Jazz Clubs

the savoy jazz club in second life

We both love jazz and to hear it live is even a bigger treat. Second Life is probably the best venue in the world to hear live music from all corners of the world.

Tonight, we dropped off at The Savoy to hear Nina Brandenburg singing a jazz set of great classics. From Frank Sinatra to Cole Porter, her range is beautifully designed for these classic jazz songs.

We also saw Crighton Johin, owner of The Savoy dancing on the floor, too! What a great way to spend our Saturday evening with the classics of jazz.

Ten Best Hollywood Movie Disc Jockeys

Japanese movie poster: Wolfman Jack, far right, in American Graffiti (1973) – Heritage Auction Galleries

The venerable DJ – or disc jockey – has played an important role in the movies. Here are ten movie deejays who score high in Hollywood history. It’s an eclectic list, with our story beginning in northern California…

Wolfman Jack/American Graffiti (Universal, 1973)

The legendary Wolfman Jack (1938-1995) winningly plays himself in director George Lucas’ ode to cruising and rock ‘n’ roll. Broadcasting from a radio station just outside of an unnamed northern California town, the omnipresent Wolfman Jack dominates the film, spinning records and engaging in his patented deejay chatter as our main characters cruise the main drag during one unforgettable summer night in 1962. At first just a voice on Mexican radio station XERB, we later meet Wolfman Jack when Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) journeys to the isolated facility, requesting that the Wolfman broadcast a personal message to the sultry blonde (Suzanne Somers) now cruising the streets in her white 1956 Thunderbird. The bearded deejay denies being the famous Wolfman, but later as Curt is leaving the station we see the disc jockey take to the airwaves live through a studio window, thundering into the mike and leaving no doubt as to his true identity. George Lucas had personally cast Wolfman Jack in American Graffiti, as he had been a fan of the deejay while attending high school in Modesto, California. “Sneakin’ around with the Wolfman, baby. This is gonna strike a raw nerve, Mama. Here’s the Platters!” Wolfman howls in one scene.

Clint Eastwood/Play Misty for Me (Universal, 1971)

Clint Eastwood plays cool Dave Garver, who works as a jazz deejay at KRML Radio in northern California. Dave is a swinging bachelor with a groovy girlfriend named Tobie (Donna Mills), but is not beyond hooking up with one of his fans, Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walter), who regularly calls in requesting the old Erroll Garner classic “Misty.” Their one-night stand – “with no strings attached,” heh, heh – triggers the beginning of a nightmare, as the psychotic Evelyn relentlessly stalks Dave, ruining his chances for a coveted deejay job at another station, cutting up his housekeeper Birdie (Clarice Taylor) and kidnapping his steady gal pal. The Dave Garver role suits Clint Eastwood perfectly, as the actor has an abiding interest in jazz. James McEachin plays “Sweet” Al Monte, Eastwood’s fellow deejay. “Why don’t you play some Montovani some time?” John Larch as police Sgt. McCallum asks. “Didn’t know you liked the show,” Dave Garver replies. “I don’t. I like Montovani,” counters McCallum.

Promotional photo: Clint Eastwood as DJ Dave Garver with Donna Mills in Play Misty for Me (1971) – Heritage Auction Galleries

Adrienne Barbeau/The Fog (Avco Embassy, 1980)

Adrienne Barbeau plays husky-voiced Stevie Wayne, the deejay owner of KAB 1340 Radio in fictional Antonio Bay, California. Broadcasting from an old lighthouse, Stevie coos to her late-night listeners, playing soft music and relaying weather reports from her meteorologist boyfriend Dan O’Bannon (Charles Cyphers). But when a mysterious fog begins to roll in, bringing with it six ghostly apparitions hell-bent on revenge, the heroic Stevie becomes the eyes and ears of the small northern California town, directing her listeners (Tom Atkins, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, et al.) to safety from the menacing mist and its 19th century killers. “There’s something in the fog!” Stevie shouts into the microphone, making for a grand old time in this John Carpenter horror movie classic.

Robin Williams/Good Morning, Vietnam (Touchtone, 1987)

Robin Williams plays Adrian Cronauer, the real-life U.S. Air Force enlisted man who broadcast his show over Armed Forces Radio in Saigon during the Vietnam War. The irreverent Cronauer quickly runs afoul of his immediate superiors, Lieutenant Steven Hauk (Bruno Kirby) and Sergeant Major Dickerson (J.T. Walsh), who want to kick the young deejay off the air. Robin Williams, who garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, gives a tour de force performance as the slick, energetic Cronauer. “Goooooooood morning, Vietnam! Hey, this is not a test! This is rock and roll! Time to rock it from the Delta to the D.M.Z.!” Williams’ Cronauer begins his signature introduction.

Tim McIntire/American Hot Wax (Paramount, 1978)

Tim McIntire delivers as Alan Freed (1921-1965), the legendary deejay credited with popularizing the term “rock and roll.” American Hot Wax centers on the year 1959, with the pioneering Freed trying to put together a rock ‘n’ roll show at Brooklyn’s Paramount Theater. No stranger to controversy, Freed had battled the authorities and record company honchos since his early days in Cleveland radio. Jay Leno plays Mookie, with Fran Drescher as Sheryl and Laraine Newman as Teenage Louise. “Whispering Bells” (the Del Vikings), “Sea Cruise” (Frankie Ford), “A Thousand Miles Away” (the Heartbeats) and “Little Darlin’” (the Diamonds) are among the film’s classic rock ‘n’ roll tunes. “You can stop me, but you’re never gonna stop rock and roll!” McIntire’s Freed proclaims during the riot scene at movie’s end.

