One From the Vaults of KRE Radio

Basement Rug co-contributor Blind Joe Death was recently visiting and noted that we both have a sizable collection of tiny label or independent/DIY issues that people really need to hear. We will be reviewing this part of our collections for future collaborations.

His comments got me thinking about another part of my collection that I have been considering for The Basement Rug: tapes of live concerts. These once circulated as bootlegs (although most of the bands I recorded allowed and encouraged taping) through tape “trees” that were conducted by mail. All of this quickly disappeared when the digital music revolution joined the ranks of the internet via file-sharing.

Despite real issues of dynamic range, Blind Joe Death swears that tapes have their own magic, and who am I to disagree? Tapes still rule in my car (where outside noise makes dynamic range a bit of a moot point), and I am sure there are a few well-recorded concerts in my tape collection that would be just as enjoyable as mp3 files.

A few weeks ago I got an email from Miles over at Birds With Broken Wings. He too has been reviewing his tape museum and has decided to offer up a few choice gems to share with the world:

While recently unpacking some boxes, I came across a bundled stack of very old cassette tapes dating from the 1970’s. Poorly labeled, if labeled at all, I examined each of them one by one to find out what on earth might have possessed me to hold on to them for so many years. They obviously held something that was significant to me at one time, but if they were so important, why was only the sketchiest of information written on their inserts, and why did they end up getting buried along with a collection of yellowed memorabilia from days gone by? Well shit, I discovered that these were in fact, live music broadcasts from the KRE Radio archives, recorded at a variety of venues throughout the Bay Area some 30 to 35 years ago! Although I have little memory of doing so, I apparently had hastily dubbed copies of select shows from the stations archival library for my own collection, just prior to the station succumbing to ‘The Quiet Storm.’

KRE was an influential progressive jazz station that broadcast out of the Berkeley, California marina from approximately 1971 to 1980 (roughly), primarily mixing jazz fusion with the classics that preceded it, but also sprinkling a smattering of salsa, blues, reggae, funk, soul, and r&b into the flavorful stew. A favorite among musicians passing through the region, the station would additionally present live broadcasts of world class artists from the stages of Bay Area jazz clubs with frequency.

Miles sent his first offering to me to share through The Basement Rug: Stephane Grappelli with The Diz Disley Trio at The Great American Music Hall, 1978.

I have been slow on publishing this because neither Miles or I can determine the exact date of the recording, all of the players, or even an accurate setlist. Even the recording is incomplete (track 9 cuts out after 5 seconds).

Rather than continue to sweat over the details (and I tried many sources, but so far no luck), I decided I would just post the incomplete material and hope that participants in the blogosphere would eventually help fill in the blanks. The lack of details certainly cannot take away from this fine performance. The line-up is likely: Stephane Grappelli, violin; Diz Disley, guitar; John Etheridge, guitar; and Brian Torff on bass.

Check out Birds With Broken Wings for future offerings from Miles’ KRE tape museum. His first post is a real gem: Rahsaan Roland Kirk live at the Keystone.

Stephane Grappelli with The Diz Disley Trio at The Great American Music Hall, 1978

1. Unknown
2. Fascinating Rhythm
3. Golden Green
4. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
5. Them There Eyes
6. Pent-Up House
7. Norwegian Dance
8. Unknown
9. Chattanooga Choo Choo
10. Blues In G For B.T.
11. Sweet Georgia Brown

The Great American Music Hall

San Francisco’s oldest and grandest nightclub, the Great American Music Hall carries guests back to an earlier, more elegant era, with its ornate balconies, soaring marble columns and elaborate ceiling frescoes. Long-time customers and newcomers alike feel at home in the 5,000-square-foot concert hall that symbolized renewal and optimism when it opened in 1907. Today, a professional sound and lighting system, two full bars, a modern kitchen and a spacious oak dance floor help to blend contemporary quality with turn-of-the-century graciousness.

The remarkable interior design came from an unlikely duo: a French architect who designed the building in 1907, and Chris Buckley, a political mover and shaker who wanted to erect a grand structure after the devastating 1906 earthquake. The result was Blanco’s, characterized as one of the most popular entertainment spots during San Francisco’s notorious Barbary Coast Era. The restaurant/bordello offered fine food, gambling and fast women right up until the dark days of the Great Depression in 1933.

Three years later, in 1936, the extravagant and elaborate fan dances of local favorite, Sally Rand, brought new life to the dark building. She called it the Music Box, and swanky city dwellers would dance the night away there for the next decade.

With the end of World War II, the Music Box turned out its lights. Blanco’s reopened in 1948 as a jazz club. In the 1950s, the premises were taken over by members of the Moose Lodge. The building went into an ignominious decline that hit bottom when the building was condemned by city building inspectors. A last-minute reprieve saved it from demolition, and the tarnished interior was spruced up a bit when a short-lived French restaurant named Charles (after the proprietor, Robert Charles) took over the building. But it was not until 1972, when the Great American Music Hall opened, that happy music lovers filled the hall once more.

The past three decades at the Great American Music Hall have been full of music, with artists ranging from Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan and Count Basie to Van Morrison, the Grateful Dead and Bobby McFerrin.