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FEATURED CLUB
Elephant Room
315 Congress, 473-2279
Walking the length of the Elephant Room,
from entryway to stage, the volumes of
conversation and music adjust at inverse
proportions. In back, the music is audible,
the musicians visible, but as with most
clubs, the people in these nether regions
are here to talk with the music as a
backdrop. Up front, by the stage, folks are
leaning forward on their seats or settling
back in booths, listening hard, watching
the hands and mouths on stage intently,
unraveling the complex mysteries of jazz.
As different offshoots of jazz come and go
in the popular music sector, the Elephant
Room has remained the home of
traditional jazz in Austin since 1991. They
are not impermeable to fancy; the influx of
world music and the occasional jump
blues band to the Elephant's schedule
belie the abundance of jazz talent in
Austin, but the club continues to provide
the essentials -- jazz. Local saxmen and
longtime regular performers Tony
Campise and Tomas Ramirez are
balanced with world groups like the
Afro-Caribbean soukos ensemble
Tamasha Africana and Latin folk and
jazzers Ta Mère, as well as
up-and-coming jazz players like trumpeter
Ephraim Owens and the occasional
touring act.
In the true spirit of a jazz venue, the
Elephant is home to a jazz jam every
Monday night, hosted by the club's
booking agent and trombonist in his own
right Michael Mordecai. The new and the
well-seasoned stand side by side at
these jams, trading licks and bending
melodies until the standards take on new
life, blooming into a new composition or a
new combo.
This is a place for grown-ups. A long list
of beer on tap and a full bar with more
than adequate table service provides
anything you might need for a night of
jazz, without the interruptions of amateur
swing-dancers or drinking game chants.
In a time when the perception of a jazz
club has become tainted by the
transiently hip martini-and-cigar-bar set,
the Elephant Room stands firm as it has
for the past eight years -- a dark, smokey,
brick-walled basement bar where, if you
go on the right night and pay attention,
you might learn something about this
music that will change you forever. – Christopher Hess
UPCOMING LISTINGS AT ELEPHANT ROOM
Tony Airoldi & the Lounge Gypsies, Kat Edmonson
Fri., May 16, 6 p.m.
James Davis Quintet
Sun., May 18, 9:30 p.m.
Leah Zeger, Jazz jam w/ Freddie Mendoza
Mon., May 19, 6 p.m.
Stanley Smith
Tuesdays, 6 p.m.
Glenn Rexach Trio
Tue., May 20, 9:30 p.m.
Jazz Pharoahs
Wednesdays, 6 p.m.
Monster Big Band
Wed., May 21, 9:30 p.m.
Dylan Meek, Sam Lipman Quintet
Thu., May 22, 6 p.m.
Michael Mordecai's Jazz Jam
Mondays, 9:30 p.m.
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