Gunn Grads Play Benefit Concert for Japan Relief

Truly "copasetic."

If you want a good idea of how people all over Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties can come together for a good cause, Sunday night's 7 p.m. benefit show at the Agenda Lounge is a good example.

Copasetic is a 10-piece funk band group—many of whom went to school together at Gunn High School— that weeks ago had gotten a paying gig at the Agenda Lounge in downtown San Jose. They were excited about the venue, thrilled to be playing there, and happy about getting paid for their music. 

Then the tsunami and earthquake struck in Japan and the band wanted to put their music to work to raise funds for the victims in Japan.

Copasetic trumpet player Jacob Savage, 24, a junior at University of California, Santa Cruz, and Steve Lorenz, 51, a Los Gatos musician and producer, had already been having conversations about setting up a nonprofit where musical groups could do fundraiser benefits.

"We already had the plan in place; it was just about finding a time to implement it," Savage said. 

"The earthquake and tsunami in Japan was an opportune time to get this up and running." 

So Savage and Lorenz began talking about using the April 3 show as a fundraiser. Copasetic was instantly on board, as were the venue owners at The Agenda. 

The two were quickly able to recruit others. Soon what was going to be a performance by one band became a group benefit show and the kickoff event for The Band of Hands, the new nonprofit.

"We had been toying with the idea of doing a recording project to bring in different musicians that would be a living, breathing animal with everyone lending a hand," Lorenz said.

Copasetic will be the headliner, but other bands performing include Retrofit, Birdhouse and Sketchy Business. The Los Gatos-based Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley and Asian Americans for Community Involvement of San Jose have signed on as event sponsors. The Agenda Lounge will donate 10-15 percent of the evening's bar tab to the benefit.

"This is what The Band of Hands is all about—everyone putting in a helping hand, a collaborative, community type of idea where everyone helps out," Lorenz said.

The bands will donate 100 percent of the admission price of $10 to the relief effort.They encourage donors to donate online ahead of time to speed entry at the door.

The evening will begin at 7 p.m. and goes until 1 a.m.

For more information about The Band of Hands, going to Sunday night's event via ridesharing and donating online, you can visit the website at thebandofhands.org.