Local arts enthusiasts may soon have new means of satisfying their musical desires. Robert D’Angelo, the director of the Overture Center near the Capitol, is considering a pursuit to open a new jazz-themed nightclub in the area surrounding the downtown arts district.

The Overture project is a $100-million endeavor aimed at transforming the cultural arts in downtown Madison. The Overture Center is a large arts venue that incorporates existing Civic Center facilities and seats over 2,000 people.

D’Angelo said while the nightclub would maintain a jazz-themed environment, he is seeking to satisfy several musical tastes, and the types of music featured in any particular night would depend largely on what is being performed at the Overture Center.

D’Angelo is considering three or four different properties as possibilities for the nightclub but said none of them are currently available.

“I think it would be in our interest to have as versatile a facility as possible and to have events after hours in environments that are a little less formal,” D’Angelo said. “I think it’s a great opportunity if we have a Wynton Marsalis here, with the orchestra or his septet, to have a jam afterwards.”

One of the properties D’Angelo has considered is owned by Eric Schwartz, who says D’Angelo contacted him several months ago to inquire about the availability of his property for opening a club there. Schwartz’ property is located at the 200 block of North Henry Street, and houses businesses such as Home Environment, the Broden Gallery and the State Street Army Store.

Schwartz, however, said he told D’Angelo that he wasn’t interested in the idea.

“They wanted me to do it,” Schwartz said. “I’m out of that business.”

D’Angelo became interested in the idea of a small, neighborhood nightclub after visiting arts districts in New York and Cleveland. He says he found the clubs were an important component to the culture of the districts.

D’Angelo envisions a club in the Overture area as a venue for young people to go and see late-night performances and informal jam sessions.

“I think it’s a way of getting people downtown and into the facility. If you break them in at a club environment, they may come across the street to see something they wouldn’t ordinarily see,” D’Angelo said.

A concert hall scheduled to open in 2004 is the first part of the Overture district to be completed. D’Angelo stressed the concert hall is his top priority and that any new venues would not begin construction until the concert hall was up and running.

D’Angelo said he hopes the duties of running the club will be in the hands a private owner but said the Madison Cultural Arts District could also take the managerial duties. D’Angelo stressed that his Overture duties were too time-consuming to allow him to pursue his plans for a nightclub on his own but said that he could take a managerial role if he retired from his position at the Overture Center.

Overture Foundation president George Austin had no comment on D’Angelo’s nightclub proposal and said that only recently had he heard about the proposal.

The Madison Cultural Arts District Board is in charge of overseeing new nightclub proposals.