The SBJS welcomes all of its new and renewing members. Of particular note, new members Don Goldberg and his wife, Maris, met with their longtime friends, Charles and Carol Blakeslee, also new members, for an afternoon of jazz on Sunday at SOhO. That may not be so newsworthy until you hear the rest of the story.
Don, a jazz pianist, had ordered a pair of specially engraved, high-quality V-MODA headphones for his friend, and ours, Ike Jenkins, to recognize Ike for his contribution to jazz culture. Don had planned to meet Ike at the SOhO to hear The Phil Norman Tentet and present the headphones to him then. For those of you who do not know Jenkins, he is adjunct faculty member of the music department at Santa Barbara City College, a professional musician and stage actor, and community member of Santa Barbara for over 40 years.
Charles Blakeslee heard The Phil Norman Tentet play in San Pedro a few weeks before they played for us at SOhO. It’s all serendipitous; i.e., Don ordering headphones for Ike, while his other friend, Charles Blakeslee, turns out to be the Executive VP of V-MODA (maker of those very headphones). Since he had just heard and loved the music of The Phil Norman and his band, coupled with Don’s idea to give a set of the engraved headphones to Ike, the seed had been planted for Charles. He decided to have an engraved set made for Phil Norman and each of the band members. Blakeslee told me, “Since we make headphones for artists, whose music I may not be inclined to listen to, I thought why not make them for Phil Norman and his band. I had just heard them and was looking forward to hearing them again. I wanted to do something to show my appreciation of their music. See, I am an amateur bass player in a trio. That’s challenging enough for me. It must be exponentially so for a 10-piece band. So since Carol and I had planned to meet with Don and his wife at SOhO in Santa Barbara for the SBJS event, I just decided to have the headphones made with The Phil Norman Tentet engraved on both sides and see if Ike Jenkins would present them.”
Unfortunately, Ike couldn’t make it to the event. So at the end of the day, Goldberg took to the stage and presented a set of V-MODAs to the band. Charles also told me that a few days following the SBJS event, he received an email from Brad Dutz, percussionist for The Phil Norman Tentet, thanking him, saying how much he really appreciated getting them.
Isn’t this just the way it happens? All we have to do is take a look around us and everywhere present is someone stepping way up to do something nice for each of us. The SBJS has numerous members, who are lik
ely to surprise us with their generosity.
The SBJS Board thanks each of you, who supports the jazz society by attending our monthly events and donating to the SBJS Scholarship Fund, including both this year and last year’s sponsors. Special thanks goes to Richard and Lucille Janssen for making it possible for the SBJS to bring big-name jazz to Santa Barbara, including Johnny Mandel and his 23-piece band, as well as The Phil Norman Tentet. Many thanks also goes to Janet and Alan Bullock, proprietors of Eagle Rock, for donating accommodations to performing musicians; Leinie Bard for her recent and generous donation; and to our multi-talented Ambassador at Large, Peter Clark, for his continuing and generous support of the SBJS.