Live music is one of those things we took for granted before the pandemic.

When the closings hit, the concerts suddenly ceased. Classical, punk, jazz, hip hop, rock – it doesn’t matter the genre, concerts have been postponed and local venues have gone silent.

So I’m glad to see that live music is coming back, cautiously, to our area after a long hiatus.

A decades-long musical tradition in our area will resume this Saturday, March 5 with weekly live concerts at the Kitchener-Waterloo Dixieland Jazz Club.

For four decades, the club has hosted thousands of gigs by touring bands specializing in the upbeat, danceable jazz genre you’d hear at Mardi Gras.

The tradition began in 1978 when local musician Len Gosling – affectionately nicknamed Boots because he worked in the local shoe industry – began hosting live jazz performances at Kitchener’s Lancaster Tavern.

This tavern (affectionately known as The Lanc) hosted weekly concerts upstairs every Saturday, becoming a decades-long tradition that now continues at the Royal Canadian Legion on Marsland Drive.

The club’s reputation has attracted top musicians from all over, including trumpeter Kevin Clark, bandleader of the Dukes of Dixieland, one of New Orleans’ top jazz bands.

“The musicians who play at KW Dixieland Jazz Club Waterloo are steeped in this music and they love it,” Clark said in a 2015 interview in Waterloo. “They could happen in New Orleans. I want to make it perfectly clear: this is the real deal here.

For more than two decades, the club was run by Wayne and Nancy Pauli, who booked a rotation of top traditional jazz bands from Canada and the United States. The Paulis received a KW Arts Award in 2011 for their dedication to preserving a local musical tradition that dates back decades.

The club suffered a loss a few weeks ago with the death of Nancy Pauli aged 81. The Paulis have handed the reins of the club to longtime member Dan Rudow, who already has five bands already booked for Saturday afternoon gigs, including The Red Peppers, The Silverleaf Jazzmen, and more.

This Saturday’s long-awaited return will feature club favourite, The Ragweed Jazz Band, who have been performing for over 40 years.

The club is a volunteer passion project for New Orleans jazz, swing and blues fans. Every dollar from memberships and tickets goes directly to the musicians who bring traditional jazz to life.

The cover is only five dollars if you are participating for the first time to encourage more music lovers to discover this local tradition. Follow the Kitchener-Waterloo Dixieland Jazz Club on Facebook for the full list of concerts.

Dixieland jazz originated in the early 20th century and became widely known just two years before the 1919 pandemic. When the world finally emerged from this pandemic, Dixieland was the most popular form of jazz.

As we gradually emerge from our own pandemic, the return of live dixieland jazz to our region is an encouraging sign. Live music, whatever it is, is a shared human experience, something we’ve all been missing for the past few years. Maybe now we won’t take the joy of live music for granted.

Marshall Ward is a freelance writer and artist. Check out her award-winning “Bonn Park” podcast with Sara Geidlinger on Apple podcast, instagram, Twitter and Facebook.