The Grape Ventura

CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAYS
2025-12-26 17:00 - 23:30, 2025-12-27 13:30 - 23:30, 2025-12-30 17:00 - 23:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The Grape, 2733 E Main St, Ventura, CA, 93003, United States
Happy Holidays from all of us at The Grape!

CLOSED FOR NEW YEAR
2025-12-31 17:00 - 23:30, 2026-01-01 17:00 - 23:30, 2026-01-02 17:00 - 23:30
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ALL OF US AT THE GRAPE!
We will re-open for business on January 3rd, 2026

Shawn Jones Trio
2026-01-03 14:00 - 17:00
$10 cover at the door
Shawn Jones is an international touring Roots/Americana/Blues/Rock musician of over 30 years based in Southern California. Shawn tours with his band of “A level” touring/studio musicians as well as having a very dynamic solo show. Shawn performs over 200+ dates a year in the USA, UK, and EU.

There are six studio album releases including Shawn’s new album “In My Blood” out early 2024. The upcoming album is produced by legendary producer/engineer Niko Bolas and mastered by multi-Grammy winning mixing/mastering/producer Richard Dodd. The new release features world renowned musicians: Herman Matthews, Ramon Yslas, The Memphis Horns, Sam Bolle, Josie Aiello, and Philip Parlapiano.

In recent years Shawn was invited to guest as opener for the five time Grammy winning legend Robert Cray on a 16 date theater tour of the UK and several shows in California.

Shawn’s skills as a seasoned songwriter, guitarist and vocalist make him one of the most dynamic and relevant artists on today’s Americana/Roots/Blues/Rock music scene. Growing up in the heartland of Southern California, one of Shawn’s earliest recollections as a boy was playing guitars and harmonizing with his late father Danny Jones. That formidable experience led him to follow his dreams as a professional musician.

He’s shared bills with many renowned musicians, including B.B. King, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Derek Trucks, Robben Ford, Joe Bonamassa, and many others. Shawn was also managed by the late great country music legend Waylon Jennings for a time, toured in his band, and played on his 1996 release “Right For The Time”.

His variety of performances capture his audience whenever he’s playing an acoustic set that highlights his soulful voice and incredible guitar skills or rocking the crowd with his band of world class musicians.

Happy Hour with The Robert Van Trio
2026-01-03 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-01-17 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-01-31 17:00 - 19:00
happy hour barside with pianist, Robert Van
Bob Wider- bass
Dave Hunt- drums
No cover

Groove Legacy
2026-01-03 20:00 - 23:00
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
Advanced Tickets $25 GA/$35 Front Row Seating
$30/$40 at the door (subject to availability)
The name says it all . Groove Legacy is an exciting band with a sound forged out of love and respect for great American, jazz, R&B and soul music. A sound that fills the void left in today’s contemporary instrumental, music scene. Focusing on original compositions, groove legacy it definitely pays homage to some of their favorite musical influences. Such as the Crusaders, Stuff , The Meters, and the JB horns. with a hard hitting lineup that includes a unique conglomerate of some of the Los Angeles, finest musical talent. Groove legacy has exploded onto the scene as a truly powerful, exciting and commanding live band.
Groove Legacy is :
Paulie Cerra – Sax and Vocals
Derrick Murdock – Bass
Billy Steinway – Keyboards
Michael White – Drums
Ido Meshulam – Trombone
Sam Meek – Guitar
Collectively the fantastic musicians have played with a virtual who’s who of Jazz, Blues, Soul, and Pop artists. Including Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Annie Lennox, The Crusaders, Larry Carlton, Joe Bonamassa, Robben Ford, Rickie Lee Jones, Eros Ramazzotti, Sara Bareilles, Boz Scaggs, Carrie Underwood, Rod Stewart, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Natalie Cole, Patti Austin, Sergio Mendes, Jeffrey Osborne, Lenny Kravitz, and many more.

