Tuesday, July 17, 2007 | 7:19 a.m.
Just Jazz was hoping for a little boost from film stardom.
For a few days earlier this month, the cast and crew of "Baby-O" swarmed the nightclub in the 110-degree heat.
The club was transformed into Uncle Daddy's Just Jazz , with Eric Roberts ("It's My Party," "Heroes," Julia's older brother) as its owner.
The bustle included Theresa Russell ("Spider-Man 3"), Joe Don Baker ("Walking Tall"), David Proval (Richie Aprile of "The Sopranos") and director Charlie Matthau ("The Grass Harp," Walter's son).
Then the money dried up and the chaos ended as abruptly as it began.
It didn't cost the fledgling club, which opened May 24.
"They gave us an advance," says Mark Stewart, business manager of Just Jazz. "They wouldn't have been able to bring the cameras in if the check hadn't cleared. Such a shame. They were all nice people."
The publicity wouldn't have hurt, but Stewart is confident jazz fans will find their way to the music.
"It grows every day," Stewart says. "Weekends are terrific. Weeknights are starting to pick up, but summertime is not the best time of the year. People go home from work, hot, tired. They want to chill.
"But everyone who comes in is very complimentary. They love it and they come back. That's what we're trying to do here."
The club sits in a section of town that has been described as colorful - across the street from a mall that features gay bars, swingers clubs and Asian restaurants. Just Jazz is the latest club at 1000 E. Sahara Ave. Over the past decade, it's been Keys, which catered to a gay clientele; the Dakota, which catered to a straight clientele; and Zingers, which catered to straights and cross-dressers.
Now it caters to jazz fans, hoping to fill a void.
"There's no jazz scene in this town," Stewart says. "There are little excerpts here and there, but there's not what you would call a real history of jazz here. There have been a lot of great jazz performers who would come in and play the rooms, but no real jazz scene."
Stewart, 65, is trying to re-create the atmosphere of the jazz club he owned in his native Philadelphia in the 1960s. He even gave it the same name.
"When we took over this place we wanted to change the climate, to make it look like a nightclub with a warm, East Coast atmosphere," Stewart says. "We want this to be a place where people can just hang out and enjoy themselves. Guys come in with their ladies to listen to music and have a couple of drinks."
Just Jazz has a charm that is on the endangered species list as Las Vegas bulldozers rush to get rid of everything old.
The room is small with about 170 seats. Dark. Low ceiling. Friendly waitresses and bartenders. Tiny stage. Decent acoustics. A few booths. Some tables and chairs. Pictures of entertainers on the walls.
And you can smoke.
"How can you have a jazz club without smoking?" Stewart says. But just cigarettes.
"There is zero tolerance here about some things. We don't allow any drugs. People have tried. They think they can sit down and smoke a joint and listen to jazz, but we won't tolerate it."
Just Jazz takes care of its customers.
"We won't let anybody get into a car inebriated," Stewart says. "We'll drive them home first.
And there's a dress code: no flip-flops or shirts with cut-off sleeves.
"We won't tolerate anyone getting out of hand. We want our guests to feel like they're sitting in a speakeasy in the days of Louis Armstrong, and it's working. It's happening."
There are differences between Just Jazz in Las Vegas and the Philadelphia club, which has been gone for years.
"In Philadelphia every weekend we could have someone like the Buddy Rich Band," Stewart says. "But in those days you could book a Buddy Rich or a Gene Krupa and you didn't have to pay them a lot of money because they all wanted to work and they were on a circuit."
For now, you probably won't hear such big name performers here.
"Until this place gets to the point where we're doing good business every night, I can't afford to pay a lot. There are a lot of guys I would like to bring in, but I can't afford them right now," Stewart says. "There's a lot of great musicians in this town."
Joe Darro plays during cocktail hour Tuesday through Friday. Most nights feature a trio with Cocho Arbe on keyboards, Christopher Gordon on bass and Boris Shapiro on drums. On Fridays and Saturdays the trio backs vocalists such as Ronnie Rose and Jobelle.
"This is like a musician's club. Musicians come here to listen. Everybody wants to work here," says Stewart , who gets five or six submissions a day from artists wanting to perform.
The club is owned by Robert L. Gresham Jr. and Brion Norris and is managed by Paul Marrone. Stewart handles the business end.
For now, the club is open from 4 p.m. until 4 a.m. If it gets a gaming license, it will be open 24 hours a day, Stewart says. There is no cover charge, only a two-drink minimum.
"We want people to come in and enjoy themselves, listen to music, have a couple of drinks and not feel that they have to pay to come in," Stewart says. "Where else in this city are you going to go and be able to listen to this kind of music, relax and not be hassled?"
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