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Category: Music

A new place for the jazz jammers

So it was a late Sunday night, Monday morning actually, when a plethora of jazz lovers said goodbye to the beloved Eastside hole-in-the-wall known as Your Place Lounge. Yeah, I wrote about it right below this here post, so no need to describe the joint, especially since it is no more.

It sounds cliche, but it really was a Who's Who of jazz players crammed in there this past weekend. Nearly everyone showed up with an instrument, a Real Book or a favorite tune they wanted to sing. I decided not to even attempt to sit in when I saw that keyboardists Chris Codish and Phillip Hale were both in the house, and they play circles around me. Besides, organizer/drummer R.J. Spangler was almost frantic, scrambling to try to fit in the dozens of players without any hurt feelings.

Being a school night, I had to duck out around 1:30 a.m. and get myself to bed, and the music was going strong. (I wouldn't be surprised if they're still jamming in there.)

The silver lining is that the jazz open-mic night isn't going away. It's moving a few blocks south, to a regular Sunday night slot at the equally beloved Cadieux Cafe. So there won't be any lack of good music on my side of town. Whew.