Where Sonoma Plaza's Friday Jazz Went After Parkside Closed

"The closing of Parkside Wine Bar is a blow to students and musicians," Janice King, president of the Sonoma Valley Jazz Society, said on Sept. 21, according to Sonoma News. Five days later, Parkside and Oso Sonoma next door closed for good.

By Oct. 2, six days after that, the Jazz Society had announced a new home for its Friday series. It is on Patten Street, the same block Parkside was on.

That quick move says a lot about how evenings around Sonoma Plaza work. Most of the music is booked by local organizations that have outlasted the rooms they play in. When a room closes, the music finds another one nearby. What doesn't come back is anything that depended on one building and one operation, and this September took two of those as well.

Parkside Lasted Three Years. The Jazz Society Has Been Booking for 37.

Parkside Wine Bar opened at 5 E. Napa St. in September 2023 as a tasting room with small snacks. Two years later, Sonoma's Planning Commission approved Kelley Bush's appeal to add beer and live entertainment. The approval allowed live music three or more times a week in two-hour sessions, with the bar open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The bar also set up no-cover jazz with the Sonoma Valley Jazz Society, on one Saturday a month.

The Jazz Society was the organization booking the performers. It has been organizing and producing live jazz in Sonoma Valley for 37 years, or about twelve times as long as Parkside was open. The Index-Tribune writer who has called this place the "Valley of the Tunes" since 2018 described the closure as setting off "a bit of a kerfuffle" among the musicians and "a scramble to find them a new home."

The new home is Gehricke Wines, in the old fire station at 32 Patten St. The Friday series starts there Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. As of the Oct. 2 report, the full performer schedule was still being finalized. The Sonoma Valley Jazz Society posts lineups as they are confirmed.

One project is still unsettled. The Jazz Society had planned to fund scholarships for Sonoma State University jazz studies students in a new artist-in-residence program at Parkside, so the students could play for live audiences. King said she is looking for other venues near the Plaza that might host the program, according to Sonoma News. The last Parkside sets were drummer Joe Campbell, a student in that program, on Sept. 25, and a jam session with Joe Kelner and Steve Webber on Sept. 26.

What Didn't Move

Oso Sonoma's closure came down to its building. Chef David Bush, who owned Oso and Parkside with his wife, Kelley, explained to Sonoma News: "We have been in desperate need of upgrading and updating the kitchen and building in general. When it came down to it, it was too costly to spend the money on a building we don't own."

The restaurant had 14 employees and a 12-year run. It won Best New Restaurant in the Index-Tribune's 2015 People's Choice Awards. Before opening Oso, Bush was chef de cuisine at Girl and the Gaucho and The Fig Cafe in Glen Ellen. No reporting so far names the owner of the East Napa Street building or a new tenant for either space.

Vella Cheese Company is the clearest case of something that couldn't relocate. Gaetano "Tom" Vella started making cheese in Sonoma in 1931 after local dairymen asked him to open a fromagerie. His dry Monterey Jack became the company's signature, and his son Ignazio "Ig" Vella later led the company to awards. In late August, the company announced it was ending production. It cited financial hardship, higher operating costs since the pandemic and slow sales growth.

The owners had expected it might take a few months to sell the remaining inventory at 315 Second St. E. Customers came in such numbers that the shop sold its last cheese on Sept. 4, and retail and mail orders closed permanently. The only future sales reported are possible pop-ups to sell the remaining aged cheese, with no dates set.

Sonoma Speakeasy, at 452 First St. E., Suite G, closed temporarily in September. The Oct. 2 report gave no reopening date.

The Rooms Still Carrying the Calendar

With Parkside and the Speakeasy both dark, more of the Plaza's evening music falls to three addresses. Each already has a regular schedule.

Murphy's Irish Pub, 464 First St. E. Murphy's advertises live music six nights a week. It was voted the 2026 People's Choice winner for Best Place to Listen to Music, its fifth year in a row. Open Mic Mondays happen in The Alley, with sign-ups at 6:30 p.m. and music at 7. The pub's fourth annual American Roots Mini-Fest is Saturday, Oct. 24, from 2:30 to 9:30 p.m., with Hattie Craven, Back PorchEstra and The Wild Premonitions. Murphy's own events calendar is the most reliable source for its band dates, since some third-party listings have differed from it.

Sebastiani Theatre, 476 First St. E. The Jazz Society's Sunday afternoon concerts take place here. Vocalist Kenny Washington performs Nov. 1, and pianist Larry Vuchovich plays with vocalist Jackie Ryan on Nov. 29. Both concerts start at 3 p.m. The theater's own live events list The Kingston Trio on Oct. 25. A Christmas concert by Pasquale Esposito follows Dec. 11.

HopMonk Sonoma, 691 Broadway. On Broadway south of the Plaza, HopMonk has Lindsay Gang listed for Sunday, Oct. 11, at 12:30 p.m.

The Plaza's outdoor series is taking its usual break. Sonoma Sundays closed its season Oct. 4 with an Oktoberfest-themed free concert at Grinstead Amphitheater, featuring the Sonoma Stealth Band and the Joe Smiell Orchestra. The Index-Tribune called it the last show of the season, sending the audience indoors for several months. Nothing in that coverage says the series is ending for good.

October Through Thanksgiving, by Date

The rest of the fall calendar near the Plaza is mostly run by civic groups, nonprofits and a few long-standing venues.

The City of Sonoma's announcement puts the movie night on the north lawn behind City Hall, along Spain Street. The Sebastiani Theatre's ticket listing gives the theater's address, so check the city's page before heading out.

New Arrivals in Storefronts Others Have Left

Some storefronts are already changing hands. Fine Eye Gallery moved from Sutter Creek and opened Sept. 2 at 535 First St. W. Owner Dora Martin planned a ribbon-cutting with the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce for Sept. 24.

The Passdoor closed its Sonoma store at 452 First St. on Aug. 29 and moved to 1160 Fourth St. in Santa Rosa. Overland Sheepskin Co. plans to open in that storefront. Cody Phipps, the company's vice president of operations, expects a mid- to late-November opening, before Thanksgiving.

Dr. Dean Ezaki's optometry office at 776 W. Napa St. is scheduled to close Dec. 31 after 46 years. He plans to see patients for exams through Nov. 13.

Long-standing businesses and organizations sit at the center of each of these stories. The Jazz Society kept its Friday night by moving down the same block. Murphy's has won the music award five years running. The Sebastiani hosts the Sunday concerts. A family cheesemaker lasted 94 years. The jazz series restarts in a new room 13 days after Parkside's last set. A replacement for Vella's dry Jack hasn't appeared, and nothing reported so far suggests one will.

At The Shone Group, we keep track of Sonoma's storefronts and the businesses that fill them, because that history is part of what a property near the Plaza is worth. If you own near First Street East or Patten Street and want a quiet conversation about how these changes affect your corner of town, we'd be glad to talk. Let's Get Started.