Danny Kalb—the best guitar player you haven’t heard of. He was a co-founder of seminal psych-blues outfit, the Blues Project, a sure thing if there ever was one. But the fates were unkind to Kalb, and the band splintered just as they should have broken into the mainstream with a gig at the career-making Monterey Pop Fest. After working with Kalb a couple times for Crawdaddy! articles, I reconnected with him for this piece to color in a few details.
DJ Rob Swift ushered in the era of mid-90s turntablism with his crew, the X-Men. Their scratch routines were so creative, clinical and mind-bending that they were almost peerless. We discussed the one other outfit that could challenge them as well as his growth since that time, into a literal professor of the craft.
While our main focus at Wingtip's Modern Gentleman's Blog was to cover products and store events, we also carved out space for arts and entertainment.
Vince Guaraldi—isn’t that the guy who did the Charlie Brown music? Sure, but he was also a fascinating jazz musician who haunted San Francisco’s North Beach when the Beats reigned supreme. He was also one of the honored invitees who helped christen Nob Hill’s magnificent Grace Cathedral with concerts and other events in 1965. (Two of the other esteemed guests were Duke Ellington and Martin Luther kIng, Jr.) In 2015, to commemorate Guaraldi’s “jazz mass,” Grace Cathedral staged a reunion concert—and I set about interviewing as many of the original participants as I could find. Guaraldi passed away in 1976, but I was able to rustle up quite a few stories about the enigmatic pianist.
