Santa Ana's Artistic Metropolis

Last night my wife, Elise, and I went on a rare night-out-on-the-town. We spent the evening in the art district of Santa Ana. We decided to spend the evening on an invitation from my politically-hip musician friend, Tom Margitan. My best friend, Ron Kobayashi, was also sitting in at the trendy Bistro 400 resturant (formerly Shelly's Courthouse Bistro) in Santa Ana. http://www.shellysrestaurant.com/main.html. The dinner prices were just a tad expensive for us, so we decided to come back to the Bistro for an after dinner coffee and jazz. We walked into the art district and dined at The Gypsy Den http://www.gypsyden.com/. The place is in the same vein as a Rutabegorz; however, it has a more hippie-feel and nose piercings. I ordered a tuna casserole dish, which wasn't bad but by the half-way point, I became bored with the taste. I just don't do well in these type of places. I would like to, but the food often lacks any pizazz. It lacks what I like to call: “No mmmmm-factor”. You eat the meal, you say to yourself, “That's not bad”, but no “mmmmmms” come out like when you eat a great pizza. I will admit, the bread, although not enough, was awesome. Maybe a sandwich there might be another story.

On the way out, we notice a flyer announcing the firstFridayfilms group was showing the 1927 silent classic film, “Metropolis” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/.

Just our good luck, it was showing right after our dinner, so we walked across the street and watched the film.

I always wanted to see “Metropolis”. I remembered how it had influenced so many other films and directors. The special effects were phenomenal and so ahead of it's time for decades. There were some scenes that had, literally, thousands of extras. It is so hard to imagine the enormity of this film in its day. For its time, the sheer magnitude of work to bring this film to fruition dwarfs today's “Titanic” or “Lord of the Rings” saga blockbusters. In addition, the audience was treated by a live performance by two percussionists that improvised the entire soundtrack throughout the two hour film. They were amazing with the

ad hoc sounds they generated bringing a bold aural emotional force to a silent feature.

http://www.theeclecticcompany.com/home.html

I came across the firstFridayfilms group by a serendipitous political encounter. At a Cindy Sheehan vigil in August, I was handing out notices informing citizens that Congressman Ed Royce was going to be speaking in an Orange neighborhood and asked the participants to challenge him on his latest voting records. I came across this tall, young woman, who took my flyer if I would reciprocate by taking one of her handouts. Her handout was the invitation to the inaugural firstFridayfilms. That screening was the 9-11 documentary “Dylan Avery’s : Loose Change”. It was mind blowing and everyone should see it. http://www.loosechange911.com/

At the screening, I was able to re-introduce myself, thanking this woman for the invite. Her name is Suzanne. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=18601941&Mytoken=42CB54BD-1840-43B4-AB5A452A28F2EE3D653838125

We also met and thanked the group host, Stephan. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=2255819&Mytoken=F2065304-42B1-4929-A0F2A315D587029E132018656

For the “Metropolis” screening there was a solid crowd of about 60 people on hand. The film screenings are free and donations are welcomed. The group shows alternative films at the Orange County Center For Contemporary Art every first Friday of the month. www.occca.org

If you would like to step out of the ordinary and stretch your mind, one needs to come out and join this monthly festival. Elise and I have really enjoyed expanding ourselves in this artistic culture. It is quite a treat.

After the film we walked back and listened to Tom and Ron, and about ten other musicians rotated in and out, playing some great jazz at Bistro 400. It was enhanced with a über-decadent chocolate volcano-type soufflé dessert, accompanied by some rich, bold coffee blend. A perfect tasty match.

I received this e-mail from Tom offering details on this jam session:

Dear Friends of Jazz,
We want to send out a really BIG THANKS to all you fans who came to Bistro 400 (formerly Shelly's Courthouse) in Santa Ana last Friday, 11/4, to experience an evening of jazz with Tom Margitan and Ron Kobayashi. It was truly a special night. What began as a little duo gig soon turned into a colossal jam, eliciting rave reviews from the audience and management alike! The sheer number of musicians and singers who sat in was impressive, but the quality was even more so.

First there was fellow sax player/vocalist Bob Wahler, who played tasty lines on soprano and alto sax and sang eloquently on "Here's To Life". Then, on the 2nd set, things really clicked when super guitarist Drew Simpson sat in, along with sizzling percussionist Jesse Moreira, and the house rocked! Drew and Jesse burned on Latin numbers like "Manha De Carnival".Tom Kipp sat in on tenor sax, contributing a lovely tone and nice licks; he gets better every time we hear him. Then came a veritable cavalcade of wonderful singers, including Cami Silva, Marc Bernard, Melodye DeWine, Jocelyne Goulet, and Peggie Perkins, all of whom were fantastic.

Jocelyne teamed up with Margitan in a nifty duet, "Unforgettable". Our only regret is, with so many vocalists there, we only got to hear them do one tune apiece. (And we hope we didn't omit anyone.) Ron Kobayashi played in his usual exciting, high-energy style, and executed miraculous left-hand bass lines all night. Margitan and Kobayashi dug in and played some fierce, up-tempo pieces, notably "Samba de Orfeo". Tom sang several tunes, finishing the night with his original, "Somewhere in My Life". All in all, a great night of jazz and a great jam. Let's do it again soon!

After the trio ended the evening, it was as much fun talking politics with the musicians as it was listening to them play. Tom and I got into some lively debates over the propositions, although we were basically all in agreement. The caffeine from the two cups of Joe and the stimulating politico chat had me wired, I lost track of time. It was a quarter to 1AM, and Elise being as wonderful as ever, finally told me that we had to go home because she couldn't hang any longer. (Proofer’s comment by Elise – We had a full weekend with our god-daughter ahead of us, and we both needed some rest before tackling that weekend. If it wasn’t for that, we would have been up all night enjoying the conversation and evening.)

It was one of those great nights that everything goes right and becomes a very sweet memory.