Jazz Unlimited of Greater Milwaukee

06/01/2026

The Jazz Unlimited Board of Directors is pleased to announce we have entered into an agreement to support the interactive, online jazz events calendar, MKEJazz,Live. We believe MKEJazz.Live is the answer to many a jazz aficionado’s and artist’s prayers to be able to locate live jazz across the Greater Milwaukee area on almost every night of the week! Point your browsers to www.mkejazz.live to find all your favorite jazz artists, shows and venues, and where and when they are playing!

Our support of the MKEJazz.Live calendar was made possible by a large anonymous donation Jazz Unlimited received earlier this year. This donation was made specifically to enable us to pursue our mission “to support the art of jazz in all its forms and encourage local jazz musicians, composers and venues by cultivating an interest in jazz through local live performances…”

Many thanks to our anonymous donor and all of you who support our mission! See you at a show soon!

Find live jazz shows tonight in Milwaukee, WI. Listings from The Estate, Bar Centro, Transfer Pizzeria, Mason Street Grill, Blu at The Pfister, Saint Kate Arts Hotel, The Argo, Wilson Center and more. Updated daily.

05/31/2026

This month our featured performer at the June Monthly Jazz Jam is Steve Smith! Join us on June 28th, 1-4 pm at Mezcalero Restaurant. Steve has been a member of Jazz Unlimited now for over 10 years and since 2024 board president of Jazz Unlimited, and he has had many opportunities to sing in numerous jams with the wonderful Jeff Stoll, Joe Zarcone and Joe Turano. For his set, he plans to sing some of his favorites, a couple of his own tunes and some great tunes he's never sung before. Hal Miller joins in on bass! Make plans to join us on the 28th! A donation at the door goes toward the Scholarship Fund and other JU Events.

05/25/2026

Thank you to all who attended our open jam yesterday. Be sure to join us next time as
We feature our very own president of Jazz Unlimited Steve Smith on Fathers Day Sunday June 21st

05/18/2026

Be sure to check out the Bay View Jazz Festival coming up on Friday May 29th presented by Milwaukee Jazz Vision!!!!!!

05/18/2026

This month, we are very excited and honored to welcome Claire Sardina as our featured performer at the May Monthly Jazz Jam on May 24th, 1-4 pm at Mezcalero Restaurant! Claire has become a
household name in more households than just jazz households since the release of the movie Song Sung Blue, which is based on her musical partnership with the late Mike Sardina. Together, they performed as Lightning and Thunder for many years here in Milwaukee. Song Sung Blue is an
inspirational and moving story of grit and determination and the boundless capacity to believe in oneself and in your partner. If you’ve ever met Claire, you get a real sense of that determination and belief in oneself.If you’re wondering what the connection between Claire and JU is, well, she used to occasionally
come to the monthly jams and, particularly, would attend the weekly open jams David Miller ran
several years ago at Brewtown Eatery. Watching her perform with Jeff, Joe and Joe was always at
treat. So, this appearance will be a reunion of sorts. Make plans to join us on the 24th. A $10 donation at the door goes towards the JU Scholarship Fund for next year. Just to let everyone who plans on attending know Forest Home Ave is currently being redone where Mezcalero Restaurant is located. Hopefully it should be done by the end of sunmer.

05/11/2026

The Food Trucks & Jazz hosted by the Rotary Club of Mitchell Field on Sunday, June 7th from 11am-6pm at Milton Vretenar Park in St Francis. There will be 10 great food trucks and plenty of activities for people of all ages and it is a free event. The featured entertainment is Jazz Flux from 11am-1pm, The All-Star Super Band from 1pm-3pm, and the J Ryan Trio from 3pm-5pm. Proceeds from beer and soda sales go towards the charity projects done by the Rotary. Visit the website for more details.

04/27/2026

Thank you to all that attended our Open Jam including our Scholarship Applicants. We hope you join us next time when we feature Claire Sardina of Lightning and Thunder on Sunday May 24th at Mezcalero Restaurant from 1-4pm!!!!

04/21/2026

This coming sunday. You do not want to miss this one!!!!

I am pleased to report that our 2026 Scholarship Competition was another reSOUNDing success! We had over 40 very talented and deserving area high school and middle school students compete on Sunday, March 15th at Classic Lanes Oak Creek in front of an enthusiastic audience and a panel of five great judges! 18 individual scholarships were awarded, totaling $10,500! The variety of instruments played was fantastic! Our thanks go out again to all the scholarship competitors, their parents, their teachers and instructors, our generous award donors, our judges, accompanists, the venue (Classic Lanes) and everyone else who worked to make this competition a success! If you missed the competition and would like another chance to see some of the competitors in action, be sure to attend the upcoming April Monthly Jazz Jam on April 26th! We have invited all the competitors to jam with us, and we hope to see a good number of them. For attending student musicians who don’t bring their own combo, they will be backed, as always, by our excellent house band, Jeff Stoll, Joe Turano and Joe Zarcone! Don’t miss it! An admission of $10 goes out to start funding for next year's scholarship competition. Lots of announcements coming soon regarding the future of Jazz Unlimited.

01/25/2026

Despite the cold weather, thank you for coming out to our jam session today. We hope to see you next month on Sunday, February 22nd same time same place featuring the J Ryan Trio as our featured performer in the 1st hour.