It's not just Red Dirt and country at Fat Jack's Oyster and Sports Bar these days.
Once a month, you're likely to hear the sounds of a John Coltrane composition or big band numbers made famous in the 1940s and '50s. After all, the Texarkana Jazz Orchestra has been performing at Jack's regularly the past of couple years, returning to the venue where they started nearly two decades ago.
The Texarkana Jazz Orchestra holds court at Fat Jack's the first Tuesday of the month, starting at 7 p.m. They fill the stage with players who, in turn, fill the venue with that bold, brassy jazz sound.
Being back at Jack's, they're continuing a longtime Texarkana jazz tradition.
"We've been playing once a month, generally, for a long time, almost 20 years," says Dick Eckstein, the TJO's conductor.
The players change some over time, but they also have musicians who've been part of the group for pretty much the whole period, people like Don Colquitt on bass, Buddy Deese on trumpet and Russell Roberts on drums. Then they have a younger generation of musicians, too, which includes two of Eckstein's daughters on saxophone.
It's a talented group of musicians with plenty of experience, such as pianist Allen Batts, who used to play blues professionally in Chicago. A bunch of area band directors have joined the TJO. The TJO includes Frank Miller, who does a weekly jazz show on KTXK radio.
The Texarkana Jazz Orchestra member variety is mirrored by the variety in their music.
"We play a wide variety of tunes. That's kind of our trademark. We play some Latin jazz and some swing jazz. We have a lot of Count Basie-type of big band tunes that we play. But we also play Glenn Miller and Stan Kenton, a real popular guy back in the '50s. And then Buddy Rich, we play a lot of those kind of pieces," Eckstein said. Every once in a while they'll play original music composed by a band member.
Thus, the TJO has a voluminous storehouse of music from which to draw. And with jazz, they have a rich heritage to work with and many different styles to sample during these evening hours.
"Every once in a while we play something that we haven't played in 20 years and that's always kind of fun, too," says Eckstein, calling jazz "America's music." Even with popular music like Stevie Wonder, they can give it a jazz flavor and improvise solos.
It's a 17-piece band with five saxophones, four trombones, four trumpets and a rhythm section of piano, guitar, bass and drums.
They find an appreciative audience at Fat Jack's and have regulars visit. This past Tuesday night, the crowd took pics and video of their performance. There's no cover. The band plays for drinks. It's like a club for them, says the conductor.
The TJO formed years ago at Loveall Music across the street, just as friends coming together. When Fat Jack's started a blues night, the orchestra first started playing with them and then started their own night, explained Eckstein, who is the junior high band director for Mt. Vernon Independent School District.
They urge people young and old to come out and see them perform. They may be performing more often in the future, too. And you'll find the TJO playing gigs for various events and at other venues sometimes, such as benefit shows or weddings.
"Wherever we play it's home for us. We always have a good time. We like coming here. It is kind of our home for our band," Eckstein says.