From: Kathy (& Ken) Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 19:47:59 -0700 Subject: Dinner, Dancing and Dan (Bayside Jazz at Rancho Nicasio, 7/31) This show almost slipped by us.  A few weeks ago, during my lunch break, I went to the SF Gate Entertainment site and did a search on upcoming shows in Marin over the coming month.  To my great interest, there was a listing for Dan and Bayside Jazz at Rancho Nicasio on July 31st. Nicasio is a tiny village in the heart of Marin County.  We took the steep and twisting Lucas Valley Road route off Hwy 101 up to the Rancho on a mellow Saturday evening.  Presumably this road is somewhere on the perimeter of the Skywalker Ranch spread; it was a lovely drive, with beautiful pastoral scenery at every turn. The Rancho appears to be the Heart of the Heart, as the post office is part of the Rancho complex within the same long low-slung building.  We lucked out and got a parking space right in front of the busy bar/restaurant/B-B-Q place.  This was good news for me, since I had worn my "dancing shoes" for the event. We had dinner before the show, big juicy steaks with butter sauce, and all the "trimmins".  A truly retro meal in a retro atmosphere.  Rancho has a California/Western supper club ambiance, right down to the wagon-wheel chandelier over the parquet dance floor.  All I would have needed was a whisky sour… or a Rob Roy ;^), to feel like My Parents. Bayside Jazz was Paul Robinson on guitar, Richard Saunders on bass, Bob Scott (who put down some nice Buddy Rich-style rhythm) on drums, and Mark Little on keyboards.  Dan also played guitar, which we haven’t seen him do before with Bayside Jazz.  The house was packed for the first set, and the dancers took the floor from the very first song. *Exactly Like You *Our Love Is Here To Stay *Caravan/Four Brothers *Up! Up! Up! *My Dad - the same song we liked so much from the Blues Festival.  A woman standing next to our table started to tell us more about the song, saying it was one of her favorites – but then she was whisked off to the dance floor… *That Old Black Magic *Honeysuckle Rose *Alone Again, Naturally *I Could Write A Book *Choo Choo Ch-Boogie Those who stayed for the second set (the night owls and the Dan connoisseurs) were rewarded with: *You Go To My Head *On The Street Where You Live, which got a Bobby Darin feel working… *Shiny Stockings *I’ll Remember April (instrumental) *Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy *I Don’t Want Love (the "food" song) *Stella By Starlight *I Get The Neck Of The Chicken *How High The Moon -one other song that I can’t read my notes on *Give Me The Simple Life, which I think was earlier in the set, but we were dancing and I wasn’t writing. Dan was working the room, sometimes doing a Rat Pack kinda thing, especially during the second set.  The gestures, the ‘tude, the way he’d grab the mike stand... Bonus celebrity sightings: : Jill Carole, Angela Strehli, and Tim Eschliman of Christmas Jug Band and Rhythmtown Jive. Angela Strehli and her husband own Rancho Nicasio, and I admit to being one of her fans - her CD, "Blonde and Blue", is outstanding.  Next stop: Dan and Acoustic Warriors at legendary Folk Shrine/Zen Farm Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, August 13th.  Kathy & Ken