Rachel Holder

Clay Moore

Wherever he goes, wherever he lives, Clay Moore leaves a trail of hot gigs, creative collaboration, and a pile of guitar lessons. From Amarillo to Tampa to Pittsburgh to Edinborough, Seattle, the Twin Cities and now back in Texas, Moore has played with everyone and everywhere. He’s also a committed educator, serving the faculty of McNally Smith (MusicTech) in St. Paul prior to his move to Brownsville. Inspired by the great guitarists, including George Benson, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, Barney Kessel, and Howard Roberts, Clay has toured with Lee Konitz, Larry Coryell, and Bobby Lyle, and has

CLay Moore © Andera Canter

Jazz and More at España Mediterranean Cuisine

España Mediterranean Cuisine has been hosting live music since it opened ten years ago, including jazz, R&B, blues and world music. Currently, owner Isaac Guerra hosts live music four nights per week, Wednesday through Saturday. Notes Clay, Isaac “wanted it to be a center for the finer things in life - good food, wine, cigars, and the arts, including music and visual arts. He hosts a monthly art crawl and displays works by local artists, and it was a destination for the people involved in the Cine Sol Film Festival.” Clay met Isaac Guerra while playing with the Joe Chapa Group (now the Frontera Jazz Quartet) in September. “Isaac and I hit it off, and he saw that I would be able to help him with his business because I've lived in a lot of cities [Austin, Edinborough, Tampa, Minneapolis] and have contacts throughout the music world. In addition to helping Joe with booking new acts I'm working to improve the bands already playing there, both musically and on their stage presentation and professionalism, and to help get the word out about the venue.”

Michael O'Brien © Andea Canter

Rachel Holder, January 4-6. Twenty-two year-old Rachel Holder makes her Texas debut at España Mediterranean Cuisine this week, January 4-6, with the Frontera Jazz Quartet. A Wisconsin native, Rachel was one of the first performance graduates from MacNally Smith College of Music (MusicTech) in St Paul, MN, where she studied with Debbie Duncan and vocal music department head, Judi Donaghy. Soon she was gigging around town with her teachers, including Clay Moore. “Rachel started coming out to my gigs and sitting in, so I knew she was hooked,” he says. “I started featuring her with my trio and later formed a group to showcase her talents…Besides great pitch and delivery, Rachel has a talent that can’t be bought or learned. She’s a really sweet person, which comes out in her singing, but her voice is also tinged with a sultry, sensual quality. It’s a dazzling combination.” That combination serves Rachel well, be it through American jazz or through songs in Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian.

Debbie Duncan © Andrea Cantrer

More From the Minnesota Connection. Hiring vocalists has been a priority for owner Isaac Guerra. Explains Clay, “Isaac has wanted to have some jazz vocalists for some time, but we've not found any in the area, so I'm bringing them in from the Twin Cities and Austin, TX. Rachel Holder is just the beginning.” Clay notes that “bass virtuoso Michael O'Brien will play with the quartet on Friday and Saturday, February 9th and 10th, and he'll stay on to play with the amazing vocalist Debbie Duncan, who'll appear February 14th - 17th. I've also talked to Twin Cities’ vocalist Katie Gearty and Austin vocalist Liz Mungis about coming later in the spring.” Finding a regular bassist is one of Moore’s current challenges. “Our other concern at the moment is good bass players, so we're bringing them in as well. Naturally we have to pace ourselves to stay within our budget, so we're only planning about one out-of-town show per month at this point.”

The Frontera Jazz Quartet plays regularly on Wednesday and Fridays, and features Joe Chapa on tenor sax, JD Guzman on drums, and Moore on guitar. “We’ve used a variety of bassists so far,” says Clay.

Jazz in the Rio Grande Valley

Clay Moore notes that while there are some annual jazz festivals—notably in Brownsville and Corpus Christi, there isn’t much in the way of live jazz in club venues. “The Rio Grand Valley consists of a number of small- to medium-sized cities, and at present there is no regular live jazz to speak of in Brownsville or Harlingen, and at best only sporadic jazz gigs on South Padre Island, which as you may know is an internationally-known beach resort. McAllen is the only place with steady jazz at España, the Embassy Suite Hotel (with local legend Rene Sandoval), and a new music venue called Lansky and Brats, which is hosting duos.” And the Rio Grande Valley is not a cultural hub in the usual urban sense as is Austin or Dallas. Notes Moore, “The people here are very conservative in many ways, not in the political sense, but in the sense that they've mostly been left to themselves down here and have been doing things the same way for a long time. They love to barbecue and listen to musica norteña, but things like jazz or sushi or French films just aren't a part of their lives for the most part.”

And Clay Moore is on a mission to expand the cultural landscape –make that soundscape—of the Rio Grande Valley through jazz. “One thing I decided when moving here was to bring as much of what I do as I can to the area…” An Anglo living in a community that is about 95% Hispanic, he found his new neighbors to be “open in their acceptance of ‘outsiders,’ including whatever those outsiders have to bring to the table. The guitar came from Spain originally and in fact entered the US from Mexico via the cowboys who worked here in Texas, so there is that connection. My goal is to foster a larger and more comprehensive jazz scene, including better education, bringing in more jazz greats for clinics and concerts, and developing gigs for local players as well. And, of course, I want to play as much as I want with great musicians!”

With such bookings as Rachel Holder, Michael O’Brien, and Debbie Duncan, Clay Moore is building a promising cultural bridge between North and South. But “slower paced?” Not in jazz time!

Rachel Holder will sing three sets per night starting at 8:00 pm on Thursday, January 4th, and 8:30 pm on Friday and Saturday, January 5-6, accompanied by the Frontera Jazz Quartet. For further information contact Clay Moore at 956-572-2525. España Mediterranean Cuisine is located at 701 N. Main St., McAllen, TX; 956-618-1178; www.espanacuisine.com

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