With the revival of a time-honored musical tradition, the sounds of live jazz, soul, blues, and R&B are once again gracing a quiet corner of E. Clay St. each week. After more than a year’s hiatus, Open Mic Night at Crossroads has returned with all of the spirit, crack musicianship, and hospitality that have made it a standout among Greater Richmond’s weekly live music events for nearly two decades. On Thursday nights, the dimly lit club serves up lively entertainment, a free buffet, an enthusiastic audience, and the skilled accompaniment of the versatile RIZE band.

A talented ensemble, founded by Michelle Saud and John Zachary, this house band can adapt to almost any style a vocalist requests. “We’re blessed to be able to do it all,” leader and bass player/vocalist, Clem Johnson, explains, noting that they’ve performed everything from
Rolling Stones tunes to the James Brown numbers masterfully executed by Open Mic regular Oscar Fields. RIZE’s current lineup includes Lamont
Minefield on lead guitar and vocals, Leroy Neal on keyboard, and Derrick Goodall on drums.

While the band has produced a CD, to be released some time in the near future, its members seem to thrive on improvisation. “We always create new material each night we play,” says Johnson. “When people ask, ‘Is the song you guys just played recorded?’ In most cases, we say, ‘Nope. We just created that on stage just now.’

Music is our life and we enjoy living it.” Veteran singer Ethel Barnett-Johnson, otherwise known as Lady E, agrees. “I think they’re great, because they can play behind anybody and everybody,” says the 70-year-old local favorite, who has treated audiences to her jazz and blues vocals—at that very site—for 26 years. “I’ve been performing there since it was Park Place.”

Also an occasional emcee for the event, Lady E makes a point of keeping the microphone truly open to aspiring performers. Enforcing time limits on the sets, she encourages the more seasoned artists to make room for the newcomers in the crowd. “Don’t go into concert,” she admonishes. “This is open mic. Remember how you felt before you came up.” The nurturing environment fostered by the Crossroads’ staff, house band, emcees, and clientele has drawn a diverse rotation of gifted musicians for decades. “We have some awesome, awesome talent that comes through here,” says Lisa Brown, who has worked at the venue on and off for 15 of its 17 years and has recently taken the reins as club manager. Budding musicians and singers have joined locally renowned artists such as Lady E in the club’s lineup over the years.

“We see the same faces over and over and over again,” Brown observes, “and the newer ones are starting to come. Especially because we’re in the VCU area, we get a lot of college kids who come and sit in with the band.” Brown and Janis Foster, assistant manager, are dedicated to providing a sophisticated ambience in which patrons can leisurely enjoy community, good food and drink, and quality music throughout the week. The upstairs bar holds a DJ booth, and the rooftop patio is being prepared for its opening sometime this summer.

Over the coming months, Crossroads will host events such as a Battle of the DJs, to be held out front during the 23rd Annual Down Home Family Reunion: A Celebration of African-American Folklife. The festival will take place at Abner Clay Park, across from the club, in August. Janine Bell, president and artistic director of the Elegba Folklore Society and founder of the Down Home Family Reunion, is one of Crossroads’ many Open Mic Night enthusiasts. “Especially after a long day at work, I can stop in and relax with friends in a family-like atmosphere and enjoy some of Richmond’s talented musicians who give great sounds and lyrics from their souls,” she says. “Everybody feels it. Everybody shares. It’s all love.”

Also thrilled to return to Open Mic Night are the members of RIZE, who remain engaged with other gigs around town, but treasure their residency at the Jackson Ward venue. “Being away was kind of hard on everybody, because that’s home to us,” remarks Johnson. “People love their place. You can try to do what we do there at other places, but it’s nothing like Crossroads.”