and smothered with melty american cheese. the new cheese steak melt, now at togo's. good morning. and welcome to mosaic i'm ron swisher. it's always a pleasure to host mosaic. today we have a legend in music in the bay area. if you go to scott at sunday and monday and tuesday at 6:00 to 9:00. if you don't go to any of those venues, you are missing a great legend in our mix. he has a number of venues, but that is where you will find him

over the years. and we're blessed to have john turk. >> what a blessing. great to have ewe, john. >> great, great. >> i saw you probably 40 some years ago. i know you are a young man. but john turk and the third street antics. he would play all the different clubs. and then i saw you later at

glide. so you have been around. tell us a little bit of your background. >> well, i actually started playing in the oakland area around 1965, '66 with a guy named johnny hartsman. he was an organ player and a flute player. he wanted to expand his band. he only had a saxophone and drum so he wanted to add an instrument. i guess he heard about me. one night i came and sat in with his band and i guess i did okay. so he hired me. and we were playing at this place called the showcase. this is the many moons ago. and he decided he didn't want to be a band leader. of us that

left, we got together and formed our own organ trio. i went an bought me an organ and we got busy. >> when is the trumpet coming in? trumpet and piano at the same time. >> actually, he saw me do it. and he was known for being a little late. so he started being late at this particular gig. i think we were at the showcase. and so i would just set in. because he actually hired me as a trumpet player. he didn't hire me to play the organ. but then he started taking advantage of the fact they could play the organ so he came in late. and we played the first maybe 10 or 15 minutes. and then i got pretty good at the organ. i kept listening to my jimmy smith record. you know. >> when you call your answering machine, i think that is jimmy

smith on there. >> no, that is me. that's me. >> okay. >> like i said, when he decided to go solo, that is when the three of us that were left formed a band. and that was it. >> i know you performed with a lot of great artists and we'll talk about that in the next segment. but we have just a minute left in this segment so send us out with something. [ music ]

i hope you have been listening to us. we've been listening to john turk. he's been playing for all the greats that we can name from etta james to bb king. and you can see him on a

regular basis at glide. at 9:00 and 11:00. tell us how did that begin? how did you connect all of this great music with the spirituality of the glide? >> it was fate and a fluke. i was supposed to be there for just two weeks. because the choir director was playing with an r & & b group over in south africa for a couple of weeks. while he was gone, they needed somebody to play keyboard. and so a buddy of mine that played drums at glide already called me up and asked me, do i want to do the gig for a couple of weeks? i said sure. i played. and ref rend william didn't know i played the trumpet. but i played and i played the

trumpet. and he liked that. so when the director dorsey was his name, when he came back, they didn't fire me. i just stayed. and i stayed and i stayed. >> it's quite an experience. people come all over the world to celebrate a lot of people come for that glide ensemble. how did that manage to develop? >> we always had a qualm. as time went on, we expanded the band. we started with the sax phone. one of the best sax phone

players anywhere. charles mcneil. i had him come in. because we were getting ready to make a record. and he used to like that sax phone and that trumpet. we were getting ready to do another cd and i said why don't we add a trombone. that is when john burr man came in. and we had them ever since. it's been 158-20 years. >> when it comes to the choir, and i had the privilege of being there and i come to the choir rehearsals. how do you come on sun to select a song? you also select the songs. >> first i got to see what

soloists are there. i tried to set the mood. for the preacher to preach. i think that is my primary job. and first you want to wake the people up. and then the next song you can't keep hitting them like that. you know. you got to wake them up. and then calm them down. and then fire back up. and so far it has worked. and something before the preacher preaches that really touching. really something.

>> you are trying to bring the people in. you want to bring them into the spirit of what is going on at glide. and music touches the soul and the spirit. clues to somehow you do that. because people have such a difficult time sometimes seeing the two together. >> i never think about it. because to me i'm doing what

i'm supposed to do is play music. and i feel just like a plumber would if he was going to fix your plumbing. you've got to do what you called to do. you call to fix somebody's plumbing. you don't ask them what religion they are. i'm a musician. i'm doing what i'm supposed to do. so let's close out this segment again with another number.

welcome back to mosaic i'm ron swisher. i read a little bit more on john turk. his mom and dad were great in music. so they introduced him at the age of five. so he's been playing since five. and mastering instruments. even has his young son playing the drums that is quite good. and i think he is named 89 miles after someone we know too. tell us about your family's influence.

>> well, i actually first started, my mom, she played in the church. and she didn't play by ear, she played by reading music. and she showed me a few things to scale and how to read music. and i had a crazy cousin. cousin leroy. leroy played the piano. but he played boogie woodie. and he showed me how. well, any way, i got into it. once i heard that boogie woogie. and i was -- >> gone. >> it was all over for me. >> what is your dad's

influence? >> he was the loved the music so much he would go buy the records. my mama wouldn't buy the records. e would just sit there and listen to them for hours. >> how did you manage to get with people like lou and bb king and go around the world with these people? >> well, at the time there was a club owned by don. >> i remember him. of course. >> it was called the showcase. he had two clubs. the showcase and the sportsman. and he would have, say like bobby in one club. and lou at the other. and by us playing at the showcase at that time, i got to play with everybody that was big. you know. they called it circuit.

but coming from vallejo, i thought i was, map, in heaven. i got to play with and talk with the greatest r & b entertainers in the world. i mean, it doesn't get much better than etta james and lou and willie john. andrews. charles muscle white. >> yeah. i played on a record with him years ago. so it was great for me. >> in the travels. one of the most difficult things about being a musician is the travels. you don't miss that? >> no, i like to go to my bed. my own bed. and at the time i had two kids.

and i never forget i played a regular teenager in chicago. i got to meet the members of the band with lloyd price. >> another legend. >> yeah. so some of those musicians had been on the road with lloyd price for years. >> he's still in it. >> i don't know. >> yeah. >> he only saw his kid once a year, twice a year. they were coming there through the towns. i don't want to do that and ride orphan a a bus. >> you mentioned earlier you have to check out the solos before you select a song. one of the solos is your wife. >> yeah. yeah. >> you've been married for 20

years? >> should have been. but ten. >> okay. >> yeah. i'm not saying it because it's my wife. she can really sing she's great. i always look forward. we heard you at annual conference of the united methodist church. last month. so we heard her as well as the choir. and we really, really quite blessed. you know, when i go and see you at scotts which i did not long ago, i always ask for certain songs. you still got that on your repertory? >> yeah, for a little bit.

>> you might be wondering who the young man in the center is. this is miles. he played the drums at glide. i told him to come up here and join us in the last segment. john, please stand. you know, that is one of the standards there. at glide. [ music ]

>> if you coming to glide on sundays you will hear this kind of great music and goat soloist and great ministry there. and next time you are in town, we are going to have young miles bring his drum. we will somehow get him up here. but i want you to close out with one of my favorites. a song for you. so i want to thank you john for

being here. there you go.

live from the cbs bay studios, this is kpix5 news. right now on kpix5, police are investigating a crime scene in sunnyvale this morning. a spark of hope for firefighters rattling one of >>smokfr thldfires es in state is creating unhealthy air close to home. just how long and air-quality alert remains intact for the bay area. good morning. it is sunday, august 8. let's start with a quick check of