Mitch Watkins Trio

Mitch Watkins Trio plays The Elephant Room on Tuesday, August 11, starting at 6 PM. It's a local guitarist leading his own trio in one of the city's oldest jazz rooms, so it's a good one to have on your radar if you're around downtown that evening.

Watkins has a long history that goes well beyond the jazz scene. He started playing at 13 in a surf band in McAllen, Texas, and later toured the world several times with Leonard Cohen. He's backed a wide range of artists, from Lyle Lovett to Cohen, and Jazz Times calls him "a man for all musical seasons." The trio is billed as featuring "one of the greatest guitar players on the planet," and they play tasteful, lyrical music that spans jazz, folk, and beyond.

The venue is as much a part of the night as the music. The Elephant Room is on Congress Avenue in old Downtown, and since 1991 it's filled its candlelit basement with Chicago, Kansas City, and New York-style jazz. The walls are framed with famous autographs, and they've hosted live jazz seven nights a week for over three decades.

So, if you're in the mood for some lyrical guitar in a basement that's been doing this since the early nineties, you'll find the Mitch Watkins Trio at The Elephant Room on Tuesday, August 11, at 6 PM.