On Sat. April 28, Board member Raj Gopal hosted a soirée and benefit concert for Bread & Roses Presents “Rockin’ for a Cause in Rowlandia” co-hosted by Vanessa Washington Rowland and Wayne Rowland at their beautiful home in Piedmont. It was a really fun rock & rollin’ afternoon of live music, singing, fundraising and celebration with a special concert featuring Raj (on guitar and vocals) and Don Osborne on keyboard who performed popular songs from the 40s to the 80s from Frank Sinatra to Bob Marley.
Their concert was a “tour de force” as they played for nearly four hours, took “live jukebox” requests from the audience and hosted a “karaoke dare” giving everyone in the audience a chance to sing and dance. Host Wayne Rowland sang The Girl From Ipanema in Portuguese to the great delight of the crowd.
The wonderful party was well attended by Bank of the West colleagues, friends and neighbors. Host Vanessa Washington Rowland made creative “cocktails for cash” and contributed a sumptuous buffet. Executive Director Dave Perron said a few words about our organization and guests made donations throughout the afternoon. It was a model house concert and fundraising event which resulted in much appreciated support.
Raj Gopal also played music recently for a Bread & Roses institutional show at The Tamalpais in Greenbrae featuring modern dancer (and Bank of the West colleague) Richa Sharma.
Board member Matt Jaffe, another stellar and stalwart performer who regularly plays for diverse isolated audiences, presented a very special Bread & Roses Benefit “Mudcrunch: Tom Petty Tribute Concert” at the Ivy Room in Albany on Wednesday June 13. The venue is one of the East Bay’s higher profile rock ‘n’ roll clubs with an upgraded stage for live music.
Matt assembled an amazing group of musical friends and players from Chuck Prophet and Megan Slankard’s bands, including James de Prato on guitar, Branson music teacher Adam Rossi on bass, Kyle Capistra on drums and Jeff Symonds on keyboard. It was a special treat for everyone in the room to hear Matt play a couple of duets with Chuck. Everyone was singing along on beloved Tom Petty tunes like The Waiting and It’s Good To Be King.
Board members Robin Eber and Kay Tittle came out to cheer Matt on, along with other staff, friends and family. Dave Perron said a few words and much good will as well as support was raised for our ongoing program.
Photos/Videos by Marian Hubler
Photo Captions:
1) Video of Wayne Rowland singing with Raj Gopal and Don Osborne
2&3) (l) Dave Perron and Raj Gopal (r) Vanessa Washington Rowland and Wayne Rowland
4) Richa Sharma dancing accompanied by Raj Gopal
5) Matt Jaffe with band
6) Matt Jaffe plays Tom Petty tunes
7) Chuck Prophet and Matt Jaffe