[Dixielandjazz] Another Jazz nightclub folds ( not OKOM...)

[David Richoux]

it is very tough in San Jose, CA!

Dave Richoux


 From the San Jose Metro (free weekly newspaper) 
www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/03.16.05/fly-0511.html

>  Another Club Bites the Dust
>
>  To be a working musician in San Jose is hard. To run a live music 
> venue in downtown San Jose is damn near impossible. Latin jazz legend 
> PETE ESCOVEDO found that out for himself last weekend when the 
> Latin-music legend was forced to shut down his club at the SoFA flash 
> point of South First and San Salvador last weekend. According to 
> Escovedo, the older, upscale audiences for live Latin Jazz music never 
> materialized. "We couldn't make it there," he says, by cell phone from 
> his Los Angeles home. "No matter what we did it wasn't enough. People 
> just didn't come out. It didn't do me any good staying there. Time to 
> move on." After opening the club in July of 2004, Escovedo and 
> co-owner MARIO GALEANO dropped $300,000 in improvements. He resisted 
> the more lucrative DJ format, preferring to go for an upscale crowd 
> with live jazz, blues and Latin. Being a musician himself, he wanted 
> to give bands a place to play and get paid. When the crowds didn't 
> show, the club got behind on everything: rent, phones, staff, 
> advertising, liquor bills. Nine months after grand opening: grand 
> closing. "It's a tough business," he says. "Unless you're making money 
> every night, the numbers don't work. I was trying five nights a week 
> of live music. It didn't support itself." By the way, the city offers 
> national chains like the IMPROV and HOUSE OF BLUES hefty incentives 
> and subsidies, but gave Pete—a guy with plenty of local ties—nada. 
> Escovedo and staff tried to work with the area concierges to 
> negligible effect. When the California Theatre opened, club employees 
> passed out fliers to departing theatergoers, inviting them down the 
> street for a drink. The older crowds in suits and furs strolled right 
> to their cars and drove off—Escovedo himself watched them go plenty of 
> times. "I guess it's that corner," he says, about the area bound by 
> Agenda Lounge, Zoë and Glo—all nightclubs that attract a predominantly 
> younger crowd. "People are so used to seeing the young crowd and it's 
> what keeps the older crowds away." Three weeks ago, Escovedo 
> experimented with DJs and Sunday night reggae as a last-ditch effort, 
> but his heart wasn't in it. Today, the club is shuttered and for sale 
> or lease. Escovedo is focused again on his music, touring and painting 
> careers. "It's a financial setback but my spirits are high, and God 
> takes care of those who have ambition," he says. "Whoever takes over, 
> I hope it works out. Maybe in four or five years, San Jose will have a 
> nice club like Yoshi's where people can enjoy live music in a nice 
> setting."