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Ain’t What It Used to Be
Given its deep roots in Knoxville, where is our jazz headed?
by Nick Corrigan
Knoxville has always had a firm footing in jazz. Even before the formulation of the jazz program at the University of Tennessee, teachers and band directors were molding young minds, and teaching not just music, but an appreciation of music.
The local jazz scene really got an added lift after the arrival of Jerry Coker at the university, and then again with the addition of Donald Brown. Both gained their reputations by playing across the country with the biggest names in music.
“The number of musicians in this town has remained relatively constant,” says Keith Brown, professor of music at UT who teaches jazz drumming and jazz history. “But in the ebb and flow of clubs that are dedicated to a jazz format, we’re a little low.”
At one time Lucille’s in the Old City was the heart of Knoxville’s jazz community.
“When I played with Donald Brown and Early Bird at Lucille’s, there was a time for about six or seven years when, on Saturday nights, everybody was into it,” Brown recalls. “When you have a club that feels like home like that, that’s as good as it gets.
“That bar had a reputation around the Southeast. Any musician who was in town would know that they could come down to Lucille’s and sit in.”
But since those glory days, Lucille’s has had three different owners, and is no longer the hot spot of the jazz community it once was. Currently, it’s in the process of becoming a bluegrass and barbecue joint.
“When we lost Lucille’s [after it first changed ownership] about four years ago, it was a real step back,” Brown said. “But all musicians understand that bars aren’t in the business of being a place for us to play.”
Nowadays, nearly every venue in Knoxville hosts music that can be considered jazz, if only for a night or two per month. But even bars with the words “jazz club” on the marquee, frequently paired with the requisite martini glass logo, shy away from a jazz-only format, tending to also offer fan-friendly varieties of blues, rock and funk. The city’s plethora of jazz musicians has positively influenced other genres of music in Knoxville, as well; arguably, those many players have raised audience’s expectations and the quality of music offered.
“There are students out there who are using the things they have learned in the jazz program and applying that to play the kind of music they want to hear,” Brown says.
Baker-Peter’s Jazz Club, which regularly hosts jazz during the week, including the trio of UT jazz professors (Mark) Boling, (Keith) Brown and (Rusty) Holloway on Thursday nights, has opted to include other genres of music by including a more blues format on the weekends. This trend has started to echo to other clubs and bars in town.
“On Friday and Saturday nights people are less about the music and more just out to be out,” says David Bohannon, who books music for 4620. “People are more about socializing and having a good time.”
Tucked in the basement of a Bearden strip mall, 4620 has become a hot bed for music near campus, but off the strip. With two nights a week of local jazz legend Donald Brown, Sunday night jam sessions featuring some UT students, and the regular booking the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, a powerhouse big band of some of the most talented jazz musicians around town, 4620 has become a hub for jazz. But the club still provides other genres of music to appeal to a broader audience because some nights jazz just doesn’t draw the crowd it once did.
“There are some gigs when it feels like I’m playing for a furniture convention,” says Vince Ilagan, a graduating senior in the jazz program at UT. “I’ve seen some really great jazz in this town, and sometimes I’m the only one in the place.”
As hit or miss as jazz can be, some of the area’s most talented assets may be kept close to the vest.
Jason Day, a UT master’s student in jazz piano, tends to believe that the university and its students have become the heart of jazz in Knoxville.
“I think the pinnacle of my jazz career in Knoxville, up to this point, was the Christmas concert [the annual Jazz for Tots show] last year at the UT Music Hall,” says Day, who oversees several small jazz ensembles at the university and whose jazz trio plays regularly at Baker-Peters Jazz Club.
Every semester the UT Music Hall showcases some of the best jazz in town. Students prepare for months in advance writing songs, arranging, and refining solos for junior and senior year recitals and the end-of-semester small jazz ensemble concerts. Faculty members play concerts together, pushing each other to play their best. Visiting artists teach clinics during the day, and some even play concerts for the students in the evening.
But with all the UT Music Hall has to offer, it has its shortcomings too. First, it’s not a bar, so absent are the drinks that appeal to a certain segment of the jazz-going population. Of course, guests can remedy this before they show up. Also, concerts are dependent on class schedules and semesters; summer is particularly slow. The best times of the year to see music is in the mid-to-end semester when procrastinating juniors and seniors schedule their recitals.
Then there is the matter of publicity. Most non-students who operate off-campus don’t know about the concerts and recitals that, at some times of year, happen almost every night at either the UT Music Hall or the newly remodeled Alumni Auditorium. Most concerts are listed in the calendar section in Metro Pulse, or in the UT student paper The Daily Beacon, but some events still slip under the radar.
The state of jazz in Knoxville is strong, but it just may not always be in the places you might expect. Maybe the jazz scene will get its much overdue shot in the arm and provide a new outlet, paving the way for a new renaissance here in Knoxville, or perhaps the University of Tennessee’s campus events will continue to be the best outlet for Knoxville’s jazz scene.
July 22, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 30
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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