Jazz fans rejoice: Beyu Caffe is bringing back its much-missed live music program this month after a year of silence.
Owner Dorian Bolden took to Facebook to share the news Wednesday, saying he had been thinking about “the joys and pains that go with running a business” in light of the cafe’s tenth anniversary.
“I have come to recognize that our presenting live music added such importance to many individuals that allowed them to ‘be you,’” Bolden wrote.
Bolden told the INDY that he felt called to add music back to Beyu’s repertoire after seeing the changes downtown Durham was going through.
“We decided we can still do live music, we just have to do it in a limited capacity,” he says. “We knew there was a need, and we wanted to serve the community. And that just came back to a reminder that our mission is to be the ultimate community gathering place.”
The restaurant, coffee shop, and venue dropped its regular, jazz-focused programming in November 2018. But Bolden thinks that music can be a way to bring people together in polarizing political times.
“There’s so much emphasis on wanting to serve, because at the end of the day, man, we all bleed red,” he says.
Beyu’s Weekend Supper Club Experience begins on Thanksgiving weekend, with CJ Baker & Friends on November 29 and Rayshun Lamarr November 30. Baker, a graduate of North Carolina Central University, has played with many national musicians. Lamarr, a Chapel Hill native, is known for being a contestant on The Voice. Both shows are $20, plus a $25 food-and-drink minimum.
The cafe plans to hold the Weekend Supper Club Experience twice a month, with specific menus and cocktails to complement each music event.
Both shows are $20, plus a $25 food-and-drink minimum.
Just wanted make sure people noticed that part.