Kassa Overall at the SJZ Break Room at Winter Fest 2023. View the video below.
Our first proprietary venue, the SJZ Break Room is a unique setting for live music, shaped by the evolution of audience habits and technology. As you arrive, you’ll recognize the bold new aqua entrance vestibule painted by artist Ben Henderson to refer the venue’s symbolic water cooler. Lighting turns an office into a hip, bar-appointed club space with a psychedelic animated backdrop and twinkling table lights. Most performances are livestreamed, with the feed projected onto a towering bank of windows to for an immersive experience not found anywhere else.
With a capacity of just 100, almost every seat is within 30 feet of the action. With the performers on the same level as the audience, each show has the intimate feel of a private concert.
Kassa Overall
Brandon Coleman
Aneesa Strings
Mark Guiliana
View more SJZ Break Room videos on our YouTube page.
Created through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation the project was born in 2020 at the eve of the Pandemic. As live music spaces closed, we pivoted to make the space a state-of-the-art video and sound production studio to allow us to live stream concerts to the public in their homes. The live stream would also be projected via ultra-short throw projectors onto a 35’ X 14’ bank of windows to enrich street life.
As society began to open up, we welcomed audiences into the space for the first time in April 2021 for our inaugural New Works Fest. Since then, more than 80 artists have appeared on the stage including Butcher Brown, James Francies, Joel Ross, Kassa Overall, Keyon Harrold, MAE.SUN, Mark Guiliana, Marquis Hill, Oran Atkin, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Sasha Berliner and Takuya Kuroda.
Click the name to view a video of the artist's SJZ Break Room performance.
Alfa MistBlaque DynamiteBrandon ColemanButcher BrownCharles McNealChris CainClaudia VillelaDavid LechugaDestiny MuhammadGiulio Xavier & Big Trippin'Giveton GelinHarriet TubmanHoward WileyIsaiah SharkeyJames FranciesJavier SantiagoJoel RossKassa OverallKev ChoiceKeyon HarroldKristen StromLady BlackbirdLalin St. JusteMads Tolling TrioMAE.SUNMark GuilianaMarquis HillMaxx Cabello Jr.Michael "Tiny" LindseyMike ClarkOlatujaOran EtkinRebecca Kleinmann All-Star QuintetSalami Rose Joe LouisSasha BerlinerSunny WarSylvia CuencaTakuya Kuroda QuintetTammy HallThe CookersTony LindsayVân-Ánh Vanessa VõW.I.T.C.H.Wally Schnalle’s Idiot Fish
View a list of all artists
The SJZ Break Room was created with a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
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