Jazz Venue Reviews: Dubai Jazz

The beautiful entrance to the Dubai Jazz Club

I decided to start with a proverbial "shot in the dark" with Jazz Venues, choosing "Dubai Jazz Club and Mall" for the first new review.  Its a stunningly built club on the deck of a yacht - very stylish, well lit, and a pleasure to the eye.  Unfortunately, its all down hill from there.

The good sized, but distracting dance floor

The dance floor is surrounded by pit seating (with good animations), but the dance floor is the site of all of the action.  By action, I don't mean visitors - I mean "things".  Bubbles, flame circles, and an amazingly annoying light sequence that will blind you in RL (not just to speak of SL).  To make matters even "better", there are two sets of said rows of five lights, which have about a 1-2 second sequence between flipping the spotlight on a person/couple - one forward, one aft (on the boat).  After listening to the mediocre Jazz feed (for the life of me, I could not figure the source of it, aside from the fact it was "smooth Jazz"), I had to leave.

The Dubai Mall area (where the TP point for the club is located)

There is an attached mall, which is very large, but after being blinded at the Jazz club, I had no desire to go window shopping.  The rest of the sim is very well done, and if exploring, merits a visit, but the Jazz club seems as if they were trying to shove too many gizmos in it, but didn't pay attention to the music or events.  Perhaps the owners will consider making changes to it, but... sadly it simply seems tacked on to the mall as a draw.

Turn off the lights - you're burning my eyes!

Likes - Well built club, stylish with a certain type of upscale, Mediterranean-chic about it
Dislikes - Too many distractions on the dance floor (as previous mentioned), and those annoying lights!
Music - Smooth Jazz streamed feed (unidentified source)
Lag - None, there is no one there
Shopping - Complex on site
Overall - This Jazz Venue has plenty of potential, but... it has some really distracting issues.  If the lights and gizmos could be pulled, and a different music feed provided, it would be a definite improvement.  However, it seems to be an appendage to the main mall, so if you are looking for someplace with no traffic/lag and not concerned about the Jazz itself, then visit the Dubai Jazz club.

Rating: Two saxes (of five possible)

The Most Frequented Jazz Venues in SL, as of May, 2010

The Lenox Lounge, in Harlem, NY - A classic Art Deco Jazz Lounge

One endeavor I took upon myself was to re-acquaint myself with the Jazz scene in Second Life.  This is based strictly on the SL "Search" ratings, and as many tend to include a wide swath of musical genres.  However they are the most frequented areas when "Jazz" in entered, so I figured I'd start there.  For the time being, I'll simply provide the basic list (and SLurls), and get back on the reviews as the year progresses.  

Now for the list...

Frank's Place, overlooking the yacht docked by the dance floor.

1) Frank's Place

2) Sweetheart's Jazz Romantic Ballroom

3) Phat Cat's Jazz Club

4) Cloud Nine

5) Muddy's Music Cafe

The dock at the RMS Titanic

6) RMS Titanic

7) That's Amore
8) Lover's Cove

At the entrance to Bogart's Jazz Club

9) Bogart's Jazz Club

10) Camelot Gardens

11) Pacifique

Ok, this is just a starting list, but I'll be adding / updating it every quarter or so (that's the plan, at least).  A few things that came back to the forefront were noobs and lag.  The noobs aren't a problem, but you will find the occasional amusing anecdotes (e.g. the romantic discussions in open chat), or the odd attachment mistake (I'm sure everone has seen some kind of SL disaster - if not, visit SL Fashion Police.. a bit out of date, but still scary).

On the other hand, the lag at the big places are impressive - be ready for the proverbial "walking in soup".  That's part of the price of success I postulate, so do take in account from arrival to departure.  I'll be updating the SLurls, so do check back!

A new entry - two years later!

The Empire Jazz Club, in Seraph City, my new home

Hard to believe its been almost two years since the SL Jazz After Midnight was updated, but... I guess its about time for it.  At the time, I had to make a call on which blog to continue, the Steampunk Tribune/Heliograph or SL Jazz After Midnight.  As I do enjoy both genres, it was a hard call, but I went with the Steampunk Tribune, as the entries weren't as labor intensive as the SL JAM articles.

However, I recently relocated to a new sim in SL, named Seraph City.  Located by my lovely partner's fashionable Haute Coutre store, the Carrington, the Empire Jazz Club is my small escape in Second Life where I can listen to to classic Jazz and Swing from the Dieselpunk / Pulp / Film Noir era, and maybe even hold a few events in the future.  SC is still a growing sim, and there are plenty of music venues here - the New Champagne Rooms, the Empire Jazz Club, and one more down main street, that is yet to open.

Having a quiet evening dance with Breezy

I've decided to go ahead and try to revive the SL JAM, and though it won't be updated as frequently as the old schedule was, or as often as the Steampunk Tribune is, I will visit it regularly, and as it'll be on the Jazz Links blog, it'll be easy to find once again!  If you happen to be in town, feel free to drop by and listen to a few tunes - drinks are on the house!