Meet Suzanne Waldowski Roche | Founder and Director, Jazz at the Ballroom

We had the good fortune of connecting with Suzanne Waldowski Roche and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Suzanne, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I’m not sure I consciously did. I’ve always love George Balanchine’s quote “I don’t want people who want to dance. I want people who have to dance” because it perfectly explains that people who go into creative careers “have” to. I think, if given the opportunity, people gravitate to what speaks to them and what they’re comfortable with. Anyone who goes into a “creative career” does it because they feel at home with other artistic people, has an imagination that needs to be validated, appreciates a certain level of nonconformity, and sees beauty in quirkiness

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The progression was very slow until it happened very quickly (I think Hemingway wrote something like that so I can’t take credit for it) I grew up idealizing past times and places (all very artistic environments like 1920s Paris and 1950s Greenwich Village) and spent my childhood always wishing I was somewhere else. It wasn’t until I was in my 40s that it hit me that all of that daydreaming was just me being uncomfortable in my own skin. It took getting snowed in one night in a NY hotel, not being able to meet friends for dinner across town and finding myself in the hotel lounge listening to jazz. In those few hours, I decided that it was up to me to create that environment I loved rather than daydream wistfully about someone else’s past life. So I went home, started a salon series and hosted jazz concerts in my home about every other month. At first, about 10-15 people came but it grew by word-of-mouth. and after a few months one of the musicians suggested I form a music nonprofit. It happened very organically. That was in 2017 and since then, we’ve presented close to 200 concerts, been nominated for an Emmy, recorded 3 albums, and moved beyond Northern California to SoCA, the East Coast, and even Europe with our live shows.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In the Bay Area? It would have to be my house. I’m not saying that because the house is all that great but the hang is always fun. First, musicians stay at my house all the time and there are some fantastic rehearsals and jam sessions taking place. Second, after hosting so many concerts in the initial salon series, where so many guests brought bottles of wine and champagne, I have an amazing selection! I have more than I know what to do with. I hate to cook (and am really bad at it) but I’m a wiz at appetizers and can make a spread that would wow anyone.

I spend half my time in NY. There, I would take my friend on a walking tour of the city, which I did in great detail a few months ago w/ a jazz musician who knew how to complement my knowledge perfectly– everything from Tin Pan Alley, to the old Jilly’s, where John Steinbeck lived, and Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald jumped into a fountain. Of course, the nights would be spent going out to listen to music. There are so many spots in the city and there’s always someone good playing

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Can it be the people I work with? They are the number one factor for my success, and nothing else comes close to them. I’ve been very lucky to find people who are ambitious, hard-working, flexible, creative, love music as much as I do (often more than I do), and believe very deeply in the importance of the arts.

Website: https://www.jazzattheballroom.com

Instagram: jazzattheballroom

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-waldowski-roche-6174713a/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jazzattheballroom

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jazzattheballroom1744

Image Credits
the image of Suzanne Roche w/ John Clayton and Kurt Selling is with permission from (now-defunct) Gentry Magazine, Eli Pitta