Lakeport >> Though Dave Haskell was born in San Francisco and raised in Ukiah, the jazz musician — performing at O’Meara Bros. Brewing Company tonight — has an interesting musical connection to Lake County: the first time he ever heard a Beatles song was during a trip to Lakeport. His father, a doctor, was visiting patients at a nursing home, and Haskell and his mother were waiting for him outside, listening to the radio in their car. The Beatles came on and Haskell, then 12-years-old, fell for their Brit-pop vibes immediately.
“That put a guitar in my hands early on,” he said.
He joined various garage bands in Ukiah, like many kids influenced by the iconic British group, and played in that style for a few years. By the time he finished high school, he had found the Chicago blues, thanks to his neighbors, Mark, Patrick and Robben Ford, brothers who would later go on to become the well-known Charles Ford Blues Band.
Haskell performed as the guitarist of the group for a time, and the bluesy style provided him with the tools needed to circle around to his jazz roots. He hasn’t looked back since.
Jazz had always been a part of Haskell’s life, even before he immersed himself in the genre. In the 30s, 40s and 50s, it was a popular music, both in the streets of San Francisco and smaller towns such as Ukiah. “It was the African-American experience of those years, not to mention the American experience. Big bands were the fabric of America,” he explained. “Being in the city, that was a large part of society. That was the music of young folks and old.”
Though he’s played a decent range of genres, from pop to R&B, jazz was the one that stuck, due to the narrative quality of the music. The exchange of notes, weaving of harmonies and interaction between chords is what makes the music special. “There’s a lot of room to use a pretty high level of language but do it in a really soulful, meaningful way,” Haskell said. “Plus I’m a guitar player and we all like to shred. There’s a lot of room to do that in jazz.”
While Dave Haskell plays jazz, defining his sound is a little more complicated than that. R&B, soul, Latin, Brazillian, blues and even rock, these are all elements to the Dave Haskell Band’s sound. The most fitting word would be contemporary, or maybe fusion. And it’s all written by Haskell himself. “This is not a parlor jazz. We play Latin stuff and there’s a bluesy component to it,” he said. “We try to get to people’s emotion and spirit by using rhythm and the way we play melodies.”
Haskell hopes to see a large turnout at O’Meara Bros. tonight, a venue which he’s never played before. He feels performing for an audience is an “empowering” experience. “The fact that I’m touching people and that I have something of value to give somebody … that’s quite validating and fulfilling,” he said. “And playing as a team. It’s hard music but pulling it off as a team … There’s nothing like that.”
The Dave Haskell Band hits the stage at O’Meara Bros. Brewing Company in Lakeport at 7 p.m. tonight.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
