there. 70 right now. beautiful? probably. yeah. and tomorrow, some changes coming up. we've got lowheorning, sunshine for the afternoon, but cooler finish to the weekend. high 60s and low 70s and a chance of showers for a day as we head into monday. warmer by midweek. all right rob, thank you very much. all right. thanks for joining us. we'll be back at 11. we'll see you then. ♪♪♪ joe rosato, jr.: this is an "nbc bay area news" special. tonight, we'll roll out to a new exhibit telling the story of san francisco's legendary underground skateboard scene. ted barrow: skateboarding to me is an act of resistance, but it's also an act of love. joe: we'll meet a bay area pianist finding joy between the notes.

tammy lynne hall: i just want to be in pursuit of beauty. joe: we'll visit a school where the curriculum is steeped in the traditions of mexico. laura martinez perez: it's a huge chance to connect with my culture. joe: and we'll meet some dogs learning to make people's lives a little easier. michelle koopman: it really does change a lot of lives. joe: good evening, everybody. i'm joe rosato, junior, and thanks for joining me for this edition of "fog city stori." well, the bay area has a rich history of photography from ansel adams to the great david johnson. let's walk the streets of oakland with a photographer following in their footsteps. brandon ruffin: it's like, just keep on walking. joe: there are stories in the streets of oakland. brandon: that's a whole book right there, bro. joe: stories revealed in shadow and light. brandon: a shadow could be a whole character. joe: photographer brandon ruffin. brandon: i wanna try to get this dude. joe: is a seeker of those tales. brandon: see if i can get that corvette.

that feeling you get from the fact that you capture something that's just--that only existed for a fraction of a second. joe: he's documented thousands of those seconds in his years behind the lens. brandon: kind of just be the guy always photographing everything. it's like these little random little victorians still sitting around here. it's what commitment look like right here. joe: in between the buildings and things, ruffin discovered his favorite subjects: people. brandon: that was where the gold was, actually. joe: ruffin discovered photography not long before he began working as a police officer in his native city of richmond and in nearby el cerrito. brandon: i was working as a police officer, very, you know, very young at the el cerrito pd and cousin of mine had been killed and, you know, i basically found his body in the alleyway, you know, shot in the face. joe: through the shock and depression he found comfort walking the streets alone. brandon: just walk, sort of talk to people who didn't know anything about me, had no expectations of me. joe: soon, his camera became a companion. brandon: i was like, man, i wanna be able to go out into the

street, talk to somebody who has maybe been dealing with addiction for 10 years living out here on the street and make--and give them dignity and make them look just as beautiful as they would if i was shooting a model in the studio. joe: when a hand injury ended his 12-year career as a police officer, ruffin poured himself into his photography. brandon: that became like a calling. i was like, how can i give everybody their dignity with this camera? a great photo, like, transports you into that thing and it--you can really feel something when you look at it. you can feel that moment. you feel like you knew that person. joe: one photo stands out more than the others. brandon: you know, my younger sister died of cancer in 2020 so it's like, the photos i have of her are some of the most precious photos i've ever taken. this one's incredible. joe: through his passion for photography, ruffin helped form a community of other photographers. brandon: this one right here is a gem. joe: they get together to talk photo books and, well, gear. brandon: you can actually unscrew the optical part. joe: and the fact the pages of photo history feature few black photographers. brandon: most of us did not have somebody that looked like us that we could point to as, like,

"all right, i wanna be that person." brandon: what's up? what's up? everybody doing good? joe: it's one of the reasons ruffin and his friends founded a monthly meetup in oakland called cameras and coffee. brandon: and it looks like so many people brought out amazing photo books. brandon: we talk photography, we talk about books, we talk about gear, we talk about life. brandon: what's the barrier of entry for you to get in your place and be creative?phy e who may not have ever been exposed to it. brandon: i hope that there's a kid from richmond that looks at me and thinks that the leica belongs in their hand because they've seen m me with o. demondre ward: his photography is not independent of him as a human being, like, all of it's the same, so. it's special because he's special. brandon: but i just walked by and it was like that. look, look at that. joe: it seems, as ruffin searched the streets for images, he stumbled across his own story. brandon: yeah, that's money-- joe: a tale of identity captured somewhere between the worlds of shadow and light. brandon: like, you could just frame this picture so many different ways.

