PERHAPS THE BEST PART of this ‘jazz club’ is that it’s only really a jazz club on Monday nights.
Monday nights don’t really get enough love in my opinion. And don’t get me started on Tuesdays.
Almost any night of the week, you’ll find some type of live music in this room. Tuesdays are blues days. Americana stuff most Thursdays. Fridays and Saturdays are mostly old-time rock-and-roll, rhythm-and-blues kinda stuff. Sundays are jam nights.
Seahawk, Husky or Cougar games make it feel like a sports bar sometimes. In the mornings on weekends, there’s brunch to be had. The chicken fried steak is delicious.
The room is unpretentious. I think that’s what I’m trying to say. It’s reminiscent of an old roadhouse diner with a bar in the back and a stage in the corner. Every Monday night, this space is filled with jazz from some of the most accomplished musicians in the region. For free. No cover. Like all shows here. The banner behind the band reads: Music Often.
The featured players usually carry impressive resumes. It’s the kind of place where those guys who’ve played with bigger bands that have become household names hang out on Monday nights.
Chris Bickley, one of those guys with an impressive resume, leads the band under the neon lights in the far corner of the room. He tells the crowd how he intentionally switches up the players in the group and features different special guests each time to keep things fresh. Mixing it up, he says, changes up the style you’ll hear on any given night and gives the audience a chance to hear different compositions they may have never heard before.
He reads off the lineage of tunes almost academically between songs. He does it quickly, careful not to get bogged down in too many details.
He introduces one of the members of the band, summoning another applause from the audience. Tonight’s got a Latin-style feel. There’s a set of conga drums set up in the middle of the band. Tonight’s featured guests are Seattle-based world-class percussionist, composer, singer and songwriter Tor Dietrichson and guitarist Brian Monroney. Monroney has long been a studio session musician in Los Angeles and spent more than 17 years as the guitarist and musical director for Tom Jones.
They’ve also got one hell of a bass player up there. Didn’t catch his name.
Plus, Bickley on sax and another drummer set up on a trap kit in the corner.
Midway through the first set, local Latin jazz maestro Malo Castro joins the band on bongos for a song or two.
“They bring out some boys that can really play, don’t they?” An older lady takes a seat next to me at the bar.
I’m lost in the music.
“Oh yeah, Monday nights are some of my favorite,” I respond and smile.
I don’t know why I’m telling you this. But something tells me this really is one of the best-kept secrets in the local jazz community. Possibly one of the best kept in the broader scope of jazz in the Pacific Northwest.
Later this month, three of the local players who have contributed to building that ‘best-kept secret’ here in Bremerton—Bickley plus pianist Ray Ohls, who also plays on Monday once a month at Brother Don’s, and saxophonist Mark Lewis—will be playing the Roxy Theater under the banner of ‘Bremerton Jazz Legends’ on Nov. 12.
And, word has it, later in December, Bickley’s gonna be bringing one of the saxophonists who played with Steely Dan to town. // JAMES MUNK
CHECK OUT BROTHER DON’S Monday Jazz Nights, 6 p.m., all ages, no cover in Bremerton. FIND MORE CHRIS BICKLEY at chrisbickleyjazz.com
AND CHECK OUT ‘BREMERTON JAZZ LEGENDS’ w/ The Chris Bickley Quintet, The Ray Ohls Trio and The Mark Lewis Quartet, doors at 6 p.m., Nov. 12, all ages, $25 at the Roxy Theatre, Bremerton
