Hot off the presses: The Cabana Room has given the New Breed the ax. We will not be playing this Wednesday, nor the following, nor any subsequent Wednesday night. The reason? Who knows? The explanation given by a high ranking Samba Party official: “We’re not making enough money off it.” That seems strange to this guerilla as the bar is always packed with 50-100 people whenever we play. Where is all that money going? Certainly not to the hard-working citizens who keep the gears a-turnin’.
In any case, the New Breed is currently looking for a new home for underground jazzy camaraderie. We here at WPJB will keep you abreast of the wheelings and dealings.
That being said, come get your weekly fix of great music on Thursday instead!
The deets:
This Thursday, Nov 5
7:30-10:30 pm
at the Project Lodge
817 East Johnson St. at Paterson
$5
Pay admission and dip into a free cooler of Miller High Life! Or BYOB if you’re feeling hoity-toity.
This Thursday will feature, from Chicago:
Caroline Davis – saxophone
Dave Miller – guitar
From Madison:
Patrick Breiner – saxophone
Luke Polipnick – guitar
We’ll also have some awesome stage visuals by Tyler Mackie.
The last 2 weeks the Isthmus Newspaper has listed the New Breed Jam session at the Cabana Room as starting at 10pm. Just to avoid any confusion, the time of the jam session hasn’t changed. The New Breed starts at 9pm, plays one set, and then jammers are invited up during the next set starting around 10:15.
Some of the jammers don’t arrive until just before the second set, but you’re really missing out if you don’t catch the New Breed’s first set. The New Breed plays some of the best jazz in Madison, and since the Isthmus Jazz Festival the group has been on fire! They are more focused, concentrating on the music of a particular composer each week, and seem more inspired since they’ve begun regularly mixing in originals.
Unfortunately, sax man Patrick Breiner will be out east the next few weeks so there may be a bit of a letdown. The band seems to feed off his youthful energy and sag a bit when he’s gone. In the meantime, it’s always interesting to hear whoever might fill in, and the special guests that stop by.
The economy continues to take its toll on the Madison jazz scene. The Cabana Room has featured live jazz Wednesday through Saturday nights since January, but Scott Stenton tells me that as of July 1st all the jazz except the New Breed jam has been discontinued. Scott played there every Saturday night and says it’s been slow since the beginning of summer. The crowd for the jam was a little off last night but has otherwise been consistently strong.
It doesn’t sound like the jazz will be replaced by another kind of live music, and Scott has no idea if jazz will return when the students do in the fall.
A week ago I posted that the New Breed jam was on the last week of their scheduled eight week run at the Cabana. That night at the jam Nick announced several times that the New Breed jam happens every Wednesday night at the Cabana and hopefully will continue for a long, long time. It appears the Cabana Room management has extended their stay indefinitely.
This Wednesday night is the last scheduled date of the New Breed Quintet’s eight week run at the Cabana run. According to Nick, the management is reviewing the situation and will be making a decision on whether to keep the jam. Madison jazz fans have been very supportive; open tables are rare . It’s hard to imagine the jam won’t be back, but be there this Wednesday just to make sure.
Since moving from New York City to Madison in August of 2008, 25 year old saxophonist Patrick Breiner has been a big hit with Madison jazz fans. This week Patrick brings his New York trio, Basement Magic, to Madison to kick off a week long Midwest tour. Wednesday night they play at the Brink Lounge from 7-9 (go to the Cabana Room directly after to hear the band sit in with the New Breed) and Friday night they will be at Magnus from 9:30 to midnight. Both shows are free.
The group has been getting good press. In an article about the group The Baltimore Examiner states, “Basement Magic conjures jazz innovation, perfection.” And tonight (Tuesday 2/17) Basement Magic will be played on Cleveland’s 90.3 WCPN at 9 pm our time. Patrick will also be speaking to the show’s host, Dan Polletta, around the same time.
What a beautiful day yesterday! The weather is warming up and so is the Madison jazz scene. Here are the highlights for the rest of the week:
Wednesday, February 11: The New Breed Jazz Jam at the Cabana Room. Have you figured out that I like the jam? Nothing to say here, I’ve said it all before (click the New Breed tag at the end of the article for previous posts).
Thursday, February 12: El Clan DestinoConcert and Lecture 7:30 at Capitol Lakes. See my previous post. I haven’t heard them yet, but my friend raves about them. I will be there.
Friday, February 13: Andy Bey 8:00 at the Memorial Union Theater. I never heard of Andy Bey until seeing him on the bill for this concert. If you haven’t either, a good place to start is with this print and audio NPR profile. Better yet see this video:
Dave Stoler was handing out flyers for this concert at last week’s jam. I’m not sure what connection Dave has to this performance, but the last time I received an email about a concert he was pushing it turned out to be my favorite concert of the year. See special events for ticket prices, etc.
Saturday, February14: The Stellanovas are doing their “cafe jazz” thing at Talula’s. Talula’s is a newish restaurant (since last summer) that has received positive reviews and now has music every weekend with Harmonious Wail, The Stellanovas, and others. Better call now if you want reservations for Valentine’s Day.
As always, for more information on other Madison jazz events check out Crazeology’s Jazz Calendar.
First the bad news: there’s almost no live jazz going on in Madison this Saturday. There’s piano jazz at Lilliana’s and Louisianne’s and nothing else that I know of. I noticed a trend like this over the last few Saturdays. What’s up with that?
The good news is jazz is alive and well tonight and tomorrow. My pick for tonight is Gerri Dimaggio 8:30 – 10:30 at the Cabana Room. Gerri plays every Wednesday at Sambas upstairs but I much prefer hearing jazz in the Cabana Room; the room is intimate and the sound much cleaner. The Sambas dining room is large, the volume not enough to overcome the talking, and nobody seems to pay attention to the music. Sambas is great for gorging on huge slabs of beef, but the Cabana Room does jazz better.
When the Concourse Bar dropped live music the managers of the Cabana Room must have seen an opening and decided to go for it. Since the beginning of the year the Cabana Room on the lower level of Sambas Restaurant has quietly turned into a Madison jazz hot spot. I say quietly because jazz has been added Wednesday through Saturday evenings with barely a word of promotion.
The New Breed Jazz Jam session on Wednesday nights is the one exception. Their gig is listed on the Crazeology Calendar and at the Isthmus guide. And if you follow this site you know I’ve talked it up a lot, and with good reason. Last week the jam was one big party. The room was full, and the audience attentive but animated, enthusiastically cheering on the jammers. It was fun and I hope it lasts; the Cabana Room is a great venue for the jam.
The next few days are looking good for Madison jazz fans.
Tonight is the New Breed Jazz Jam at the Cabana Room. Last week there was another good turnout with a mix of new and familiar faces. The rule of thumb seems to be get there by 9:30 if you want a good seat.
Thursday night the Madison Jazz Orchestra is playing their monthly gig at the Brink Lounge. The Brink is the best jazz club in Madison and the Madison Jazz Orchestra is the best Big Band – an unbeatable combination.
Friday night from 6:30 – 8:30 it’s another jazz show at the Brink. Lynette Margulies, the 2007 MAMA winner of the Best Jazz Artist of the Year, will unveil her new group, Lynette’s Enchanted. The group features Lynette on vocals; Joe Wickham on guitar; Diedre Buckley on viola and Jane Reynolds on keyboard. Lynnete will feature several of her compositions revamped and reconstructed for this quartet.
That’s 3 straight days of high quality Madison jazz – go check it out!
