Norton Buffalo, R.I.P.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

By RANDI ROSSMANN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT


Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 11:41 a.m.

Blues harmonica virtuoso Norton Buffalo died Friday, following a brief battle with lung cancer.

Buffalo, 58, learned in September he had cancer and was attempting to beat the disease. Friends learned he went into a coma Thursday night and then died Friday afternoon, said Bill Bowker, a longtime Sonoma County DJ and music promoter and longtime acquaintance of Buffalo’s.

“He was really a master of the harmonica,” said Bowker on Sunday. “For years he was a mainstay of Sonoma County music scene here. We all had hopes that he could beat it.”

“He was just one of these wonderful characters we’ve had and been blessed with in Sonoma County,” Bowker said.

Buffalo had been posting updates on his fight with the illness on his website, including information that the cancer was at an advanced stage and had spread to his brain.

Buffalo played rock for years with the Steve Miller Band in the 70s, but had the ability to play many genres, with an emphasis on blues, rock and honky tonk. He toured this summer with Steve Miller and had many plans in the works when he learned he was sick, according to his website.

Buffalo and his family had lived in Glen Ellen until a few years ago when he moved to Paradise, near Chico.

“He was back in town so often. He played with Roy Rogers often at the Mystic [in Petaluma]. We did see him often,” said Bowker.

Bowker, who offers a blues show on Sunday nights on KRSH, 95.9 FM, said he’d be dedicating time to Buffalo tonight.

“I’ll be playing some old shows he did…I’m going to play the bluesy side of what he did,” said Bowker.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

By NATHAN HALVERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Sunday, November 29, 2009 at 8:46 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, November 29, 2009 at 8:46 p.m.

Hundreds of people attended a memorial service Sunday in Sonoma for harmonica legend Norton Buffalo.

The all-day service began with traditional African dancers making their way down the aisle of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, where Buffalo’s family and close friends gathered to remember the father, husband and harmonica virtuoso.

The rhythmically charged opening to the memorial was fitting for a day that ranged from eulogies to guitar solos. The church pews were filled with musicians and managers from the rock ’n’ roll industry.

Roy Rogers, a Grammy-nominated slide guitarist who played with Buffalo, articulated the day’s mood with his observation that everyone was there to celebrate a man to whom no one wanted to say goodbye.

“You really have to celebrate him. He was admired and loved by so many,” Rogers said in one of the day’s many eulogies. “I’ve lost a friend and a brother.”

Buffalo died Oct. 30 after a brief battle with lung cancer at age 58. He had called Sonoma County home for decades, living with his family in a Glen Ellen farmhouse.

He and his wife, Lisa Flores, moved to Paradise, east of Chico, shortly after the couple married in 2004.

Sunday’s memorial was streamed live to hundreds of Buffalo’s friends and fans who had gathered at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall for a 2 p.m. service that rocked into the night. They sat in the bleachers, alternately wiping away tears and laughing, as Buffalo’s friends and colleagues showered praise on a man they described as kind-hearted.

After the church service, live bands took to the stage at the veterans building and provided a musical farewell to Buffalo. About 500 people attended.

Danny Scher, a retired vice president for Bill Graham Presents, said Buffalo was the kind of guy who phoned just to be a friend.

“When he called you, there was never a string attached,” Scher said. “He just called to check in.”

Buffalo’s musical career took off in the 1970s when he played rock ’n’ roll harmonica and sang harmony with the Steve Miller Band. He continued playing in the band until last summer.

Scott Boorey, former manager of the band, recalled how Buffalo had brought his two young sons on tour in the early 1970s. Speakers on Sunday noted Buffalo worked hard to try to find the right balance between life on the road and being a father.

Bruce Cohn, manager of The Doobie Brothers and a Sonoma Valley vintner, recalled how he and Buffalo used to meet once a week to talk about divorce, fatherhood and life on the road.

The final eulogy of the church service was saved for his wife, Lisa Flores.

“Ours was a fairy tale love, and he my prince,” she said.