A Second Line in San Francisco

In November 2020, a dear friend of mine, Curtis Bryant, passed to the other side. Everyone who knew him called him CB. I called him Ceebs. And he called himself the Mayor of Divisadero; a street in San Francisco that ran through the neighborhood we lived in. He lived in that neighborhood, on Grove St., for 47 years.

2 weeks after I moved to SF in 2005, I was exploring my new neighborhood and I walked into a bar . I was like “I’ve been here before”. And indeed I had- years earlier when I spent the summer interning for a record label. I had gone to this bar on the corner of Fulton and Divisadero called Fly Bar with a friend.

I thought to myself “this would be a cool place to work”. As luck would have it, there was a bartender who was leaving. I applied and the manager, John, called me in for an interview.

I sat next to CB waiting to talk to John, and we loved each other immediately. He told me not to worry about it. That I was in. He said to John, right in front of me, you gotta hire this girl.

And the rest is history. I worked there for 7 years! My entire time that I lived in SF. Those people became my family. And Ceebs was an integral part of my life and time there. One of the only reasons I didn’t want to move back to NYC 7 years later, was because I loved him so much and would miss our daily interactions.

He’s so unique. One of a kind. His “isms” stick in my head days after he says them. “In it to win it not to fix it” is as classic as it gets. Another favorite is “you’re never alone”. or “you need an upgrade”.

When I moved to NY we talked on the phone every now and again. He would always tell me about how he’s spinning this girl around and that girl around and holding down the block.

I called him in September of 2020 and he didn’t pick up. I had a feeling something was wrong. A friend of ours, Leigh, who was taking care of him, reached out to tell me that Ceebs had fallen and had hit his head. I was very worried and was hoping for the best.

In November when he passed, I was devastated. I couldn’t believe it. I wished I had gone there more often. I hoped he knew how much I loved him.

I wrote a song that night to deal with my grief. I couldn’t believe I’d never see him again. The song came out of me in minutes and helped express how sad I was. How much of a loss it was and how very special CB is to me. It actually soothed me as the words came out …”I don’t know how and I don’t know when, but I’ll see you in heaven”.

I put that song to a video tribute in his honor. Shared it with the people who were also mourning and I was happy to hear that the song was giving lots of people comfort as well. It was my hope and wish in sharing it.

CB always said he wanted a second line- like how they do in New Orleans. To celebrate his life. So on September 18th, 2021, a second line is what he got.

As soon as I got the invite, I knew I had to be there. I couldn’t miss celebrating my guy for the world,

So I went out there, and saw old friends, and met new friends and we celebrated the life of CB. It was a party for the books. The saddest part was that there were moments when I looked around and thought “damn, CB would be having the time of his life right now. He’d be right here dancing with me all day and all night”.

This post is long because once I started writing about Ceebs, more memories and stories came pouring out. I miss him.

The reason I’m writing this is because I want to share a video of the second line celebration that we had for Ceebs on September 18th. In a full circle moment, I performed my song at the memorial. Many people told me it was the only part of the day that they cried. I take that as a compliment because that’s how it was given. Although we were there to celebrate him, it was also important to remember our loss.

So, I share this video with you to commemorate and celebrate a wonderful man, who if you had the honor of knowing, you had the honor of loving.

To CB!
Love,
Dana