FARGO — If you’re a jazz fan, the words are almost like poetry. Village Vanguard. Blue Note. Smalls. Elephant Room. Green Lady Lounge. Preservation Hall.
If you’re a fan, certain city names evoke a type of history as well as promise. New Orleans. Chicago. Kansas City. New York. These are the places where people listen hard. These are the places where musicians go exploring.
Jazz is like that. Live is always best. You think you know a song, but the guy playing guitar has a new idea for his solo. The tenor sax is growling more than usual. Some guy no one knows is sitting in on bass and he’s all syncopation and attack. You’ve never heard this song, this song you know well, this way before.
It’s all fresh and alive. You’re paying attention to every note and every change. And if you’re lucky, people are dancing. You want to explode with joy. Welcome to the world of a jazz club.
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On Monday nights, there is jazz in Dempsey’s Public House, 226 Broadway N., in downtown Fargo. Step in off the street and walk to the back of the room. Fargo and Moorhead have symphonies and orchestras, a blues festival, rock concerts and country music events, but nothing is as intimate as a jazz night. Nothing is as revealing of a city’s soul.
Once a month, always the first Monday, the group is Dempsey’s Big Band, led by Concordia’s Russ Peterson. Musicians three rows deep, brass reflecting the lights, they are finishing the first set, playing Weather Report’s “Birdland” when I arrive. Up-tempo and loud, compelling and complicated, it’s a tough song, made even tougher by popularity. You can’t get this one wrong, and the band nails it.
"Oh," I think, "this is going to be good." The break is only 15 minutes long, just enough time to ask Aimee at the bar to refill a drink or to talk with a friend you’ve spotted across the room, and I take the moment to ask Russ about jazz in Fargo.
“For a town our size, we’re blessed,” he says. “We have a happening scene in town. Top-notch players. Different groups. Different styles. These are the students and jazz faculty from the colleges. We’re very tight because we’re all jazz lovers and most of us are jazz teachers.”
“You don’t need to be an expert to enjoy jazz,” he adds. “Yet there are those in the audience who have spent their life listening to jazz. The audience is very appreciative.”
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The second set begins with “Mercy Mercy Mercy,” a soulful classic that fills from the inside out as it goes along, bringing the mood of the room with it. Then “An Innocent Man,” “Cajun Cookin,’” “In a Sentimental Mood” and a Count Basie song called “Splanky.”
The band is tight. The solos are honest. New York, I think. New Orleans. Fargo.
And then there is the dancing. Something about dancing to jazz is always elegant, flowing, sophisticated and stylish. It responds to intelligent music. At Dempsey’s, people come to the floor as the music moves them and often trade partners. It’s a group that knows each other and also welcomes new friends. Extend a hand as an invitation. Would you like to dance?
Newlyweds Eric Sarfo Amponsah and Annalise Sarfo are among the Monday night regulars. Together, they are seamless to watch.
“There is everything to love about jazz music, and for a dancer like myself, dancing to jazz is mostly for the challenge,” Eric says. “With jazz, you never know what you are going to get, and improv dancing, coming up with a different style to go with the music every time, is very satisfying. It is not always easy with all the drum solos and instrument changes but when you're successful, it's the best feeling ever.”
Jazz is deep, both in music and motion. So it’s fitting that one of the dancers is some distance from the energy of newlyweds. Pat Beck is 83 years old — “if I can remember correctly,” she says. She’s up for nearly every song, twirling and dipping and smiling with every partner. I ask her what brings her out on a Monday night.
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“The music and the people,” she says. “The variety of interesting, friendly people. You enjoy the music, the visit, the dance together, and soon you become friendly acquaintances who you look forward to seeing, visiting and dancing with the next Monday.”
“I attended Monday night jazz when it was held in Studio 222 for years,” she continues about the former space in downtown Fargo. “There was space for dancing but not a lot of it done. Then Studio 222 closed and we were without our jazz until Dempsey’s started Monday night jazz where there is much more dancing. I may have missed two Monday nights since Dempsey’s started their Jazz Mondays. Scott Swedberg and Eric usually get me out on the dance floor for some smiles and exercise and it is a very nice experience.”
“One of the first nights Dempsey’s started their jazz,” Pat says, “Scott came to the table I was at and asked if anyone would dance. I looked around and there were only half dozen or so people and decided why not. I got up and Scott smiled. Then I told him he was in for a real experience as I had not been on a dance floor since 1983 and I was 80 years old. His reply was, ‘No problem. Follow me. I’m a good leader.’ And that he is. He’s been dancing with me ever since.”
The last song of the night is “Riding The E-Train.” Loud and fast and fun, full-throttle horns fill the bar. A woman in a booth pounds one fist on top of her other in time. Her smile is huge. Every dancer is on the floor.
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I remember a man who talked with me earlier. He came up to me as soon as he saw my camera. “Here,” he said. “This is amazing. Here in Fargo.”
Yes, I think. Here. This place and this moment. Fargo jazz.
Monday night jazz at Dempsey’s is in its second year. There are other jazz venues in town — the Delta by Marriott in south Fargo hosts jazz every Thursday with the Kathie Brekke group — and there are other groups that play the remaining Mondays at Dempsey’s: the Connor Lee Group, Paul S guitar, the Paul Liversage Septet, the FM Hard-Bop Collective, the Tim Johnson Dixie band, the Eric Martens Trio, Alison and the Bee Bops, the John DiFiorie quartet among them.
