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Boz is Back
By Paul Liberatore, July 10, 2003
IJ senior features writer
Excerpted from Marin Independent Journal
Boz Scaggs had never worked with an acoustic jazz quartet before
he performed at the Opera House in San Francisco for the 25th anniverary
concert of Bread & Roses.
Three years later, he's preparing to release a new album of jazz
standards, titled "But Beautiful," that he recorded with
those same musicians.
Boz Scaggs performs selections from new album of jazz standards, "But Beautiful,"
at the Bread & Roses benefit at the Herbst Theatre.
Photo: Andrew de Lory |
And,
with piano accompaniment, he sings "My Funny Valentine" on a benefit
album for Bread & Roses that is due later this year. It's the
same song he sang at the Grace Cathedral Memorial for Bread&
Roses founder Mimi Fariña, who died of cancer in July 2001.
Fariña,
a renowned folk singer with her late husband, Richard Fariña,
and later as a solo performer, started Bread & Roses in 1974 to
bring free live music to people shut away in hospitals, prisons,
homes for the elderly and other institutions. The 58-year-old
Scaggs has been involved with the organization from the beginning.
"Bread &Roses has always been close to musicians because of Mimi being
a musician," he said. "From the time I moved to San Francisco
in 1967 to play with the Steve Miller Band, there was a lot of
support in the music community for one cause or another, but this
one was special because it was put on by people who understood
where musicians' hearts are.
"This
is a cause that musicians can take to heart because one of our
main reasons for being is to share our music with other people,
and this takes us to people who probably wouldn't otherwise get
to hear music on quite this level," he said. "There was always
a special connection between musicians and the places we were
able to reach through Bread & Roses."
One
of the forsaken places that Scaggs was able to reach through Bread
&Roses was inside San Quentin Prison, the most memorable concert
of his remarkable career. "I remember that San Quentin show as
one of the most powerful experiences of my life," he said. "I
can't think of any other incident in my life to compare with what
it's like to walk through those gates and feel that atmosphere.
That was a very heavy place to be for me.
I
told myself that I would do it again and again. I never have done
it again. I'm not sure why. But it seemed so important to do that.
I remember thinking that I must do more of this because it was
so well received and appreciated.
While
he may have done only one prison show, Scaggs has donated his
time and talents to various benefits and events for Bread & Roses
for nearly 30 years, including acoustic performances at the historic
Bread & Roses music festivals at the Greek Theater in Berkeley
in the '70s.
"It's
a real tribute to Boz that he has maintained his loyalty for so
many years, even after Mimi's passing," said Bread & Roses Executive
Director Cassandra Flipper. "He's been a real constant in our
extended family, and we couldn't be more grateful."
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