Crosscurrents

Learning music and playing it is one thing, but teaching it is whole other can of worms, especially when you’re teaching kids – and especially when there are 850 of them.

That’s what Ivan DeSouza does every week. He’s been the music teacher at Delaine Eastin Elementary School in Union City since its birth 12 years ago. It's part of New Haven Unified School District that recently won $29 million  in the President's Race to the Top program.

For most of us, it’s pretty easy to make the distinction between music and noise. We probably don’t even think much about it. 

But for some people, those distinctions are blurry. Songs, trains, rustling leave-- they all have a kind of musicality.

On Sunday morning, while the Fillmore District is brunching or sleeping in, I’m sweating to attend something I’ve never run for in my life: church. I’m hoofing it past hair salons, fast food chains, corner markets, and thrift stores to catch the start of mass. Just up the street from an abandoned pool hall and a windowless police station, I come across what looks like a dormant storefront window. I almost pass it, but I check the address. I’ve arrived.

There aren’t many music festivals named for living performers, but Earl Thomas is one of them. His namesake festival occurs in his birthplace of Pikesville, Tennessee. But you can hear Earl Thomas singing next Monday May 27 at Biscuits and Blues, just off of San Francisco’s Union Square, starting about 7:30pm. Go for the blues, but notice his shoes!

We have a special bonus mystery sound this week for you. And last Thursday on Crosscurrents, we asked you to guess what exactly it is and where exactly in the Bay Area we recorded it.