The richest jazz scenes are those that comprise a bunch of subscenes—the smaller jazz communities that operate around a specific geographic hub. Capitol Hill is a strong subscene these days, and some argued that in its day, the late, lamented venue HR-57 on 14th Street NW constituted a scene all its own. Often, the subscene features a specialized sound or style; the dyed-in-the-wool hard bop at HR-57 is an example, as is the experimental community that operates out of Rhizome in Takoma.
Far-flung and geographically and stylistically diverse though they might be, these subscenes are interdependent; members of each will cross-pollinate the others, and audiences freely float among them. When one subscene suffers, the others feel the blow; when one thrives, the others all do a little better.
In the post-pandemic rebuild, a thriving neighborhood subscene, not with a sound per se but with jam sessions as its central factor, has established itself in perpetually hip Mount Pleasant.
Jazz isn’t exactly a new arrival to the Northwest neighborhood, mind you—the farmers market on Lamont Plaza has hosted bands for at least the past 20 years. And around 2018-19, Elijah Jamal Balbed was creating jam sessions around town like a jazzy Johnny Appleseed—he planted one on Tuesday nights at Marx Cafe that remains healthy. In early 2020, before everything went dark, French hornist Abe Mamet was running the weekly show.
Post-pandemic, that session lives on. Popularly so. It’s now in the hands of singer Tibyron Quinn, who regularly packs the place on Tuesday nights, sometimes with more musicians than they have time to accommodate. Balbed is a regular; drummer-vibraphonist Chris Barrick is another, as is saxophonist Lionel Lyles (who, to be fair, makes a point of crossing every jam-session bandstand in this town). Mamet has been known to stop by, too.
I didn’t recognize any musicians in the house (besides Quinn) on the Tuesday night I visited (in the hottest week of the hottest summer on record—perhaps not the most conducive occasion), but it was packed. There were patrons of all ages eating and drinking, no small ask for a Tuesday at 10 p.m. There were regulars that Quinn recognized and came off the bandstand to hug and chat with. I was impressed by one jammer, a young trombonist (whose name I didn’t catch, but who was told by the bartender that he was too young to sit at the bar) with great chops on “East of the Sun (West of the Moon)” and “Days of Wine and Roses.”
Quinn at Marx Cafe makes up half of Mount Pleasant’s weekly jam session allocation. Drummer Will Stephens and Haydee’s represent the other.
Stephens is the force behind the DC Jazz Jam, a Sunday night institution since 2009 when it opened at the now-defunct Dahlak Eritrean restaurant on U Street NW. In 2015, the jam moved to the other end of the U Street corridor where it took up residence at the Brixton, which, alas, succumbed to the pandemic. Now Stephens is sticking close to home: Haydee’s is in his neighborhood. It’s also a literal mom-and-pop shop (run by namesake Haydee Vanegas and her husband, Mario Alas, with their kids sometimes on hand). Stephens runs the jam with a grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
“One of the criteria that goes into receiving that grant is whether the project supports small local business,” Stephens says. This small local business also happens to be a beloved neighborhood institution known for its great Mexican Salvadoran food and great live music.
Being a Sunday event, the DC Jazz Jam starts early during the dinner hour. There are tables filled with families and groups of 20-something margarita drinkers. When last I attended in mid-July, the place was also full of musicians waiting their turns. An alto saxophonist named Jordan Bell; Michael Keys, a teenage-looking trumpeter; guitarist Henry Sheppard; and singer Cybele Mayes-Osterman all took their turns with the house band—a quartet led by pianist Peter Edelman.
But this is not a house band in the sense of “the cats who are there every week.” For the summer, Stephens is curating a series dubbed Pianist Envy. “There are so many great pianists in D.C.,” he says. “I thought [DC Jazz Jam] would feature a different one as host each week.” Better still, he adds, “I ask the hosts to bring in their own bands to serve as the house band. So they’re playing with the cats they’re most comfortable with.” July 28 features Jose André; future sessions will offer Alfred Yun, Justin Taylor, Darius Scott, and others.
But Mount Pleasant’s jazz subscene isn’t all about jam sessions. In addition to the Jazz Jam, Stephens’ project called the D.C. Jazz Collective performs bimonthly at Marx. The idea for the project took root while Stephens was on vacation in Bangkok, Thailand, one of the District’s sister cities. There he discovered that the late King Rama IX was a jazz devotee who also wrote something like 100 tunes, creating a formidable Thai jazz legacy. “[The Commission on the Arts and Humanities] has all kinds of grants for cultural exchanges with D.C.’s sister cities,” Stephens notes. “So I decided it would be cool to create one with Bangkok.”
He formed an assemblage of musicians that variously includes bassists Steve Arnold, Percy White, and Zoe Jorgenson; saxophonists Lyles, Tedd Baker, and Mercedes Beckman; trumpeter Joe Herrera, pianists Oren Levine, Bobby Jasinski, and Amy K. Bormet; and guitarist Evan Samuels. There is a corresponding collective in the Thai capital and the two play each other’s music. (The Bangkok players supplement the Washingtonians’ compositions with other American jazz composers; the D.C. players add King Rama’s compositions to those of the Thai players.) On a Friday night every other month, Stephens gathers members at Marx to hold up their end of the exchange.
Three big jazz events, two venues, one neighborhood. It all adds up to a subscene, and a good one.
“It’s a great thing we’ve got going on,” says Stephens, who also occasionally serves as the house drummer for Quinn’s jams at Marx. “What Tibyron’s got going on is incredibly successful, and what I’m doing at Haydee’s is also successful. And it’s all just, like, a block or two from my house! It’s great to be bringing jazz, and a healthy audience for it, to my neighborhood.”
The jazz mostly plays on Sunday and Tuesday nights. And they’re free. The simple act of buying a beer (and maybe some pupusas) and facing the bandstand is enough to encourage its continuity.