Mama Kin and the rebirth of cool in downtown San Jose

Andrew Saman’s band was playing the Sofa Avenue Truthful in downtown San Jose a handful of decades back again when he read the wailing sounds of a saxophone drifting together South To start with Avenue. He followed his ears, and they led him to Howard Wiley, who was on stage at Cafe Stritch, the jazz club and cafe that had turn into a touchstone in the Sofa district.

“I just watched from the window and was blown absent. I assumed, there’s some major music happening in downtown San Jose,” he explained. “Since then I have constantly linked this area with the tradition of San Jose, with a good deal of artists and a good deal of musicians.”

So, it’s only fitting that Wiley executed again in that location Friday night time as Saman opened Mama Kin in the outdated house of Cafe Stritch, which didn’t reopen its doors soon after the COVID-19 pandemic compelled it to shut.

The new Mama Kin wont be that radical a departure from the outdated Cafe Stritch. The phase has been repositioned and the decor has been spruced up with new banquettes and a copper-accented bar major. The menu will aspect American foodstuff with a Latin infusion, Saman reported, but some Stritch favorites like mac and cheese and the grilled cheese/tomato soup combo have stuck, as has the emphasis on developing the trifecta of good leisure, superior meals and very good beverages.

“I’ve been performing this for almost 30 a long time, and I’ve by no means had this a great deal momentum and buildup before I opened a area,” claimed Saman, 47, who served as manager at three downtown places — The Continental, the Ritz nightclub and Cafe Stritch.

Mama Kin will be initial and foremost a place for audio when it is open up Tuesdays as a result of Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesdays will be devoted to vinyl, Wednesdays will feature neighborhood bands (and the return of the well-known “Go Go Long gone Show” with Mighty Mike McGee at the time a thirty day period), Thursdays will be focused to jazz, though Friday and Saturday nights will open the songs up a little bit more.

Even the identify Mama Kin evokes the locations that used to be there underneath the ownership of the Borkenhagen family: Eulipia, the restaurant that had a prolonged operate from 1977 to 2012, drew its title from Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “Song of the Eulipions” Cafe Stritch, which opened in 2013, was named for Kirk’s popular straight alto sax. Saman reported Mama Kin is named for the Aerosmith track that has always been a favorite of his.

“I desired a title that had music tied into it but also a homey, nurturing type of vibe,” Saman claimed. “And then ‘Mama Kin’ arrived up on my playlist.”

A Decade OF Help: Purposes are open up for the Leigh Weimers Rising Artists Awards, which is celebrating its 10th year of giving unrestricted grants to Santa Clara County artists who are deserving of recognition but haven’t but manufactured it large. Four artists are anticipated to receive the $5,000 awards, which are named in memory of Leigh Weimers, who championed the arts during his 40-calendar year occupation as a columnist at the Mercury News.

Recipients of the award have integrated actor Tasi Alabastro and playwright-director Jeffrey Lo, who have been the two element of Town Lights Theatre Company’s current production of “Vietgone” (and City Lights’ present-day clearly show, “Waiting for Subsequent,” was prepared by Lo).

And Kenneth Tan, an award receiver in 2017, unveiled a memoir and art book, “Crescenciana,” chronicling the inventive collaboration the second-era Filipino American relished with his grandmother, Crescenciana Tan. In an e-mail he despatched to the committee guiding the Weimers Awards — which I am a member of — Tan claimed it was an crucial step on its path to publication. “I felt like our function had been seen and validated, and I was inspired to see it via and complete all of my grandmother’s paintings,” he stated.

Tan’s guide is obtainable on his site, www.lolaxkenneth.com, at some unbiased bookstores and at the Santa Clara Town Library and Berkeley Community Libraries. And programs are in the operates for it to be available at the San Jose Museum of Artwork gift shop, far too. You can get far more specifics about the Weimers Awards and implement in advance of the June 30 deadline at www.weimersawards.com.

POLITICS OF PRESERVATION: Historic preservation shouldn’t be a top rated issue when deciding who really should be San Jose’s future mayor or a member of the Metropolis Council — the metropolis has quite a few far more urgent issues at hand to consider in the June 7 most important election. But the candidates’ ideas on preservation do provide some interesting perception into their backgrounds, which is why I was fascinated by a recent Preservation Action Council report that surveyed candidates for mayor and council on the problem.

A person of my takeaways is that whoever the next mayor is, historic Diridon Station will probably have that individual on their side. Approximately all of the mayoral hopefuls who responded to the survey outlined the 87-yr-outdated Caltrain station — which is expected to be portion of a major transportation hub in the subsequent decade — as one particular of the “Endangered Eight” constructions in San Jose that resonates most with them. You can see the total report at www.preservation.org/2022-candidates. And do not fail to remember to get your ballot in by June 7.

EXHIBIT’S FAREWELL During Pride: Immediately after a 12 months on exhibit at Historical past Park’s Arbuckle Gallery, the exhibition, “Coming Out: 50 Yrs of Queer Resistance and Resilience in Silicon Valley,” is coming to a near at the finish of June, which is Pleasure month. And there’s a June 5 farewell get together planned for the exhibition, which was a collaboration among Historical past San Jose and the BAYMEC Foundation.