Andrew Saman’s band was taking part in the SoFA Road Honest in downtown San Jose just a few years again when he heard the wailing sounds of a saxophone drifting alongside South First Road. He adopted his ears, they usually led him to Howard Wiley, who was on stage at Cafe Stritch, the jazz membership and restaurant that had turn into a touchstone within the SoFA district.
“I simply watched from the window and was blown away. I assumed, there’s some critical music taking place in downtown San Jose,” he mentioned. “Since then I’ve all the time related this house with the tradition of San Jose, with a whole lot of artists and a whole lot of musicians.”
So, it’s solely becoming that Wiley carried out once more in that location Friday evening as Saman opened Mama Kin within the previous residence of Cafe Stritch, which didn’t reopen its doorways after the COVID-19 pandemic compelled it to shut.
The brand new Mama Kin wont be that radical a departure from the previous Cafe Stritch. The stage has been repositioned and the decor has been spruced up with new banquettes and a copper-accented bar high. The menu will function American meals with a Latin infusion, Saman mentioned, however some Stritch favorites like mac and cheese and the grilled cheese/tomato soup combo have caught, as has the emphasis on creating the trifecta of fine leisure, good meals and good drinks.
“I’ve been doing this for nearly 30 years, and I’ve by no means had this a lot momentum and buildup earlier than I opened a spot,” mentioned Saman, 47, who served as supervisor at three downtown spots — The Continental, the Ritz nightclub and Cafe Stritch.
Mama Kin can be at the beginning a spot for music when it’s open Tuesdays by means of Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesdays can be dedicated to vinyl, Wednesdays will function native bands (and the return of the favored “Go Go Gone Present” with Mighty Mike McGee as soon as a month), Thursdays can be devoted to jazz, whereas Friday and Saturday nights will open the music up a bit extra.
Even the identify Mama Kin evokes the locations that was there underneath the possession of the Borkenhagen household: Eulipia, the restaurant that had a future from 1977 to 2012, drew its identify from Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “Track of the Eulipions”; Cafe Stritch, which opened in 2013, was named for Kirk’s well-known straight alto sax. Saman mentioned Mama Kin is known as for the Aerosmith tune that has all the time been a favourite of his.
“I needed a reputation that had music tied into it but in addition a homey, nurturing form of vibe,” Saman mentioned. “After which ‘Mama Kin’ got here up on my playlist.”
A DECADE OF SUPPORT: Purposes are open for the Leigh Weimers Rising Artists Awards, which is celebrating its tenth 12 months of offering unrestricted grants to Santa Clara County artists who're worthy of recognition however haven’t but made it massive. 4 artists are anticipated to obtain the $5,000 awards, that are named in reminiscence of Leigh Weimers, who championed the humanities all through his 40-year profession as a columnist on the Mercury Information.
Recipients of the award have included actor Tasi Alabastro and playwright-director Jeffrey Lo, who have been each a part of Metropolis Lights Theatre Firm’s current manufacturing of “Vietgone” (and Metropolis Lights’ present present, “Ready for Subsequent,” was written by Lo).
And Kenneth Tan, an award recipient in 2017, launched a memoir and artwork guide, “Crescenciana,” chronicling the creative collaboration the second-generation Filipino American loved along with his grandmother, Crescenciana Tan. In an e mail he despatched to the committee behind the Weimers Awards — which I'm a member of — Tan mentioned it was an necessary step on its path to publication. “I felt like our work had been seen and validated, and I used to be inspired to see it by means of and end all of my grandmother’s work,” he mentioned.
Tan’s guide is accessible on his web site, www.lolaxkenneth.com, at some impartial bookstores and on the Santa Clara Metropolis Library and Berkeley Public Libraries. And plans are within the works for it to be obtainable on the San Jose Museum of Artwork reward store, too. You may get extra particulars in regards to the Weimers Awards and apply earlier than the June 30 deadline at www.weimersawards.com.
POLITICS OF PRESERVATION: Historic preservation shouldn’t be a high challenge when deciding who must be San Jose’s subsequent mayor or a member of the Metropolis Council — town has many extra urgent points at hand to contemplate within the June 7 major election. However the candidates’ ideas on preservation do present some fascinating perception into their backgrounds, which is why I used to be fascinated by a current Preservation Motion Council report that surveyed candidates for mayor and council on the problem.
One among my takeaways is that whoever the following mayor is, historic Diridon Station will doubtless have that individual on their facet. Almost all the mayoral hopefuls who responded to the survey talked about the 87-year-old Caltrain station — which is anticipated to be a part of a serious transportation hub within the subsequent decade — as one of many “Endangered Eight” buildings in San Jose that resonates most with them. You may see the total report at www.preservation.org/2022-candidates. And don’t overlook to get your poll in by June 7.
EXHIBIT’S FAREWELL DURING PRIDE: After a 12 months on show at Historical past Park’s Arbuckle Gallery, the exhibition, “Coming Out: 50 Years of Queer Resistance and Resilience in Silicon Valley,” is coming to a detailed on the finish of June, which is Delight month. And there’s a June 5 farewell social gathering deliberate for the exhibition, which was a collaboration between Historical past San Jose and the BAYMEC Basis.
The festivities, from 1 to three:30 p.m., will embody garden video games, meals vans and performances by Ensamble Folclórico Colibrí, Silicon Valley Shakespeare, a drag efficiency by Kendoll and Tori Tia, plus queer storytellers from Teatro Visión. It's free to attend, and the exhibition will stay on show by means of June 26. Historical past Park is at Kelley Park at Phelan Avenue and Senter Highway.
DRIVE-IN BIRTHDAY PARTY: San Jose’s Capitol Drive-In — together with others within the West Wind chain — is celebrating the ninetieth anniversary of drive-in motion pictures Monday, June 6, with a particular throwback occasion that features $5 admission ($1 for youths 5-11) and — along with blockbusters like “Prime Gun: Maverick” and “Physician Unusual within the Multiverse of Insanity” — a lineup of ’70s and ’80s classics “Again to the Future,” “The Goonies” and “Grease.” Examine the showtimes at www.westwinddi.com.
There’s just one downside with this celebration: Each supply I discovered says that the Camden Drive-In in New Jersey is broadly accepted to have been the nation’s first when it opened June 6, 1933 (even the West Wind Drive-In launch cites the date). And that makes this Monday the 89th anniversary, not the ninetieth. However no person ever complained about an early birthday celebration, proper? Apart from, they will simply do once more subsequent 12 months.