A new age of jazz
By Kelly Vormelker, Staff Writer
October 1, 2008 | noon
Revamped bar 19 South makes a cozy home for the Jazz Cream Assassins, a band that will make most question their previous conceptions of that crazy little thing called jazz and emerge from a show with a new definition and appreciation.
Students walking down Court Street on any Tuesday night three years ago would inevitably stumble across a long line of anxious underage students, filled with shivering girls in strappy tank tops, boys trying to get laid and sketchy men old enough to be their grandfathers. They are, of course, going to everybody’s favorite dance club in Athens: Evolution. This Tuesday, just like the last, will be another night of heavy breathing, drinking and grinding -- successful corruption of another freshmen class.
Fast-forward three years to present day. Dancing queen Evo has slipped on some heels, got a haircut and renamed herself 19 South. Lines still wind down the street, but now the anticipated night is Wednesday. Waiting inside is the jazz/pop sensation Jazz Cream Assassins. While the bar is still all-ages, a diverse array of students now pencil this into their weekly schedules, right after Gossip Girl and 90210.
The Jazz Cream Assassins is just one of the tools 19 South is using to revamp its image. Creepy, bearded men do still lurk in the hollows, but they are fortunately overshadowed by the funkadelic hits booming off the stage.
Jazz Cream Assassins provides the perfect backdrop for underage boozing, but they are becoming much more than a standard house band. The Assassins blend pop, rock and jazz into an original and eclectic sound.
If the word jazz evokes thoughts of mellowed out beat poets and/or sock hops, shake away those ideas immediately and down another $2.00 mega-mug. The mindset of experimentation reigns supreme for the band. The Assassins employs a laundry list of genres and styles that cross paths in each song, creating unexpected compilations. The medium of jazz provides unity between the tracks. This improvisational genre erupts in sets, sections or breaks of a song.
The Jazz Cream Assassins started out with a rolling lineup and a weekly gig at the original home of the mega-mug, Red Brick. They set out with a simple goal of improving through experimentation while engaging themselves and audiences. Soon, students began pouring into Red Brick for more than the allure of cheap beer. Here the band built a following, set list and a semi-permanent lineup.
Always restless, after two years at The Brick Zach Quillen (vocals and keys), Ed Warner (bass), Dustin Bastin (trumpet), Joey Argiro (drums) and Chris Tomazic (guitar) sauntered across the street to their current bedpost, 19 South. Judging by numbers, the crowd managed to make the crawl with the band. 19 South now manages to push over 150 rockin’ guys and dolls into its depths on any given Wednesday night.
But wait! Don’t let the sweat dry from the days of Evo just yet. The Jazz Cream Assassins still provide a weekly dose of heavy dancing, even grinding if so chosen. The Assassins owns its role as party pushers. “So often places in this town book bands that just aren’t crowd-pleasing," Quillen said. "They might be talented bands, but they aren’t entertaining.”
Argiro added, “You have to think about the audience. We are trying to do something that is good to hear, good to feel.”
That good feeling is more than the sensation of the person who is dancing from behind. It comes from a set list that is a gradient of various styles, originals and covers. The Jazz Cream Assassins brings back the hit tracks everyone magically knows the words to and then rev them up in a way that would knock mom's and dad’s old socks right off. Each cover is adapted to Jazz Cream standards. Improv is old hat to all of the members. They play with a true jam band mentality and incorporate this style into sections of each cover.
“If it’s a good tune we will find a way to play it. More often than not they will sound jazzier or funkier,” Quillen said of the band's covers. Long story short, if Grandpa in the back is excepting to hear classics just the way they were in his day, he will go home very confused.
Just like new almost-love connections are made in the crowd each week, new covers are featured as well. “If we didn’t change them, people would get really annoyed, and we would get really annoyed of having to play the same shit every week,” Quillen said. Some repeat offenders include “Johnny be Good,” “Take Five” and “Vehicle.”
The Assassins is currently aiming to lay down more original material. “The Jazz Cream” is the self-titled debut for now. As more material is poured out, audiences will drink it down immediately. “We’re not going to keep anything, or record it, unless we’ve tried it on our audience and we know they like it," Quillen said. "Kid tested, mother approved sort of thing.”
Meanwhile, the Jazz Cream Assassins will continue to keep the walls of 19 South a-shakin’ -- along with the people inside them -- every Wednesday night beginning at 10:30 p.m., no cover. The band is also looking to play some weekend shows away, so keep those brooding eyes open.
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