Zubatto Syndicate plans to jazz up Seattle's Crocodile nightclub

There are no chairs to sit in when you listen to music at the Crocodile. An open floor has always worked best for the kind of music and audiences the famous rock club is known for.

Since opening in 1991 — the Belltown club closed late in 2007 and reopened under new owners in early 2009 — the Crocodile, an integral part of Seattle's music history, has hosted the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Cheap Trick, R.E.M., Mudhoney, Yoko Ono and, last week, Brandi Carlile.

On Thursday, the club will host a rare show of jazz music. Although in its early days, jazz was dance music and bands played in large dance halls, it has lately been the kind of music usually associated with chairs and tables and sitting.

"We're not opposed to jazz in the club," said Eli Anderson, who books music for the Crocodile. "It's important to broaden the music we offer. It's a part of getting people into the room. There's no reason the Crocodile has to be just rock music."

For the club's first jazz show, at least since its 2009 reopening, Anderson booked the 12-piece Zubatto Syndicate big band led by guitarist Andrew Boscardin, whose electric guitar helps form the signature of the group's sound, a mix of big-band jazz, rock and funk.

"It's more suited to the club," Anderson said. "It's really up-tempo. It's not the kind of thing you're going to want to listen to sitting down and watching. We wouldn't do a sleepy jazz show where you sit down and have your drinks."

Anderson let Boscardin book the other bands on the bill, the Owcharuk 5 (up-tempo, jazz rock inflected with Ukrainian folk music) and Water Babies (another jazz quintet whose trumpet-driven, funk jazz has a retro sound).

In general, all music clubs have had to broaden the kinds of music they present to keep rooms full. The Triple Door books just about every type of music; even Jazz Alley has verged into folk and pop. But the Crocodile has over the years maintained a relatively consistent identity as a rock club, where the beer is cheap and the only real attraction is the music itself.

"In Seattle, the scene still seems to be fairly fragmented," said Jason Parker, the trumpeter in Water Babies. "Jazz is heard by the jazz audience, rock by the rock audience. But the cross-pollination in music is what's really driving projects like these three, who all take as much from rock, funk, punk and world music as they do from jazz. That's why this bill makes sense at a club like the Croc."

Hugo Kugiya: hkugiya@yahoo.com