The Jimmys bring their horn-section blues to Anodyne Coffee

Madison's blues and R&B band hasn't played Milwaukee since a 2023 night at The Bend Theatre. A week before Christmas, they're back in a 200-capacity room.

The last time The Jimmys played Milwaukee was October 13, 2023, at The Bend Theatre. A little more than three years later, Jimmy Voegeli's band drives in from Madison again, this time to a much smaller room, a week before Christmas.

The Jimmys play Anodyne Coffee, 224 W. Bruce St., on Saturday, December 19, at 7:30pm. The show was announced October 26, and tickets are on sale through VenuePilot. Anodyne holds about 200 people, which puts you close enough to a full horn section to feel it.

The Jimmys are a Madison band led by singer and organist Jimmy Voegeli. Blues.gr's Q&A with Voegeli calls them a "kick ass blues/R&B band from Madison, Wisconsin," and that's a fair summary. The band works in an old-school Chicago blues and R&B style, built on horns, a solid rhythm section and Voegeli's Hammond B-3.

The records back that up. *Hot Dish*, released August 30, 2016, was reviewed by Making a Scene and Elmore Magazine. The follow-up, *Gotta Have It*, came out December 31, 2019, and was the band's most ambitious project. Making a Scene reports it was produced by Tony Braunagel, the drummer known for his work with Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt and Robert Cray. The 13-song record includes a track co-written with Marcia Ball.

That's a résumé built over years of steady work, mostly on the road between Wisconsin's cities and towns. A band like this lives on the stage more than on the charts, and Milwaukee has been one of its regular stops even if the last visit was three years ago.

The room is the interesting part this time. The Bend Theatre is a theater. Anodyne is a coffee roaster's space with about 200 tickets to sell. Horn sections tend to sound best when they have somewhere to push the air, and in a room this size you'll hear every part of the arrangement. It should feel more like a house party than a concert, and that suits this music.

The timing helps too. December 19 is the last Saturday before Christmas, when plenty of people are looking for a reason to get out of the house that isn't a work party. A 7:30pm start makes it an easy evening: early enough for dinner nearby, early enough to still have the night after.

If you've seen The Jimmys before, you know how they work a room. If you haven't, this is about as low-risk as live music gets: a capable band, a small room and a reasonable ticket. Buy ahead, since 200 tickets don't last long once word gets around.

Three years is a while between Milwaukee visits. A week before Christmas, Bruce Street is a good place to hear what you've been missing.

Sources: Q&A with singer/organist Jimmy Voegeli of The Jimmys (Blues.gr) (blues.gr); The Jimmys — Gotta Have It (Making a Scene) (makingascene.org); The Jimmys — Hot Dish and Live From Transylvania (Making a Scene) (makingascene.org); The Jimmys album review (Elmore Magazine) (elmoremagazine.com); The Jimmys at Anodyne Coffee — VenuePilot (tickets.venuepilot.com)