Happy Hour with Monte Montgomery & Friends
2026-01-06 17:00 - 19:00
no cover
bar side
Happy Hour with multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Monte Montgomery and special guests

The Grape Gratitude Jazz Jam
2026-01-06 19:00 - 22:00, 2026-01-13 19:00 - 22:00, 2026-01-20 19:00 - 22:00, 2026-01-27 19:00 - 22:00
$10 cover at the door
Ventura County’s hottest jazz night! Hosted By Tyler Hammond (drums) with the hottest rotating house band around, often featuring Karl Hunter (saxophone), Guil Juliao (bass), and Tom McMorran (piano).
You are guaranteed to find SOMETHING during this night that will butter your biscuit. It’s the best variety night this side of the Canejo Grade.
21+
Doors and signup at 6:30 pm
Jazz Jam Guidelines:
1. The focus of this jam is to play Jazz music. It is NOT live band Karaoke.
2. Be prepared/ Know the tune/Know what key you’d like to play the tune in.
3. Bring charts for the band if you’re going out of standard Jazz repertoire.
4. After the melody is finished, allow room for everyone to solo.
5. Please don’t come onto the stage unless you are called up.
6. Be kind and supportive to other performers.
7. After 9pm, there’s no guarantee you’ll get a turn.
8. Whatever Tyler says, goes.

Happy Hour with The Fred Kaplan Trio
2026-01-09 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-01-16 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-01-23 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-01-30 17:00 - 19:00
West Coast Swing and Boogie Woogie Blues with Fred Kaplan and friends
Every Friday in the bar side Happy Hour 5-7pm.
no cover

The BBB Featuring Bernie Dresel
2026-01-09 20:00 - 23:00
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
Advanced Tickets $45/$50 door (subject to availability)
BERN BERN BERN
Bern Bern Bern is the second album release and first studio recording of The BBB Featuring Bernie Dresel in stereo, surround, and Auro-3D® Native 9.1 Immersive Sound. The DIG•IT Recordings release features over 72 minutes of new compositions and arrangements recorded in a state-of-the-art, multi-track Immersive Sound production. Featuring an energetic stereo spread and aggressive surround extension, Bernie Dresel leads his powerhouse jazz orchestra in a controlled studio performance. As a special guest, nine members from The Los Angeles Clarinet Choir played on “BBB Opener” and “Bern Bern Bern.”
THE BBB FEATURING BERNIE DRESEL
Established in 2014, The BBB Featuring Bernie Dresel plays monthly at jazz clubs and concert venues in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The BBB has earned a reputation as one of LA’s most exciting large jazz ensembles, if not on the planet. The BBB provides potent testimony to the sheer exhilaration of big band jazz… a combination of intense swing and fiery soloing, as well as tight ensemble playing, powered by Bernie Dresel’s extraordinary drumming talents. This jazz orchestra is comprised of 16 seasoned pros on the Los Angeles studio scene. The ensemble delivers a contemporary, highly original sound featuring the witty, intricate, and hard-swinging compositions of established and up-and-coming composers and arrangers. The sound has a contemporary and dynamic energy with a focused edge to it that is like no other jazz orchestra. At times, it is reminiscent of drummer-led ensembles of the past. The instrumental makeup is unique in that there is no piano, but jazz/rockin’ acoustic and electric guitar instead. However, for this studio session, Bernie augmented the sound with keyboards, played by Jeff Babko. In addition, there are four trumpets, four trombones, five saxophones, upright slap bass, and Bernie on drums and percussion. When people hear this exciting combination, the first thing that hits them is its energy and intensity.
BERNIE DRESEL – DRUMMER/PERCUSSIONIST, CREATIVE DIRECTOR & PRODUCER –
At the helm of The BBB is jazz drummer extraordinaire Bernie Dresel. He has been one of the busiest studio and live musicians in the world as both a drummer and percussionist since moving to Los Angeles in 1983 after graduating from the prestigious Eastman School of Music. Dresel’s rendering style is nothing less than exciting, driven by one of the most accomplished jazz drummers in the world. Prior to forming his own jazz orchestra, Bernie backed Maynard Ferguson, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, and Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. Bernie served 15 years for both Setzer and Goodwin. He has been the drummer on numerous Brian Setzer Grammy Award®-winning recordings, and prior to forming his own orchestra, he had played on every recording that Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band had released, including the Grammy Award winners. Modern Drummer magazine’s readers’ poll named Bernie “Best Big Band Drummer” and Drum! Magazine has put him on their list of “53 Drummers Who Made a Difference in the ’90s” as well as honoring him with a Drummie® for Best Big Band Drummer. Bernie’s credits with respect to motion picture and television soundtracks represent “A” movie projects, such as Incredibles 2, and such television work as The Simpsons and Family Guy.

