The New Gig
The young band of Gassers had only been together for four years when they were offered their first, regular paying job at the Alvarado Inn, a local restaurant, bar, roadhouse, motel complex. After their past few formative years with compensation of only free drinks and tips, this was a major step up the ladder. The venue had been offering live music and other entertainment on weekends, including Country & Western and even mud-wrestling, so it was a real unknown how a traditional jazz band would be accepted.
After the first few appearances, the NGJB was obviously a hit and the management was delighted. A large dancing crowd developed and the engagement lasted for 119 gigs over an 11 year period. I still remember a waitress remarking in amazement, “They really like having you here. In fact they don’t even hire a bouncer like they used to.”
Funky Weekend
The National Hotel was built in 1862. This 33 room hotel is said to be the longest continuously operating hotel in California and it is located in the heart of northern California’s Gold Country town, Jackson. Natural Gas JB first played there in 1973 and continued annually for many years. The band and followers literally took over the hotel for this very funky weekend.
One of the memorable characters of the hotel was Edna who was the “pianist” for the cocktail hour which went from 4:30PM until 7:30PM.
