Full article by Chris Becker
IT’S A CHILLY SUNDAY NIGHT IN DECEMBER, and Project Row Houses—the community-based arts organization in the Third Ward—is hopping, specifically the row house currently christened The Jazz Church of Houston.
On a custom-built stage inside the small shotgun house, Houston bassist Marcos Varela leads his swinging quartet with tunes from his album San Ygnacio. It’s standing-room-only in the 30-seat venue, which is part art installation, part history museum and part juke joint. Varela, a graduate of the city’s celebrated High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, is just one of many Houston musicians, poets and activists who have appeared at The Jazz Church of Houston since it opened in September 2016.
