Taking a "Jazz Road Tour." Need suggestions . . .

[Jack Clark]

. . . as to Jazz clubs/venues not to miss in:

Denver, Kansas City, Chicago, Louisville, Birmingham, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, and Phoenix (and suburbs thereof).

Thanks to all.

[Paul Warburton]

Jack, drop me a PM about your visit to Denver and I'll give you my schedule and tell you about where to go. We can hang. I gotta a guitaronne outta storage that my brother bought offa drunk mariachi guy in Mexico City. I'm gonna post a pic of me playing it as an upright and title the thread....:"Look out Jack Clark". It's a 6 stringer. How the hell you tune it?

[Pat Harris]

Houston - Cezanne
San Antonio - Luna

While it's not on your list, if you're going through Texas you should stop in Austin. Austin - The Elephant Room

[Jack Clark]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

Jack, drop me a PM about your visit to Denver and I'll give you my schedule and tell you about where to go. We can hang. I gotta a guitaronne outta storage that my brother bought offa drunk mariachi guy in Mexico City. I'm gonna post a pic of me playing it as an upright and title the thread....:"Look out Jack Clark". It's a 6 stringer. How the hell you tune it?

Paul, with your experience, you could tune it any way you want and in 30 seconds you'd be playing jazz on it far better than I can. (I'll PM you with trip details as soon as I have some from SWMBO.)

[www.denablue.co]

Hey Jack .. so many great places in Houston.. Red Cat Jazz, The Horn and many more. I will be happy to hook you up with other musicians if you need all first call of course. Let me know if you need a vocalist... to help out. You can view our performance at "The "legendary" Horn" http://www.youtube.com/user/denablue1

[Eric Hochberg]

Chicago - The Jazz Showcase, Andy's Jazz Club, The Green Mill (you have to go there), The Velvet Lounge, and I'm regularly at Catch 35.

[Jack Clark]

Thanks for the great advice, guys, re Chicago, Houston, and San Antonio. I already know KC pretty well, but I'm a few years out of date and could use some updating there. Paul will fix me up in Denver, and Chris in Louisville.

And that leaves Birmingham, Phoenix and NOLA. I know NO must have a boatload of jazz spots, but we'll only be there three or four nights and I don't want to miss the "don't miss" venues, so any suggestions you all have . . . . ?

Thanks, again, guys. This is very much appreciated and will make our trip.

[Big B.]

Check out Ona's in downtown Birmingham. Cool place owned by a pianist Named Ona Watson I believe.

[Jack Clark]

Originally Posted by Big B.

Check out Ona's in downtown Birmingham. Cool place owned by a pianist Named Ona Watson I believe.

I understand Ona's is closed for remodeling. There used to be a club in Birmingham with the word Jazz in its name, but it has closed down. Birmingham still has the Alabama Jazz Museum, though. Worth a visit?

I've got too many club options in Chicago , but I could still use some more in other venues. And nobody's suggested a must-go-to spot in New Orleans yet.

[Tampabass]

in New Orleans, THE long-running place for jazz of the straightahead/modern/mainstream variety is Snug Harbor on Frenchmen Street. www.snugjazz.com It's home to pianist Ellis Marsalis, who often plays in a trio with son Jason on drums. Astral Project (with great bassist James Singleton) plays there from time to time, and so does pianist Henry Butler. It's a small place, with tables, and more popular acts will sell out. Frenchmen Street is a great place to hang out, because there are so many music clubs happening in that area - funk, jamband, blues, reggae, more. The Blue Nile is always fun.

Just opened, at the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon Street, is a mostly straightahead and traditional club operated, in part, by trumpeter Irvin Mayfield (Los Hombres Calientes, etc.). Lots of great players come through that club.

Of course, there are tons of clubs around NOLA that feature all kinds of jazz- or jazz-related music, like jazzy jambands, brass bands, etc. The Maple Leaf, uptown in Carrolton, is a great place. Not too far away is Mid-City Lanes Rock 'n' Bowl, a great place to visit, recently relocated to a new, more spacious facility. It's basically a '50s-style bowling alley with a concert stage. So is Tipitina's (uptown).

For info/schedules, Offbeat Mag (www.offbeat.com) is a great source, and so is the weekend mag put out by the Times-Picayune (www.Nola.com). Gambit Weekly has listings, too.

Look for any appearances by bassists James Singleton or Roland Guerin. And drummer Stanton Moore, when not on tour with Galactic, plays with a bunch of jazzy, funky side projects, most worth hearing.

I'm sure the NOLA-based folks will chime in with more suggestions. I'm just a frequent visitor (& big Jazz Fest fan).