Boston brewery turns into family-friendly jazz club once a week
Once a week, a craft brewery in Roxbury transforms into a jazz club. Thursday nights are jazz nights at Long Live Roxbury.
For more than a year now, the taproom has hosted some of the best talent in the area.
"Nothing can compare to going to a live room with people that are there paying attention to you, " said pianist and Berklee College of Music professor Zahili Zamora.
She is a repeat performer at Long Live Roxbury, telling us, "It's creating a big community of all the musicians in Boston that are just eager to play and show their artistry and share their artistry with other people."
Free event
Michael Feldman, the CEO of Feldman Geospacial, owns the Roxbury building.
He says, "When people arrive, they feel like they're in some kind of an art center. And then they come in and they're at this old 1856 brick and beam beautiful building that coincidentally did manufacture pianos back in the 1800s."
Feldman helps curate the music for the free family-friendly event, that's held weekly.
"You can't bring your kids to many jazz venues because they're ticketed events, they're 21 or over," Feldman says.
"But this is a way for parents from the neighborhood to come unwind, bring their kids, have a beer, get something to eat. They have board games that the kids will play with. And these kids, without even knowing it, they're being exposed to some of the best musicians in Boston."
Establishing a sense of community
Co-owner of the brewery, Jessica Debry, says "It's been amazing to see the caliber of people coming into the space… having a taproom that's open to the public and being able to host events allows for us to not only offer a good product, but also build community."
Zamora agrees telling us, "I'm a big advocator for playing music intentionally, for having very clear what my message is and to share that with the audience and I light up just to see when I'm able to communicate that and people are paying attention."
Patrons feel that sense of community as well.
Margeaux Doherty says, "It's a very welcoming environment and so we appreciate coming here every time."
Jason Kays adds, "We've been here almost on a weekly basis and never been disappointed."
Zamora says one of the best parts about the audience is that, "They leave the place not just familiar with your music but familiar with your story."
Feldman tells us, "I never would have imagined that I could be sitting here like on a Thursday night, seeing some of the best musicians in Boston, people from the community and the neighborhood here with their kids and having it be kind of a big celebration of arts and culture."
And Debry wants the community to know, "There's a lot of care that went into building this program and it's really meant to be for everyone."
Zamora's show on Thursday is part of the Women's History Month series at Long Live Roxbury. All Thursday night shows start at 6 p.m., and parking is free.
