Voces otoñales

Dukes Of September Rhythm Revue

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival

Golden Gate Park

1 de octubre del 2010

Para mí, la noticia de que los Dukes Of September iban a tocar en San Francisco como parte de su gira norteamericana no era sorpresa, ya que había sido anunciada hace algunos meses. 

Lo que sí fue sorpresa es decidirme a ir a verlos un viernes por la tarde, al enterarme de que su presentación era parte de un festival con ingreso libre, el tradicional Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Ver y oir a un supergrupo con músicos estelares otoñales como Donald Fagen (de Steely Dan), Michael McDonald (ex Doobie Brothers) y Boz Scaggs (ex Steve Miller Band y sex symbol del soul blanco) generalmente cuesta su dinero, pero esta vez los tres (DOS) estaban en el Golden Gate Park, el lugar insignia del movimiento contracultural de los sesentas, para dar un show muy, muy bueno que en otros lados costaba entre 30 y 150 dolares la entrada. ¡Golpe de suerte!

1990: Los orígenes. Scaggs, Walter Becker, Fagen, McDonald, Phoebe Snow y Chuck Jackson.

La banda es esencialmente la misma que acompaña al pianista y cantante Donald Fagen en sus giras desde el 2006 y una escisión de lo que Steely Dan es desde el año 2000, junto a Scaggs en la guitarra y voz y McDonald en el piano eléctrico y la voz. Al parecer, es algo que germinó hace mucho tiempo: exactamente en 1991 cuando Fagen auspició un par de conciertos en el Beacon Theatre de Nueva York con una agrupación llamada "The New York Rock & Soul Revue". De dichos conciertos se extrajo un disco en vivo ameno, Live At The Beacon, con un Boz Scaggs cantando "Drowning In The Sea Of Love" y Michael McDonald luciéndose con "Minute By Minute". La Revue por supuesto contaba con otras superestrellas como Eddie y David Brigati de los Young Rascals, el blusero Charles Brown y la formidable vocalista soul Phoebe Snow, los cuales realzaron la elegancia de los espectáculos y debió haber sido en ese entonces, ahí, que Fagen se dio cuenta que era momento de resucitar con la ayuda de Walter Becker a Steely Dan en 1993; aunque al principio la banda no estaba cohesionada ni lista para interpretar "Aja" adecuadamente o brindar una variación decente de "Reelin' In The Years" (tendría que pasar una década y la adición de Jon Herring en la guitarra para que esto suceda). A medida que Fagen se iba acercando a los sesenta años y las ventas de los discos iban cayendo estrepitosamente, éste se dio cuenta que el asunto era seguir tocando en vivo o morir. Así que Boz Scaggs y Michael McDonald se subieron al coche de Fagen, puesto que tampoco son jovencitos, y nos dieron un excelente espectáculo de covers de R&B de los sesentas, además de sus temas propios. Scaggs no pudo irse sin tocar “Lowdown”, su disco-funk urbano que es hasta ahora su mayor éxito.



McDonald tomó la posta con "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)", un éxito del 82 que le trajo más de un dolor de cabeza al ser acusado de plagio por Jerry Leiber y Mike Stoller por su composición "I Keep Forgettin'". Fagen nos brindó una vez más su "Green Flower Street" con una introducción de piano memorable y las dos vocalistas de su banda, Carolyn Leonhart y Catherine Russell, prácticamente tomaron a la audiencia en sus regazos con "Rock Steady" y "I Love The Life I Live, I Live The Life I Love."

2010: McDonald, Freddie Washington, Jim Beard, Scaggs, Carolyn Leonhart, Catherine Russell, Fagen.

Lamentablemente, y esto es culpa de todos incluyendo quien escribe, la música R&B ha sufrido un bajón en varios niveles: de ser un remedo de cualquier cosa que Stevie Wonder o Aretha Franklin grabaron pasó a ser forzadamente aburrida y sin gracia. Muchos fueron esperando ver una sucesión de éxitos Dobbie-Dan-Scaggs que jamás llegó, ni tenía por qué hacerlo. Lo único de Steely Dan fue "Reelin' In The Years" e hizo que la gente coree feliz aquel canto resignado al tiempo perdido. Algunos, como nosotros, disfrutamos con "I.G.Y." de The Nightfly, el primer álbum solista de Donald Fagen, con el "Takin' It To The Streets" de los Doobies con McDonald a la carga y, claro, el dueto Scaggs-Russell, "Love TKO": temas que hicieron valer la pena de movilizarse hasta el Golden Gate Park en aquella tarde otoñal de octubre.

