As businesses close, so do opportunities for jazz

Cheryl Underwood had never opened a restaurant before, but in 2007 she opened her jazz club, Jazz at the Station, because she liked music.

Her customers liked music, too, which created the problem.

Jazz at the Station will close Saturday because the restaurant did not receive enough turnaround, and the business model was not profitable, Underwood said.

“I went into it to break even,” she said. “I didn’t intend on losing my life savings in it, which is essentially what I did.”

The North Walnut Street club’s shutdown comes within three weeks of the closing of another restaurant featuring live jazz, Tutto Bene, 213 S. Rogers St.

Underwood said Jazz at the Station “lost money like crazy” because customers often stayed to listen to music without buying food or drinks and because performers lacked music business knowledge.

“They’re very concerned with their performance,” Underwood said. “Beyond their performance, they don’t have any idea of what’s going on to keep the business going.”

A night of live music was expensive, Underwood said. Customers paid a $5 cover charge, which went directly to the musician. She then had to pay for sound technicians, among other expenses. When she did not have a planned group, she often paid a solo pianist to play.

She also said the cover charge turned some customers away, and some people were turned off by live music playing while they ate dinner.

Underwood will now rely on her other job in real estate as her main source of income.
Marci Widen, co-owner and creative director of Tutto Bene, which closed Feb. 28, said she was sad to see her business close because restaurants with live music are unique in a college town.

“We were one of the few places that was not a sports bar or beer hangout,” Widen said.

Even though Bloomington is losing two jazz venues, Jacobs School of Music Distinguished Professor and Jazz Studies Department Chair David Baker said jazz is a resilient art form. But while small clubs come in and out, losing both places is still a blow to arts in Bloomington, he said.

“I think it’s a loss not only to the jazz community, but also to the supporters of the arts in general,” said Baker, who performs jazz regularly at Bear’s Place and was named an Indiana Living Legend by the Indiana Historical Society in 2001.

Baker said he is more worried that local venues closing could create a snowball effect, and funding for public broadcasting could decrease. He said he is worried about WFIU and WTIU because the community would lose not only jazz, but other kinds of music as well.

“It’s a much more depressing thought – NPR would be put out of business,” Baker said.

But even with the slow economy, one place in Bloomington has kept a jazz series going for almost 20 years. David Miller, the director and host of Thursday’s Jazz Fables at Bear’s Place, 1316 E. Third St., started the series in September 1989.

He said he is a promoter and thus does not have to support the restaurant financially, leading to the series’ success.

“We’ve only been doing it once a week, so we don’t have to keep Bear’s Place going on its own,” Miller said.

He also said Bear’s Place has a variety of entertainment throughout the week in addition to jazz, such as karaoke, comedy and a film series, that keeps customers coming back.

“With Jazz at the Station trying to do three nights in a row of live jazz, that’s probably more than this market can support,” Miller said.

Monika Herzig, who played regularly at Jazz at the Station and also founded Jazz from Bloomington, an organization that promotes the genre locally, said she is confident the music has a future in Bloomington.

“I’ve been here since 1991 and have seen different places crop up,” Herzig said.

But for local venues to survive, Herzig said Bloomington residents have to pitch in.

“We have to go out and support local venues,” Herzig said. “That will be the best support they can have.”