Discover Tampa Bay’s best music club – the Side Door – at one of eight shows coming up in January

If you are already a fan of our Side Door Cabaret, then I’m sure I’ll see you at one of our eight Side Door shows coming up in January. If you haven’t visited the nightclub that made the Creative Loafing’s “Best of the Bay” list yet – what are you waiting for? We’ve got something for every taste this month.

 

The Side Door is a listening room, with cabaret tables, candles and beer and wine at our bar. It seats just 185 people, so all seats are close to the stage.

 

 

Let’s start with jazz, which is what originally put the Side Door on the musical map. Three of the best musicians in the jazz world – Nicki Parrott, Rossano Sportiello and Ed Metz – return Thursday, Jan 15 for a show that’s sure to sell-out. If you haven’t caught these Arbors Records artists before, don’t miss this show! Nicki sings and plays bass; Rossano manages to mix jazz and Chopin without breaking a sweat and it’s all held together by the great drummer, Ed Metz.

 

 

Another jazz favorite, Denise Moore, will bring her band – Denise Moore and Then Some – to the Side Door this Saturday night (1-10). Her band is headed by one of my favorite jazz pianists – Billy Marcus, along with Alejandro Arenas, bass;  Rodney Rojas, sax and Ric Craig, drums. Come for a night of jazz standards and more. Two other Palladium jazz favorites are also in the house in January – The Helios Jazz Orchestra, an 18-piece “Count Basie Style” big band, returns on Tuesday, Jan. 20.  that show features two vocalists. And Stan Hunter, the pianist and B3 star, returns on Thursday, Jan. 22 with some top players -like LaRue Nickleson and Patrick Bettison, along with some surprise guests.

 

 

If you lean toward soul and r&b, you’ve got to catch the Shawn Brown Experience, featuring one of Tampa Bay’s favorite showmen.Shawn’s  been here before, but it’s his first time doing his own show. We’ll have the dance floor open for this one.

 

 

Now, let’s talk blues. In recent years the Side Door has become the bay area’s best blues club, hailed by audiences and the bands as their favorite place to listen and to play. Friday, Jan. 9, we’re doing a special show with Larry Lisk, the WMNF blues DJ,  featuring The Duffy Bishop Band. Duffy, an award-winning female vocalist, recently relocated to Florida from the West Coast. It’s her first appearance in the Bay Area and a portion of the proceeds benefit Mo Blues Monday at WMNF. Coming up soon in the Side Door are Damon Fowler, Selwyn Birchwood and Lauren Mitchell.

 

 

For rockers, and particularly fans of The Boss, we’ve got a one-of-a-kind show on Friday, Jan. 16. The bay area band Talk To Mark along with some special guests will be doing two of Bruce’s best albums in full. The show opens with the acoustic album Nebraska. After an intermission, the band returns with Born To Run. Talk To Mark isn’t a cheesy tribute act. They put this special show together for a WMNF benefit last fall at Skippers Smokehouse. It was such a good show, we asked them to bring it to St. Pete.

 

 

And finally, a little something that crosses lots of genre lines. Ed Woltil and Jeremy Douglass, of the pop band The Ditchflowers, along with Rebecca Zapen and Meyer Baron, will present a night of music from two very musical films – The Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins. This show will be a highlight for fans of musicals, rock, jazz and good music in general.

 

 

I’ll be around for most all of them, so please say hello if you are in the house. For tickets and more info, visit www.mypalladium.org.