Jazz club The Nash, located on Roosevelt Row, is celebrating its one-year anniversary this month with events that encompass the spirit of jazz that has emanated from its walls since its opening.
“The Nash has turned out to be the ultimate community building,” said Joel Goldenthal, executive director for Jazz in Arizona, the nonprofit organization that owns the venue. “Since we opened our doors last year, we have brought together student musicians, jazz educators and the jazz audience. The Nash has galvanized the jazz community.”
The building has served as a center for the art form for the past year. The Nash gives Jazz in Arizona the proper venue to host many more performances and enables them to bring together an immensely varied group of people in terms of age, ethnicity and geographical area, Goldenthal said.
In their first year, The Nash counted upwards of 20,000 total attendees.
The genuine passion for jazz is the fuel behind the club’s success, Goldenthal said. The Nash not only hosts numerous jazz groups for performances, but also provides an experience for young musicians they can’t get in many other places. He said students come to immerse themselves in the learning environment The Nash provides, participating in weekly jazz clinics, workshops and jam sessions.
Along with showcasing live performances by artists ranging from student musicians to local professionals and well-known names, The Nash is also renowned for its efforts toward enhancing musical education through jazz programs for student musicians.
“Schools are experiencing cutbacks for all the arts,” Goldenthal said. “You’re getting a decreased exposure. Jazz is an original American art form and is respected all over the world. It is music that is created in the moment, spontaneously. It’s important to continue the music as an American art form and, arguably, as the ultimate musical expression.”
Goldenthal said students travel to The Nash from all over the Valley. There are many who have attended every jam session since the venue’s opening. Sean Kelso, a saxophonist and ASU student, is one such individual.
“The Nash is a great opportunity for student musicians to come and play and grow,” Kelso said. “It helps (us) connect with professional musicians, local music educators and other important figureheads of the Phoenix jazz scene.”
Goldenthal said the main proponent that will keep the jazz genre going strong is exposure. The business’ location was specifically chosen to open up on Roosevelt Row because of the community aspect, the benefit of First Friday and the proximity to the Light Rail and the Downtown campus.
“(The Nash) is creating a supermodel for cultivating the future of jazz,” Goldenthal said. “Just like we hoped it would be.”
On Friday, the Lewis Nash All-Star Quintet, comprised of Randy Brecker on trumpet, Javon Jackson on saxophone, George Cables on piano, George Mraz on bass and Lewis Nash on drums, will be the pinnacle of the anniversary celebration.
Nash, the namesake of the facility, also has an immense passion for the genre and the club he helped create. He said the establishment has created a world class space for jazz in the downtown Phoenix area and hopes it will continue to be a magnet for world class musicians.
“We are mentoring and educating young musicians in a way we hope will keep interest (in jazz alive),” Nash said. “It is a very ambitious undertaking, but it is very rewarding.”
Nash said he has had the opportunity to play with many of the jazz greats, and therefore got firsthand experience with the core musicians that made the genre so eminent.
“If I can personally be a part of continuing the tradition for young people, then that is really fulfilling,” he said.
Other events will happen this weekend in celebration of the anniversary. A show titled “Remembering Piano Greats: George Duke, Keith Greko, Marian McPartland, Mulgrew Miller and Cedar Walton” will feature ASU jazz studies professor Mike Kocour, Charles Lewis and Beth Lederman on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. A New Orleans-style brunch featuring The Bad Cactus Brass Band will happen on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The proceeds from all shows will support educational programs at The Nash.
Contact the reporter at rebecca.brisley@asu.edu
