So, my band has a residency at Pyramid Alehouse in Sacramento.  We play every tuesday night. The usual routine is us pulling up to the back door, unloading our gear, and then trying to find a parking spot somewhere close...

I was observing my surroundings as I walked back to Pyramid from my parking spot, and I was shocked and a little outraged by the juxtaposition of numerous factors in this area. By day, Downtown Sacramento is a mix of state government, office buildings and various other 9 to 5ers in suits and ties, making their living. When 5 o clock rolls around, they all clock out, close up shop, and emerge from parking garages approaching their cushy homes in the 'burbs to care for their 2.7 children. As the sun slowly sets over the scattered skyscrapers, an entirely different atmosphere covers the area.

As I walk from my car to the Alehouse (a quite nice spot, although the mediocre food is a bit overpriced,) a few interesting things stick out. Across the street from Pyramid is a McCormick & Schmicks, a high end steakhouse that clearly caters to the office lunch crowd. I'm walking past the building housing this restaurant, and I hear a mumble coming from a doorway... I look over, and it's a homeless woman huddling in a corner trying to stay warm, shivering, crying and babbling jibberish to herself, just around the corner from a "$5.00 Valet Parking" sign and a young attendant in a black jacket. Now, California is not a very cold place in the winter, but for those without the luxury of running water, electricity and naural gas, it sucks!

Every week I arrive to perform here, I'm greeted by this scene. Even in my car, the instant the freeway turns into a city street on the edge of downtown, I see another element of the culture. On the corner of North C street and 12th street is a place called Loaves and Fishes. I remember going on field trips to the state capitol as a child and passing by Loaves and Fishes on the commuter train. There would be a group of dirty, bearded men playing basketball, a clutter of newspapers on the sidewalk, and plenty of people wearing sweatpants and large coats, even in the warmth of summer. I always wondered exactly what goes on there, so I had to google it, and came across www.sacloaves.org

Pyramid Alehouse is located on the K street Mall, right across from a cathedral and facing a commuter train line. For those that live in Sacramento, you know what I'm talking about. The K street mall started as a vision of combining office and chic living spaces, urban shopping, entertainment and a cool place to hang out. Unfortunately, due to politics and other BS I won't get into, this area with great potential has fallen into disrepair, full of boarded up buildings and useless wastes of real estate. When the state workers and office types board the last train home, a new flock of people turn the benches at the train stop their home.

It's hard to have a positive mentality and a drive to come here when there's so much wrong around you, but this last tuesday I saw something on those streets that made me smile. After we were done playing, I packed up my gear and rushed to my car a few blocks away to hurry off to work. As I crossed the street and passed a parking garage, I heard something that made me stop dead in my tracks. Instead of the usual teeth chattering in the cold air or strung out vagrant speaking in tongues, I heard the echo of a jazzy trumpet melody cascading through the parking garage. I turned and asked the parking attendant "is someone really playing?" After taking a second to understand what I was asking, he nonchalantly replied "yeah."

Although I was on a time budget, I took a second to feed my ears with the relaxing sounds of an intricate and obscure solo, made more sensual and soulful by the optimum acoustics and reverb that only a concrete parking garage can produce. Realizing I had to go, I continued on my way, rounding the corner and expecting the sound to fade away like an ambulance passing by. But no, as I turned the corner to find my car, the sound only got more intense. I passed another entrance to the garage, and found the source of the audio orgasm. An older man with a black hat playing his horn was all I saw in the driveway. I couldn't help but smile and again stand there for a second.

I wish I could have stayed there for an hour, or perhaps had my friend or love there to share the experience and dance in the street with, but I had to go, just as I do now! As I'm writing this, I got a call from my boss, asking me to come fill in for somebody that didn't show up. I gotta go make the almighty dollar! So I hopped into my car and drove to work, like I'm gonna do right now. So, show some gratitude, love your family and friends, donate some money to Loaves and Fishes, volunteer, help the community, or just give a dollar to someone in need, even if they're going to use it to get a six pack.