There are birthday parties, and then there are gatherings that feel more like living history, where music, activism, and decades of cultural memory converge into something larger than a celebration.
On May 16 at The Masonic in San Francisco, Wavy Gravy’s 90th Birthday will draw together a fantastical assortment of collaborators and lifelong friends of the legendary entertainer and peace activist, to express their immense gratitude from the stage.
The event doubles as a benefit for the Seva Foundation, the global nonprofit co-founded by Ram Dass, Larry Brilliant, and Gravy himself. Their mission is simple: restore sight and prevent blindness for millions around the world.
The results speak volumes—more than 75 million people have had their sight restored or protected through Seva’s programs. Cataract surgery, one of the most common procedures they support, costs about $50 and takes roughly 15 minutes, meaning that proceeds from each ticket (starting at $47 plus fees) contribute directly to life-changing care.
For performers like Maria Muldaur, the night is not just about honoring a friend, it’s about tracing a shared history that stretches back to the roots of American counterculture. “I’ve known Wavy Gravy since way before he was Wavy Gravy,” Muldaur says.
Her memories drift back to the Beatnik scene in New York’s Greenwich Village, where poetry and music spilled out of small coffeehouses and into the streets.
“There were a lot of little funky hole-in-the-wall coffee houses where there were a lot of Beat poets reciting poetry, and sometimes guys playing jazz and so forth,” says the singer. “So I would sneak out and go down to hear people like Allen Ginsberg and all the other Beat poets of the day. One of my favorites was a guy named Hugh Romney.”
Long before the name Wavy Gravy became synonymous with a certain kind of joyful activism, Romney was already carving out a presence that blended humor and insight. “Romney had a really droll, tongue-in-cheek quality that really appealed to me,” Muldaur says.
As the ‘60s unfolded, Romney’s transformation mirrored that of the culture itself. The sharp-suited Beat poet evolved into a tie-dyed prankster, joining forces with Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters and becoming a central figure in a movement that sought to upend norms through humor, psychedelia, and radical empathy. Thus was Wavy Gravy born.
“Everybody knows his history and the psychedelic epiphany that turned him into the cultural icon that he’s become,” says Muldaur. “He has devoted his life to bringing light, laughter, and good spirits into whatever proceedings were going on. He was always a force for good.”
The event lineup itself reflects decades of musical history, bringing together artists like Muldaur, Cat Power, Todd Rundgren, Harper Simon, and many others for a rare night of collaboration.
Behind them, a house band anchored by Larry Campbell and Tony Garnier, longtime members of Bob Dylan’s circle, connects the present to a lineage that includes Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson, and Mavis Staples.
For Muldaur, the Bay Area has long been central to the universal story of music and transformation. “Ah, it was love, love, love,” she says when asked what brought her there.
In the mid-‘70s, as her signature track, “Midnight at the Oasis,” climbed the charts, she fell in love with bassist John Kahn, a key figure in Jerry Garcia’s extended musical family. Moving to Mill Valley with her daughter, Jenni, to be with Kahn, she quickly became enamored with the area.
“I’m in love with Mill Valley and the whole Bay Area,” she says. “I never looked back.”
The move placed her at the heart of a musical community that blurred the lines between performance and spiritual experience, particularly during her time with the Jerry Garcia Band.
“Jerry didn’t just play guitar, he conjured up a spirit that was very infectious,” says Muldaur. “It was something else that he was pulling in and channeling… like being part of something as Jerry built a staircase to heaven.” The performances embodied a shared transcendence. “At a certain moment, the whole crowd would erupt into a wave of joy and ecstasy,” Muldaur adds. “It was a very communal moment.”
A sense of connection extended beyond the stage. Muldaur recalls a Thanksgiving night spent waiting in line to see Close Encounters of the Third Kind, when Garcia’s presence drew recognition rather than chaos. “He was this humble, normal guy who didn’t put up a vibe of armor,” says Muldaur. “When fans approached him, he just said, ‘Yeah, man, I hear it’s a great flick.’”
By refusing to separate himself from others, Garcia created a space where respect replaced frenzy, a dynamic that echoes in Gravy’s own approach to life and activism.
Even now, decades into her career, Muldaur remains in motion, recently completing her 44th album and continuing to perform widely. “For an 83-year-old gal, I’m still chugging along,” she says with a laugh.
Yet the upcoming celebration holds a particular resonance. “We all love Wavy, and we’re going to give him the best birthday party he’s ever had,” says Muldaur.
Her admiration extends beyond friendship into something deeper—a recognition of the values that have guided his gentle, humorous style and his work with the Seva Foundation.
In a time she describes as dark, the opportunity to gather, sing, and contribute feels especially urgent. “Just by coming to the party and enjoying the music, you are contributing to a good cause,” Muldaur says.
For singer-songwriter Harper Simon, the event represents both continuity and renewal. “Wavy is a great American, and Seva is such a heroic foundation,” Simon says. “I’ve always been really impressed by Seva. I was very pleased they asked me to do this big show for his birthday.”
His connection to Gravy stretches back to his teenage years, after the two met at a benefit. “He’s been calling me and checking up on me for years,” says Simon. “I’d visit him whenever I traveled through San Francisco. We’ve always kept in touch.”
That enduring relationship has carried into Simon’s role in shaping the event, helping bring together artists, including acts like The Moldy Peaches, whom he regards as very much in the spirit of Gravy.
Simon acknowledges that, for the most part, the cultural landscape has shifted significantly since the height of the counterculture era that Gravy helped define. “In the ’60s and ’70s, counterculture dominated mainstream culture,” Simon says. “That’s not the case today; it’s more niche. But it’s still alive and vibrant.”
Its endurance, he suggests, lies in its adaptability—in the continued use of humor and absurdity as tools for serious engagement. “You could even point to someone like Sacha Baron Cohen as part of that lineage that Wavy trailblazed,” says Simon.
Both Muldaur and Simon—who recently executive-produced the Pavements mockumentary and is currently working on new music—return to the idea that this event is about more than performance. It’s about the shared experience of participating in something that affirms connection and purpose.
“A sense that the values we held so dear still matter,” Muldaur says when asked what she hopes audiences will take away. “People need to feel that sense of community, to get together, know they’re not the only ones feeling these things, and give each other hope and encouragement,” says Muldaur.
Simon echoes that sentiment, emphasizing both the emotional and tangible impact of participation. “They should feel good about supporting Seva,” he says. “They should also feel warmly toward the cultural achievements of that generation and recognize how much we’re indebted to them.”
Perhaps the most fitting image of Gravy at 90 comes not from a stage or a spotlight, but from a moment Muldaur describes with quiet affection.
“He has one of those chair lifts that comes down the banister,” she says. “The last time we visited, we heard him going ‘Whee!’ all the way down the stairs, like a kid.”
It’s a small detail, but it illuminates his refusal to let age or circumstance diminish joy. Even as a nonagenarian, he meets life with laughter—not as an escape, but as a form of resilience.
WAVY GRAVY’S 90TH BIRTHDAY: A BENEFIT FOR SEVA Sat/16. The Masonic, SF. Tickets and more info here. VIP ticket info here.
