Rhythm Is Gonna Get You

Houston entertainment veteran jazzes up Memorial with new Cajun restaurant/music venue

In a time when the local scene is suffering, one Bayou City music vet is betting audiences want to see live music again.

Houston venue owner, Scott Gertner, is back with his newest restaurant-entertainment venture, Scott Gertner's Rhythm Room at 5535 Memorial Dr. — in the location once inhabited by Peruvian restaurant, Che Inka.

Technically, the long-time jazz and R&B band leader opened the doors to the new restaurant-meets-entertainment spot opened to February to weekend sneak-peaks before being sidelined by COVID-19. He'll open his doors to the wider public this weekend with a series of shows.

"It took seven months to build, we opened for three or four weeks and then it was mandatory shut-down," Gertner tells CultureMap. "We started back with take-out, then we started with one person on the stage, only a few tables inside and out. Now, this is the first weekend that we're offering three- and four-piece performers spaced out for live music and the response has been really good."

Gertner, a graduate of Houston School of Performing and Visual Arts, has a long history as a performer — with Scott Gertner and his All-Star Band and as bar owner with Scott Gertner’s Skybar & Grille in Montrose, in addition to Scott Gertner’s Sports Bar Live in the Galleria, and Scott Gertner’s at Houston Pavilions in the heart of downtown.

Skybar was perhaps his most successful venture with an 11-year-run, drawing performers such as his idol, Luther Vandross, as well as Patti Labelle, Brian McKnight, and Steve Harvey.

"My mother was a singer when we were in New Jersey," Gertner says. "This is all I ever wanted to do. Luckily, it's turned into a great situation with being able to have my own venues."

The new spot will have a capacity of 105 indoors and 30 guests on the patio with an intimate lounge vibe. The party will get underway this Friday, June 5, with La Mafia's David Delagarza & Friends, jazz guitarist Joe Carmouche & Band on Saturday, and R&B vocalist Melanie Covington performing at Sunday brunch.

Admission is a $10 entertainment charge. VIP tables will be available. Gertner plans to feature his band as well as jazz, R&B, pop, salsa, and country acts.

"I always wanted to do a full menu restaurant and that's how that happened," says Gertner about the spot next to Bayou Bend. "We had to find a place that had lots of parking and was centrally located, inner-loop area. It was a space that was a restaurant prior, it had a patio, it was perfect."

A Creole and Cajun menu is courtesy of Darian Williams, former sous chef at Emeril Legasse's restaurants in New Orleans. It will include crawfish nachos, seafood gumbo, chicken and sweet potato waffles with Creole cane syrup, boudin balls, Bananas Foster, and white chocolate bread pudding.

The Rhythm Room will also feature a full bar with a variety of cocktails, including watermelon frozens, Bloody Mary's, and gin martinis. Private wine and liquor lockers will be available with name plaques.

For now, the venue will adhere to social distance requirements with staff wearing masks to protect guests with a walk-up window to order drinks on the patio, and spaced out tables.

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Scott Gertner's Rhythm Room; 5535 Memorial Dr. For reservations, call 832-804-9046.

Scott Gertner's Rhythm Room will host live music and feature a Cajun and Creole menu.

Larry Fagala

Scott Gertner's Rhythm Room will host live music and feature a Cajun and Creole menu.

concerts nightlife dinner drinks openings music

Movie review

Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd chase their dreams in music-heavy Power Ballad

Photo by David Cleary for Lionsgate

Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd in Power Ballad.

Writer/director John Carney is one of the great purveyors of movies featuring music (as opposed to musicals) in the 21st century. Starting with Once in 2007 (which was turned into a Broadway musical several years later), he has made music-themed stories like Begin Again, Sing Street, Flora and Son, and now Power Ballad.

Rick Power (Paul Rudd) is a former wannabe rock star who is now the lead singer of “Ireland’s #1 Wedding Band,” The Bride & Grooves. While they mostly play smaller weddings, a gig at a country estate leads to an encounter with Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), a former boy band member struggling to make it as a solo artist. Rick and Danny wind up bonding in a booze- and pot-filled jam session, sharing various song ideas.

After returning to Los Angeles and desperate for a hit, Danny steals one of Rick’s songs, which miraculously turns into the No. 1 “How to Write a Song (Without You).” Rick, initially overjoyed that something he wrote has become big, is crushed when he finds out Danny didn’t give him credit. His quest to find a way to prove his worth sends him into a spiral, upending the ordinary life he had built.

Co-written by Peter McDonald, the film is a nice exploration of two men trying to hold on to their music dreams. Their individual circumstances could not be more different, but each of them knows the ups and downs of the business as well as the other, as well as the ineffable magic of creating that one great song. While the music scenes are hit-and-miss because of a reliance on lip synching, the scene featuring Rick and Danny trading ideas is electric with creativity.

Oddly, though, the film could have used a bit less music and more of a focus on the two men’s personal lives. Rick wound up living in Ireland after falling in love with his future wife, Rachel (Marcella Plunkett), while on tour with his former American band. He spends a decent amount of time with her and his daughter, Aja (Beth Fallon), but his story needed a few more family scenes to drive the point home. Danny’s personal life is all but nonexistent, giving his arc less impact than it could have had.

Instead of loved ones, Carney and McDonald try to give Rick and Danny more depth through friends and business associates. Rick’s bandmate Sandy (McDonald) is a ride-or-die kind of guy for him, but his presence is only good for a few humorous distractions. Danny’s manager Mac (Jack Reynor) is difficult to parse, as he goes to bat for Danny on multiple occasions, but also seems to keep him at arm’s length.

It’s long been joked that Rudd never ages, and that youthfulness serves him well in this role, in which his character is supposed to be much younger than his actual age of 57. His energy and enthusiasm make his character appealing throughout, even when Rick starts to go off the deep end. Jonas is decent in his role, selling the music side well, but there might be a reason his character doesn’t have many scenes requiring him to show emotions.

While Power Ballad has all the hallmarks of another great Carney music movie, it’s missing a few pieces that could have put it over the top. It’s still a fun film with an insanely catchy song at its center, but it’s not quite as memorable as most of the filmmaker’s previous efforts.

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Power Ballad is now playing in theaters.

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