The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: Variety

Media Credit: DANIEL SHIREY Marlon Patton, a freelance musician from Atlanta, plays at Farm 255 on March 24. [Click to enlarge]

Before everyone flocked to the 40 Watt and the Georgia Theatre for musical entertainment, some jazz enthusiasts found a haven in a hole-in-the-wall Five Points restaurant.

Twenty-five years ago, The Lighthouse, which stood where Five and Ten is located today, was the unofficial jazz capital of Athens.

"It was a great place," said Jim McKillip, a local jazz musician and former music store owner who played at the venue during its musical heyday. Back then, a whimpering saxophone, jaunty piano and rattling drums were musical mainstays that lit up Athenian nights.

Today, it may appear that Athens' rock-centric music scene has little room left for jazz.

But look a little closer, and a city scattered with jazzy gems will reveal itself.

Live jazz music is the star of Wednesday nights at Porterhouse Grill. The restaurant has offered a jazz night since its opening eight years ago, and local band Prime Time Jazz has been filling the slot for the past six.

The group, which features McKillip on piano, Chris Enghauser on bass and Tony McCutchen on drums, is known for its improvised interpretations of "traditional jazz" songs.

"We usually have some people who come in on Wednesday just because we're here," said McCutchen, a University percussion professor.

All three have toyed with other genres of music, but their experiences have proven that jazz is where the heart is.

"Jazz is kind of a musician's language," McKillip said. "It's a technical art form, basically an improvisational art."

"We've never played the same song exactly the same," McCutchen said, alluding to the improvisational freedom that drew him to jazz.

And for Enghauser, an appreciation for jazz grew out of years of playing "a little bit of everything."

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