Vision

By 2015, Doc Watkins, a swinging and versatile pianist, was leading a straight ahead jazz trio that had become very popular in San Antonio. “We had developed a very large following within a matter of just a few short years and were moving around a lot, playing different clubs and restaurants while taking the audience with us. More and more people were suggesting that I open my own club because Jim Cullum’s The Landing had closed and there really was not a leading jazz club in town. I wasn’t sure at first but I had enough people in both the music and restaurant industries telling me that I would be great at this, so one day I decided to take the plunge.”

As with any jazz club, Jazz, TX had its ups and downs in its early days along with some growing pains. “Our original goal was that I wanted to open up one of the very best jazz clubs in the world. That goal soon became a bit more realistic, to do a good enough job so we could keep it open and be successful. There are always things that one does not know when they get into the business, and of course we made some mistakes along the way. There were long hours of hard work but the most important thing was that we learned from our mistakes and have always worked to improve the experiences of our customers.”

One of the most consistent qualities of Jazz, TX is its positive energy and feeling of community. “Seeing music should be a joyful occasion. We want to have a feeling of celebration with the audience and the musicians being happy. A lot of restaurants fight to survive by being open more hours, trying to get profitable through volume. In our early days we were a lively but noisy bar and restaurant with music for 7 or 8 sets a night. But we eventually realized that the way to succeed is through quality rather than quantity. Now all of our shows are ticketed, we have 90-minute shows, and the audience is more appreciative of the great music.”

Madeline Elizondo, Co-Founder of JAZZ Nation, has had experience working with nonprofits since 2017. She began working with the company OPERA San Antonio (OSA) as an outreach artist, founding the Explore Opera for Kids! program in collaboration with the San Antonio Public Library in 2017. Since joining the company full-time as the Education Coordinator in 2019 , Madeline has expanded community partnerships, created innovative online teaching resources and videos, and overhauled relationships with area schools which have achieved great success in promoting opera education across the community. In 2023, Madeline was promoted to the position of Director of Education & Outreach to manage the growth of OSA’s outreach initiatives which now include 50 school visits a year with the program OPERA in Schools, a School Time Performance Series in collaboration with the Tobin Center’s Generation NEXT, a spring theater tour of OPERA 101, free Holiday Pop-up concerts for the community, a full fledged summer Young Artist Program in collaboration with the Classical Music Institute, and an annual South Texas Tour of concerts in the cities of Uvalde, Laredo, and Corpus Christi. 

Prior to working with OSA, Madeline Elizondo served as Adjunct Voice Faculty for San Antonio College for 15 years mentoring at-risk students in careers in the arts. As a voice teacher for 18 years, Madeline guided aspiring young singers through their journey into higher level education. She has taught music in San Antonio public schools and in the community for over 20  years. She received a Masters in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Music in all-level Music Education with Jazz Certification from Texas State University-San Marcos.  A passionate educator who continues to hone her craft, Madeline Elizondo has been a featured vocalist with several premiere Texas organizations. Engagements include roles with local and regional opera companies including South Texas Lyric Opera, Sparkling City Light Opera, San Antonio Opera and Austin Lyric Opera. Roles with South Texas Lyric Opera include both Santuzza and of Mamma Lucia/Santuzza understudy for Carol Vaness in Cavalleria Rusticana and the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors multiple times. Roles with Sparkling City Light Opera include Tisbe in La Cenerentola, the 3rd Lady in The Magic Flute and Hansel in a company debut performance of Hansel and Gretel. Other roles include the Mother of Cio-Cio-San with the San Antonio Opera under the direction of John de Lancie in a modern production of Madame Butterfly and Madame Croissy in Dialogues of the Carmelites. She was also part of the Austin Lyric Opera American premiere of Waiting for the Barbarians by Philip Glass. Concert soloist engagements include productions of The Messiah with the Corpus Christi Chorale, Elijah with South Texas Lyric Opera. She has also been featured in a series of performances at the McNay Art Museum including the role of Susan B. Anthony in The Mother of Us All and the art song cycle L’Histoire Naturelle by Ravel. Her performance of Susan B. was so well received as a part of their artist series that an encore performance of the work was requested. A versatile vocalist, Madeline has been featured at the Texas Jazz Festival in Corpus Christi and Jazz'SAlive and the International Latin Jazz & Arts Festival in San Antonio with the Powerhouse Big Band.