Copadouro’s first show packs house

IN TO IT:
Saxophone player Jules Broussard gets plenty of appreciation from Friday night’s crowd at Copadouro in Anderson.

A crowd of about 70 packed the newly opened venue that used to house the 49 Club in Anderson. Now called Copadouro at 2959 E. Center St., the coffee shop and newly minted jazz club is slated to expand the Anderson nightlife by providing monthly, big-name jazz performances, according to owner Ramond Randle.

The club’s opening act was Bay Area saxophonist Jules Broussard, who delighted the crowd by playing jazz by request from the audience. Broussard played a wide variety of jazz and rock, including Marvin Gaye, James Brown and Michael Jackson, but his group leaned towards Duke Ellington standards. The group played over three hours of music, and the Copadouro provided a free Brazilian buffet of kabobs, beans and rice.

The club is the only of its kind in Anderson, and it drew its audience from Anderson, Redding, and Shingletown. Several audience members expressed their appreciation for new venue.

“It’s so nice to have something like this come to the area,” said Stephen Edwards of Redding.

I hope it lasts, nobody plays this anywhere,” Jack Byrd, of Shingletown said. “I just heard about it on the (radio); I’m going to come back tomorrow and bring my wife.”

How long could a jazz venue in Anderson last, charging $35 per ticket?

“That depends on us, doesn’t it?” said Dr. James Tate, an Anderson resident in attendance. “No one has had the vision and courage of Mr. Randle. It’s been a leap of faith on his part.”

“It works on a night like this,” said Mike Gray of Redding, nodding towards the stage. “They tried it at Serendipity and Billy Bombays, we’ll see. I’ll just keep supporting it. The North State needs jazz.”

“I’m going to keep it up as long as people are enjoying it,” Randle said. “Jules would get at least $50 at the door at Yoshi’s in Oakland.”The club portion of Copadouro was just recently completed. The ongoing construction of the club was an attraction for many to get a cup of coffee. On several occasions, customers could get a tour of the recent developments with a coffee in hand.

Not just a jazz club, the Copadouro Coffee and Internet Café imports its own coffee beans from Randle’s coffee plantation in Brazil.