clip, Johnny Vernazza leads and sings Buddy Guy’s cover song Talk to Me Baby.
The JammingOut BLUSD jam at House of Blues was hopping last night, and as usual there were lots of local musicians who showed up to jam. You never know who will be there, and last night was a real treat to have two members of The Saxations quartet in the house. Playing the sax were Leilani Vidal and Michelle Maynard, who joined Doyle Thomas on guitar and vocals, Chris Cooper on keyboard, Irakli Aladash on bass, and Michael Minor on drums to perform cover song Unchain My Heart.
Fuzzy Rankins hosts the Old School Blues Jam, and he amps it up and gets down with his funky blues. Last night a number of people dropped in to play with him. Joining Fuzzy in this clip is a young guy on guitar, calling himself Rambo (not wanting to give me his real name – I get that), Irakli Aladash on bass, and TC Tye on keyboards – along with his drummer, Bruce Hutcherson.
Later in the evening, Matt Meyer joined in on sax with Fuzzy to play the cover song So Sorry Baby, and Bob Prater took over on bass. Enjoy, as I did.
You don’t see Walter Gentry play his sax solo too often, so I was lucky to catch him perform last evening at his Chicken Wings Jam at Patrick’s Pub. The audio on this video doesn’t do him justice. He plays beautifully, as he did last night with his smooth and fluid notes.
Local sax player, Walter Gentry and his G-Men band play Rhythm & Blues, Soul and little bit of rock on Monday nights at Patrick’s Gaslamp Pub. I was there last night catching them perform the cover song so many of us know: Superstition.
Francious Simms has a great voice for this song, and he’s supported by Johnny Vernazza on guitar, Walter on sax (hard to see him with the lighting), Larry Morgan on bass (also a bit too dark to really see) and Leon Wesley on drums.