NJO begins new Residency

Nashville’s preeminent big band is homeless no more.

Starting Monday, the Nashville Jazz Orchestra will be the official big-band in residence at the Commodore Grille, located at the Holiday Inn Nashville on West End Avenue. The orchestra has been looking for a permanent venue since last July, when it presented its final concert at the French Quarter in East Nashville.

“We’ve been looking for a place where we could perform at least once a week and that had ample free parking,” Williamson says. “We finally found it.”

Over the past few months, the orchestra tried out several venues, including 3^rd and Lindsley, Jazz and Jokes and the Franklin Theatre. The Commodore Grille, however, proved to be the ideal fit.

“We already had a strong connection to that neighborhood, because we are the big band in residence at the Blair School of Music,” says Williamson. “We hope our residency at the Commodore Grille will expand our audience with the Vanderbilt students and people who live in the neighborhood.”

The Grille also offers lots of free parking – which was important to Williamson, since, among other things, he has a lot of musicians driving to the shows – along with food and drinks. Moreover, the Grille offered the NJO a weekly gig, something that 3^rd and Lindsley and other potential venues did not.

Williamson says the NJO will probably appear at the Grille three Mondays a month, with the Duffy Jackson Big Band appearing one Monday a month. All big band concerts will run from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

“I think the happy hour time slot is also going to help us out,” says Williamson, “because it’s sometimes easier to get people to come out right after work instead of getting them to a show later at night.”

Monday’s inaugural concert will bring the ensemble full circle. The band performed its final concert at the French Quarter with the great Nashville jazz vocalist Annie Sellick. She will return for the opening night at the Grille.

“It’s going to be an incredible night of jazz,” says Williamson.

LIVE

Nashville Jazz Orchestra begins a new Monday night residency at the Commodore Grille at the Holiday Inn Nashville, 2613 West End Ave.  The first concert is 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20 and will feature vocalist Annie Sellick. The cover is $10.