A Closer Look at Disney’s Scat Cat Club

A Closer Look at Disney’s Scat Cat Club

by | Aug 7, 2019 | blog

Disney’s Scat Cat’s Club is located at Walt Disney World in the Port Orleans Resort section of the park and resort. The club is located just off the hotel’s main lobby and features memorabilia from great jazz musicians. The club used to have resident musicians, including Tom Casey (2013-2015) and Elliot Dyson. Both played lounge classics and guest requests. Since 2015, the club has not had a permanent resident musician, but they do feature local musicians, Disney musicians, and even DJs for live entertainment.

Since the club is our group’s namesake, we had to get around to posting a little review of the venue. While it is certainly not your typical jazz performance venue, we won’t say we would turn down the opportunity to play on that stage!

Atmosphere

The Scat Cat’s Club operates from 4 p.m. until midnight, and earlier in the day it often serves as a “crash pad” for guests who have arrived early at the resort and are still waiting for access to their rooms. Sometimes you will see people asleep in the comfy chairs, and the venue is certainly snug and cozy. However, we’re not big fans of people who sleep through live music, so…

The décor in the club is definitely in keeping with the theme of a jazz club. It has rich woods, coffered ceilings, benches, wooden chairs around tables, and more plush seating for guests, and a great deal of jazz memorabilia. Not surprisingly, a lot of it is old sheet music covers and pictures of jazz greats, but it definitely adds to the overall jazz club vibe of the place.

Food & Service

Although Scat Cat’s Club at Disney is not considered a “destination bar” at the Walt Disney World resorts, it does play host to something called “boozy beignets,” which are those tasty, powdered-sugary pastries popular in the French Quarter paired with injectable shots of liquor like Bailey’s, RumChata, and Kahlua. The restaurant also offers fried cheese in an unusual format: round, fried balls of pimento cheese served over a sweet and spicy pepper sauce. The kitchen is best at “bar food,” so keep your expectations managed and you can enjoy some really delicious dining.

Entertainment

A lot of reviews you will find of the Scat Cat’s Club at Disney revolve around the current lack of a resident musician. This is definitely a little bit of a disappointment, and it also leads to a lack when it comes to real jazz being played at this jazz club. Since many musicians at the club focus on taking requests, often you end up with a little bit more of the Eagles and a little bit less of Louis or Jelly Roll than we would like. However, when the club does feature a jazz musician, they usually make sure the “greats” get into the mix along with the other tunes. Sometimes, though, you will have to make do with the player piano that definitely adds to the ambience but does not necessarily make for great entertainment.

Our Conclusion

During the review process, we encountered another patron of the Scat Cat’s Club at Disney who snarked that the bar is a must for a Walt Disney World “completionist” but otherwise not particularly a necessary stop on the tour unless you are staying at the Port Orleans resort. We would argue that the scenery and magic of the resort paired with memorabilia and a clear fondness for (if not always familiarity with) jazz clubs and the Jazz Age make this a pleasant and worthwhile stop for anyone visiting Walt Disney World.

You Don’t Have to Get the Blues to Love Jazz

You Don’t Have to Get the Blues to Love Jazz

by | Jul 10, 2019 | blog

One of the most common myths about jazz music that we hear (mainly from people who have never listened to more than half a sheet of jazz music, at most) is that jazz music is “too depressing” to enjoy. “I can’t get into those blues songs,” people often say. “I just don’t know why you would want to listen to that sort of melancholy music.”

Now, if you have ever met me or listened to the Scat Cats perform, you know already that I’m not a “Debbie Downer” kind of person. Put simply: I do not have the blues in any way, shape, or form. So it always surprises me when people who know me tell me they think jazz is too sad, slow, or depressing for them to handle, because I’m not a sad, slow, or depressing kind of person. Do you really think I would sing that sort of thing all the time? I can, sure, and it sounds great, but it’s not my main strain by any stretch.

So where did this crazy misconception about “sad jazz” come from?

Well, truth be told, there is a lot of slow, sad, bluesy jazz out there, and a lot of it is brilliant. However, a lot of people completely overlook the “happy jazz” that started it all: the hits of the 1920s and 1930s that had a bounce and (you know it) a “swing” to it as well.

When I think of jazz, I don’t just think of the blues. I think of the Big Band music of the swell, elegant, crazy 1920s. I think of the 1930s and George Gershwin, of the swing-era musicians and the bands they put together to bring jazz to the forefront of that musical age. And, of course, I think of the 1930s jazz trumpet/cornet genius Bix Beiderbecke, of Bing Crosby’s earliest vocal experiments, and the Rhythm Boys. They’ve all got bounce. They’ve all got swagger, and believe me, you will feel nothing but happy when you’re listening.

Not sure what or who I’m raving about? Let me give you a quick run-down before you go on your next Google search for these happy-jazz musicians:

  • George Gershwin wrote I Got Rhythm, just for starters, and that wasn’t even his most famous piece. I mention it because everyone knows it, but not everyone knows it is jazz.
  • Bix Beiderbecke, whose real name was Leon Bismark Beiderbecke, was part of America’s most popular dance band at the time, Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, and composed or played such classics as “Georgia on My Mind,” which you might have recognized as jazz, and “Riverboat Shuffle,” which you might not if you think jazz has to be slow, sultry, and sentimental. Now you know differently, and you should be happyyou were wrong!
  • Bing Crosby is ubiquitous as a famous singer, but did you know he got his start thanks to a jazz-influenced rendition of “Old Man River” in 1928? It was his first number-one hit.

This list (and I) could go on and on, but I think you’re starting to get the picture. I just have to add one final thing: If you don’t believe jazz can be happy, then come hear the Scat Cats perform. I guarantee your toes will tap, your hips will sway, and your face will split wide open in a great, big grin.