Chickenbone Slim & The Biscuits
2026-01-10 14:00 - 17:00
$10 cover at the door

Chickenbone Slim is an original Roots Rock/ Blues artist based in San Diego, CA. Signed in 2021 to Vizztone Records, Chickenbone is garnering national and international attention with his unique roots sound. Mixing blues with west coast swing, rockabilly and roots rock and inspired by local roots artists The Paladins, Candye Cane and dedicated to blues legend Tomcat Courtney, Chickenbone’s 4th all original album, “Serve It To Me Hot” showcases Chickenbone’s songwriting and the wide range of the band’s talent, and is a solid artistic updating of roots music for the 21st century. The band has toured nationally and in Europe
“Serve It Too Me Hot” was released on November 19, 2021 by Vizz-tone Records, and in December climbed to #4 on the Living Blues Album Charts. The album also reached #2 on the Roots Music Contemporary Blues charts. Recorded at the famous Greaseland Studios in Campbell, CA with Christoffer “Kid” Andersen, reviews are strong across the United States and Internationally. The album won the 2022 San Diego Music Award for best Blues/Jazz album of the year.
Chickenbone Slim’s next all original album “Damn Good and Ready,” also recorded with Kid Andersen at Greaseland was released in 2023 on Vizztone
Chickenbone Slim and the Biscuits are a four piece band that features 2023 Blues Music Awards winner for Guitar Player of the Year, Laura Chavez on lead guitar, Marty Dodson on drums (Fabulous Thunderbirds) and 21 year old roots music prodigy Justice Guevera on electric and standup bass.

Happy Hour with The Collins/Rollins Group
2026-01-10 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-01-24 17:00 - 19:00
Tom Collins – guitar
Kent Rollins – piano
with special guests.
no cover
Happy hour barside

Marvin "Smitty" Smith
2026-01-10 20:00 - 23:00
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
Advanced Tickets $30 GA/$40 Front Row Seating
$35/$45 at the door (subject to availability)
Marvin Smitty Smith – drums/composer/arranger/bandleader
Chris Lowery – trumpet
DeVaughn Durham – alto
Alex Johnson – tenor
Lemar Guillary – trombone
Adam Ledbetter – piano
Edwin Livingston – bass
Christian Moraga – percussion
“It was a very natural inclination for me to play drums,” says Marvin Smitty Smith. A glance at his early life validates that truth.
Born the son of a drummer. Marvin, Sr., he was always surrounded by music in the house. At six months old, he would climb up on the large lounge chair positioned directly in front of his father’s drum set and would watch him practice, intensely. Whenever his father took a break, he would crawl over and press the foot pedals and attempt to emulate his dad. That experience, and banging on pots and pans, was the extent of his playing until he began formal training at the age of three. Today, Marvin Smitty Smith is a young musician extraordinaire whose work has been described as a “comment on invention, firm and adventurous time and technical sufficiency.” He has traveled extensively throughout the Orient, Europe, and the continental USA; and he has toured with varied musical artists such as Sonny Rollins, Frank Foster and Frank Wess, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Sting, Dave Holland, MBASE, Kevin Eubanks, Norman Brown, and Dean Brown. He is a former member of the Ron Carter Quartet, the New York Jazz Quartet, the Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet, Steve Coleman and Five Elements, the M-BASE Collective, the Dave Holland Quintet/ Quartet, and is currently a member of the Kevin Eubanks Group, and co-leads the Swingin’ and Groovin’ Collective, with Jacques Lesure.
Featured on more than 350 albums, additional performances and recordings augmented with Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison, Ray Brown and Phineas Newborn … George Shearing, Bobby Watson, Hamiet Bluiett, Branford Marsalis, David Murray, Emily Remler, Peter Leitch, Kevin Eubanks, Donald Byrd, Monty Alexander, Joyce, Willie Nelson, Diane Reeves, Michel Camilo, Billy Childs, Grover Washington Jr., Bruce Forman, and Dean Brown.
Smitty conducts seminars and clinics for students in jazz workshops, both in the United States and Europe, and was on staff of the jazz program at the Banff Centre of Fine Arts, Canada, and Drummers Collective, New York City. Smitty has been Downbeat Critics’ Poll winner for Talent Deserving Wider Recognition, 1985 through 1987, and 1989. Smitty performed on the Soundtrack of filmaker Spike Lee’s “School Daze”, and the film “This Christmas”. He also appeared in Sonny Rollins’ documentary “Saxophone Colossus”, and was a member of Sting’s “Nothing Like the Sun” South American tour, 1987. Regarded as a well rounded musician with the ability to play all styles, Marvin Smitty Smith is a formidable composer and arranger, and his success has earned him two albums as a band leader, “Keeper of the Drums” (1987), and “The Road Less Traveled” (1989). Smitty relocated to Los Angeles in January, 1995, and worked as a member of the “Tonight Show Band”, with music director Kevin Eubanks from 1995-2010. Since then, he’s toured and/or recorded with Azar Lawrence, Norman Brown, Delfeayo Marsalis, Jacques Lesure and Dean Brown, and composed 2 songs on Dean Brown’s 2012 release, “Unfinished Business”, as well as 2 songs on Dean’s 2015 release, “RoLaJaFuFu”.
As a versatile drummer, there seems to be nothing be cannot do. It’s been said that he is the “John Coltrane of the drums .. “

