• Home
  • Blog
  • Contact
The Screaming Moderate

Classic Jazz in a Classic Setting with a Classic Hostess

9/23/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Gilda's Stone Rooster. That's Gilda's car out front. She lives above the store
                It was quite the scene last night at Gilda’s Stone Rooster (for those who know not of what I speak, read the post below first), and Gilda is quite the scenery.

             She is a tiny, gnome-like woman with pink highlights along the bottom of her curly hair style. She barely peers above the bar where she takes orders from customers at the wait area, and you can barely hear her soft voice. She takes your money and often stuffs it in her bra (yes, she was wearing a bra, apparently). She is 92 years old and I watched her continuously bending over spryly to pick up empty chip bags from the floor. And then, in a flash, she was over by the band, bobbing to the rhythm.

               She worked the room like a pro, laying hands on the shoulders of so many she knew so well, and grooving to the sounds of the Southcoast Jazz Orchestra as they played everything from “144” on their playlist to “172” – they had no set sheet for the evening so took Bingo-like requests from the crowd.

               The Yuengling light beer was only $2 for the bottle, though the Corona later was $5 (I did pass on a glass and drank from the bottle). I guess the Mexican beer is more popular at Gilda’s, or maybe it’s just that much better.

               The audience was a mature one. I brought down the average age. And it was quite enthusiastic and knowledgeable of good jazz when they heard it. And, it was good jazz. The orchestra was a group that matched its audience in age – one was a cardiologist, another a teacher, etc. The two women in the band seemed to be the youngest, and quite talented, as were the men. They played everything from the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” to a Herb Alpert number, for those of you who remember Alpert and his Tijuana Brass.

               The décor was rundown but not quite as sleazy as you might think from the outside – well, maybe it was. There were long tables jammed with people, a couple of red Naugahyde booths, a few old couches and a couple of previously owned stuffed chairs. No bikers that I could tell (but then again who’s to say that cardiologist didn’t ride his hog over?). There was no cover charge but, from what I’m told this was the first time they passed the hat for donations for “Gilda’s Jazz Night.” The band had to have played for free out of nostalgia for Gilda’s more active jazz years.

               I saw the waitress from the local restaurant, and other local celebrities acting many years younger than they are – in a good way.

               In short, it was great fun, and terrific music (though the neighbor who lives in the house behind the bar apparently called the cops because of the noise. Guess they don’t know good noise when they hear it).

               I saw a guy tending bar sip a drink he gave a lady customer and Gilda chide him because that apparently is against the rules. “I’m with the band tonight,” he said in his own defense. Still, I never saw him sip another drink while behind the bar. Small, but carries a big stick. I think he was volunteering behind the bar but the rules still apply.

               All in all, a fun night, with good music and an orderly yet animated crowd.

               I have a new way of looking at that ramshackle bar now.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

     
    Follow @bjaycooper

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013

    B. Jay Cooper

    B. Jay is a former deputy White House press secretary to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He also headed the communications offices at the Republican National Committee, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Yale University. He is a former reporter and is the retired deputy managing director of APCO Worldwide's Washington, D.C., office.
    He is the father of three daughters and grandfather of five boys and one girl. He lives in Marion, Mass.

powered by bjaycooper.com