Take Flight for a Night
AtThe JAZZ
CORNER BY RISA WILLIAMS MCMILLAN
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PHOTOS BY ROB KAUFMAN
Imagine entering a realm where you are transported back through time and all of your senses are engaged, creating an experience so relaxing and sensual that it will be embedded in your memory banks for all time. The experience is all encompassing. The minute you walk in the front door, the sights, scents, and sounds will carry you away. Take Flight for a Night at The Jazz Corner and oh what a trip it will be! The Jazz Corner was the vision of Bob Masteller, a man who was as passionate about the American art form of Jazz as he was about preserving its legacy and sharing its timeless tones. Bob grew up in upstate New York with music in his blood as his father was a jazz violinist and vibraphonist who led a touring big band in the 20’s and 30’s. Bob took up trumpet lessons at age 8, followed by trombone and vibraphone, and played his first gigs with his father at age 12. While his career followed a successful business path -- he earned his MBA and moved to Hilton Head in 1973 to work for Charles Fraser in Sea Pines as VP of Human Resources -- his real passion was for the music of Jazz, America’s original art form which Bob was dedicated to preserving. The year was 1999 when Bob and his partner Charles Swift bought the building in the corner of the Village at Wexford that would house The Jazz Corner. They engaged architect Terry Keane, gutted the building, designed an acoustically perfect room for jazz and worked diligently together on the project until Mr. Swift retired to Alabama 5 years later. The gold standard in the jazz industry had been created and today that legacy is carried on by Bob’s wife, Lois, son David, and a team of dedicated employees that believe in the power of the vision. Once just a vision, The Jazz Corner is recognized as one of the top Jazz clubs in the United States and named one of the “Top Great Jazz Rooms” in the world by Downbeat Magazine. It will celebrate its 20th Anniversary this March. “Bob always said that if he ever owned a jazz club it would be a great listening room and have all the tools a musician would need. It was built specifically to listen to Jazz,” said Lois. “The ceiling was designed to sound specifications and there is a carpeted wall and slanted ceiling behind the stage to create a natural acoustic sound,” explained David. “There is not a bad seat in the house,” he added. David remembers the day they opened for business, March 30, 1999: “That first sound check on that first day was amazing. It’s magical and it never gets old.” It is not just the timeless music though. The lights are low, the atmosphere is electric, and the sounds are stimulating. The overall presentation is elegant yet relaxing. Add to that a staff that welcomes you like family and you have the whole package. They treat you like family because over the past 20 years they have become family – staff 12
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