On first entering the brand-new Rudy’s Jazz Room at 809 Gleaves St. in the Gulch, you’ll likely have an immediate feeling of being immersed in the idiom. Next to photos of jazz greats on the wall are monitors featuring videos of John Coltrane, Miles Davis and others. An impeccably tuned Steinway Model B grand piano, purchased with funds from a Kickstarter campaign that received 297 contributions, has a prominent spot in the front. Thanks to help from noted acoustic designer Michael Cronin, the 50 seats are positioned so that there are no spots with muffled sound or blocked sightlines. Moroccan light fixtures and Persian rugs bring to mind “A Night in Tunisia.”
For Rudy’s co-owners, Adam Charney and Michael Braden, intimacy and authenticity are key. Everything is designed to provide the Nashville jazz fan with an experience that’s been hard to come by since the closing of F. Scott’s — one that has historically been the province of such places as Smalls or the Village Vanguard in New York, Lulu White’s in Boston, The Lighthouse Cafe in Los Angeles, or other celebrated clubs in Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
“Michael and I had spent years working in the software industry and doing something that was fiscally rewarding, but not really what we truly enjoyed,” Charney tells the Scene. “We decided, ‘Why not do something that we’ve always wanted to do: Put together our ideal of a great jazz club?’ I spent a lot of years in New York and remembered how great it was to go to a place like Smalls, which was intimate, acoustically designed to reflect the music’s sound and also offered you good food and drinks at a reasonable price. So we came up with Rudy’s.”
Charney is also a guitarist, and was once a student of the late Rudy Wooten, saxophonist of The Wooten Brothers and the club’s namesake. The Wootens are among many notable Nashville area musicians, including pianist Matt Endahl and saxophonist Rahsaan Barber, who have either appeared at Rudy’s since its soft opening on May 8 or are part of the lineup in the weeks ahead.
Braden, a New Orleans native, is equally adamant that the culinary offerings fit the bill for a great jazz place.
“The one thing that we definitely did not want to have anyone say was that the food and the drinks here were knockoffs, or poor imitations of the real thing,” he says. “I grew up in a culture of great food and great music, and that’s what we’re going to offer here at Rudy’s. The drinks all have a New Orleans theme, and the food reflects that same sensibility. We want anyone who comes here to not only be thrilled by what they hear, but also what they have to eat and drink.”
Still, Rudy’s Jazz Room will ultimately rise or fall on the strength of its music. Assistant manager and talent buyer Jeffrey Lien, who is also an experienced drummer, says Rudy’s will be a place to showcase both the best of the city’s jazz artists and top national acts. Currently, scheduled shows each evening include solo piano sets at 5:30 p.m., combo performances at 8 p.m. and late shows some nights at 11:30 p.m.
“We think there’s enough top talent here to more than fill our bill and meet our goal of having jazz shows three times a day, seven nights a week,” Lien says. “Nashville has so many great musicians, and more are arriving and moving here every day. We’re going to provide them that chance to have a place to play, while also periodically bringing in major acts from other parts of the country.”
Charney, Braden and Lien also salute the Nashville Jazz Workshop, calling it “a vital force in the city’s jazz community,” and adding they see themselves in partnership with the workshop in terms of offering more opportunities for the city’s jazz musicians and audience.
“We most certainly recognize and admire everything that they’ve done in terms of helping grow jazz in Nashville,” Charney says. “No one should look at what we’re doing as being anything beyond another option for local jazz fans. We’ve all been to The Jazz Cave, and we all continue to support what the Nashville Jazz Workshop is doing, as well as the Tennessee Jazz and Blues Society, and everyone else who enjoys and is an advocate for this music. Ultimately, that’s what we are as well.”
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