The Valona, at 1323 Pomona St., may be the only spot in the Bay Area where you can scarf a pastrami on rye while savoring the cool chords and abstract improvisations of some of the best musicians in Contra Costa. 

Leader of the house trio is pianist Terry Henry, who sports what the World War II generation called a "RAF mustache." He could pass for a Spitfire fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain. 

A short, wiry guy of 56, Henry has an edge on other musicians, for he has multiple "chops," being that he also plays soulful cornet and a solid bass. 

A piano tuner by trade - his "day job," as musicians say - Henry takes along a tuning hammer when going out on gigs, so if the need arises he can torque a sour note up to pitch. 

"Twelve-string guitarists bitch a lot about how hard it is to keep their instruments in tune," he said. "They're lucky they don't have to deal with a piano, which has 88 notes, and 185 strings in all. Tuning pianos takes an enormous amount of patience, in fact it can drive you crazy. I know - I used to work in a piano store." 

Born In Hobbs, N.M. - he described the town as "the Fresno of New Mexico" - Henry's first instrument was the cornet, which he began tootling as a fourth grader. He worked his way through college playing bass in Dallas nightspots, then decided what he really wanted to master was modern jazz piano. 

"At one time I was practicing piano eight hours a day and playing bass three hours a night," he said. "Getting to classes was impossible I had to drop out of North Texas State. But I've never regretted it. Playing music was what I always wanted." 

The Valona is very much a family production, for Terry's wife, Nicky Henry, has owned the deli/cafe for the past 15 years. 

Sipping a drink with some visitors, Nicky Henry said she hopes the Sunday jam sessions will bring her some fresh customers and help build the morale of a town that's been in decline for decades. 

"Our economy here is teetering," she said frankly "We recently lost our only pharmacy, and times are tough, business-wise. Here we are, only a mile down the hill from Interstate 80, one of the busiest freeways in the country, But nobody knows about Crockett. The state highway people wouldn't give us a sign advertising food and drink, because we don't have an all-night gas station." 

It's a dramatic setting, for Crockett is just east of the Carquinez Bridge. It's best known for its landmark C&H Sugar refinery, which a generation ago had 1,300 unionized workers on the payroll. But repeated layoffs have slashed the workforce to 534, and residents are worried about the future. 

Every store in town closed and 600 people turned out to pay their respects to "Doctor Sam," as he was called for 40 years. He was killed by a drunken driver on rain-slickened 1-80 a month shy of his 69th birthday. 

Since 1972, though, not much seems to have changed. In Benicia, just across the river. business is booming, but Crockett seems to have grown older, a bit shabby.

Twenty-five years ago the population was about 5,000, but the 1990 census put it at 3,228. Pomona Street, the main drag, looked moribund then, with many stores vacant, and alas it still does. It's got a couple of neighborhood bars with what Terry Henry calls "Thunderbird rock and roll" on the jukebox, and that's about it. 

Looking to a brighter future, boosters have dubbed Crockett the "Gateway to the Inner Coast." On October 4 the citizenry turned out for a Festival on the Strait, with a parade, belly dancing and fireworks. And on October 15 the Generation Gap big band played for a spaghetti dinner and dance at the Crockett Community Center. 

Crockett does have a fine seafood restaurant, the Nantucket, on the west side of the Carquinez Bridge. But the liveliest nightspot is the Valona, a natural foods market and deli by day, after sundown a candle-lit wine bar, with jazz every Sunday. 

Around 6:15 p.m., having tuned the piano to his liking, Terry Henry got the action started with an up tempo version of "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face," backed by drummer Skeeter Cameron and bassist Steve Webber. 

Within an hour, several other fine musicians dropped by. The deli has superb acoustics; it's a spacious room with a live, warm sound. The sitters-in included Herb Gibson playing tasty vibes on a vintage 1964 Deagan, as well as guitarist Tommy Mason, Clifford Lamb spelling Henry on piano, Luis Santiago on congas, and two jazz violinists, Bob Joslin and a San Rafael woman who just uses one name, Yehudit, who plays with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. 

It is jazz in aesthetic, candlelit surroundings, the selections including "What's New!" with Henry playing a brooding solo on cornet, everybody sounding great on "Speak Low" and the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic, "How Insensitive." 

Henry doesn't just perform at the Valona. He can also be heard on Saturday nights at the Bull Valley Inn in nearby Port Costa. 

But "Sugar City" is home. He and Nicky love the river town and want to see it nourish. "A lot of nice people come here," Henry said. "I don't know if you'd call it highbrow jazz, but some customers tell me I'm ear-resistible!"