Music in San Diego

I have just returned from a leisure vacation in San Diego, California. Music was a constant as I traveled, being that I listened to my I-pod during the flight then of course turned on the radio while driving the rental car. However our class discussions came to mind on my first full night in San Diego. My friend took us to a restaurant and bar that had a live band and swing dancing. The band consisted of 5 men playing the upright bass, electric bass, guitar, drums and the lead singer also improved on his harmonica. I was intrigued to see the relaxed attentiveness of the audience watching this band in a bar setting. I was also very taken by the swing dancing that was being performed by audience members as the band played. I would not have thought this mix of jazz and blues music could have been danced to in the way these people were dancing. I should also say that all of the couples dancing were above the age of 40!
While watching all of this I kept thinking back to our discussions in class about "galumphing" and musical play as well as improvisation in music. It was almost as if I was watching a live version of our class discussions. I was visually and aurally experiencing how creative musical process can work. The band was the improvisation in this case. They were playing some cover songs and some original music but there was never one song that did not include an improvisational section, whether it was on the harmonica, bass or drums. The dancers I classified as the "galumphers". I later learned the type of dance they were doing was actually called "West Coast Swing" which I would see much more of as my vacation progressed. However the dancers played a major role in the creative process of this live music in that they were actually "living" the music. There were not strict rules as to what the band or the dancers could or could not do and it was absolutely wonderful!