Rose Colella pours her heart out at Noce, the jazz club on the west end of downtown. Photo: Brittany Brooke Crow
Writer: Dan Ray
Ever heard of Duke Ellington or Ella Fitzgerald? Yeah? Well, that’s partly because local jazz clubs keep their music alive. Here in Des Moines, Noce has been showcasing jazz for 10 years now. The little club at 1326 Walnut St. plans to celebrate its first decade with a big party on New Year’s Eve, and they want you to be there.
“Anyone who’s ever been to one of the historic, great clubs in New York or Chicago knows the experience is not like going to other music venues,” co-owner Max Wellman said. “It’s like Carnegie Hall mixed up with someone’s living room. There’s this elegance but a casual intimacy, as well. And you don’t have to be someone who goes home and listens to Miles Davis to get something out of that.”
We asked Wellman to share a few thoughts about Noce’s first decade. His answers have been edited for length and clarity.
When you opened Noce, you wanted to bring more national artists to Des Moines. How’s that going?
We’ve been able to bring in some really wonderful touring acts. This year we had Jane Monheit and Stella Cole, people who’ve been nominated for Grammys or signed to record labels. Before Noce, it would have sounded crazy that artists of that caliber would stop in Des Moines and play a 100-seat room.
On the flip side, it was immediately surprising how much of the popular programming was coming from the local scene. They’re doing this show here with a 10-piece band, and it’s a totally different experience than anywhere else locally.
What are some memorable moments from the last 10 years?
We threw a huge weekend full of shows for Scott Smith. He’s a Des Moines boy — went to Roosevelt and then Northwestern — and he discovered Ann-Margret, who was a big-time movie star. She came and surprised him for those shows, and it was so cool having classic Hollywood royalty in here mixed with that local lore.
Similarly, Julius Brooks, who passed away this year, spent countless evenings here. He was a local giant in the music scene and played all over the world. I think of special shows we did with him in this space, like the dedication of a portrait here for his 90th birthday.
And then hosting people like Karrin Allyson and Sara Gazarek — people who were some of the first artists I downloaded on my iPod when I was about 12.
What else would you like to highlight?
There’s so much cultural overlap with all of the music that came after jazz, like drag and vaudeville and performance art. So a lot of our cabaret programming, like “The Domita Show” and Voix de Ville, is an extension of that or a modern version of that. It’s one of my favorite things about the place.
Beyond programming, one of the biggest takeaways from these 10 years is that there’s a group of people who’ve become so tight-knit over this space and time. That’s what keeps it here and makes it worthwhile. That is never more true than between me and my business partner, Maria Reveiz. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to go through the process with her and this team.
How did you get through the pandemic?
We were lucky. We made a good choice immediately when things shut down to turn this room into a production studio. We were one of the first venues in the country, and the world, that was committing to live streaming shows with production value. In those early weeks, people were watching from all over the world because there was nothing going on. To be playing to four or five cameras in the room instead of full houses, and to have musicians and venue owners in New York tuning in and contributing money, that was crazy. And it saved us.
You’re part of the team that’s reopening The Ingersoll. What lessons from Noce are you applying to that new endeavor?
There are a lot of people who really want The Ingersoll to reopen and thrive; it’s built on something historic. But Noce was new, so we were flying by the seat of our pants, and I had to learn a lot of new jobs at once. At The Ingersoll, I’m doing the programming, and that’s it. It’s fun to work on a team where everyone gets to be in their own lane. It’s twice as big as Noce, so it’s an opportunity to book shows that aren’t feasible in such an intimate space — comedy, some rock, a lot more singer-songwriter stuff and anything that’s in the world of jazz and cabaret.
What can you tell us about the New Year’s Eve party?
Our first day of business was New Year’s Eve in 2015, so that’ll be the actual 10-year birthday. The show we’ll be running packs in a retrospective on the decade with my big band. We’ll have some onstage interviews, as well.
So it’s like Taylor Swift’s “Eras”?
That’s right. (Laughing.) This is my Eras Tour.
What’s next? What will the next 10 years look like?
We’re looking to produce more shows in other venues and also open other venues. I’m looking for the right opportunity. Iowa City is next.
