Other Music

About Zytron

Big Sur's answer to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Zytron was the amalgam of avant garde saxophonist Bert Wilson with the electric sensibilities of Hammond, Wurlitzer electric piano and electric bass, all propelled by the insistent undercurrent of Zitro's dynamic drumming.

The River Inn was always one of the Zytron family's favorite venues. Easy to find, easy to set up, great audiences and the owner, George Malone, was one of the Big Sur characters of legend, a genuine fabulous person, straight out of Henry Miller.

We had amazing luck at this cliub. One year, there was a forest fire that threatened the bar. We were 120 miles away watching the blaze on television, and realizing my Hammond organ was sitting in the club, waiting to burn along with the rest of the club if the wind were wrong. The fire came to within a hundred yards from the building, then jumped the road, went up the hill and down the other side and came back across the road, leaving the bar standing with fire all around - but safe... Another year, the same thing, only with flood. The Big Sur River overflowed its banks, coming to within a few feet of the bar with the organ sitting on the floor ready to be inundated - and then backed off, leaving the bar warm and dry.

Needless to say, we loved that place. When George sold it and retired to a houseboat, we all felt the loss. And even though the room remains, and still hosts fine jazz regularly, it is just not the same without the larger-than-life personality of George Malone at the helm.