Barbeque n' Jazz

Hello all,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The night before the big Turkey day, I caught word on some live jazz in, of all places, a Barbeque Restaurant. I don't know about you, but for some reason, I tend to correlate barbeque with blues. Maybe its from the live blues performances that always took place at Burbank's, or perhaps its the city of Memphis that comes to mind, with Behle Street, B.B. King, and the many Barbeque joints. But who says a barbeque place can't play live jazz - and moreover, who says you can't find live jazz in the Colerain/Mt. Healthy area?

Here enters Pit to Plate, located on 8021 Hamilton Ave. Pit to Plate was one of the restaurants providing food for the Fifth Third "It's Commonly Jazz" series in Eden Park back in August. For the past month of Wednesdays, Pit to Plate has hosted what I call a "String Sensation" of Jazz music from 6:30 to 9:00pm. On Thanksgiving Eve, I ordered 6 smoked wings and a cup of chili (both of which I recommend) and listened to Bob Rowlette on Bass, Dick Sorice on Guitar, and Lou Lousche on Violin. Lou is usually seen playing bass, but on this night he dusted off the violin and in convincing fashion, made it fit like a glove in various jazz standards they performed. Guitarist Steve Barone has played there on past Wednesday evenings as well.

This is what I've talked about for some time: The need for a place that has live jazz mid-week for those who can't make it down to the city, and without the late-night hours. With Pit to Plate LITERALLY 5 minutes from where I live, and the performance hours from 6:30 to 9:00, this was ideal for me. For those of you looking for the same, I will try my best to find places like Pit to Plate and include them on the Jazz Half's event calendar. Don't get me wrong - give me a Friday or Saturday night, and I'm there for the last note of the last set as the place closes. But its also nice to see that live music isn't limited to the weekend nights alone. As we exit the last week of November and enter the first week of December, make sure you check the event calendar on The Jazz Half for future shows at Pit to Plate - and don't forget to order the wings and chili. Here come the Holidays!!!

- jh