Cafe Van Kleef

Hip things are happening at Cafe Van Kleef in downtown Oakland. The art gallery, bar, and performance space at 1621 Telegraph is breathing new life into the formerly deserted area with a breezy, bohemian point of view. Part of that approach is Van Kleef's regular Friday-night date with Bay Area tenor sax great Vince Wallace. A typical night earlier this month found Wallace on the high stage, improvising on “It Could Happen to You” with a demonstrably world-class cast of players. Warren Gale was blowing trumpet, Ron Crotty from the original Dave Brubeck Trio was on bass, Berkeley's Terry Rodrigues handled the piano, and the legendary Gene Stone from Los Angeles played trap drums.