Recently, The Jazz Estate, which has been open only for special events since September 2023, announced a Valentine’s Day show that runs from Feb. 13 to 22, featuring Cameron Webb & His Soul Revue.
What that announcement didn’t say was that the opening night marks the reinstatement of regular hours for the nearly 50-year-old East Side lounge.
Beginning on Thursday, Feb. 13, says owner John Dye – who also owns Bryant’s and At Random – The Estate will be open 6 p.m.-midnight, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with a slate of live music, of course.
"If things go well with three days," he says, "we will add more open hours and events through the week."
On Thursday, The Estate posted more upcoming shows on its website, including:
- Trim/Breiwick Quartet, Thursday Feb. 27, 7 & 9:30 p.m.
- Fareed Haque Quartet, March 15, 7 & 9:30 p.m.
- Tael Estremera Quartet – An Evening Of Thelonious Monk, Thursday March 20, 7 & 9:30 p.m.
- Righteous Rooster, Friday March 28, 7 & 9:30 p.m.
- Javier Santiago, Friday May 16, 7 & 9:30 p.m.
"We’ll be getting more and more shows up," he promises. "Our shows will always have two sets, an early and a late set. People will be able to buy tickets to either set. In this way, we are structuring ourselves more like the clubs in New York City in Chicago."
Dye will aim to bring national and local acts to The Estate stage, as well as bringing back and open jam.
Dye paused live music in 2023 and later shifted The Estate to being open only for special events, telling OnMilwaukee, “We definitely aren't done with live jazz. We are, however, holding off on booking live music for a little while.
“We will be bringing limited live music back when the time is right, and it will be with a modified business model that is more sustainable. Jazz has been the heart of our space for over 50 years, and it’s a tradition that we take very seriously.”
Since that time, while not maintaining regular hours, The Estate has opened for performances, including by Webb, Steve Peplin & Amanda Huff, among others.
A hint to the reopening might have been a December (and Nov. 30) 2024 schedule that included the most performances in a single month in more than a year, with shows by the likes of Eric Jacobnson, Paul Cebar, Evan Christian, Jamie Breiwick, Anne Davis, Carlos Adames Group, Jerry Grillo, Heirloom and Garrett Waite Trio, as well asThe Commercialists’ “A Charlie Brown Christmas."
On Jan. 9, Dye posted on social media, “Thank you for a wonderful holiday season, you really came in force to support our venue and the talented musicians on our stage. We hope you enjoyed yourself and we were part of your holiday magic.
“We look forward to announcing some more shows soon.”
As for the upcoming Cameron Webb performances, there will be shows at 6:30 and 9 p.m. through Feb. 22. Admission ranges from $18 to $25. Purchase tickets online here.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
