Gerald Clayton
Jazzmania, the Nashville Jazz Workshop’s annual fundraiser that’s slated for Saturday at The Factory at Franklin, is always a welcome occasion for Music City’s community of improvisational musicians and fans. But this 19th edition has extra-special meaning — it comes during a time of transition for the NJW. In January, after 19 years in the Neuhoff Complex in Germantown, the workshop will relocate to its new headquarters at 1012 Buchanan St. The new building is right next to Slim & Husky’s carryout and delivery location The Rollout, in what was formerly the Music City Center for Spiritual Living.
“It’s bittersweet,” acknowledges NJW co-founder Roger Spencer, who along with his wife Lori Mechem co-founded the Nashville Jazz Institute in 1998. The organization became a federally recognized nonprofit, changed its name to the Nashville Jazz Workshop and moved to its current location at 1319 Adams St. in 2000. “A lot of good music has been played here. But we’re optimistic about this move.”
“It will be a gradual one,” Mechem says of the move. “We’re looking at having a grand opening in January, and we’re going to start moving some things over there soon.”
This adds to the importance of the fundraising effort. Jazzmania’s headliner, The Gerald Clayton Quartet, should help in that respect. The son of outstanding bassist John Clayton, pianist Gerald Clayton has a nimble and lyrical style, and his own résumé is quite impressive. He’s a Grammy-nominated instrumentalist and composer who’s recorded and toured not only with his own groups, but also with such jazz greats as Charles Lloyd, Terrell Stafford, Diana Krall, and his own family ensemble, The Clayton Brothers.
Mechem and Spencer are also highly regarded educators and performers — things they’ve had more opportunity to focus on since the NJW hired a new executive director, Eric Dilts, in 2018 — and they’ll be playing the show with The Lori Mechem Quartet. (Mechem leads the band and plays piano; Spencer is a bassist.) Also performing will be a group that exemplifies the Workshop’s work in the flesh: the NJW Young Artist Ensemble, composed of students from the Young Artists program, rounds out the bill.
Jazzmania includes other entertaining events prior to the musical ones. The NJW Heritage Award is presented each year to a person who has made major long-term contributions to the local jazz community. (This year’s honoree hasn’t been announced, but past recipients have included saxophonist Jeff Coffin, trumpeter Rod McGaha, drummer Chester Thompson and pianist Beegie Adair — all sterling musicians who’ve also been actively involved in Nashville jazz as educators, bandleaders and more.) There’s a special patron reception that includes the opportunity for a meet-and-greet with The Gerald Clayton Quartet, as well as live and silent auctions. See nashvillejazz.org for a full schedule of events, and prepare to bid generously — this year’s proceeds will help defray the costs of moving and prepping the new site.
The new facility is located in historically black North Nashville’s burgeoning Buchanan Business and Arts District. It has 400 fewer square feet than the previous building, which will necessitate putting the NJW’s George Tidwell Library, a vast collection of recorded jazz, into storage. But there will be a larger space for the Jazz Cave performance venue, which will now seat 120 people. There will be 45 parking spaces and bigger restrooms, and there are plans for necessary structural changes within the building to make it acoustically sound for a jazz-based operation.
“We definitely have to do a few things to make it work better for our purposes,” says Spencer, “but it’s going to be a good setup for everyone once those developments are done.”
There will be three classrooms, while the stage will serve as a fourth. There are also ambitious plans underway for next year, designed to get more interaction with the NJW’s new community. Mechem says one program in development is a free event series called 20 for 20. Among other classes, public concerts and additional programming, the workshop also hopes to bring its Jazz by the Book series back to Parnassus Books. Though the time for elbow grease and sweat equity is coming soon, the NJW needs funding now. If you’d like to support the workshop but are unable to attend Jazzmania, see the NJW website for details on how you can donate.
“We knew eventually, given some of the things that have been happening in the neighborhood, that we were going to have to move,” says Spencer. “We think we’ve found the best facility and a good neighborhood to keep our mission alive and active.”
