So far (mostly presented by Earthwise) :

Including: DJ Sep, Caroline Davis, Beth Custer, David James, Keith MacArthur, Chris Grady, George Jackson, Rachel Baiman, Rabiah Kabir, Larry Ochs, Sonny Smith, Carmen Staaf, Jenny Scheinmann, Jayla Chee, Maya Kronfeld, Hannah Marks, Paul Cornish, Rachel Sage, Matt Wilson, Josh Thurston Milgrom, Bennett Paster, Will Bernard, Adam Klipple, Adam Levy, Or Baraket, Marta Sanchez, Akira Tana, Peter Barshay, Cien Mil Mangos, Jim Campilongo, Ben Davis, Noah Garabedian, Vinicius Gomes, and Stephan Crump—did I miss anyone?

There’s an article in the local papers that seems to revive an ongoing discussion about Lytton Plaza. The landlords, it could be said, react against the ongoing situation of people with nowhere else to go who congregate here. I too have observed people doing drugs. There was an overdose right in front of the bandstand once. I am deliberately framing this in awkward and crass terms. To me music is general good and not merely a cultural mouthwash.

I’m hoping to sit down with the sources in this article, the ones who hold the power.

Maybe we will work together, or maybe we’ll just bat some ideas back-and-forth.

The First Amendment (still) guarantees our rights of assembly. If someone is doing something obviously illegal at Lytton Plaza, we can intervene.

I would recommend spending $500,000 on programming rather than spending another $500,000 on bricks and mortar. [Note: after I wrote this post, I realized that what triggered the article was a $50,000 gift from a local billionaire to the Friends of the Palo Alto Parks group, and not $500,000].

I’ve donated 50 shows to the plaza in the last five years. I can poll at least 100 or so musicians who can testify about what they think the plaza is or isn’t. Meanwhile, I’ve also registered something like 500 or more attendees via EventBrite.

Earthwise is a private initiative — a sole proprietorship, a business– that showcases public facilities, public plazas and parks, mostly in Palo Alto. I do this because I think it’s important; yet I also get absorbed when the public agenda brushes against values that overlap with my motivation. So I’d love to influence what local leaders do about Lytton Plaza, or 3rd Thursday street fairs on Cali Ave, or music in the parks.

I had two conversations today on this topic. One went very well. The other was frustrating.

I will probably do between four and ten events in Lytton Plaza next spring, summer or fall; and a similar number in the parks. Plus hard-ticket events at Mitchell Park Community Center and Palo Alto Art Center (I put on-sale tickets to see Johnny A at the art center on January 4 — for only $20 – that’s practically free; I’m about to release tickets to see Corey Harris for $20 at the Mitch, a three-show residency, that overlaps with a two-day run of Gary Clark, Jr. at The Guild, for $154. I guess I’m targeting people who like country blues more than electric blues and like a bargain).

BW

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