Madison has a long history of embracing the cultural arts as a source of community pride and as a lure to shoppers and diners to the Rose City.

But with the COVID-19 pandemic placing severe restrictions on restaurants and clubs, many establishments are struggling to make ends meet, particularly dining-entertainment venues such as Shanghai Jazz.

A Main Street fixture for 25 years and recognized by Downbeat magazine as “one of the top 100 jazz clubs in the world,” Shanghai Jazz will host a benefit show Wednesday featuring renowned pianist Jerry Vezza and his trio, including vocalist Brynn Stanley and guitarist-vocalist Grover Kemble.

The evening, which includes a $100 pre-fixe dinner menu from Shanghai Jazz’s refined Asian menu, will take place behind the club in its parking lot off Cook Avenue. Proceeds will go to the nonprofit Madison Arts and Cultural Alliance and also help the club cover expenses.

“It’s a rare gem, especially in New Jersey,” said Vezza, a founding MACA member and its current president. “It’s not easy to have a viable jazz club in New Jersey. Shanghai is about it.”

Vezza has been playing there since the club was opened by David Niu and Maggie Chang in 1995.

“It’s the only place keeping the art form alive,” he said “That’s a really big deal, and the fact that it is happening in Madison is special. And it brings in people from rather far away. Union County, Somerset County. Some people even come up from the Jersey Shore, or reverse-commute from New York.”

Other cultural lures to Madison typically include patrons of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at Drew University and additional campus events at nearby Fairleigh Dickinson University. Madison over the years also has served as the base of several professional theater companies, including the former Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Womens Theater Company and 12 Miles West Theatre.

“Madison is only 4 square miles, but within its borders, it has almost every artistic discipline represented, including an orchestra, chorus, actors, painters, poets, sculptors, writers, two professional university training programs,” said Eric Hafen, who was hired in 2018 as the Madison director of arts, which includes responsibility for MACA.

“One of the greatest things about Madison is it has this great jazz club,” Vezza said.

Hafen is exploring ways to support the borough and its artistic community by bringing programming and other cultural benefits to the community. That includes the new Madison Community Arts Center, a versatile indoor-outdoor space at Rose Hall, the multi-purpose complex near the center of town opened in 2018.

The center, which includes a 1,500-square-foot modular space that opens to an outdoor patio stage, can be used for a variety of activities including art shows, poetry readings, dance and concerts.

The coronavirus, of course, has severely disrupted both the hospitality industry and the gig artists who work in restaurants, clubs and theaters.

“Until we get permission (for indoor dining and gatherings) from the governor, we’re doing what we can,” said Hafen, formerly the artistic director at the Morris Museum.

Vezza said he hopes to partner in the future with other businesses in town to see how MACA programming can help them recover business. He’s got willing partners in local government.

“They really get it,” Vezza said.

“Incredible is not enough of a word to describe what I’m getting from the borough,” Hafen said. “Just incredible support.”

As a performer, Vezza has a clear perspective on the club and its audience.

“Tom has done a beautiful job carrying the torch from David and Martha,” Vezza said of Tom Donahue, who took over and renovated the club in 2017. “He treats it like you’re coming into his house.”

“I’ve been performing at Shanghai Jazz for over 20 years,” said Rob Paparozzi, a Mendham resident and worldwide jazz and blues headliner with his own band, the New Blues Brothers and others. “I’m very selective about recommending my fan base to a venue unless I believe in their commitment. It’s a first-class club dedicated to service and quality food that brings the finest in New York area jazz and blues music into their cozy cub. Let the tradition continue.”

The Wednesday benefit at Shanghai Jazz offers seating at 5:30 and 7:15 p.m. Visit the MACA website for details.

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William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com.