The Lark’s Club played a brief but significant role in the Frisco jazz revival as the first home to Bob Mielke and The Bearcats Jazz Band. At the Lark’s Club in Berkeley they jelled into a highly unified ensemble with a distinctive style all their own. It marked their first success, though a residency of less than two years.
For the next three or four decades -- Bob Mielke, Dick Oxtot, P.T. Stanton, Bill Napier, Pete Allen and their associates -- were the focal point and best-known brand of revival jazz in the East Bay. The Bearcats’ front line became a skilled unit of expressive soloists. Clever voicing of the horns and ad hoc on-the-fly arranging by P.T. Stanton shaped the distinctive Bearcats sound.
Bob and this band were part of a second wave of Bay Area traditionalist musicians emulating early jazz building a fresh style inspired by the sounds of Harlem, Kansas City Swing, and New Orleans. Fusing ensemble style and Kansas City riffs, The Bearcats crafted a fresh alternative to the formulas of Eddie Condon’s Dixieland jam sessions, East Coast cutting contests or the Traditional Jazz of Lu Watters, Turk Murphy or Bob Scobey.
Lark’s Club in Berkeley
Lark’s Club was located in an African American neighborhood at the South end of B
