Jazz Around Town: Free Man Cajun Cafe & Lounge (Funky Knuckles)

With Jazz Around Town, UJD will be checking out various places in DFW presenting jazz, among other things. They'll be rated on the Jazz Scale:

(1) Poor, (2) Decent Set, (3) Liked It, (4) Jazzed Up, (5) JazzMaster Set!


Free Man Cajun Cafe & Lounge: Rating (5) JazzMaster Set

Jazz Around Town picks back up in Downtown Dallas' Deep Ellum at the Free Man Cajun Cafe & Lounge where you can catch an amazing contrast in nightly performances from some of the top bands in Dallas playing everything from jazz, fusion, blues, rock and more. On this night (a Monday), we sought to experience Free Man by way of the jazz/fusion group Funky Knuckles. An emerging group well known to the Festival organization led by bassist Wes Stephenson. Their original music is often featured in the Set-List Player of the Network and is one of the reasons why the recording artist landscape in Dallas is so bright.

Every night of the week, Free Man offers up two performances (early and late evening) from area musicians. The venue is set up to serve up lunch styled plated dishes with the cajun touch. Add to that the music of fine musicians and you have the perfect spot to enjoy the night with friends or a date. What's shocking sometimes, is how serious some of the shows are. And, how little people know that these JazzMaster level sets are going on in the city. Monday night was one of those nights! A JazzMaster set from the Funky Knuckles (see some You Tube highlights in the Jazz Around Town playlist). This was a Monday night and after looking at the Free Man calendar, it appears to be Funky Knuckles night for the next couple of months (set starts at 10pm). Oh, did we mention that it is 'free' admission at the Free Man. Always a nice thing when a venue can offer it. So, this Monday night set with the Funky Knuckles is highly recommended. And, if other nights are a good as this night, Free Man is truly deserving of JazzMaster Set status every night of the week.

As is the case with every Jazz Around Town stop, check out the video highlights in the UJD video section and our You Tube channel.