Monday, November 4, 2013

Article: Nighttown looks to expand its musical offerings

More cool venue news…  

Nighttown -- a jazz hotspot in Cleveland Heights with an international reputation -- looks to expand its musical offerings | cleveland.com

For almost two decades now, Nighttown — the restaurant located at the top of Cedar Hill in Cleveland Heights — has been Cleveland’s premier jazz venue. Over the years, the restaurant/club has presented such legendary jazz artists as McCoy Tyner, the Count Basie Orchestra, Ahmad Jamal and Hugh Masekela. And it’s always included in DownBeat magazine’s list of the top jazz clubs in America.

More recently, however, Nighttown has started to expand its musical offerings, presenting shows that feature cabaret, Broadway, folk, international and even classical music. ‘We’re trying to diversify the music programming and extend it beyond jazz,’ said Brendan Ring, owner of Nighttown. ‘If we had just left it alone, the crowd would be dead.’ He added that later this year, the restaurant may even present some electronic dance music shows, featuring deejays. ‘It’s what the young, hipster crowd wants to see,’ he said.

‘The programming at Nighttown is very dynamic, and it is changing in subtle ways,’ added Jim Wadsworth, owner of Jim Wadsworth Productions, who books the Nighttown shows. ‘We are not standing still by any measure. In the past two years, I have had many firsts at Nighttown, including jazz and tap dancing combined, opera singers and major pop acts with cover charges $50 and higher. We’re trying to be responsive to the community and give them what they want.’"

(Continued... Nighttown -- a jazz hotspot in Cleveland Heights with an international reputation -- looks to expand its musical offerings | cleveland.com)

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