Travel Track On Sirk TV: UPTOWN JAZZ LOUNGE [Birmingham, Alabama] - Part II - video Dailymotion

Travel Track

Co-Owner Roderick Conwell talks to Travel Track about genre, style, location and booking in regards to his new performance venue and club: Uptown Jazz Lounge in Birmingham, Alabama.

Transcript

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00:46 Because, I mean, music in general has changed so much.

00:50 Yep.

00:50 That the thing is that most people think,

00:52 well, there's no melodies left.

00:54 There's no--

00:54 Yep.

00:55 You know, I think seeing somebody improvise

00:58 is a rarity, you know?

01:00 Absolutely.

01:00 But jazz is still that grand sort of genre

01:04 that you can do that in.

01:05 Yep.

01:06 That was one reason we wanted to stick with jazz music.

01:10 Because it is the instruments.

01:12 It's the sounds.

01:13 Like, we have horns on stage.

01:15 We have, you know, pianos, keys.

01:19 We have the lead guitar, the bass guitar.

01:24 We have all of the real instruments

01:26 that put out the real sound.

01:28 Nothing against those synthesizers

01:31 or those systems that allow those sounds to be replicated

01:34 through those systems.

01:36 But it's nothing like the real thing.

01:37 Live.

01:39 All the way live.

01:39 Yeah.

01:40 Nice.

01:40 All the way live.

01:42 Which is a song from Back Aloud Fast, too.

01:44 Yeah.

01:45 [MUSIC - BACK ALOUD FAST, "ALL THAT I'VE GOT TO SAY"]

01:47 (SINGING) All that I've got to say.

01:50 What is it?

01:51 Somebody say that.

01:54 A love that time won't last.

01:56 What can I tell you?

01:58 Baby, all that I've got to say.

02:02 Tell you, baby.

02:05 Sing it!

02:06 This is no ordinary love.

02:11 No ordinary love.

02:15 This is no ordinary love.

02:21 Oh, yeah.

02:22 No ordinary love.

02:26 Hey!

02:27 [MUSIC - BACK ALOUD FAST, "ALL THAT I'VE GOT TO SAY"]

02:31 [DRUMMING]

02:34 You'll be going to heaven real quick, tell them I said it.

02:49 Hey!

02:49 What'd he say?

02:54 I can feel it coming in the air tonight.

02:59 Oh, oh, Lord.

03:03 Hey!

03:05 We've been waiting for this moment for all of our lives.

03:10 Oh, oh, Lord.

03:13 Oh, oh, Lord.

03:16 Hey!

03:19 Could you talk about making sure the space was right, too,

03:22 for you?

03:23 Yeah.

03:23 You know, because that's--

03:25 the fact that it's open and has that feeling,

03:28 but also where it is.

03:29 Could you talk about that?

03:31 That's just-- that's more of a business question.

03:33 But that's an important thing, and especially the way

03:35 this operates with the mall.

03:37 Well, you know, real estate--

03:40 there's an old saying with real estate, location, location,

03:43 location.

03:44 I found that to be really true with this.

03:47 We've been looking-- my partner and I have been looking

03:50 for a few years, actually.

03:52 But we wanted to stay in Birmingham proper.

03:54 We wanted to stay in the downtown area, if you will.

03:58 We looked at a lot of different venues.

03:59 For this reason or that reason, they weren't right for us.

04:03 We actually looked at this location previously.

04:07 And circumstances didn't allow us to come in at that time,

04:12 which is about five, six years or so ago.

04:17 We were fortunate to come back to it.

04:20 And I guess you could say full circle.

04:22 The location had changed in that six-year period

04:25 that we initially looked at it.

04:28 The vibe, the energy around this area completely changed--

04:33 changed for the better.

04:34 There was a lot going on with this area.

04:36 It was already here and established.

04:38 But it was pre-stadium.

04:40 But it was pre-stadium.

04:41 So it was established, but there was a need

04:45 to have a live entertainment venue here.

04:49 So it was, if you will, the perfect marriage.

04:52 There was a need to have live entertainment here.

