A new jazz club is coming to Downtown
Aimee Marshall and her partners are hoping to jazz things up a bit in a pandemic-challenged Downtown.
Ms. Marshall, Josh Ross, and John Shannon, co-owners of the Con Alma restaurant and jazz club in Shadyside, will be bringing the same concept to the Cultural District this spring or summer.
They plan to open a Downtown version of Con Alma — meaning “with soul” in Spanish — in the former Peter Allen’s Italian space at 613 Penn Avenue next to the O’Reilly Theater and across the street from Heinz Hall.
Ms. Marshall said she and her partners have been looking for a place to expand the concept — a blend of Latin American and Asian-influenced cuisine and hot jazz — since opening the Ellsworth Avenue venue nearly two years ago.
She noted that Pittsburgh has a storied jazz tradition, filled with the likes of Billy Strayhorn, Lena Horne, Mary Lou Williams, Erroll Garner, Art Blakey, Ray Brown, Stanley Turrentine, and Walt Harper.
It’s a heritage that Con Alma (motto: Eat Drink Jazz) wants to continue to nurture in the 21st century with modern-day artists.
“One of our main goals is to carry on the tradition and give these world-class musicians a place to play,” she said.
The owners see the Cultural District as the perfect spot for such a venue, a complement to the theaters and the shows and a place to go after a performance to listen to jazz and to grab a bite to eat or a drink.
In being across from Heinz Hall, “it doesn’t get any better than that,” Ms. Marshall said. Before the pandemic, the Cultural Trust hosted weekly jazz performances indoors and outside at Katz Plaza.
After opening in June 2019, Con Alma in Shadyside offered dining and live jazz seven days a week. But like other restaurants, it has had to deal with the fallout from the pandemic.
After a shutdown last spring, Con Alma moved its dining and music outdoors for summer. Following another closing in December, it is now operating at 50% capacity with seven tables inside. It also offers carry-out and live streaming for jazz performances.
Although much of the Cultural District and its theaters have been closed because of the pandemic,
snatching up the Peter Allen space was a risk worth taking, Ms. Marshall said.
“We couldn’t pass it up. We wouldn’t find another space like that,” she said.
“I think it’s a win-win situation. It’s going to be challenging but I have the utmost confidence that people will come.”
The owners plan to start construction inside the Downtown space this month and hope to open by spring or summer or at least in time for the reopening of the theaters this fall, should the pandemic allow that.
Ms. Marshall said they intend to create the same intimate feel as the Shadyside restaurant. They also would like to go back to having jazz performances seven days a week.
John Valentine, executive director of the Pittsburgh Downtown Community Development Corporation, welcomed the addition. He said there are currently no true jazz clubs Downtown, although some places like the Fairmont Hotel have hosted performances in the past.
“It just adds to the overall flavor of the offerings available to residents, theatergoers, visitors, everybody,” he said.
“I think Downtown has always needed more music and I think when people come back, post-pandemic, music will play a huge role.”
Once the pandemic ends, Mr. Valentine predicts there will be a huge pent-up demand for live music, theater, and other shows, and that Con Alma will be positioned to take advantage of that.
“Everybody will be looking to go out and have fun,” he said.