Collin Shook Strikes a Chord With Jazz Pop-Up Series - "Monks Jazz Club improvs a hit for the pop-up pianist/promoter"
East Austin Piano Shop sits on Sixth Street a few blocks west of 183, next to BLK Vinyl. A makeshift stage, already set with drums, bass, and piano, occupies one corner and faces a mixing desk and video camera. The rest of the space bulges with pianos in various states of repair.
Opened June 2020, the Shop hosts Monks Jazz Club, which regularly features Austin's best hard boppers. Pianist Collin Shook created Monks as a pop-up operation four years ago to establish a listening platform for local jazz fans, showcasing local veterans (Elias Haslanger, Ephraim Owens, Pamela Hart) and newcomers (Jessica Mortensen, Russell Haight, Mike Sailors) alike. Originally spawned at a short-lived art gallery housed in a former tire shop at Sixth and Chicon, Monks shifted to Fast Folks Cyclery, Revival Coffee, and Shook's own house, before coming to rest at EAPS.
"The pop-up jazz club is a very strange combination," he admits.
Learning portability at JuiceLand humping gear from festival to festival, Shook hauls chairs, tables, and other necessities in a trailer, hiring bartenders and friends on a per show basis, and wrapping it all up by midnight. He compares the classic DIY spirit fueling Monks to the romanticized Hollywood cliche, "Let's put on a show!"……..
