Mr. E opens new jazz club in Berkeley

THE SIGN OVER the door says "Mr. E's," but everyone is calling downtown Berkeley's new jazz club "Pete Escovedo's Place," and they probably will for the next 10 years - the term of Pete's current lease.

Mr. E's had a wonderfully grand opening last weekend. The bandstand was crowded with Escovedos (four) as well as Pete's big band; the room (a rebuilt, expanded and redecorated downstairs restaurant) was so jammed that even the dance floor was buried under chairs, tables and fans; the friendly, good-natured, well-dressed crowd reflected the Escovedo family's celebratory mood.

Mr. E's site (on Shattuck Avenue near Bancroft, next to the United Artists Theater) in recent years has been known as the Pasand Lounge. As such it has featured hip-hop dances, blues, rock and reggae shows - as well as Sunday afternoon trad-jazz concert-dances and private parties. Weekend nights, especially during the summer, were hectic, indoors and out. The lounge drew young, ill-mannered crowds; the sidewalk entrance attracted milling mobs.

By Labor Day, following the recommendation of Berkeley's Police Department, the City Council considered canceling the club's permit. But then, along came Latin percussionist Pete Escovedo - bandleader, former club owner-manager, and one of the East Bay's best-known and most highly respected musicians, residents and family men.

Pete and his wife, Juanita, won over the Berkeley politicos and police - a difficult task, indeed - and signed the lease a few weeks ago. Their daughter Zina will be Mr. E's manager, Juanita will often be the club hostess; Sheila E, Peter Michael, Juan and father Pete Escovedo will sometimes (but not regularly) be on the bandstand.

Those who knew the Mr. E's site in its earlier configuration should be as delighted as we were (last weekend), to see that some partition walls have been removed; decent carpeting installed; fresh, light, painting completed; illumination greatly improved; sound system installed and bar access doubled.

The walls are accented by Pete's paintings, musical memorabilia, Sheila E's gold records and family photos - with more to come.

Mr. E's is to be a jazz club, not just a Latin jazz club. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, for instance, singer Marlena Shaw will be featured; Nov. 28-30, Ray Obiedo's Band will perform.

No other family has contributed more to the Bay Area's musical culture than the two generations of Escovedos. It's time now that the community reciprocate and support Mr. E's.

BART's downtown Berkeley station is a block away; inexpensive parking is around the corner, next to the Berkeley Public Library. Phone (510) 848-2009. *

East Bay pianist-composer Jon Jang has performed this week at the Beijing International Jazz Festival with his sextet (including San Francisco drummer Eddie Marshall) and, with the same group, at the Sixth Annual Guimaraes Jazz Festival in Portugal. Before returning to the Bay Area on Wednesday, Jang will participate in the 25th Vienna Jazz Festival. Besides touring the world's major jazz festivals with his groups, Jang is regularly honored for his compositions - he recently received a Cultural Equity Grant for $10,000 from the S.F. Arts Commission in support of his creating a new composition titled "The Embodiment of Beauty," a set of seven pieces for orhu (a two-string Chinese violin) and piano. Jang is also an Artist-in-Residence at UC-Berkeley's Jazz Ensembles program.

Hottest ticket around among the fans of cabaret and musical theater is a ducat to "Have I Got a Song For You!," a Dec. 8 tribute at Herbst Theatre to Bob Grimes, famed San Francisco song historian and sheet music authority. For years Grimes has supplied otherwise

"unknown" (or thought to be unpublished) music to performers and record producers around the world. The Dec. 8 program will include, among many others, singers Weslia Whitfield, K.T. Sullivan, Eric Comstock, Sharon McNight, Paula West, Faith Winthrop, Greg MacKellan, Darlene Popovic and Meg Mackay. Pianists will be Mike Greensill, Billy Philadelphia, Scrumbly Koldewyn and others - Peter Mintun will emcee; the 42nd St. Moon theater company will benefit from the proceeds. Phone (415) 392-4400.

One of the great ones, pianist Marcia Ball, plays at Slim's Saturday (415) 522-0333. ... Cookie Wong sings with Al Plank and the Jim Chanteloup Trio at the Cannery's

"Quiet Storm" on Saturday, from 8:30 p.m. ... Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz, with singers Tom Andersen and Lisa Vroman, plays in concert at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center, San Rafael, on Saturday at 8, Sunday at 5 p.m. (415) 479-2000.

Oakland pianist Jack Perla, winner of the 1997 Thelonious Monk and BMI Jazz Composers competitions, plays with his sextet at Yoshi's on Monday, 8 and 10 p.m. (510) 238-9200.

For jazz fans who see Clint Eastwood's film, "Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil" - Mr. Glover, the rotund gentleman in the bowler hat who walks an imaginary dog named Patrick is, indeed, the great saxophonist James Moody.<