Above the rat-a-tat-tat of the jack hammers breaking up Post Street at Grant in San Francisco, I was drawn to the mellow sounds of a saxophone, reverberating off the building canyon walls. There on the corner, leaning against the Shreve & Co. building was this lone musician plying his craft. Foot traffic was light. I listened for a while from across the street not wanting to break the spell of the music and wondering why he didn't change corners so as to not compete with the ambient construction.
When he finally took a break, I ventured across Grant and struck up a conversation. Top Cat is from New York, where he spent 28 years including a stint in the service. He got fed up with the New York winters and came out to San Francisco where he's been for 20 years. He used to drive a flatbed repo truck although I'm not certain if that was in New York, San Francisco or both.
Like Sam Austin whom I met in early April, Top Cat is a professional musician and plays multiple instruments. His work week is typically Thursday through Sunday in the clubs and at other times sporadically hanging out on his favorite corner. I asked him why he competes with the road construction and he confidently stated, "it'll stop before I could even get situated somewhere else. Besides, I really like the sound from this corner." He was right; the jack hammers had subsided by the time he relayed this part of his story. Top Cat actually knows Sam & Roy and often plays with Sam on Sundays. I would have loved to purchase a Top Cat CD, but he didn't have any with him. However, he did give me his email address and told me where he plays on Thursday nights. Told me to email him when I'm going to be in town and he'll fix me up with some tickets and will bring along some CDs.
As Top Cat prepared to start playing again, I told him about the $2 Portraits project and asked if I could take some pictures. He pointed to the open sax case, I obliged with a contribution and took some shots while he entertained me and others passing by. Very likely I'll be hearing Top Cat again.
Taken 4/26/11
Posted 6/1/11 - Week 22
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