04:55 We were looking for a place that was vibrant,

04:57 that had good energy.

04:58 They were revitalizing this area, adding things to it.

05:02 So it was just-- it was a perfect marriage,

05:04 what we needed and what the area needed.

05:07 So the location, location, location was perfect

05:09 and allowed us to revamp the area from what this building was

05:14 before we came here.

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06:26 So what we try to do is, if I'm familiar with the bands that

06:48 come through, which I am, a lot of them,

06:50 because I, again, I follow music for years,

06:53 not just here within the city or within the state,

06:55 but regionally and nationally too.

06:57 So I'm familiar with a lot of the bands that perform here.

07:00 Those that I'm not familiar with, I do a little research

07:02 and do my due diligence to make sure that that vibe,

07:06 that music playlist that they're bringing to Uptown Jazz

07:09 Lounge, to make sure that it fits in with what we're

07:11 trying to do.

07:12 And what we're trying to do, again,

07:14 is blend in various forms of jazz and all of its forms,

07:18 but again, make sure that it's something

07:20 that we'll also equate to what our customer base is looking

07:23 for.

07:24 So it's a certain style, yes.

07:27 Certain vibe or--

07:31 Yeah, because, again, we want to stick with--

07:37 we want to stick with either contemporary and traditional

07:41 jazz, or we will also have R&B. But we want to also make sure

07:46 that R&B stays within the jazz element itself.

07:51 We've had our nights that have been exclusive or specific

07:54 to a particular style of music, but that's because of an event

07:58 that we're having that night or the group that we know

08:01 is coming in that night.

08:02 So we've done some straight R&B.

08:06 We've done some straight blues.

08:08 We've done a little bit of rock and roll as well.

08:11 But for the most part, we provide

08:13 the bands that's going to give us Uptown Jazz Lounge.

08:16 We didn't name it Uptown Jazz Lounge for any other reason

08:19 with the exception that we want to have a jazz feel and flavor

08:22 and all its variances here.

08:25 bass, drums, & keyboard play

08:28 Has your taste changed over here, your palate for jazz?

08:50 Hmm, over the years?

08:52 Well, even in the past 10 years.

08:55 Yes, yes, absolutely, absolutely.

08:58 Yeah, 'cause when I first was introduced to jazz,

09:01 I was definitely introduced to it

09:03 with more contemporary jazz fusion.

09:05 Like who?

09:06 Jeff Lorber,

09:10 you had a lot of David Sanborn,

09:13 Grover Washington, current jazz artists today,

09:17 Hughes Grew, Walter Beasley, Gerald Albright.

09:20 But--

09:22 And a lot of those performers,

09:25 they did go into fusion.

09:27 Yep, yep, yep.

09:29 Even Terrence Blanchard.

09:31 Yep, absolutely, absolutely.

09:33 They themselves saw the change and the transformation,

09:37 so they would actually, I wouldn't say crossed over,

09:41 but they blended in fusion with what they were doing as well,

09:45 the traditional jazz.

09:47 So that changed for me just the opposite.

09:49 I came into it more with those artists,

09:52 but then as I got more into it,

09:54 then I also became more accustomed

09:56 to traditional jazz artists

09:58 from yesteryear and current.

10:01 Definitely the--

10:05 I was trying to think what the brothers there in New Orleans,

10:08 the family--

10:10 Marcellus?

10:11 Yes, all of Marcellus' brothers, and their dad.

10:13 So I got more into that with Winston and Marcellus

10:17 and his dad and Brandon,

10:19 so I got more into that form of jazz,

10:21 New Orleans-style jazz,

10:22 but I also started going back.

10:24 I started going and listening to Counting Bald Adelists,

10:27 I started listening to John Coltrane

10:30 and Birdman, Charlie Parker.

10:32 So I tried to see where it all began,

10:35 since jazz began in the United States.

10:38 So I wanted to see where it began

10:40 and how it evolved and how it's still evolving.

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Travel Track On Sirk TV: UPTOWN JAZZ LOUNGE [Birmingham, Alabama] - Part II

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