Jazz, TX

By 2015, Doc Watkins, a swinging and versatile pianist, was leading a straight ahead jazz trio that had become very popular in San Antonio. “We had developed a very large following within a matter of just a few short years and were moving around a lot, playing different clubs and restaurants while taking the audience with us. More and more people were suggesting that I open my own club because Jim Cullum’s The Landing had closed and there really was not a leading jazz club in town. I wasn’t sure at first but I had enough people in both the music and restaurant industries telling me that I would be great at this, so one day I decided to take the plunge.”

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By 2015, Doc Watkins, a swinging and versatile pianist, was leading a straight ahead jazz trio that had become very popular in San Antonio. “We had developed a very large following within a matter of just a few short years and were moving around a lot, playing different clubs and restaurants while taking the audience with us. More and more people were suggesting that I open my own club because Jim Cullum’s The Landing had closed and there really was not a leading jazz club in town. I wasn’t sure at first but I had enough people in both the music and restaurant industries telling me that I would be great at this, so one day I decided to take the plunge.”

As with any jazz club, Jazz, TX had its ups and downs in its early days along with some growing pains. “Our original goal was that I wanted to open up one of the very best jazz clubs in the world. That goal soon became a bit more realistic, to do a good enough job so we could keep it open and be successful. There are always things that one does not know when they get into the business, and of course we made some mistakes along the way. There were long hours of hard work but the most important thing was that we learned from our mistakes and have always worked to improve the experiences of our customers.”

One of the most consistent qualities of Jazz, TX is its positive energy and feeling of community. “Seeing music should be a joyful occasion. We want to have a feeling of celebration with the audience and the musicians being happy. A lot of restaurants fight to survive by being open more hours, trying to get profitable through volume. In our early days we were a lively but noisy bar and restaurant with music for 7 or 8 sets a night. But we eventually realized that the way to succeed is through quality rather than quantity. Now all of our shows are ticketed, we have 90-minute shows, and the audience is more appreciative of the great music.”

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