Residential Address: Rent Party’s Hot Jazz Makes Peace With the Swing Era

Rent Party on April 7 (Photos by John Anderson)

Less than a mile from Downtown on East Cesar Chavez, nestled in between the thunderous dance music pumping out of the Granny's Tacos truck and the plaster Pegasus charging skyward in front of High Noon, the Long Play Lounge East sits perfectly in the sunset.

Stepping into the soft darkness, the impressive in-house vinyl collection piously stands guard like the Wailing Wall. But, of course, there aren't any records spinning because it's Friday night. Which means that from 7 to 9pm, the jazz Manouche stylings of Rent Party, as well as the dedicated dancers they attract, will be pushing the energy level and the A/C unit to the very brink.

I discovered Rent Party at the Continental Club's newly annual Tom Waits birthday tribute. At home, their 2020 release, High Five and Rotate, drove my daughter nuts by making her dance with me whenever she happened to walk by while it was playing. That was when I realized Rent Party is the perfect name for them, because they make you want to dance in your living room.

"Even people who don't know about jazz, we just prop the door open, they see the wall of dancers and they're like, 'What the hell?'" says Emily Becker, general manager of Long Play East. "It really brings them in."

Since 2015, Rent Party has been holding down a weekly residency in Austin, first coming together at the former Hyde Park cafe Dolce Vita on Sundays, where they played for just free food and coffee. Moving to Stay Gold in 2017, their flourishing endeavor was put on hold for 18 months during the pandemic. When Stay Gold became Long Play in 2020, they fired back up.

"It was never like, 'Let's start a new band,' it was more like an organic happening," remarks violin player Alen Cileli. "We really enjoy playing with each other. It's just a group of friends, so we're real tight ... We have a really good time."

This sentiment is echoed by subtly vivacious lead singer Sarah Ulloa. When asked about pros and cons of maintaining a long-term gig, she smiles and says, "Just today, I was having kind of an off day, a little depressed, but as soon as that first note hits it's like, 'There we go, happiness again.'" Further describing the Zen-like path to the "center of the song," she states with a low, steady calmness: "It's the best form of therapy."

That spiritually centered outlook serves Ulloa well. In addition to exercising the scat command of Sarah Vaughan lighting up the Apollo, she also pulls impressive double duty as RP's drummer on nothing more than a single snare. No small feat, considering the level of musicianship in this group.

Phil Spencer comfortably takes on more solo time than your standard double bass player, stimulating the crowd every time. Jamey Cummins and "Shakey" Jake Harrell bounce leads effortlessly, while Cummins steps it up for the vocals on "It Ain't Right Jack," a wonderfully inspired, hot club-twisted version of the closely named Ray Charles classic. The real ace in the boot for Rent Party, though, is the violin and clarinet.

After World War II, the bebop revolution basically stripped jazz down to the piano, a few horns, and a whole lot of heroin. The violin, clarinet, and banjo were essentially weeded out through natural selection. But with RP's David Jellema volleying between the clarinet and cornet and Alen Cileli rocking on violin like Stéphane Grappelli after a bottle of good wine, you can feel that connection to a young, roaring France in the Twenties.

Coming in hot to 9pm, they launch into their closer "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" ("To Me You Are Beautiful"), the song that launched both the Andrew Sisters and the popular swing music era. Although largely forgotten to pop culture, this is a crowd favorite, clearing the seats. Even the barback is on the dance floor by this point.

After the show, I ask Cummins why their set works so well in the atmosphere of a Friday night, to which he replies: "For me, it feels like a reward for making it through the week."

Rent Party plays Fridays @ the Long Play Lounge East, 7pm