joe: well, it'll be exciting to see where brandon takes his photography next. well, our next story is purely for the dogs. let's head to snoopy country, that's santa rosa for those in the know, to visit an organization where dogs are helping to bring new life to people in need. michelle: yeah, good girl. yes, good girl. step. joe: our four-legged friends can be the most loyal of companions. michelle: nice job. come here. joe: a furry ball of unconditional love, always ready for a walk or-- michelle: shake. yeah. joe: to lend a hand. michelle: thank you. joe: they can be a comfort in dark times, something michelle koopman learned as a kid. michelle: when i was four, i was diagsed with severe aplastic anemia, which means that my bone marrow had completely shut down. joe: koopman spent months at a time in the hospital. michelle: not really knowing what's going on in my life, what's happening, and while i was there, there was a canine companions facility dog named millie who would come to visit

me almost every single day. joe: even in the toughest of days, koopman had her furry friend. michelle: she would climb up on my bed with me and just kind of hang out. i read books to her at various times, but it was just so nice to have that presence there with me. suzanne koopman: she spent her 5th birthday in the hospital, and she wasn't feeling well. she wouldn't even look at my husband and i. michelle: until millie came in that room and i lit up and it was like the best thing i'd ever seen. joe: koopman remained in the sacramento hospital for the better part of a year. michelle: there were some days that millie was the only reason i would want to get out of bed or smile for the day. that's an experience that has really stuck with me my entire life. michelle: let's go. joe: in fact, it stuck with her so much, when koopman graduated college, she landed a job at santa rosa's canine companions as a trainer. michelle: so we train the dogs in about 45 different skills that range anywhere from picking up dropped items.

michelle: yeah, that's it. michelle: they can help push drawers closed. michelle: give that a push. yes. michelle: help to open doors. michelle: give that a push. yes, good girl. joe: these dogs, which are provided to clients free of charge, can help seniors and the disabled navigate their homes, bring companionship to veterans with ptsd, or just offer a little love to someone who needs it. michelle: it really does change a lot of lives. michelle: that was your best one yet. joe: this year, the organization, which was originally funded by cartoonist charles schulz and his wife jean, is celebrating a half century providing service dogs. kristen dambrowski: so in the past 50 years we've placed more than 8000 clients with service dogs or facility dogs. joe: the dogs are trained from puppies, learning everything from closing doors. michelle: yes. joe: to turning on lights. michelle: light, yes. good girl.

joe: in her case. michelle: you're so smart. joe: koopman's childhood experience with millie not only shaped her life. michelle: can you sit? joe: it also inspired her mom suzanne to become a puppy trainer. suzanne: the impact that millie made, made such a difference in our whole experience at the hospital. michelle: good job. we like that hand. michelle: feels nice to be able to give back to something that gave so much when i was in the hospital. michelle: good, look up. let's go. joe: from the love of a single dog, koopman has gone on to train dogs to care for hundreds of others, a true gift from the most loyal of companions. michelle: look up. good girl. joe: well, coming up, we'll take a spot on the bench with one of the bay area's most in-demand musicians. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

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joe: well, san francisco has a deep connection to jazz. it's been the home to many legendary clubs and musicians, so let's tickle the ivories with one of the bay area's most prolific players. tammy: you know, ellington said you gotta make the music be how do you cashback? beyond definition. joe: if there are any walls within music, tammy lynne hall

has spent her life striking them down. tammy: as in all cultures, there is music that is the cry of the soul. something in your soul recognizes it, no matter what the culture is. joe: it's been that way since hall first found the piano as a kid growing up in dallas, texas. tammy: i was 4 years old, and i have lived at the piano since. my mother died a year and a month after i was born. i believe she was 18 years old.d especially the older i get, the more i feel like she's in the room sometimes. joe: hall was raised by her grandmother who started her on piano lessons. tammy: before the notes were on the page, they were already--i was hearing them. they were--they were in me.

