[Dixielandjazz] Bio

[RAHBerry at aol.com]

OK, folks, you asked for it:
I am not a musician.  Years of piano lessons, practice of Fur Elise and Maple 
Leaf Rag simply did not take.  
I was born into a household in late 1934 where the 
victrola/phonograph/hifi/stereo was seldom quiet.  Most of the time it was Louis playing for us, but 
also Bix, Muggsy, and all the others.  In my 'teens I saw Louis and the All Stars 
several times when they came to my hometown, Fort Worth Texas.  We went to 
hear every bit of live music that came our way and actually quite a lot of music 
did come to us.  I probably knew the tunes and words to hundreds of jazz 
tunes before I started school.  
There was a 20 year period when I spent my time being married and raising 3 
kids.  We lived for a year in Germany.  My first child was born there.  Not 
much live music in those years.  
In 1975 I was on my own and once again paying lots of attention to music.  I 
went to graduate school about this time and earned a Master's of Social Work 
degree.
In 1986, after visiting one of my children who was living in San Francisco, I 
packed my car and headed west.  I've been living in SF since then.  The 
children all finished their educations and went where the jobs are, so they are now 
in Rhode Island, Kansas, and Arizona.  I have no family, except my jazz 
family, in California.  I work at Stanford as the social worker on the liver 
transplant team.
In 2000 my brother, a fine clarinetist IMHO, introduced me to a friend in the 
Bay Area who introduced me to the local jazz clubs.  I'm now a member of 5 
Bay Area jazz clubs and 3 others in San Diego, Mesa AZ, and Austin TX.  I had 
been going to jazz festivals for 20+ years, but didn't know about the clubs.  
Now I do and you can find me at the regular meetings on just about any Sunday.  
My favorite group is the Cafe Borrone All Stars led by my hero Clint Baker.  
You must hear them.  
The DJML has been a great boon to me.  I've learned who the players are on 
old tapes that had been mysteries until you guys wised me up.  Friends on the 
list still send me videos, tapes, and CDs of my favorite groups.  This is a very 
generous, helpful bunch of friends.  I love seeing you at the occasional F2F. 
 You all mean a lot to me.