La colección de canciones Motown-Stax-Philadelphia que los DOS traen es muy diversa y en verdad se merecen un disco en vivo como souvenir. Nosotros también. Por lo pronto, a esperar a que alguien filtre alguna de sus presentaciones en la Internet. Por lo pronto, a youtubearlos que vale la pena.

R.I.P. Buffalo

It is true: you have to live like it's your last day and make plans like you're gonna live forever. Norton Buffalo has become immortal. Rest in Peace, maestro.

(11-01) 21:11 PST PARADISE (BUTTE COUNTY) -- Norton Buffalo, harmonica virtuoso, one-of-a-kind performer and consummate accompanist to the stars, died Friday night from cancer in Feather River Hospital, near his home in Paradise (Butte County). He was 58.



Mr. Buffalo, who appeared on more than 180 albums and spent 33 years as a member of the Steve Miller Band, was diagnosed with cancer in September. His life will be celebrated Jan. 23 at the Fox Theater in Oakland in a benefit concert starring the Steve Miller Band and the Doobie Brothers, with special guests Huey Lewis, George Thorogood, Charlie Musselwhite and Bonnie Raitt.

• Bay Bridge may need another fix 11.02.09

"He was the antithesis of East Coast cynical," said Raitt, who spent Sunday morning watching Buffalo videos on YouTube. "He was always in funny mode without being too gooey about it. He's been that guy all this time. In one guy, you got all the hope and optimism of the '70s."

Mr. Buffalo played on the Grammy-winning Doobie Brothers album "Minute by Minute," and the recent children's music CD by Kenny Loggins. With Bette Midler, he played in the band and acted in the film "The Rose." He collaborated on tours and a series of recordings for more than 20 years with blues guitarist Roy Rogers. One of their songs, "Ain't No Bread in the Breadbox," was a cornerstone in the '90s live repertoire of the Jerry Garcia Band.



"Norton Buffalo was a character and a half," Rogers said. "He had a sense of humor. He liked to have a good time, and the joy of his playing came out."



Miller said: "He was a complete original. He worked with all kinds of people. He did tons and tons of projects. Everybody who worked with him loved him, really enjoyed working with him."



Mr. Buffalo joined the Steve Miller Band in 1976 at the beginning of the "Fly Like an Eagle" tour and has remained a constant presence in Miller's music ever since. Miller invariably introduced Mr. Buffalo to concert audiences as "my partner in harmony."



"He had way more music in him than I could use," Miller said. "I just had more work for him than everybody else."



Mr. Buffalo's own recordings include his 1977 Capitol Records release, "Lovin' in the Valley of the Moon," an album that maintains a strong cult following, and a 2000 blues-based release, "King of the Highway." He recently released a joint CD with Hawaiian slack key guitarist George Kahumoku Jr. He was a virtuosic and technically accomplished chromatic harmonica player who could play anything - blues, rock, pop, country, folk, show tunes.



Born in Oakland and raised in Richmond, Mr. Buffalo was raised in a musical family. His father played harmonica, and his mother sang in '40s San Francisco nightclubs. His great-uncle, Herbert Stothart, was a Hollywood soundtrack composer who won an Academy Award for his work on "The Wizard of Oz."

"His harp could become the valley of the moon, Krakatoa, a storm out at sea, then the sweetest sound this side of heaven," said Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, who played with Mr. Buffalo in a project called High Noon in the '70s and '80s.



Mr. Buffalo joined one of the final editions of Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen on a 1976 European tour, before returning to the Bay Area and forming the Norton Buffalo Stampede, a band that headlined Bay Area clubs for several years. In between tours with Miller and Rogers, Mr. Buffalo had been appearing recently with the Norton Buffalo Trio with his third wife, Lisa Flores.



He is survived by his wife; children, Aisah of Lake Tahoe and Elias of Sonoma; stepchildren, Sierra Ruelas of Sonoma and Bo Winterburn of San Diego; father, Ken Jackson of Paradise; and five brothers and sisters.

Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings, Tom Rigney and Flambeau and the Carlos Reyes Band will appear Nov. 22 in a benefit and memorial at the Paradise Performing Arts Center in Paradise. Funeral and other memorial plans are pending.

E-mail Joel Selvin at datebookletters@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle