Community Music Hangout #34 gathered on Saturday, October 7th, 2023 at our usual spot on JFK at Stow Lake Drive. The previous week had been very hot for San Francisco; we had our typical early-October heat wave. The relentless heat was rough on Carly, the piano, as she sits out in the sun. The intonation of the old gal had taken a beating but we nevertheless pressed on with creating musical good times. This time around, Rikki and I got things started at 11 with a hard stop at 2:30 because of the agony / ecstasy that is Phillies playoff baseball. We had a nice quick group assemble in the early going with Brian, Joe and Nick. Saturday was still quite hot and so we were all sweating as we got the jams going. Occasionally there was a fabulous breeze that kept us from being too overheated. Soon, Zach showed up with his drums and Kyle with his bass and we had a rhythm section again. Nice! When we really get rolling at the Hangout, it’s always special feeling to remember that we pulled in each of these players one at a time through random meetings / Instagram posts etc. I think it’s a cool example of how you can build remarkable things if you can figure out a way to just keep putting one piece on top of the last. A bit later, we met Sandra and she joined in the singing. Welcome, Sandra! Hope to see you again soon. We were really cruising by this point, reeling off song after song. As the day wore on, the breeze picked up a bit more. We were all grateful for that, as the sun was super strong. As the Hangout reached the end, we pulled in Sidd on a scooter on his way to work. He stopped by and played some guitar with us. Nice! Come back soon, Sidd. Then Nina rolled up with her violin this time around. Finally, as we were packing up, Emmett jumped on the piano. Perfect timing, Emmett! Way to drive the jam forward.
It was hard to force myself to start packing things up at 2:30, but we had a ballgame to watch! The jam didn’t end when I left, however, and I think that’s great. As much as I love running the Hangout, it’s even better if it grows into something that can continue under its own momentum. As Rikki and I wheeled away, Kyle, Zach, Nina, Joe, and Emmett were still in mid jam. Great stuff, guys! We’ll be missing next weekend, unfortunately, but we’ll be back for CMH #35 on Saturday October 21st from 11:30 – 2:30 on JFK at Stow Lake Drive!