Local cafe promote the arts

 COMMONSPACE coffee shop hosted their first jazz night on Aug. 22, where the community could listen to local jazz musicians and celebrate the local arts.

Ross Elizondo, owner of COMMONSPACE, said he’s happy that it was able to happen after years of it being requested. 

“I honestly love jazz, and it was just really hard to find the right people that didn’t particularly want to play at a bar,” Elizondo said. “The RGV Jazz Collective messaged me two years ago, but we just didn’t have capacity.”

Now that they had capacity, he was unsure if it would work out. 

The Ulysses De Leon Trio performed at the jazz night, offering an electrifying live performance for those who attended.

Ulysses De Leon, musician and co-founder of the RGV Jazz Collective and face of the Ulysses DeLeon Trio, said it was nice to be able to perform after asking in the past. 

 “This is nice that they’ve reached out and asked us to do this,” De Leon said.

De Leon added that jazz is a very desirable thing in the Rio Grande Valley, but hard to find because there aren’t many jazz musicians left here. 

“There used to be a lot of us like two years ago, but now the circle has shrunk,” DeLeon said. 

Brayden Thomas Smith, an English senior, said jazz night was nice and it was something different. 

“It’s a different atmosphere, a different vibe, you get to enrich yourself,” Smith said. “It is definitely more exposure for the greater RGV.” 

 Theater senior Jolyssa Prez is an event coordinator and barista for COMMONSPACE, who said they wanted the community to escape for the afternoon. 

“Summer is a really hard time for people, just because people are busy with work and their lives,” Prez said. “But they also have so much free time that it’s hard to decide where to go, you know? And sometimes people need to dress up and go out.” 

Elizondo was proud to see the diverse turnout at jazz night. 

“I’m so happy that people are really enjoying it, and it’s people of all ages. I see a lot of families out here and couples too,” he said.

COMMONSPACE has hosted events before where they foster both creativity and community. 

Earlier this year, they hosted a talent show presented by the Latino Theatre Initiatives, a program within the UTRGV theatre department focused on Latin theatre. 

“We want to be a place where creativity thrives, and people get inspired and collaborate with their neighbors,” Prez said. “We want artists from the community, UTRGV, the RGV to come in here and know that not only are they safe, but there are other artists in this space that are so down to collaborate with you.” 

 Besides jazz night, Smith added he comes to COMMONSPACE every other day. “It’s one of the few places I can actually get some work done,” Smith said.

Elizondo thinks it’s the start of something that COMMONSPACE could be known for.

“I feel like we’re giving a lot of opportunities to different genres of entertainment. Theater, standup, movie nights.” 

He added that COMMONSPACE is a creative social hub and wants there to be a space for people who are interested in art. 

“We really want to listen to the community,and I want to make sure that we can always have art going on here. And for it to become an incubator and social hub for people that are interested in art and not necessarily wanting to go out and party,” Elizondo said. “And I don’t think there is a lot of art at nightclubs these days, and that is our point.”

COMMONSPACE is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Sunday, which is located at 2901 N 10th St F, McAllen, TX. Their next jazz nights are Sep.12, Oct. 17th and Dec.21. from 7:30-11 p.m.