For Science

How the city's hottest new avant garde jazz series landed on a West Philly Ethiopian restaurant.

by Shaun Brady

Alyssa Maloof Avant-Guardians: (L-R) Sci-Fi Philly's Jon Barrios and Dan Scofield and Gojjo's Habtamu Shitay. (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

The face that Gojjo shows to the outside world is of an unassuming neighborhood bar, its large front window thrown open to Baltimore Avenue, revealing a mix of weathered locals, recent grads on a budget, and a clutch of Ethiopian immigrants. But the character of the place changes as you venture upstairs — well, maybe not "changes" so much as accumulates, each doorway revealing a different fact and function. The front room on the second floor is a red-walled hangout, with a recently installed café set up near the windows for coffee while owner Habtamu Shitaye plays tabletop Bocce on a pool table with a group of friends and customers. Through a pair of glass doors emanates the sound of a jazz sextet crammed into the corner of the rear dining room, the bar lined with people intensely listening, while more of the crowd spills onto an outdoor balcony and downstairs patio.

"We just looked for a venue with the only stipulation being that it had a performance space and a bar," Scofield says. "We're not talking about a bunch of winos here, but this music comes out of a tradition of having some kind of alcoholic involvement and a more relaxed atmosphere. Here, people show up, they eat their injera bread, they hang out, and there's a whole other scene going on downstairs."

The Sci-Fi Philly series has been happening on a near-weekly basis for two months now, with response being greater than anyone anticipated. Barrios, a bassist who has played frequently in Philly since arriving in early 2006, brought his experiences running music spaces in Fayetteville, Ark. Scofield, saxophonist for Philly quartet Shot x Shot, had booked shows at Tritone, but found it difficult to fit as many artists as he wanted to bring into the bar's crowded schedule.

After a few false starts with club owners unconvinced that new jazz music could draw customers on a Sunday night, cornetist Todd Margasak suggested Gojjo, and the pair found owner Shitaye completely accommodating. "There's none of that hipster shit here," Scofield says. "You usually have to deal with a lot of crap from club owners, but we could be having belly-dancing for all Hab cares."

While Scofield and Barrios do most of the heavy lifting, the former handling the majority of bookings and the latter taking care of graphics and their Web site, they've had assistance from other members of the scene. Dan Piotrowski, head of Shot x Shot's label High Two, helped out in the planning phases, and the series is sponsored by Ars Nova Workshop, piggybacking on the more established presenter's mailing list and cross-promoting shows.

It may seem like Sci-Fi's efforts would rival those of Ars Nova's Mark Christman, Bowerbird's Dustin Hurt, and the shows presented by Dave Smolen, who supports extreme noise/electronic artists through his Malleable Records imprint. But Scofield and Barrios say there's room for eveybody.

"We have the advantage in that they all have needs that are mutually exclusive with a bar venue," Scofield points out. "Dave because it's so loud, Dustin because it's not loud enough, and Mark because of the money that he needs to bring in people. We're able to navigate all of those things because we're dealing with mostly local musicians and music that comes from a tradition of being played in this kind of a space. So we're fitting into the cracks of all these other scenes."

The shows generally feature three acts: two locals and a touring gig from New York, Chicago or elsewhere. Musicians split the door take, with Scofield and Barrios working for food and beer — and personal gratification.

"We're just like little tugboats," Scofield says. "The giant barge was already there — the scene and the music's appreciators and performers."

(s_brady@citypaper.net)

Sci-Fi Philly, Sun., July 20, 8 p.m., $5, with Joey Mariano, Meicht/Szekely Duo and Arnal/Dougan Duo, Gojjo, 4540 Baltimore Ave., scifiphilly.com.