Celebration of Life for Jon Gindick
2026-01-11 14:00 - 17:00
No Cover
Join us for an afternoon celebrating the life and music of harmonica legend, Jon Gindick.
Live harmonica jam with RJ Mischo, Ralph Carter and Friends of Jon.
This event is 21+

The Free Agents
2026-01-17 14:00 - 17:00
$10 cover at the door

The Free Agents comprise some of LA’s finest freelance musicians who banded together to perform time-honored standards and eclectic music from contemporary jazz artists, as well as their own compositions and jazz renditions of classic Rock tunes.

The Free Agents feature Lana Drincic on Keyboards, Ken Berry on Guitar, Mike Schnoebelen on Bass, and David Renick on Drums.

Hot Club of Los Angeles
2026-01-23 20:00 - 23:00
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
Advanced tickets $20/$25 at the door (subject to availability)
Hot Club of Los Angeles, hailed by Jackson Browne as “an LA treasure,” is a nuevo Django quintet that showcases gypsy jazz-based instrumentals, vocal numbers sung in French, Roma, and Russian, straight ahead jazz repertoire, a unique blend of film music selections, and its own gypsy jazz-inspired originals. The band’s 3 albums have received rave reviews. Formed in 2011, this talented band includes an A-List of LA-based musicians: founding members, drummer Jim Doyle & accordionist/pianist Carl Byron, along with bassist Paul Eckman and acoustic fretmasters Josh Workman and Jake Bluenote. The group draws on widely varied experience and eclectic taste, yielding a unique and modern approach tot he storied “Hot Club” sound.
Django Reinhardt’s birthday!!

Bobby West Trio
2026-01-24 20:00 - 23:00
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
Advanced Tickets $20 GA/$30 Front Row Seating
$25/$35 at the door (subject to availability)
Bobby West- keys
Trevor Ware -bass
Jerrell Ballard – drums
“Where has Bobby West been all my life?” -Downbeat 2023
Bobby West’s critically-acclaimed debut, Leimert Park After Dark 2021, followed by Big Trippin’ in 2023, both reached Top 20 on the jazz charts and Top 10 roots charts. Bobby’s powerful command of the keyboard ignites an audience with his unique sound, classical technique and thundering chords. Bobby has performed worldwide with Kamasi Washington, Branford & Wynton Marsalis, Pharoah Sanders, Roy Hargrove, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, to name a few out of thousands.
Continually performing abroad, Bobby only appears once a year in the US.

Brian Charette B3 Funk Party Ft. Danny Carey (TOOL)
2026-01-30 20:00 - 23:00
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
Advanced Tickets $25 GA/$35 Front Row Seating
$30/$40 at the door (subject to availability)

Brian Charette, Doug Webb, and Tool drummer, Danny Carey, have played in many configurations over the last few years all over southern California.
They are joined at The Grape by Grammy winning guitar ace, Shane Theriot and Andy Sanesi on percussion.
Theriot hails from the soulful swamps of New Orleans. His resumé is formidable; guitarist for The Neville Brothers, musical director for Hall and Oates, and appearances with a who’s who of modern music.
Andy Sanesi is a Los Angeles based drummer, He is currently the drummer for living legend Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and also plays with Missing Persons whom he has played with for the last 5 years. His own band Blanco Diablo has a residency at The Mint in LA and plays regularly at other venues.
Drummer and Ventura favorite, Danny Carey is a rhythm master. His burning beats and slick time changes have propelled Tool for the last 35 years. Carey is fluent in all forms of jazz and funk drumming and the combination with Charette’s bass line is infectious.
Saxophonist, Doug Webb, is a So-Cal instrumental music gatekeeper playing with every major jazz act in LA and jazz luminaries like Horace Silver and pop icons such as Rod Stewart.
Brian Charette is a maverick of the Hammond organ. The bicoastal keyboardist is currently #2 on the Downbeat Critic’s Poll for organ and #6 for keyboards.
Charette will lead this all star group through a wild romp of Hammond B3 classics and original funk not to be missed!
