In 1981, when downtown San Jose resembled a cracked mosaic of dying retail and skid row environs, Ted Gehrke conspired to launch a blues festival on the campus of San Jose State University<\/strong>. Thirty-eight years later, that festival is still held every summer. Gehrke, who passed away last weekend at 79, was a true promotional warrior for all things music, all things San Jose and all things poetry.<\/p>\nHe ran with the likes of Taj Mahal<\/strong> and Frank Zappa<\/strong> before he even landed with the Associated Students Program Board at SJSU, for whom he oversaw countless blues festivals and hundreds of other concerts, like U2\u2019s now-legendary show at the SJSU Student Union Ballroom. Across decades and every possible demographic of outr\u00e9 spirit, he never gave up on this city. He believed in the potential of San Jose when nobody else did.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nA few years ago, I shot a series of interviews of Ted for a now-nonexistent Americana foundation. I used a few soundbites from those interviews to create this little promotional clip for the San Jose Fountain Blues organization<\/strong>, which was transformed into a non-profit organization a few years later….. and still running strong!!<\/p>\n
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