The Thriving Jazz Club in the Heart of Sleepy California Wine Country

In 2021, Libretto owner Corey Jordan, a former music producer for films, and wife Katelyn Smith took the $350,000 originally earmarked for a liquor license (don’t worry, they still sell wine) and put it toward the piano. Since the club’s opening, it has become something of an underground jazz icon—a Smalls of the West Coast—attracting Grammy Award–winning jazz, classical, and blues artists such as Benoit, Emmet Cohen, GKO, Taylor Eigsti, and Gloria Cheng, who have performed here for audiences as intimate as 50 people.

Some might question Jordan and Smith’s decision. But “it was a better investment to make,” Jordan says. “It marks us as something special. We had a run in 2024-2025 with 26 weeks of a different Grammy award winner every other week.”

From Lassos to Luxury

Once a cattle town, before its rolling hills turned to vineyards in the 1970s, Paso—as the locals call it—continues to evolve culturally. It started with the opening of the Vina Robles Amphitheater showcasing big pop acts just over a decade ago. Bruce Munro’s Sensorio, a huge immersive art installation of fiber-optic light and music, landed in 2019 and continues to grow with new installations and original music.

“People come for the wine, but then they stay and discover these other hidden gems,” says Mattie McDonald, wine club manager for Booker Wines, who worked with Jordan to bring artist GKO to play in its wine caves for club members. “I like to compare Paso to a speakeasy,” she says. “You don’t know until you know.”

Indeed, I was surprised by how much had changed after the pandemic in this sleepy town: more boho-chic motels, a newly opened 151-room Hilton boutique hotel called the Justin Winery and the 12-seat Six Test Kitchen at Tin City, a former industrial park turned fancy food destination with craft breweries, distilleries, a mushroom farm, and Etto Pastificio and Pasta Bar. In addition, Michelin-starred chef Charlie Palmer has come to town to roll out three new spots at the Paso Robles Inn and sister property Piccolo, including a steakhouse set to open next year. But it’s Libretto that brought the jazz.

Born from the Pandemic

The idea came after Jordan and his wife moved back to Paso from Los Angeles, during the pandemic lockdown, and opened the coffee bar AMSTRDM. Craving entertainment as Covid wound down, Jordan moved his own grand piano into the coffee shop so he could play jazz for his neighbors at outdoor tables while serving cappuccinos and Cabernets.

Soon after, he began inviting friends like Jeff Babcock, a studio musician who plays in Jimmy Kimmel’s band, to give concerts, and the idea of a separate jazz club was born. 

After signing a lease for Libretto in the old Opera House (built in 1919), Jordan bought the rare piano previously used by the Los Angeles Philharmonic; he called in a sound engineer, got donations of tables from local restaurants and wineries, and began asking musicians to play there.

Without a liquor license, Libretto started as a members-only club. As interest grew, and Jordan added public tickets for weekend shows on its website. It has since launched a conservatory offering master classes to local students from world-class musicians. It was never intended to make any money; that’s what Jordan’s two coffee shops and roasting company do, he says. 

Instead, it’s a passion project allowing Jordan and his neighbors to enjoy world-class music and musicians to enjoy a beautiful instrument and a slower pace in a quaint downtown reminiscent of Gilmore Girls’ fictional Stars Hollow, before heading on to larger cities. 

When I visited Libretto in April, Benoit, known for songs such as “Drive Time” and “After the Love Has Gone,” stopped by to play some of his own compositions, as well as a few songs by Vince Guaraldi. In the cozy space, with its exposed brick walls and leather booths, Libretto had a supper club feel, with waves of music washing over you from the large Steinway just a few yards away. 

The next morning, I spied Benoit and his wife having breakfast at AMSTRDM and placed my latte order with Jordan, who had traded his dinner jacket for an apron.

“We take care of our artists and put them up in an apartment above our restaurant,” Jordan said. “They will come down and say, ‘Whoa, you’re making my oatmeal?’ But we did what we had to do to succeed.”

With full concert lineup and wine tours on tap for next spring, and more luxury hotels in the pipeline, it’s only a matter of time before Paso is fully on the radar of luxury travelers, says economic development manager Paul Sloan.

“We’ve definitely upped our game in creature comforts, arts and culture,” Sloan says, “but we’ve still got that small town charm.”