Dedicated to the performance and preservation of Traditional Dixieland Jazz in Austin and Central Texas
Finding traditional Dixieland jazz clubs in Austin can be elusive. Austin is not
New Orleans and no establishments offer traditional Dixieland jazz entertainment
on a nightly basis. However, some locations do offer jazz
or something very close to it on a weekly or sporadic basis. This is a
guide to those places. Bookings change, so consult Other Local Events
on this website or call the club before going.
Quality Seafood
Quality Seafood 5621 Airport Boulevard
Quality Seafood is
located on Airport Boulevard just south of Koenig Lane. It is
located in a small shopping center. Parking is adequate most of
the time, but large events can fill the lot. Try to come early to
music events.
Quality Seafood is an informal seafood market and
restaurant. The food is very good. Seating is at a bar,
tables and booths. Two traditional jazz groups are often featured
at Quality Seafood. Aunt Ruby’s Sweet Jazz Babies play there
every Monday night as a quartet. Shucks and the Oyster Po’ Boys, Dixieland band,
are featured less frequently, but play in a full six-piece format when
they do.
www.qualityseafoodmarket.com/
Flipnotics
Flipnotics 1601 Barton Springs
Flipnotics is located at 1601 Barton Springs Road, between South Lamar
Boulevard and Zilker Park. The building is set into a hill, and
the stage is in a room on the back of the club on the upper
floor. There is a small parking lot to the right of the building
on Barton Springs Road, and another small parking lot up the hill on
Kinney Avenue. At night other parking places can be found along
closed businesses on Barton Springs Road. The best advice is to
come early for a show and get one of the Flipnotics spaces.
Flipnotics
is a coffee house. One can find coffee, hot chocolate, tea, beer
and a variety of baked treats. Bands play for tips-only there, so
please plan to support the band playing that night.
The most
notable jazz-oriented ensemble is Erik Hokkanen and the Hip
Replacements, who play on Tuesday nights. No survey of Austin
jazz musicians is complete without a listen to Erik Hokkanen, who plays
marvelous violin and guitar.
http://www.flipnotics.com
Elephant Room
Elephant Room 315 Congress Avenue
The Elephant Room is
Austin’s only real jazz club, furnishing jazz nightly in a variety of
styles. The Jazz Pharaohs play from 6 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday
and other traditional jazz-oriented bands play other nights as
advertised.
Street parking can be a real adventure in downtown
Austin during rush hour, but there is a lot with early-bird parking a
half-block away on 3rd Street. Don’t be put off by lines of
waiting patrons—these invariably are waiting to go upstairs to the
Kyoto. Go downstairs and immerse yourself in the basement
atmosphere of the Elephant Room.
The Elephant Room is strictly a
watering hole—beer, wine and mixed drinks. Patrons occasionally
bring their own food or have it delivered.
Continental
Continental Club 1315 South Congress Avenue
The name
“Continental Club” sounds posh and sophisticated. The reality is
quite different. The Continental is basically a concrete box with
a stage and a bar. It is pretty strictly a watering hole—eat
before you go. Parking is on the street and can be an
adventure, although both sides of South Congress are lined with
diagonal parking spaces.
The jazz attraction at Continental is a
small group called the Trio Gallerio. This group features two of
the best jazz guitarists to be found anywhere, Dave Biller and J.D.
Pendley. Ryan Gould is one of two bass players. Currently
they are playing the early show (6:30 – 8:30 p.m.) on Mondays in the
main club, and the late show (10 p.m. to midnight) in the upstairs
Gallery.
www.continentalclub.com/
Carousel
Carousel Lounge 1110 East 52nd Street
The Carousel Lounge
is a piece of Austin entertainment history. It is little changed
since the 1960s. It is another watering hole—beer, wine and mixed
drinks. Carousel is decorated in a bright circus motif, including
a large paper-maché elephant. There are double rows of parking spaces
in front of the club. People who find themselves parked in will
come back inside to ask the outer parker to move. There are a few
spaces at the business next door and some street parking.
The
Chaparral Dixielanders play at the Carousel about once a month from 7
to 9 p.m. Other bands run the gamut of popular guitar-based
styles. If traditional jazz is your music, check before you
go. As at Flipnotics, bands play strictly for tips, so please
support the musicians.
http://www.carousellounge.net/
Cap City
Capitol City Comedy Club 8201 Research Boulevard
Cap City
is located in a shopping center at the intersection of Research
Boulevard and Anderson Square. It is truly a comedy club, and
most of the time is not a music venue at all. However, it is the
home of events offered by the Austin Traditional Jazz Society.
One Sunday afternoon a month, it comes alive with hot jazz.
Capitol
City Comedy Club is a good venue for jazz. Ample free parking can
be found in the shopping center parking lot, and there are other
shopping centers nearby if an event fills the lot up. The main
room is spacious, with seats for more than 300 patrons. There is
a large stage, with a good sound system, good acoustics and good sight
lines. Austin Traditional Jazz Society rents a dance floor for
its events.
Cap City has a full bar and a kitchen. Menu
items are lunch or snack items (sandwiches, quesadillas, nachos and the
like), and they are good and reasonably priced.
www.capcitycomedy.com/
Brown Bar
The Brown Bar 8th and Colorado Streets
The Brown Bar is an upscale bar on
the first floor of the Brown Building on the southwest corner of 8th and
Colorado Streets in downtown Austin. The clientele is mostly young and
professional. Street parking is available with some patient searching.
Valet parking is also available on the east side of the building.
The Brown Bar is not a restaurant,
but often serves as a waiting area for Gumbo's, which is next door.
The waitstaff can bring you anything off the Gumbo's menu--it's good Cajun
fare.
The Chaparral Dixielanders played a
Mardi Gras gig here, and further jazz events may be in the works. Be sure
to check Other Local Events before you go.
http://www.thebrownbar.com/
Tree House
Tree House Italian Grill 2201 College Avenue
The Tree
House Italian Grill is located on College Avenue in South Austin.
It is just north of the intersection of South Congress and Oltorf
Street. If coming south on Congress, turn left at Live Oak Street
and go one block. There is ample parking on the grounds of the Tree
House. Additional spaces are readily found on nearby streets.
The
Tree House is an upscale Italian restaurant. There is some
seating in the restaurant itself. Most patrons are seated
outdoors around a huge live oak tree. In the colder months the
area between the restaurant building and the tree is enclosed in
plastic and becomes a second large room. In warmer months, dinner
patrons sit closer to the restaurant building. Patrons seeking
lighter fare can sit in the wine garden and have drinks and/or dessert.
Both
the food and the service are excellent at the Tree House. Entrees
are in the range between ten and twenty dollars. There is a
lengthy wine list.
The Tree House offers both traditional and
mainstream jazz. The most frequently-featured traditional jazz
band is Aunt Ruby’s Sweet Jazz Babies. They are there either
Friday or Saturday most weeks. Check the listings before you go.
http://www.treehousegrill.com/
The Austin Traditional Jazz Society is a non-profit organization
dedicated to the preservation and performance of Traditional Dixieland Jazz in
Austin and Central Texas
