Northampton businesses have always been welcoming to arts and music, and the community continues its philanthropy-by-default through a host of newer venues willing to embrace the croonings and noodlings of local bards and banterers. Places like Sam's Pizza, the Yellow Sofa and Bistro 186 have kept smaller-scale musical performances alive and well, and fed a few under-employed minstrels in the process.
Local restaurateur Claudio Guerra has fed many a starving musician and, in fact, employed dozens of them in his establishments over the years, but buttering the atmosphere of one of those places with creamy jazz or turning it up a notch with pulsing DJ beats is perhaps a newer endeavor. From the (figurative) ashes of the old Del Raye restaurant, the Paradise City Tavern has risen, boasting a wide array of draught beers, a broad selection of gourmet burgers and afternoon/late-night food specials and, recently, it's also been offering a sprinkling of music.
The tavern regularly hosts Iron City, a funky jazz group featuring guitarist Charlie Apicella, Beau Sasser on the Hammond organ and Alan Korzin behind the kit. Nights have also included a rotating cast of DJs, including DJ Megha and DJ Polyrhythmic, among others, and even the odd performance of an occasionally louder band like Joe Mofo: The Mike Ditka of Rock/Paper/Scissors (full disclosure: this was the author's stoner-named Joe Jackson tribute band).
Paradise City also gives some appreciation to the visual; its several widescreen televisions have been graced by a variety of occasional work by video artists, though, of course, the screens are co-opted when an imporant sports event occurs or, as happened recently, an historic inauguration demands some serious celebration, Northampton-style.
Hopefully, the Paradise City Tavern will deepen its foot-dipping into the world of local music; it might be a bit hard to set up anything bigger than a four-piece band, but with a little will and a little work, a room that sounds pretty good overall could really turn into something. Check out the Tavern at 1 Bridge St. in Northampton.
