We first became familiar with David Hardiman at the legendary thoroughbred race track Golden Gate Fields, where he presides as the bugler.
As a preamble to the standard “Call to Post” played ten minutes before horses are released from the gate, Hardiman often unwinds with a little improvised jazz riff.
Sometimes it’s a bop tune, or a swing number, or even the blues, but always impeccably executed on his special herald trumpet. Attired in a bright red velvet cutaway jacket, beige jodhpurs and paddock boots, he personifies Victorian values of poise and quiet dignity.
As it turns out, the man is something of a legend himself. Having taught jazz studies at City College of San Francisco for 30 years, he is now leading and performing exclusively with a variety of combos and big bands throughout the Bay Area.
Cultural Currents readers can learn more about Hardiman in a Q&A column.
Now he is hosting a benefit for the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund at Oakland’s Geoffrey’s.
You can dig him there with Lady Bianca.