It’s a rarity to find club owners/promoters around this region who also have established careers as working musicians. The prevailing sensibility is that being one will immediately turn you off to becoming the other. But Rick McNeely has managed to carve a niche in both professions, as owner of The Jazzhaus, 926 1/2 Mass., and as saxophonist for the Majestics Rhythm Review.

“It’s really good because I see the thing on a daily basis from both ends,” said McNeely, who took up the instrument 25 years ago. “Being a musician makes me a better club owner and being a club owner makes me a better musician.”

Jazzhaus owner Rick McNeely finds success with the band Majestics Rhythm Review.

His band the Majestics Rhythm Review has just released its debut CD, “Kickin’ It With You.” The 14-song effort highlights the Lawrence sextet’s “concoction of blues, jazz, rock and funk.” Fronted by soulful diva Lady Z and bolstered by a killer rhythm section (thus the name), the disc is a fine representation of the act’s magnetic live performances.

The band started the recording process last winter after the touring market dried up subsequent to the attacks of 9-11. Prior to that, MRR had developed quite a reputation as road warriors. But the flailing economic climate provided an excuse for the members to sequester themselves in the studio of Lenexa’s Airborne Audio for several months.

The album was recorded using ProTools computer hardware, but in order to give it a more authentic back-alley feel, McNeely came up with a nifty little trick.

“We tracked the whole thing on the hard drive, then had it transferred over to half-inch tape,” McNeely said. “Then I sent it to a buddy in California who worked for Motown Records for 25 years. He mastered it and got a nice warm analog sound out of it.”

McNeely points to “the ongoing process of writing original tunes,” as the most enjoyable aspect of the gig. And audiences can now relate to that sentiment by picking up “Kickin’ It With You” at the usual Lawrence record stores or by ordering from the band’s Web site at www.majesticsrr.com. For those a bit more patient, a CD release party will be held at The Jazzhaus on June 15.

Sound advice

Although McNeely has dabbled in bands for years, this is the first time he’s been part of a situation where the ensemble has found so much consistent professional work. This allows him a unique viewpoint from which to convey practical advice to musicians for dealing with club owners and vice versa:

“When we talk about it in the meetings with the Majestics we talk about basic things: like be polite, always tip every time you get a drink, be real low maintenance. Nothing drives promoters crazier than bands who come in and need this and this and this. When you’re playing showcase venues with real light systems and PAs and stages, these venues see between 250 and 400 bands a year. So the staff has heard it all and seen it all. The main thing is to make friends and don’t be real demanding. Don’t go up to the club owner and ask them for duct tape. Make sure you’ve got duct tape packed in your kit before you leave. Don’t go up to the waitress and ask for an extra extension cord. Make sure you’ve got an extra extension cord before you leave.”

“It’s also important to play at a volume commensurate to the size of the room. Some rooms we can really unload in the 400-plus size rooms, others like The Jazzhaus you have to keep an eye on the volume … Give the sound guy something to work with. Don’t turn the guitars up so loud that in desperation he’s trying to get the vocals and the horns in the mix.”

“Don’t feel as a musician that a club owner who has live bands owes you a gig.”

A lot of time musicians seem to think club owners don’t have anything better to do than pay attention to them. That’s really not the case. You’re dealing with staff problems. Your air compressor just broke and your air conditioner is not working. You have to make sure you’ve got money in the checking account so your deliveries don’t bounce. There’s just a million things that go into running a successful night club.”

“From the musician end, appreciate how hard it is for the club owners. Realize what a unique kind of person it is who is willing to promote live music and what a unique kind of person it is who is willing to take a chance on an unknown, out-of-town band and break it into this market. Lots of live clubs have gone to discos in the last few years. You’ve got to admire the people who are still doing it.”

Where’s all that jazz?

Since switching nearly 15 years ago from a jazz-centric approach to a more universal mix of jam bands, reggae, R&B and college rock, The Jazzhaus has taken shots that its name isn’t representative of the type of music being showcased. For McNeely, who is in his 21st year with the club, the criticism goes unheeded.

“Jazz is a music that is revered and loved by those who love it and revere it, but they will not go out and see it unless it’s in a chamber setting,” he explained. “People have really gotten away from what jazz was in the first place. It was fun, party, entertainment music. Now it’s chamber music, and you’re expected to sit on your hands and not make one sound.”

McNeely believes Lawrence is no more capable of supporting jazz than any other city, including such supposed hotbeds as Kansas City a metropolis that can fill a stadium for a Foghat reunion show but has a problem drawing 300 people for legitimate jazz headliners.

“A lot of your jazz purist types always have a reason for NOT seeing a jazz show,” he said. “But then when they want one, they want one that night. It’s generally because they have a friend coming in from out of town and they want to show off how hip they are.”

Mentioning that he has in the past “done a zillion jazz shows that nobody ever came to,” McNeely still contends that he prefers to listen to the style over any other. He lists the straight-ahead quintets, like those of Horace Silver and Art Blakey, as his personal favorites.

“I love jazz,” he said. “If I could promote jazz and play jazz, that’s all I would ever do.”