Napa Residents Can’t Live on Wine Alone — Jazz Is Needed Too
The signs that Napa Valley (and the city of Napa in particular) is growing as a world-class destination for those with discerning tastes continue to emerge, slowly and continually. Visits to the area are climbing. Hotel rates rise. New hotels rise. Heightened interest in its wines continues to be the cultural foundation. Restaurants emerge quickly after others close. All good signs.
However, last December’s announcement that Blue Note Entertainment was opening Blue Note Napa as a first class venue for jazz entertainment filled a hole I always thought existed here in Napa and also put me over the moon. The idea that a real, honest, straight jazz venue would move to a spot no more than 10 minutes from my home got me kind of crazy-happy for a week or so until I had to forcibly push in from my mind lest my capacity to concentrate on anything but this awesome news vanished
All that said…
Taking over the Napa Valley Opera House on Main Street in the city of Napa, Blue Note has now announced its Grand Opening and that Trumpeter Chris Botti will headline the Grand Opening playing two shows on October 25th. Botti is a great “get” for Blue Note’s opening. He’s an extremely popular, cross over instrumentalist. While not quite a jazz artist, Botti is wonderful entertainer and musician who performs a style of music that is adjacent to the classic West Coast Jazz style typified by the late Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan and the great Chet Baker.
But what’s really good news for Napa and jazz loving Napans and visitors is the announcement that Freddie Cole and Jason Marsalis are coming to town in December. Cole, the brother of Nat King and uncle to Natalie is a fantastic singer/pianist. Marsalis is, well, he’s a Marsalis.
It all bodes very well for Napa Jazz lovers and is one more sign that this town that anchors the south end of the Valley is taking a turn toward world-class status as cultural destination.
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