the radio stations, the music wasn't segregated. and they played rock and roll, they played country. joe: another thing she absorbed as a kid was just like the keys of a piano, the world was sometimes segregated into black as she and her grandmother walked past dallas's historic adolphus hotel. tammy: i saw a white man playing the piano, the beautiful grand piano in the lobby of this beautiful hotel. i wanted to go in and play the piano, and she's like,we can't go in there." joe: she saw things change with time. tammy: here i am in 10th grade, and veil ash had her wedding reception at the adolphus hotel, and i played that same piano for her wedding reception. joe: still, she couldn't wait to leave dallas. in 1979, 2 days after graduating high school, hall was on a plane bound for california. she landed in the prestigious mills college music program in

oakland, and began playing in clubs with her band. tammy: one was called different toassociated with jazz, she doesn't really like the word. tammy: i want to use the word "black music" because that really is what it is. joe: in the late '80s, hall moved to brussels for a couple of years, where she honed her musical voice playing solo gigs and with her "new" band. tammy: and we were called touche different. tammy: slap some more on me, honey. joe: in the last few decades she's become a mainstay on bandstands around the bay area and the world, both as a side musician and a composer. tammy: i just wanna be in pursuit of beauty. joe: with a new album of improvised music called "heart flow" coming out, hall is still busy chasing the notes. tammy: i try to remind myself to stay in gratitude for everything

i have and especially the music. joe: perhaps her next project is finding the right notes with her partner, classical singer leberta loral. tammy: i'd like to think i've been chosen that--and that my mother gave me this wonderful gift. joe: it's a gift that's filled her life with song, finding joy somewhere in between the keys of life. [singing] [singing] joe: when we return, we'll visit a school where music and dance are the subjects of the day. ♪♪♪

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joe: there's a school in the north bay where, instead of pens and paper, students learn with trumpets and violins. the subject: the music of mexico, also known as mariachi. matthew isais bowker: so today is gonna be fun. joe: in the classrooms of santa rosa's luther burbank center for the arts. matthew: mariachis get set up as quicklas possible. joe: the arts are infused with a distinctively southern flair. ♪♪♪ joe: this is the center's mariachi group, a free program

teaching students the art of traditional mexican music. behind the trumpet and in front of the band is its director, matthew isais bowker. matthew: almost 100% of the students that come into our program know nothing about music, have never played an instrument before. joe: student laura martinez perez was new to the violin when she joined the ensemble several years ago at the urging of her parents. laura: it's a huge chance to connect with my culture and see it in different ways that i normally will, that i otherwise wouldn't have been able to see. joe: through summer camps and weekly classes, the students dive into a traditional repertoire; violins, guitars, guitarrones, even a harp, forging a wall of sound. vincent oregon hernandez: mariachi, it's--you have to feel it, like, you have to feel the guitarron, you have to feel the guitar. you have to feel everything. it's not just playing it. joe: this music isn't just a link to mexico.

for most students it's a link to their parents' mexico, the country they left behind in search of a new life. vivi rivera: i think it does take people back, especially our parents because they're hearing us play their culture that is, like, in mexico, so i think it's like something that makes them feel nice because their children are doing it. matthew: we go out to performances in the communitiesy because we're a community program. joe: in another part of the building, students are also learning traditional folklórico dancing. instructors vanessa carrillo and victor ferrer are putting students through their steps, yet another connection to the homeland of the students' families. vanessa carrillo: a lot of the parents who used to dance in mexico just kind of see their children, this new generation of folkloristas, who are preserving their culture here in the us. victor ferrer: and now their children have the opportunity to do it and learn about their culture and traditions even though they were born here.

for the suits, trajes, it's very elaborate and the kids really light up when they put the suit on. joe: there are times in luther burbank when the two art forms converge. victor: as we combine, and we play the music while they dance, and that's really what the music was intended to do. ♪♪♪ laura: sometimes there's a bit of a gap between people who were born here and who were raised here and then people who were then we're all connected through that music. joe: for these students, the free nonprofit program is a link of art forms and cultures, the old world and the new one all united in song. ♪♪♪ joe: still ahead, take a dive into san francisco's underground skateboard scene through a new exhibit.

♪♪♪

joe: there are many places in the bay area that have become legendary for skateboarders, so why are we heading to the library? to check out a new exhibit rolling out that history. ted: it's not a spot. it's the hill, the city itself.

joe: on its sidewalks, in its plazas, skateboarding has become as san franciscan as sourdough bread. ted: thousands of miles from step to curb, and it's really the concrete that draws skateboarders here. joe: though it's known for its underground street cred, the city's legendary skateboard scene is now getting some official city props with a new exhibit in the city's main library. ted: we planned this exhibition as a tribute and a kind of love letter to skateboarding and to the scene and the time that, at least for me, was so deeply influential. joe: ted barrow is the san francisco skateboarder who put together this salute to the local skate scene. ted: cruising down the street sounds chill. this is death defying. joe: it's not hard to see why the city became such a global skating destination. post world war ii construction filled san francisco with the kinds of cement curbs and benches skaters love. ted: you didn't need to go to a skate park, you didn't need to go to a backyard ramp.

the best terrain was right outside of your front door. joe: the exhibit pays homage to many of the city's revered skate spots from the last 50 years, places like fort miley, the hubba hideout, pier 7, and the area formerly known as justin herman plaza, places so sacred skaters grabbed souvenirs when they were torn down or remodeled. ted: so we have a piece of rebar from hubba hideout, two bricks from justin herman plaza. this brick in particular was signed by all the locals. "thrasher" magazine was founded here in 1981. san francisco is also home to a lot of kind of legendary skate companies. joe: the artifact most responsible for the city's skating gold rush isn't a skateboard a it's a video camera, the kind that in the '80s broadcast the feats of san francisco skaters across the globe. ted: people would come from around the world to go to embarcadero. they would just show up and they would see the most legendary locals and traveling skateboarders.

joe: the central it's a rail that once stood near union square where one day in the year 2000, a skater named john cardiel decided to skate it. ted: landed this 50/50 within 3 tries. every skateboarder in the world recognizes exactly what this rail is. this is the one and only time that rail has ever been skated. megan merritt: skateboarders really look at this city and the urban landscape in a totally different way than the normal person who's just sort of walking through the city. joe: over the decades, many have complained about the damage done by skateboarders, but barrow sees it differently. ted: i look at all the, you know, grind and slide marks and the patina that accrues on these ledges is like loving embrace. joe: there's a certain irony that the benches and stairs outside the library are covered in skate stops. ted: skateboarding to me is an act of resistance, but it's also an act of love. joe: barrow hopes the exhibit might change a few minds about

the four-wheel phenomenon and the concrete city that helped put it on the map. joe: thanks for joining me here on nbc bay area for this edition of "fog city stories." i'm joe rosato, jr., urging you to climb a hill and see the world. ♪♪♪ (woman 1) eczema... isn't always obvious. (woman 2) eczema isn't always red. (boy) but now eczema isn't always going to stop you... with ebglyss. ♪ (vo) ebglyss is a once-monthly treatment to help those

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right now on access hollywood, our met gala extravaganza kicks off with rihanna's baby surprise. zuri hall: then, is the white lotus gang finally putting that feud rumor to rest? scott evans: mhm, and the snl secret tina fey has kept for over 20 years. from universal studios hollywood, access hollywood starts-- right now. [theme music] scott evans: rihanna drops huge baby news. she and asap rocky are expecting baby number three.