New multi-genre club The Gramophone says they'll include jazz

Last Thursday's column from St. Louis Post-Dispatch pop music critic Kevin Johnson included a short item on a new club called The Gramophone that's set to open in March at 4243 Manchester, in the redeveloping stretch between Kingshighway and Vandeventer that's recently been dubbed "The Grove".

The article says the club will feature "jazz, blues, funk, rock and bluegrass several nights a week" as well as "national and local DJ talent." Sounds good to me; another local jazz venue would be welcome in the wake of some other spots closing or cutting back. The Gramophone's MySpace page says that "more information, including a calendar of events, will be coming soon" and their Web site is "being designed at the moment."

With no specifics yet, it's hard to say how much jazz The Gramophone actually will end up booking, but at least the music is potentially in the mix. StLJN will keep an eye on it as things develop, and report back here as warranted. You can read Johnson's column online here.

UPDATE - 1/14/08 - Andrew "Roo" Yawitz, owner of The Gramophone, emailed today with additional details about the club's jazz-related plans.

Yawitz says they are "going to try and have a week-day jazz night with rotating local acts, plus the occasional national act on a weekend night," and that he'll keep StLJN apprised of developments. Thanks to him for the info, and for not getting angry at me for misspelling the name of his club in the first version of this post.

UPDATE #2 - 1/16/06 - More details from Yawitz: The club will hold "around 80 for a seated show and be able to do just over 200 for SRO. We have a 19’ by 12’ foot stage, a brand new PA (mains, floating mids and highs, monitors,sound board) and a simple lighting system." Yawitz also said that he's "trying to bring in Jeremy Pelt's Wired group in April." Sounds promising; more to come as developments warrant.

(Edited 1/14/08 to correct the spelling of the word "gramophone", and to add some additional details.)