{image1}As Summerfest strolls its way down the comfortable path of music's past, acting as little more than a recycling bin for what once was great music, a much smaller Milwaukee venue is paving much bigger avenues for music's future.
The Estate, where the jazz flows as fluid as the beer and scotch, is home to some of the best live music options this city has to offer.
The cozy bar at 2423 N. Murray Ave. offers live jazz five nights a week, but it is Tuesday nights in particular that have made it a mecca for Milwaukeeans seeking quality live music.
"Tuesday nights at The Estate are insane, thanks to The Chicken," says Autumn Whitlow, Estate bartender who pours for Chicken fans every week.
{image2}Every Tuesday around 10 p.m., the members of Milwaukee's progressive jazz funk outfit The Erotic Adventures of the Static Chicken take the stage for what becomes a nearly four-hour, free-form jam session.
The band, one of Milwaukee's most under-the-radar groups, started playing together in 2000 at Linneman's and moved to the Estate in 2001. In five years, they have only missed one Tuesday night a couple of years ago when they cancelled a show to avoid competing for a crowd with Summerfest.
Harry Rehorst, 76, hasn't missed a single Tuesday night at The Estate since he discovered "The Chicken" a year and a half ago.
{image3} "I'm here every Tuesday without fail, says Rehorst, a self-described "Chicken anomaly."
"This is the best music in the city. There's 30-somethings all around me, but here I am."
While jazz itself is nothing new, the way these musicians engage in sonic manipulation is something you're unlikely to find elsewhere. Fusing the basic elements of jazz with quirky funk, blues and rock rhythms, "The Chicken" is as entertaining as it is unpredictable.
Although they've been doing the spot for years, the show is always a musical experiment of sorts. The members, Jesse Sheehan (sax, tablas), Chris Vos (guitars, vocals), Jeremy Kuzniar (drums), Matt Turner (bass) and David Wake (keyboards), seem to read each other like sheet music, yet somehow they escape the stale stigma of over-rehearsal and simply relish in spontaneity.
{image4}They appear to have mastered the essence of what it means to play a live show; to make the whole evening into a musical experience. Sometimes a different musician fills in for the night, adding the ever-so-slight change in band dynamic that the "Chicken" regulars are quick to point out. Some nights, the guys invite an audience member to pick up an instrument and join them in the musical chaos. Other nights, they'll pause between sets to chat about whatever's on their minds.
Even with Summerfest competing for the crowds, The Estate's "Chicken" night pulls its weight and draws the familiar as well as the curious. Inside, the combination of close quarters and charmingly low light creates an intimate setting for the most eclectic of crowds. Whether bellied up to the bar, on the floor dancing, or sitting at a candle-lit table in the back, people from age 21 to 81 gather for an evening of unabashed musical impulse.
"We are the ever-changing Chicken," the band announces to the crowd. "You never know what's going to happen."
The Estate's Web site is www.jazzestate.com.
