Another sort of Jazz Police, Kevin O'Neill, opened a new jazz club on March 4th in the Lowertown neighborhood of Saint Paul called the French Press Jazz Cafe. O'Neill, a former disc jockey and nightclub manager, has spent 14 years in service as a police officer in West Saint Paul.

Since the departure of the Dakota from St. Paul to Minneapolis and the demise of Brilliant Corners, the Artists' Quarter has been the only jazz club in Saint Paul.

Ned Kantar, a local pianist, producer, and music professor, is handling artist bookings and will front his own quartet as the house band. As a performer and booker, Kantar's emphasis is on jazz standards from the Great American Songbook and the calendar for the upcoming month features local vocalists. This is not a successor to the former Saint Paul club Brilliant Corners which featured more adventurous music, nor the Artists' Quarter with it's subterranean feel and focus on instrumental hard-bop and soul-jazz. But it is a non-smoking venue that serves beer, wine and food in a casual but elegant environment. This should appeal to both the neighborhood's Bohemian artists community and growing upscale population.

The room has captured a Soho vibe with bleached wood floors and exposed brick and colorful walls. The L-shaped room has a raised stage in the corner and a sound system that fills the 20 foot high space with music. The entrance is on one end and the bar on the other. There are wrought iron stairs leading to a loft dining room with elegant white tablecloths and candle-lit tables.

The French Press Jazz Cafe is located across from the Union Depot at 213 E. Fourth Street in the Lowertown area. They offer live jazz, food beer and wine. For more information see www.fpjazz.com (651) 224-2732.

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