New life for a true jazz club
Denis Hyland – New life for a true jazz club
Denis Hyland was born in New York City and raised in New Jersey. His father was a writer for Billboard magazine. As a young child performer, with incredible New York City influences, Denis was featured in the musical Mame, until his voice changed. He was performing and touring most of the time so he was unable to attend elementary and high school regularly. Later, he studied ballet and became an accomplished dancer.
In the 70s, you had to be a triple threat – sing, dance, and act – to get a job on Broadway. Being a dancer was always a benefit. After high school, he toured as a professional ballet dancer with several companies. He still teaches dance and yoga today.
One evening at the Hollywood Bowl, Denis saw Canadian jazz pianist and composer Oscar Peterson, along with two other men, performed several jazz tunes. He was immediately hooked. At this point, Denis left show music for jazz and never looked back.
While in New York, he would take the subway downtown to the Village and walk back to his apartment on 55th Street, stopping in the bars along the way where he could sing a song.
He arrived in Key West in 2001 with a friend whose partner was dying of Aids. During his stay, he performed in some shows and added some extra gigs before returning to New York. Later, he began returning to Key West during the winter to perform in shows.
For the past ten years, Denis and husband, Wayne LaRue have turned the Little Room Jazz Club (LRJC) into one of the best music venues in Key West. Musicians love to perform in a great listening room where the audience appreciate the performances. He loves the music of our local musicians at the club. Although they’re not widely known, they’re locally revered.
During the COVID shutdown, they extensively remodeled the club’s interior: opening up the main room for better visibility of the band, added a new dance floor, improved sound, lighting, and more air conditioning. It has become a temple of Key West jazz allowing musicians to connect to their audiences in a special and very jazzy way. There is a genuine feeling in the club. It’s truly one of a kind. It’s becoming a community music center with a heavy jazz influence. Their role model is New Orleans Preservation Hall, and they would love to develop a distinct musical connection with them.
Denis feels jazz and the American songbook compare to the constant performances of Shakespeare, after 500 years, and how it stays so relevant today. The same is true for songs from the 1920s through the 1950s. There’s a great deal of inspiration and philosophy in that music and to have people listening, responding, and feeling good is what keeps him going.
For him, the rhythm of a song is like dancing and all the craft of theater goes into jazz music. The rhythms in jazz vernacular allow you to take a song anywhere. The overall performance is a mixture of all these combined factors, especially the music, and that’s why he insists on live music and arrangements.
Denis has never tried to be a recording artist. He likes to use jazz music to convey and validate a performance, telling a story through an old jazz song that is relevant to a current theme or situation. He likes to put his vibe or jazz signature on a song to add to its relevancy. It’s the only way he can perform jazz. 
Recently, Denis decided to ‘up his game’ and bring something new to the LRJC. His musical production of Life, Love, and Key West was a culmination of his life-long jazz journey.
He’s resurrected old songs like Irving Berlin’s 1914 song about a conversation between the Devil and his son, “Stay Down Here Where You Belong” which was a favorite of Groucho Marx. To a newer song “People in Me”, written in 1973 by Abby Lincoln which perfectly matches our Key West “One Human Family” theme. 
In between, there are Hyland’s adaptations of Cole Porter’s “Mister and Missus Fitch” and David Fishberg’s “Peel Me A Grape”. The choreography of Denis Hyland and co-star Camille Russo Toler, combine with three well scripted videos, and his selected music from the talent laden jazz band led by Tony Elitcher. The show successfully sold out all eight shows and is being extended to four more shows, every Saturday in April. These will sell out quickly. Get tickets through KeysTix at: https://keystix.com/littleroomjazzclub
Watching the last performance, it became obvious to this author that the venue had become a true jazz club … minus the cigar smoke. After each performance the packed house stays full as the “House Band” continues with cool jazz tunes. Stay tuned as Denis has several other productions planned for his Little Room Jazz Club.
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