The Jazz Room on the launch pad

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It turns out I love jazz.  Sure, I’ve picked up Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, and Miles Davis and loved their catalogues, but there’s *nothing* like sitting 10 feet from a trio of crazy-talented musicians in a joint as cool as The Jazz Room.

After connecting with Stephen Preece and other peeps in the Grand River Jazz Society earlier this year, I started a happy journey following their progress as they did the very hard thing of creating a not-for-profit that brings massive value to the community.  Well, tonight, they’ve come a long way from setting the stage and re-animating the piano.  The limited-audience sneak peek Thursday night offered a promising glimpse of what is bound to be one of Waterloo’s new hot spots.

The first thing you should know is…

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it took a lot of sweat, stress, and creativity by a whack of people to get this far.  Stephen, Valerie Beyer, Jason White, Phil Bast, Tom Nagy, and dozens of other were packing…

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the venue…

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tonight.

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Based on all the smiles…

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it looks like…

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a dynamite hit.

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There were a couple tables still open when we rolled in at 8, but by 9…

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it was standing-room only.

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This piano looks a lot different than when I last saw it being rebuilt.  I’ll bet there’s a story about getting this 7-foot grand piano into the building and up on stage.  It sounds amazing!

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Interesting phenomenon of my camera lens (I guess): the tri-colour spot appears projected out a few feet from the housing.  In mid-air.

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It’s possible I have a cymbal fetish.

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This ground-floor space in the Huether has so much built-in history, it’s already…

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a joint.

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Case in point: the notorious Matan brothers.

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Great mix of different players throughout the night.

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My experiments shooting moving objects in very low light with no flash or tripod continue.  Happy accident here with overexposure.

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From the bar side of the joint.

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Phantom Hilary also shootin’ pics.

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Can hardly wait to go back.

Happy (music) making,

DW

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5 Responses to The Jazz Room on the launch pad

  1. Pingback: The Jazz Room! | RQ Magazine

  2. Valerie says:

    Darin,

    Thanks for the great post and shout-out to the amazing group that made last night’s “Pre-Opening Sneak Peek” a reality.

    So glad you and Lisa could join us! Glad you enjoyed yourselves — we had a blast and were so excited to see everyone fill up the joint! The music… what can I say… it was AWESOME!!! Maybe I’m biased but I think not 😉 Everyone can expect more fabulous music like this every Friday and Saturday night beginning in September.

    Can’t wait to see people out regularly at The Jazz Room. Just a reminder, tickets are going fast for the opening performances on Sept 9 Larry Larson + The Jazz Guys and Sept 10 Mike Murley Septet. Tickets can be purchased in advance (only $20!) at Words Worth Books in Uptown Waterloo.

    The full line-up of acts and artists can be found at The Jazz Room website: http://www.KWJazzRoom.com

    Thanks again Darin — looking forward to seeing you guys out again at The Jazz Room very soon!

  3. Congratulations – looks like you are all off to a fabulous start! Bet all the hard work was well worth it. Will look forward to hearing more as the months go by – maybe even a video clip or two.
    Cheers,
    Margaret

  4. Pingback: What Others Are Saying About the Jazz Room! - KW Concerts & Live Music Events

  5. Pingback: The Jazz Room–5 years | makebright

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