Allison Geyer
Cafe Coda co-founder Hanah Jon Taylor always knew that the jazz club’s home at 113 W. Dayton St. was going to be temporary. But he didn’t know it was going to be “quite this temporary.”
The venue, which opened in February in the space that formerly housed The Fountain, will have its last show on Aug. 11 and must be moved out of the building by Aug. 15. The six-story structure, which is mostly vacant, is slated for demolition to make way for a $30 million, 120-room boutique hotel from a development team including Provenance Hotels of Portland, Oregon; Ascendant Holdings Real Estate of Madison and Milwaukee; and Central Properties of Madison.
Developers have said they hope to complete the hotel project by the end of 2018, so Taylor was surprised when landlord Harold Langhammer, who owns Central Properties, informed him of the early move-out date. Reached by phone, Langhammer declined to comment. But Taylor says there’s no bad blood. “We didn’t realize that we would have to move out on Aug. 15,” says Taylor, a veteran saxophone and flute player and longtime jazz educator. “But it’s not really anything to feel bad about. I see this as a transition.”
On Aug. 7, Taylor plans to sign a lease at 1222 Williamson St., the former home of Blues Cut and Color hair salon. Landlords John and Scott Brandt have accepted Taylor’s letter of intent, and the next steps are a meeting with the Marquette Neighborhood Association and approval from the city’s Alcohol Licensing and Review Committee. Taylor says the response from his future landlords and neighbors so far has been positive. “We’re making the transition from the downtown arts district to what I consider to be the foremost arts neighborhood in Madison,” says Taylor, who has lived in the Marquette neighborhood for 25 years.
Taylor says the Willy Street space “more or less came to us.” A regular customer at the Willy Street Co-op, which sits across the street from the potential new venue, he was aware the building was available. But he initially felt it was too small for a jazz club until Ricardo Gonzalez, the former owner of Cardinal Bar and a member of Cafe Coda’s advisory committee, urged him to take a second look at the space. “It’s deceiving — unless you look deep into the window, it looks like a small storefront, but behind the wall is 3,400 square feet,” Taylor says. “It’s going to be a fine music venue.”
The space needs considerable remodeling before it can open — Taylor plans to install a bar and a kitchen that will serve tapas, plus the historic building needs needs “significant buildout’ of its fire protection system before it can serve as a club with a capacity of 120. But the Brandts have been “very forthcoming” about helping transition the space. “The partnership that seems to be developing between us and the owners, that’s a very, very important thing,” Taylor says. “It’s miles away from what we had to deal with — and I’m not casting aspersions on Harold [Langhammer] — but it was a challenge working with him.”
When Taylor and co-founder Susan Fox first opened the venue they saw it as a “springboard opportunity” to cultivate and maintain a “world-class jazz club in Madison.” They launched a successful fundraising campaign to get the project started, which led to the arrangement with Langhammer. They’ve also received numerous equipment donations from supporters, including a concert grand piano. And by all accounts, Cafe Coda’s short tenure downtown has been a resounding success — the club has hosted an array of internationally known jazz musicians and its shows have proven popular with patrons.
“I’ve been confident that whenever we had to move, a place would materialize and the enthusiasm would follow,” Taylor says. “I feel super about going forward.”
When asked about the layout design and the vibe he hopes to create in the new space, Taylor says he has a vision — but he’s keeping it a secret until the venue opens. “You’ll have to wait and see,” he says with a laugh. The new space will be open four or five evenings per week, starting either Tuesday or Wednesday, and running through Saturday from 6 p.m. until midnight.
As for programming, Taylor plans to continue the popular Latin dance jam sessions and add new events like a bring-your-own-vinyl night, evenings dedicated to new music as well as music from around the world. Weekends will be dedicated to “featured performances from internationally renowned artists as well as the Young Jazz Artists Experience, a jam session run by local youth musicians.
Cafe Coda has already raised more than $13,600 in a Go Fund Me campaign, and Taylor hopes to continue raising money to offset the cost of moving to the new space. He’s soliciting donations via his non-stock corporation, Kuumba Renaissance, and supporters can make tax-deductible donations via Arts Wisconsin, which is the organization’s fiscal receiver. Proceeds from Cafe Coda’s final show in the downtown location — an Aug. 11 performance from the Sharón Clark Quartet — will go toward the venue’s relocation fund.
“I would like to be open by Aug. 16, but I know that’s not going to happen,” he says. “Realistically, we’ll be open by late fall or early winter.”
