Rougarou 7-Piece New Orleans Brass Band

The Read

A second-line brass band is a physical proposition before it is a musical one. Sousaphone on the bottom, snare pushing everything forward, horns trading lines until the distinction between soloist and section stops mattering. Rougarou run the traditional shape of it, which means the material is less important than the momentum. Rudy’s is a small, dark, properly run jazz room — the kind with a real piano and a real bar — and cramming a seven-piece brass band into it is a stress test on the space more than the band. Expect volume, expect the room to give up on sitting still, expect to be closer to a trombone bell than is strictly advisable. The nine o’clock slot is the right one for this.

The Room

Rudy's Jazz Room

809 Gleaves St

The closest thing Nashville has to a dedicated jazz club — table seating, close listening, and a Gulch location that feels apart from the Gulch.