This edition of ON the Beat was originally emailed to subscribers on March 7, 2024. To receive Josef Woodard’s music newsletter in your inbox each Thursday, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.
Local jazz fans have been spoiled in the past by the richness of the “Jazz at the Lobero” concert offerings, featuring some of the finest jazz artists on the world stage. It so happens that the Lobero, among its many virtues, is one of the primo jazz rooms in the country, and has been so anointed by DownBeat magazine. Such lingering fond memories have made the possibility of jazz in said room over the past few years a bittersweet thing.
Memory serves up a glittery cavalcade of highlights from the “Jazz at the Lobero” annals: multiple visits from Pat Metheny, localized hero Charles Lloyd, the late great Dave Brubeck, Ahmad Jamal, John Scofield, Bill Frisell, Brad Mehldau, Tierney Sutton, Dianne Reeves, Branford Marsalis, Chick Corea, Kenny Barron, Jack DeJohnette, Esperanza Spalding … and the list goes on. The list has reduced to a trickle in the COVID and post-COVID era, unfortunately. But the spirit — and the letter and the swing — of “Jazz at the Lobero” came rushing back onstage on Saturday night, as the fine New Orleans-ian Derek Douget Band capped off its annual week-long residency on this legendary stage.