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Just considering all of the musical, educational, political, community and business activities that Irvin Mayfield has going on is pretty mind-boggling. The trumpeter adds club owner to that list when he, in partnership with the Royal Sonesta Hotel, opens "Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse," on Thursday, March 19, 2009. The resume of the New Orleans, Grammy-nominated, jazz mover and shaker also recently grew to include radio talk show host. He can now be heard every Monday on WGSO at 5 p.m. (re-aired on Sundays at 5 p.m.) on his own hour-long program, "The Life and Times of Irvin Mayfield." This week's guest is actor Wendell Pierce.
All of that made it logical to ask Mayfield: "Just when do you sleep?"
"I don't sleep very much - maybe three or four hours a night," Mayfield replies, echoing the response of his mentor, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis when posed with the same question during a late-night interview held years ago. "I guess that's something I picked up from him," he acknowledges.
The club's moniker tells a lot about how Mayfield envisions the nightspot with jazz at its core just as it is in the trumpeter's life. Like Marsalis, his pursuit to expose the music that is synonymous with this city while providing another venue for New Orleans wealth of musicians is relentless. The "playhouse" aspect emerges when he talks of the atmosphere he hopes to create.
"This is not a concert hall; this is a club," he states with his usual optimistic determination. "A club is a place for people to drink and have a good-ass time and dance and get to know people and hang out and see somebody they know and yell across the room. We all have gone to clubs that we love because you can do that. I think you lose something when you try to apply concert hall techniques to a club. We've made that clear to the artists too." He admits, however, that some people have been a little turned off by that concept.
"One of the biggest issues I face in jazz is that most people of my age and younger believe that jazz is not fun," he adds. "If you think jazz ain't fun, you just haven't had the New Orleans experience. There should be no way in hell people should think that they can't use jazz and fun in the same sentence."
During March, the club presents live music Thursdays through Saturdays with vocalist Johnaye Kendrick, a student at the Thelonious Monk Institute, having the honor to kick of the "grand opening weekend." With an accent on emerging artists, Irvin's Playhouse presents trumpeter Leon "Kid Chocolate" on Friday night. (Both shows start at 9 p.m.) Mayfield takes center stage for the "grand opening bash" on Saturday night (Reservations are required for the 8 p.m. performance). Joining Mayfield is his longtime associate, pianist Ronald Markham and he's also bringing in some out-of-towners including one-time New Orleanian, drummer Jaz Sawyer, bassist Carlos Henriquez presently with the Wynton Marsalis Quintet and trombonist Vincent Gardner, a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Mayfield realizes that having a club located inside a hotel and on Bourbon Street (300 Bourbon) could be considered a double drawback in the minds of many New Orleans residents. He wants to change that perception.
"You say Bourbon Street and locals think, 'That's not for me'," Mayfield says understandingly. "And that's a tragedy. We can't allow that to happen. Look, this is one of the most famous streets in the world but not only that, it is the place where people go to look for the authentic New Orleans experience. We should invest in showing people what we're about. We're just trying to approach this just like a venue that's serious about its music rather than a hotel gig. That turns a lot of folks off."
In a further welcoming gesture to locals, there won't be a cover charge except for special events - national guest artists, the planned burlesque and cabaret shows. Mayfield believes the club can make it financially without charging at the door.
"The more people enjoy, there are other ways to generate revenue," he offers.
"When you come in, the music is already included when you're buying your food and drinks and if you buy a CD or a T-shirt. We want locals-not just visitors-to have ownership of Bourbon Street.
Mayfield looks to this city's restaurant industry as a role model for how the music industry could be developed. Presently, he feels that the musicians don't have a real voice in the creation of musical environments. The trumpeter plans to bring his artistic vision to the Playhouse beyond the bandstand to also be reflected in the atmosphere, artwork, food and drink choices.
"I think the reason the culinary industry has done so well is because the chiefs are the restaurateurs - the idea people. We (musicians) are not at the center or the beginning of the ideas," he complains.
Mayfield also intends to take a cue from the city's great chiefs in offering diversity in the music performances the club presents. He points out that part of the uniqueness of New Orleans' musicians is that they enjoy - and are capable of - playing many styles of music - from "Bourbon Street Parade" to Herbie Hancock and from R&B to gospel. "In other places that's strange; here it's part of the continuum.
"It's not going to be about one thing," he explains. "If you were to go to Emeril's restaurant, you wouldn't find one dish or one kind of food. You'd find stuff from duck to shrimp to boneless chicken. I remember one time Emeril had fried chicken on the menu and it was good. We don't want it to be the modern jazz club; we don't want it to be the traditional jazz club. We want it to be a quality jazz experience.
"Actually, I think all jazz is modern music," Mayfield adds, offering as an example the genius and timelessness of Louis Armstrong.
When Mayfield talks about his club, "serious" and "fun" are the often-repeated buzz words. He's adamant about presenting authentic jazz and raising the benchmark for the music that this city created. "Despite some efforts," Mayfield offers, "I think a lot of people don't think New Orleans is serious about jazz. I don't think we're part of the conversation."
The fun part lives within the music and its purveyors presented in what Mayfield promises to be a genuinely jazz - a genuinely New Orleans - atmosphere.
"I have to want to go to this club for it to be successful," Mayfield says. "I'm going to be there a lot ,so it's got to be good. I don't want to spend my time anywhere if it is not fun.
"We' trying to make a successful, cool, sexy night out with some adventurous music," Mayfield offers. "And if you want to go to a club and get fresh-baked cookies and milk - that's my signature dish - we've got them. We'll have other stuff too," he adds with a laugh.
This article was originally published in the March 16, 2009 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper |
