Photo Credit: Blaine Schultz
The windchill was still lurking below zero with Milwaukee once again digging out from an overnight snowstorm. But on this Fat Tuesday morning Sam Belton was at work, putting the finishing touches on his latest project. Sam’s Place Jazz Café at 3338 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive hosts a soft opening on February 22 with a grand opening March 6.
Belton, who also owns the CITY.NET Café downtown says the new space, a former bank, will serve as an anchor to the neighborhood offering a café, a coffee roaster, a performance space and a community meeting room. And jobs: Belton hopes to have staff of ten.
The Vision
He said when his neighbors, Bader Philanthropies, took an interest in the project they not only asked “What does this neighborhood need” but also “What do the neighbors want?”
“It is one thing to have that notoriety and financial backing and come into a neighborhood and say ‘This is what we are going to do…’ But to come into a neighborhood and say ‘What do you want to see in your neighborhood? How can we help to make this neighborhood something you will be proud of? What can be added to your neighborhood to make it what it once was?’ That speaks volumes of how this can be a catalyst for this neighborhood to come back to life,” he says.
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Bader’s Frank Cumberbatch has been supportive and made the project a whole lot easier to navigate what it takes to be successful. “They show concern and take initiative in the revitalization of an urban neighborhood. They are supporters in the success of it. They allowed me to come to a whole other level of what I wanted to do.”
Photo Credit: Blaine Schultz
Belton mentions the importance of improvisation to jazz music. That same idea could easily apply to how he handles other projects. He previously did two buildouts of coffee shops at 72nd St. and Burleigh St. with CITY.NET Café, learning the process himself since 2004. “Bader’s expertise and resources has made this a whole lot easier to do,” he says.
The History
Belton reels off a roster of mostly-gone Milwaukee jazz clubs: Bombay Bicycle Club (where Belton played with Buddy Montgomery); Yancy’s’; The Jazz Oasis, The Jazz Gallery, The Estate, Alfie’s and the nearby Main Event. Sam’s Place Jazz Café’s walls are decorated with artwork and photographs that tell Milwaukee’s Jazz history. One photo of award-winning heavyweight players includes Belton and his compadres from the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, circa mid-‘70s. It shows: Manty Ellis; Brian Lynch, Charles Small; Marcus Robinson; Hary Kozlowski; Rolla Armstead and Jeff Chambers.
As an educator for over four decades he knows the important role that history and mentoring play in maintain the vitality and legacy of the music he loves and performs.
Photo Credit: Blaine Schultz
This new venture is a comfortable and roomy space, with large windows for natural light and marble touches from its previous life as a bank. The long counter gives way to two-top tables and a lounge area. The room is dominated by a grand piano and Belton’s drumkit on a riser. It is not difficult to imagine this room filled with guests digging the return of live music.
The Coffee
Photo Credit: Blaine Schultz
As a musician of over 50 years, Belton toured the globe. “I learned that coffee originated in Ethiopia. That sparked my passion and interest in specialty coffees. It is the reason we named our roasting division Abyssinnia Coffee Roasters,” he says. Customers will be able to come in for a bite to eat and have a pound of beans roasted fresh for them to take home. It all began though travel, music and people gathering.
Belton says it is a challenge to open a business during a pandemic but fully expects a day when a sidewalk café setting will be part of the business.
Learn more about Sam's Place by visiting their website.