Paul Kaye/It’s All Gone Pete Tong (Matson Films, 2004)

Paul Kaye plays Frankie Wilde, a successful deejay whose career is threatened by drug abuse and hearing loss. A former musician, Wilde becomes a sensation on the Ibiza club scene, but later disappears because of growing cocaine use and a hearing problem. It’s a story of tragedy and triumph, with Frankie eventually compensating for his disability and returning to the deejay booth. The movie’s “Pete Tong” in the title refers to the legendary English deejay who broadcasts for BBC Radio 1. The real Pete Tong appears briefly in the film, along with Beatriz Batarda, Kate Magowan and Mike Wilmot. “I was thinking, you know Paul Newman’s got his salad dressing and that? So why not Frankie Wilde Hummus?” Paul Kaye’s deejay character announces.

Jon Jacobs/DJ Hound Dog (Golden Shadow, 2003)

Jon Jacobs (billed as John London) plays DJ Hound Dog, a klutzy British transplant from Miami who claws his way up the ladder to deejay fame and fortune in Ibiza. Cameo appearances by world-famous DJ’s Pete Tong, Tiesto, Eddie Halliwell, Bob Sinclair, Robbie Riviera, Junior Jack, Carl Cox, Lisa Lashes, Monica X, Kai Tracid, et al., give the movie legitimacy and added international glitz. Charlotte Lewis and Tina Wiseman provide the requisite club eye candy.

Paul Kalkbrenner/Berlin Calling (Movienet, 2008)

Real-life electronic music maestro Paul Kalkbrenner plays Martin Karow a.k.a. DJ Ickarus, with Rita Lengyel as gal pal Mathilde and Corinna Harfouch as psychiatrist Professor Dr. Petra Paul in this offbeat German film. It explores the Berlin club scene through the eyes of the increasingly paranoid Ickarus, including the electronic trance music rage and the myriad of drugs available to the famously anointed.

Ray Vitte/Thank God’s It’s Friday (Columbia, 1978)

Ray Vitte plays Bobby Speed, the groovin’ deejay at a swinging disco club named The Zoo on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles. The Zoo is a “meet market,” where on-the-make clubgoers knock down drinks, gyrate to the pounding disco sound and try to hook up for the obligatory one-night stand. Donna Summer a.k.a. “The Queen of Disco” plays Nicole Sims, a fledgling singer who badgers DJ Bobby Speed to play her demo record. Look for Jeff Goldblum and Debra Winger in this dancefest, with Ray Vitte’s Bobby Speed spinning such disco tunes as “Hollywood” (the Village People), “Last Dance” (Donna Summer), “Love Masterpiece” (Thelma Houston) and “Thank God It’s Friday” (Love & Kisses). “Hey listen, man. When I, Bobby Speed, promises his audience live music, he delivers,” Vitte pronounces. Got your platform shoes handy?

Alan Freed/Rock Around the Clock (Columbia, 1956)

Alan Freed plays himself in what many view as the first rock ‘n’ roll feature film. The story centers on Bill Haley and His Comets, who are discovered by promoter Steve Hollis (Johnny Johnston) in small-town America. There’s plenty of “decadent” rock ‘n’ roll music in this one, along with appearances by such artists as the Platters, Freddie Bell and His Bellboys and of course Bill Haley and His Comets, whose signature song “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” provides the movie’s title. When shown overseas, Rock Around the Clock spawned teenage riots in some movie theaters. Alan Freed also portrayed himself in Don’t Knock the Rock (1956), Mister Rock and Roll (1957) and Go, Johnny, Go! (1959).

Chicago Jazz: A Cultural History, 1904-1930

Jazz Clubs – click on the image below for more information.

Jazz Clubs

The setting is the Royal Gardens Cafe. It’s dark, smoky. The smell of gin permeates the room. People are leaning over the balcony, their drinks spilling on the customers below. On stage, King Oliver and Louis Armstrong roll on and on, piling up choruses, the rhythm section building the beat until tables, chairs, walls, people, move with the rhythm. The time is the 1920s. The place is South Side Chicago, a town of dance halls and cabarets, Prohibition and segregation, a town where jazz would flo

Chicago Jazz: A Cultural History, 1904-1930

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Club hopping: A night in Allentown shows homegrown music at its best
Jazz Clubs
… and performing at the weekly Jam Clubs held in Student Union Theater. It was during these UB jams that the band's vision began to come into focus. And what a vision it is. Part jazz, part rock, part jam, part funk and a whole lot psychedelic, …

Jazz Clubs question by kyle: Where are the Local Jazz Clubs?
Hey guys im an 18 year old musician who is really into jazz. I play tenor saxophone and will be majoring in music in college. I am totally in love with jazz and i need to start listening to it more, especially live. What my question is where in New York or New Jersey would be suitable for an 18 year old to go see some live jazz performances. Just NY or NJ clubs

Thank you so much in advance !

Jazz Clubs best answer:

Answer by Teaim
The Jazz Gallery is a great place for musicians to check out whats new and exciting in jazz. Its downtown on Hudson Street, just north of Spring.

Also, check out the Village Vanguard on 7th Ave, just south of St Vincent’s Hospital.

I have been to most of the clubs, and these are the ones I personally enjoy the music at most.

If you want to, you can mail me a date when you are planning on checking out a show and I will check the city’s calender for that night and give you a suggestion on which show to attend. I have seen most of the musicians gigging in NYC.