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<\/a>MUSICIAN\u2019S MUSICIAN Founder Sam Rudin champions listening in a distracted age. (Photo courtesy of the Back Room)<\/p>\nThe April anniversary shows will feature nine concert nights with musicians\u2014including Rudin himself\u2014who have ties to the venue, and whose music is emblematic of the diversity The Back Room supports.<\/p>\n
Progressive jazz drummer Scott Amendola kicks off the series on April 16 with his band of the night, the Anniversary Quartet. Amendola played The Back Room for the first time in 2018, and liked the place a lot. Post-pandemic, he played it again and got to know Rudin and his open attitude to music genres. Now, Amendola said, \u201cI feel it\u2019s one of my home venues. People really like to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n
In January of this year, Amendola played two packed shows a week apart at The Back Room. It served as a strong reminder to him of how important the place is.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s played huge stadium shows, but he loves the connection possible in a small club. \u201cThe intimacy \u2026 performing becomes something [musicians and audience] do together,\u201d he said. His fellow Anniversary Quartet performers include violinist Jenny Scheinman, whom he\u2019s played with since the \u201990s, and two younger musicians: Ryan Schaeffer on guitar and Mat Muntz on bass. \u201cSam will sit in as well,\u201d he said, on tunes from throughout Amendola\u2019s career.<\/p>\n
Thursday, April 23, is Rudin\u2019s own night, when Sam\u2019s Corner will highlight him in concert with saxophonist Charles McNeal, known for his mix of progressive jazz with blues and funk.<\/p>\n
Roberta Donnay brings her band, the Prohibition Mob, to the series on April 25, which will fill the venue with the hopping sounds of \u201cthe hot swingin\u2019 jazz and sultry blues of the 1920s and \u201930s.\u201d A longtime friend of the venue, Donnay knows Rudin from pre-Back Room days.<\/p>\n
Rudin asked her to do a date at the new club very early on, and she says he\u2019s really supported her and her music over the years. \u201cThe Back Room reminds me of a New York club,\u201d she said. \u201cThe community needs a place like it. Smaller audiences can be a little terrifying. But the intimacy is preferable. Whoever is supposed to be there, is there.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also points to the club\u2019s policy of not serving beverages or food, instead encouraging patrons to bring their own. \u201cThere\u2019s no bar, no reserved seating. People just come for the music,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Other anniversary dates include Bululu: A Night of Bubbles & Boleros (April 17); HowellDevine (April 18); the Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band (April 19); Janam (April 24), a benefit for Community Kitchens; Golden Bough (April 25); and the Dynamic Miss Faye Carol (April 26).<\/p>\n Asked to recall some special moments in The Back Room\u2019s decade of shows, Rudin said, \u201cWe get a special night like that every week.\u201d As for how long he feels he can continue producing shows, he said he\u2019s already transitioning some of the responsibilities. But he loves what he does.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like for the venue to continue after me,\u201d he said. Chuckling, he admitted, \u201cBut it\u2019s a brick building. It\u2019s not gonna survive the Big One.\u201d For now, though, it\u2019s many people\u2019s favorite space.<\/p>\n The Back Room, 1984 Bonita Ave., Berkeley. Visit BackRoomMusic.com<\/a> for more info and tickets to anniversary events.<\/p>\n<\/a>LOCAL TROPICAL Latino band Bulul\u00fa (also featured on this week\u2019s cover) will perform at The Back Room on Friday, April 17. (Photo by Kike Arnal, courtesy of the Back Room)<\/p>\n