Á

(314) 571-6000
jazzstl.org
The revamped Jazz Bistro is part of the
Harold & Dorothy Steward Center for Jazz.
The venue hosts national acts like the Vijay
Iyer Trio, Dianne Reeves, the Matt Wilson
Trio and Kurt Elling in a 200-seat venue.
Murry’s
3107 Green Meadows Way
Columbia, MO
(573) 442-4969
murrysrestaurant.net
For more than three decades, this 130-
seat venue has been making good on its
promise of “good food, good jazz and
good people.” The venue has a frequent
solo and combo performer in pianist Tom
Andes, and Leighton Rhoden performs
on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Murry’s has
served as the main concert space for the
“We Always Swing” Jazz Series since
1997.
OHIO
BLU Jazz+
47 E. Market St.
Akron, OH
(330) 252-1190
blujazzakron.com
The photo gallery and music venue BLU
Jazz+ is located in the historic arts district
of downtown Akron. Open Wednesday
through Saturday, the venue presents local
and internationally known jazz artists, such
as JD Allen and Joey DeFrancesco.
Nighttown
12387 Cedar Rd.
Cleveland, OH
(216) 795-0550
nighttowncleveland.com
Nighttown, which is named for the redlight
district in James Joyce’s Ulysses,
has been an Irish staple in Cleveland for
more than five decades. The owners book
national and international jazz, rock and
world music artists. Jazz stars like Ken
Peplowski and Dominick Farinacci have
played there.
WISCONSIN
The Jazz Estate
2423 N. Murray Ave.
Milwaukee, WI
(414) 964-9923
jazzestate.com
The Jazz Estate has been hosting some of
the best local and national jazz musicians
for decades. Past performers include
Chris Potter, Danilo Pérez, Eric Alexander,
Conrad Herwig, Brian Lynch, Arturo
O’Farrill and Jim Rotondi.
Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts
926 E. Center St.
Milwaukee, WI
(414) 374-4722
riverwestart.org
The Jazz Gallery presents local
musicians, as well as a few national acts,
such as Jackie Allen. There is a strong
emphasis on community-building and the
arts. In addition to presenting concerts,
the center showcases local visual art and
instruction.
Trumpeter Chris Botti (right) performs with his band, including violinist
Lucia Micarelli (left), at Blue Note Napa,a new jazz venue in Napa, California.
Blue Note Takes Root in Napa
On opening night of Blue Note Napa in out to the San Francisco Bay Area a decadeand-a-half
ago, and would take advantage of
late October, a fashionable and excited
crowd queued on the Main Street the proximity to Napa’s signature wineries.
sidewalk for the Chris Botti band’s late set.
The outdoor hanging banners looked familiar
to those who had visited other Blue Note locations,
and the indoor decor of the ground floor
“During one of those numerous wine-tasting
trips, it came to me that a Blue Note would
do wonderfully out here,” Tesler said. “And I’d
love to move out here and run it.
venue had many of the flagship Greenwich “I’ve been doing business with the
Village location’s visual trademarks.
The trumpeter’s group seemed especially
energized on Oct. 25. Violinist Lucia Micarelli,
who portrayed Annie in the HBO series Treme,
was back with the band for its three-night
run at the new club. And Taylor Eigsti, a Bay
Area native who platoons the piano chair with
Geoffrey Keezer, was on hand to make his
Northern California debut with Botti’s hearty
road warriors.
“It has a lot of the same sort of charm and
flavor of the New York club,” Botti observed.
“Even the chairs are all in the same place.”
Rectangular tables are lined up by the bandstand,
as is the case in New York, in front of a
series of booths and two rows of bar seating.
“We work with the licensees on everything
in terms of the design and the sound and the
lights,” explained Steve Bensusan, Blue Note
Bensusans—the family that owns the Blue
Note brand—going on 10 years and was very
familiar with the brand,” he continued. Tesler
was producer and promoter for the popular All
Points West Music & Arts Festival, which ran
from 2008 through 2009, and was also hired to
produce the Rock the Bells hip-hop festival and
the Governor’s Ball Music Festival.
When City Winery terminated its occupancy
of the Napa Valley Opera House at the
end of 2015, Tesler was able to secure his ideal
location. Tesler moved West the following April
and started ramping up staffing. He also began
booking touring acts and local musicians,
which is done through the central New York
office. By spring, he plans to have 6:30 p.m. and
9 p.m. sets Tuesday through Sunday nights,
with brunch shows Saturday and Sunday.
The food and beverage offerings on opening
night were appropriately noteworhty for
Entertainment Group president. “There are
certain elements that are pretty consistent in
terms of the tables and the table medallions
and how we like to have the curtain and the
sign right behind the artists’ heads.”
Blue Note Napa joins a roster that also
includes three locations in Japan (Tokyo, Osaka
and Nagoya), as well as clubs in Hawaii, Beijing
and Milan. Situated in picturesque downtown
Napa, the 150-capacity room is part of the
137-year-old Napa Valley Opera House.
The idea of opening a jazz space in Northern
California’s famed wine country came to Blue
Note Napa Managing Director Ken Tesler
about five years ago. The East Coast native had
the setting. “The food blows away any jazz club
I’ve ever been to,” Botti opined. “Napa’s a ‘foodie’
city, so most of those tourists have a very
refined taste for wine and food.”
Blue Note Napa has dates booked as far out
as June, with the Pat Martino Trio playing in
mid-March and Delfeayo Marsalis’ quartet
performing in late May.
Bensusan revealed that the Blue Note franchise
plans to open a Denver location in mid-
2018. “We’re really trying to fill in the gaps with
Blue Notes in places where it would make sense
to route artists,” he said. “We are … putting out
the word that we are looking for local partners
regularly been visiting his brother, who moved and local franchisees.” —Yoshi Kato
COURTESY BLUE NOTE NAPA
FEBRUARY 2017 DOWNBEAT 57