Ulysses Jasz: State Street Stalwarts
Band Celebrates 20 Years at James Joyce
Although State Street shopfronts come and go, one band’s musical residence along the changing corridor has stood the test of time. For 20 years, Ulysses Jasz has livened up the James Joyce pub on Saturday nights with its festive Dixieland-New Orleans jazz sound. On Saturday, December 8, the indefatigable merrymakers celebrated two decades of music with their 2,000th show at the swinging State Street spot.
How did Ulysses Jasz become such a beloved area treasure? “Gradually, by reputation, I suppose,” said band leader Alex Marshall, who founded the band in 1998. “It started off as a jazz jam for just whoever wanted to come by. It was on a Monday night, and it grew and grew and grew, and eventually came into being a regular band. It just kept on going from there.”
Years in, the band is maybe more popular now than ever. “I think the pub is pretty well packed out every week we play. In the last few years, the interest in our music has increased somewhat — maybe because it’s happy music for troubled times.” Ulysses’s music swings and shouts with joie de vivre.
