All That Jazz -- And Comfort Too

The Jazz Art Club offers a cool, pleasant kind of entertainment that is hard to come by in Moscow these days. With plush couches, dim lighting and energetic music, the place is a bit like a good friend's living room -- but with a great sound system. In a city saturated with impersonal techno dance clubs and casinos, the Jazz Art Club is an unusually comfortable place. Once a week, host Alexander Eidelman brings different talented musicians to the stage at the end of the narrow hall, and the sofas, grouped around tables, fill with people who are there to listen to some of the highest quality jazz in town. Eidelman opened the club in April 1993 because he knew lots of artists who "did not want to play in restaurants and casinos." He rents the hall from the Vernisazh Theater to give the artists, his friends, a place to play and to host his guests.And he is an excellent host. During and after the show, Eidelman likes to mix with the patrons, often stopping to hug and shake hands with them. In fact, most of the patrons seem to know each other, and it only takes a glance to tell who are the regulars and who comes only occasionally. The occupants of one table brought several bottles of champagne, wine and vodka in addition to a wide range of zakuski, or snacks, to munch on during the performance. The rest of the guests did not make themselves at home in the same fashion; they brought one or two bottles or ordered drinks or sandwiches from the small bar.At one table, a couple who declined to be identified said that this was their second visit to the club. "We love this club," one woman said. "We even brought our friends."The friends, who also declined to be identified, said they thought the club was all right, but that the service was a little slow.Those sitting at the zakuski table were much less reserved with their praise. "We live here," said Alexander Kerner, president of Foundation for Jazz Culture. "This is our home, our fortress, our life."On this particular evening, the performing group was called Novoye Pokoleniye. The leader and pianist of the group, Igor Bril, was celebrating his birthday the next day. Between sets, Eidelman presented Bril with a medal and a certificate, which had been signed by everyone in the hall. Bril's two sons, Alexander and Dmitry, play saxophone with the group, which also includes Roman Likov on drums and Igor Ivanushkin on bass.The Jazz Art Club, as the name implies, also has an art exhibit outside the music hall. The gallery has an eclectic collection of items, from CDs of jazz musicians Lionel Hampton and Stan Getz and books by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, to handwoven wall-hangings and bridal gowns. In one corner is a table where one can buy shares of the investment fund MMM. But one evening a week, the place belongs to jazz. The fans who come take their music seriously. "While jazz is music for one country, it is freedom for another," Kerner said enthusiastically, referring to the music's structure, which allows for improvisation. "Jazz is not music; jazz is culture."The Jazz Art Club operates every Friday evening at 5 Ulitsa Begovaya. Tickets are $10 or ruble equivalent and are available at the door, although Eidelman recommended calling in advance to reserve tickets. Upcoming artists include Alexander Oseichuk with singer Irina Kravchenko on June 17, and German Lukyanov trio on June 24. Shows start at 7 P.M. and end around 11 P.M. The art exhibit is open every day from 10 A.M. to 9 P.M. Tel: 191-8320. Nearest metro: Begovaya.