🎶 Poetic Jazz: How It All Started
- Lola Ladae
- Jun 4
- 2 min read
Before there was a mic check, a sold-out room, or even the name Poetic Jazz, there was a woman with a vision.
In 2018, I moved to Atlanta and immediately noticed something was missing. A city as rich in talent as this deserved more than just random lineups and janky promoters. I craved a space where authentic, undeniable talent could shine in a curated, organized, and classy environment, the kind of show where people came not just to be seen but to feel something real.
So, I built it.
🎶 The Basement Unplugged Is Born
At the time, I was the bass player for an all-Black woman rock band called The Tulips Band. One night in 2019, after a rehearsal a fellow bands house called Sixteen Bullets, I saw the space and immediately knew it was the perfect spot for what I’d been dreaming about.
Their home in College Park was no ordinary house. It was a beautiful 2.5-story home with a living room-turned-venue and rehearsal space. Intimate, vibey, and oozing with potential. I pulled one of the members aside and asked if I could start hosting events there.
And just like that, The Basement Unplugged was born.
Our first show? An all-women lineup. A packed house. A sold-out night. It was raw, magical, and electric. And it grew from there.
✨ The Evolution to Poetic Jazz
Later in 2019, we needed a bigger space. Enter Black Coffee Atlanta, a soulful café with community energy that felt like home. It was there we rebranded to Poetic Jazz and took things up a notch.
Those first few shows? We had over 150 RSVPs, and the venue could only hold 45 people. That intimacy became part of our signature. To this day, we still cap tickets at 45 guests, making every event feel personal, exclusive, and full of intention.
🎻 The Birth of Café Unplugged
As Poetic Jazz began traveling around Metro Atlanta, from art galleries to lounges, I still wanted to keep a home base for those delicate, unfiltered moments. That’s when we launched the Café Unplugged series — a stripped-down, acoustic-centered experience back at Black Coffee Atlanta.
This series highlights classical musicians (think violas, harps, violins, cellos, xylophones) and vocalists with timeless voices like opera singers, jazz vocalists, and those rare artists whose voices don’t need much behind them.
We created a vibe where the audience doesn’t just listen, they unplug from their phones, from the outside world, and tune directly into the artist. Each performance ends with a live interview, giving the audience a deeper look into the artist’s journey and spirit.
🌍 Where We Are Now
Today, Poetic Jazz Live travels all over the Atlanta metro, popping up in some of the city’s most unique venues. We’ve also expanded to St. Louis and have our sights set on even more cities.
What started as a simple idea in a College Park living room has become a full-blown movement…a gathering for dreamers, musicians, poets, and lovers of authentic, soulful art.
And we’re just getting started.
🖤 Stay tapped in, because the story continues.
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