Cambridge Jazz Clubs Compete For Customers

On a recent Monday night at Charlie's Tap Jazz Club in Central Square, notes of Miles Davis filtered through the dark club onto the street. In the middle of a smoky haze, the keyboardist sweated, the saxaphonist swayed and the drummer bobbed his head in time with the music.

Patrons, some with closed eyes, tapped their feet and nodded as they listened to the strains.

With six clubs in the area that feature jazz music, Cambridge has established itself as a hotspot for jazz artists who want to strut their stuff.

But as would-be jazz players are crowding the stages, jazz clubs are having to compete for an ever-dwindling customer base by offering different styles of music and unique atmospheres.

With an abundance of music schools--some among the best in the country--the area produces a large number of musicians.

"There are a lot of jazz musicians in town," says Rick H. Boceart, a manager at Ryles, a club on Hampshire Street. "And as a result, there are a lot of clubs to meet the demand."

The students of area music programs help to fuel the Cambridge jazz scene. The jazz program at the Berklee School of Music is widely believed to be the best in the country, and the New England Conservatory of Music and MIT also have renowned music programs.

And in Cambridge, the students have a chance to get real-world experience playing jazz.

"There's definitely an audience for it," says Arlo Wilkins, an audience member at Ryles. "I would say jazz has a place in Cambridge."

The resurgence of jazz in popular culture is another reason for the proliferation of jazz clubs in Cambridge, says John O'Hare, an employee at Charlie's Tap Jazz Club

"You see jazz all the time in commercials," O'Hare says. "Five years ago, the cool thing to do was to bring a jazz musician to the restaurant. Hip- hop artists use jazz all the time in their music. Now, the rise of R & B and sampling [the mixing together of disparate music styles] has really helped jazz expand. It's opening up people's ears to other kinds of music."

Jazz also appeals to college students, says Troy A. Leonard, a student at Boston College and a patron of Charlie's.

"I think a lot of younger people like to try something new," Leonard says.

Though students are flocking to jazz clubs, the clubs are still struggling to bring in other customers, including older patrons and fans of other musical styles.

"We strive to please our voracious jazz fans," Boceart says. "We all want to do jazz, but, in order to make money, we have to play other kinds of music."

Ryles adjusts by playing music closely related to jazz, like R & B, he says.

"We reach out into the periphery of jazz to find the other kinds of bands who play here," Boceart says.

Most other jazz clubs say that they do not exclusively play jazz, either. Charlie's, for example, reserves Sundays for special jazz nights, although jazz players can usually come in and play any day of the week.

Other clubs adjust to the changing audience by catering to a specific group.

The carpeted floors and plush chairs of the Regatta Bar, located in the Charles Hotel, make it seem worlds apart from Charlie's.

The well-known jazz performers that play here while passing through Cambridge add to the glamour.

"The bar caters to the upscale crowd," says Tommy Ruane, a manager of the Regatta Bar.

But Charlie's, too, is going for a certain feel.

"This place has been here so long," says Margaret A. Hogan, manager for Charlie's. "It's a funky dive."

Local paintings, a 1950s-style jukebox playing Stan Getz and Duke Ellington and an out-of-place Star Trek pinball machine create a laidback atmosphere.

Hogan says Charlie's tries to evoke an old-style jazz club with its dark lighting and smoky rooms.

"Simply put, jazz is the universal music," says Mickey Conklin, who books acts at Charlie's. "It mixes melodies and harmonies and turns out sweet rhythms. Everyone can appreciate it."

And as the relaxing strains of the Pink Panther theme flow out of the club, it seems that jazz is well and alive in Cambridge.