Photograph by Emily Butler
April is jazz appreciation month, but Vinnie Dagostino is happy to endorse the genre any time of year. Not that he’s a stickler for form. “Jazz, funk, soul, R&B, whatever,” he says. “If it’s good music, I love it.” A fixture of Atlanta’s music scene since the early ’90s, Dagostino plays a dizzying range of brass and wind instruments, including the baritone saxophone, the alto flute, and a sort of clarinet-meets–TV-remote called a wind synthesizer.
Dagostino, who worked as a Coca-Cola technology director before pivoting to music full-time in 2019, acknowledges that the scene has shifted over the years. Live music faces significant headwinds these days—the post-pandemic audience slump, the shuttered venues, the looming menace of AI songwriting—but for his part, Dagostino remains refreshingly buoyant.
“Holy crap, the talent in this city!” he says. “You have no idea how deep the bench goes here.”
Veterans of Atlanta’s music scene may wax nostalgic for the bygone era of the jazz club, when greats and aspirants alike flocked to five-nights-a-week venues such as Churchill Grounds and Cafe 290, both now shuttered. Shows are more spread out now, Dagostino notes. But for those willing to follow the music, a bounty of treasure awaits.
Number one—Dagostino pushes up his stylish clear-frame glasses with one hand and proffers a counting finger with the other—the jam sessions. “It’s an embarrassment of riches,” Dagostino says. “I don’t even know how many there are.”
Top of his list: The late-night Monday jam at TenATL, hosted by Larry Wilson (a “musician’s jam,” Dagostino says, where you never know what big name might drop in while on tour); and, for those who blanch at a 10 p.m. curtain, the Monday-evening jam at Napoleon’s in Toco Hills, which starts at 7, led by jazz legend Joe Gransden. On Wednesdays, it’s all about Red Light Cafe’s long-running jam hosted by Georgia State University music professor Gordon Vernick. “I used to beg people to come to this one—now there’s a line out the door,” Dagostino laughs.
Where jazz clubs have faded, Dagostino says all-genre venues have stepped in, from classic standbys Eddie’s Attic, Red Light Cafe, and even Smith’s Olde Bar to newer spots, including TenATL, Buteco, and City Winery. Churches are an unexpected new hot spot, too, with audiences flocking to monthly series such as Jazz at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Midtown and First Friday at First Congregational downtown. Even the High Museum of Art has gotten into the mix with its Friday Night jazz series, now a coveted gig for local musicians: Dagostino, who played the show last July, notes that it comes with an interview on the beloved jazz radio station WCLK, which he calls the “anchor of the city’s jazz scene.”
That said, the club days may live again: Dagostino says everyone in the community is patiently awaiting the Cornerstone Jazz Center in Decatur, a long-in-the-works, crowdfunded venue spearheaded by musician Will Scruggs, which is slated to open in late 2026. “We all want that to be a huge success,” Dagostino says.
Perhaps most important, he believes Atlanta’s jazz scene is strong enough to support the next generation of musicians. “There’s so much opportunity here,” he says. “You have to work hard—but if you show up, wow, your phone will ring.”
This article appears in our April 2026 issue.
