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Live Music with Dinner

Jack McCray

Wade Spees
The Post and Courier

Quentin Baxter’s trio brings live music to Charleston Grill.

Many of the great American food cities also are fabulous music towns.

Charleston is right up there with the best of them despite the fact that we don't have many music clubs, especially jazz. Places such as New York, New Orleans and Chicago have clubs aplenty with some live music in restaurants.

Given the dearth of clubs here, what goes on in restaurants is important to the live music scene. Among the many fine restaurants, Charleston Grill, High Cotton and Mercato feature some of the best music at places diners would go to first for good food, then good sounds.

Charleston Grill

224 King St., downtown

577-4522

www.charlestongrill.com

$$$$-$$$$$

Charleston Grill's musical offerings hold their own next to its delectable food. General manager Mickey Bakst and musical director Quentin Baxter have put in an amazing live band and recorded music setup that seems to make the food taste even better while nourishing your soul.

Baxter programs live bands for each night of the week. His trio is the flagship of the schedule, holding forth Thursday through Saturday in the newly renovated, inviting lounge space.

Authentic Brazilian and jazz sambas can be heard there on Wednesdays as Baxter features guitarist Duda Lucena. On Sundays, the Bob Williams Duo plays a varied repertoire with classical guitar and violin.

Baxter's high national profile around the country attracts unscheduled performances that always delight.

High Cotton

199 East Bay St., downtown

724-3815

www.high-cotton.net

$$$$

Just about all the styles of jazz and pop music can be heard at High Cotton. Its lineup of live music over the week includes a number of veteran players and a wide-ranging repertoire. Jill Maynard runs the show there. While the restaurant is definitely fine dining, the music wafting from the bar-lounge area lightens the atmosphere and softens the buzz in the bar.

Jazz saxophonist John Slate mellows things out when he plays, usually in duet with guitarists Joe Wilson or John Oden or with pianist Bill Aycock.

Slate has been around the jazz block, playing all the styles and in every configuration from small ensemble to big band.

Slate brings the precision and sweet lyricism of the legendary Joe Henderson, whose sound his is close to.

Keyboardist Margaret Coleman has been at High Cotton for years. She does jazz, pop and blues, many times singing with interesting turns of phrase.

Trumpeter Kevin Hackler also works at High Cotton. He plays standards and originals, usually in duet or trio. Hackler's sound is straightforward and firmly rooted in modern, progressive jazz.

Mercato

102 N. Market St., downtown

722-6393

www.mercatocharleston.com

$$-$$$

Musical variety is the standard at Mercato. Its offerings also are international. Trumpeter Kevin Hackler works there with a trio Friday nights.

The longest-running act now at Mercato is Caravan, a gypsy swing trio led by guitarist Lee Barbour. Joe Beck, a highly regarded jazz guitarist around the country, has called Barbour "one of the best young players in the world."

Gypsy swing is a mid-20th-century hybrid form of jazz popularized by French guitarist Django Reinhardt. It remains among the most popular of European jazz forms, and Caravan has made it a hit at Mercato, where the cuisine is Italian.

On Wednesdays, vocalist Elise Testone swings the room with jazz and soul music. She belts it out but doesn't harden the elegance of the place.

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