Some 200 fans, friends, and colleagues packed Bates Hall in East Oakland on Sunday to honor the “Godfather of Bay Area R&B,” Jay Payton. Lee Hildebrand writes in the Chronicle all about the star-studded affair, which doubled as a celebration of Payton’s 60th anniversary in the biz and his retirement from it. However, Payton cast doubts about whether he’d actually retire and cited the absence of black clubs in the Bay Area.
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