Jazz Scene in Your Town

[pigpen02]

Now that I think about it, there are or were a few other joints in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area....Fletcher's Backstreet Grille advertises that they have live jazz (I hear it's more Kenny G than Coltrane, though.)

The Columbia Restaraunt (brilliant food!) in Ybor City sometimes has a bass/guitar/keys trio in the lounge on Friday/Saturday nights.

I've been in The Rare Olive, but have never caught a band there, and am not sure if they still book jazz acts; it's right around the corner from The Garden in downtown St. Pete.

Both Channelside and Baywalk, in Tampa and St. Petersburg, respectivley, have trios outside on Friday/Saturday evenings (early, they stop once the action really starts.)

There's a joint way out near Passe Grill Beach that hosts the occasional jazz band, can't remember the name though; I caught some jazz band there covering Phish tunes long ago

My best friend's father, Robert Brown, has played fusion (keyboardist/pianist) around the area for 35 years or so, and was doing the weekly event at the Salvador Dali museum in Clearwater. That's an interesting scene sometimes.

Here's a link for anyone looking for venues in the area....http://jazz.alteu.com/clubs.html#clubs-tampa

[Jim Calhoun]

Originally Posted by Reuben

Hey, I played in Ashland once at a brew pub!

Fun little town.

And still a long-ass drive to the Bay Area...

Yep. We're about 300 miles from Portland and at least 350 miles from San Francisco. Once in a while some friends and I will get together and make the pilgrimage down to Yoshi's ....

[Doug Ring]

Originally Posted by pigpen02

doing the weekly event at the Salvador Dali museum in Clearwater. That's an interesting scene sometimes.

I'll bet! Your bass melts and the piano becomes a bowler hat...

[pigpen02]

Originally Posted by Doug Ring

I'll bet! Your bass melts and the piano becomes a bowler hat...

And you have to mention your father in every song (Dali put his padre in every painting, one way or another.)

[Steve Clark]

Interesting thread. In my town of 300,000 there is a surprisingly vibrant music community and a big part of that is the www.londonmusicclub.com There is at least one other place that does have live jazz and that's what I'd like the next step to be for the LMC. Summer festivals bring range of music from folk, to blues, to jazz and the odd Morris Dancer show.

The LMC holds a regular Thursday night blues jam and a Friday night acoustic open mic. While not a house bass player, read no $, it give me a great opportunity to meet people and become part of the community.

So the question is how to make jazz part of the LMC? I am thinking once a month would be a good place to start and have a "Fakebook Night" on a Wednesday. Start at 8 and finish by midnight since it is mid week. Of course if interest builds then we could go later. Perhaps a jazz jam, with a sportlight set of a local group , would be a good way to set up the night.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Steve Boisen]

Originally Posted by pigpen02

Older fella with an upright and mustache? I reckon i've shook your hand once or twice....I love the Garden, and try to make it a regular stop in my nocturnal ventures. I'll ask, next time i'm there, if you're....you.

Ha ha, yeah that's Billy (aka "lowendfor life")....and he's only 17 too! Actually, the guy you saw is Buster's regular bassist Bill Bennett. You sometimes catch other guys sitting or subbing on that gig in though, including Billy, Joe Porter, Marc Neuenschwander, John Lamb (ex Duke Ellington), Hiram Hazely and sometimes even me .

- Steve

My web page

[Steve Boisen]

Originally Posted by pigpen02

Now that I think about it, there are or were a few other joints in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area....Fletcher's Backstreet Grille advertises that they have live jazz (I hear it's more Kenny G than Coltrane, though.)

The Columbia Restaraunt (brilliant food!) in Ybor City sometimes has a bass/guitar/keys trio in the lounge on Friday/Saturday nights.

I've been in The Rare Olive, but have never caught a band there, and am not sure if they still book jazz acts; it's right around the corner from The Garden in downtown St. Pete.

Both Channelside and Baywalk, in Tampa and St. Petersburg, respectivley, have trios outside on Friday/Saturday evenings (early, they stop once the action really starts.)

There's a joint way out near Passe Grill Beach that hosts the occasional jazz band, can't remember the name though; I caught some jazz band there covering Phish tunes long ago

My best friend's father, Robert Brown, has played fusion (keyboardist/pianist) around the area for 35 years or so, and was doing the weekly event at the Salvador Dali museum in Clearwater. That's an interesting scene sometimes.

Here's a link for anyone looking for venues in the area....http://jazz.alteu.com/clubs.html#clubs-tampa

Here a few others places to hear live jazz in the Tampa/St. Pete area that I can think of off the top of my head:

Blue Heron (Palm Harbor), Famous Cigars (Clearwater), Don Cesar (St. Pete Beach), A Taste For Wine (St. Pete), The Zone (Tarpon Springs), St. Larry's (Palm Harbor), Vinoy Hotel (St. Pete), Ringside Cafe (St. Pete..has a jazz jam session on Monday). Plus, (here comes the shameless self-promotion) you can always see where I'm playing by checking my web page.

- Steve

[Bodin]

Austin, TX doesn't seem to have many jazz venues. There are a few restaurants that have jazz, but not too many clubs. There is the Elephant Room that is full time jazz, but I don't know of any other clubs off hand.

There must be more, so maybe some other Austin based folks will chime in.