About

About The Real Deal

“A room to hear music where the views are unobstructed, the sound system clear, and the bar quiet. All three are impeccably achieved.” —THE BOSTON GLOBE

The Real Deal rolls on. Opened in August 2004, the new club has much to recommend it—a capacious and graceful space with, thankfully, no columns obstructing views. A well-lit stage is provided to insure good sightlines, but perhaps the most important feature about the Real Deal is its fine acoustics. Patrons have remarked that performers have sounded at their best there, and performers have been equally enthusiastic about the performance environment.

The club is set up cabaret style, with all seats at tables. Food and beverages, which include appetizers, sandwiches, wine, beer and soft drinks, are available for purchase. They are prepped in a separate space, so that patrons are not distracted by the clatter of dishes, glassware and ice while trying to listen to the music. Table service is provided.

The facility is less than a two-minute walk from the Lechmere T stop, and, perhaps more importantly, it is one block away from the 1,100-car East Cambridge Garage, which charges $3.00 to park on evenings and weekends. Complete directions & a map can be found by clicking on the Directions & Parking link above.

We are extremely pleased with the reaction we have had so far, both from the artists who have appeared there and from the patrons who continue to support us. The Boston Globe Calendar, reviewing the Real Deal in the fall of 2004, called it “a room to hear music where the views are unobstructed, the sound system clear, and the bar quiet. All three are impeccably achieved.” In his year-end Boston Globe column in 2005, Bill Beuttler listed the ten best jazz concerts of the year. Water Music concerts at the Real Deal and other venues again, even with a less extensive schedule, won six of them. This season you will still find Water Music at some of its other usual haunts—The Berklee Performance Center and Sanders Theatre, and we hope we will see you there, too.

For more information about the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, click here.



About Water Music/Mainstage Water Music began operations on June 24, 1971 with its first Concert Cruise, a chamber music tour of Boston Harbor. In the first ten years of its existence, it focused upon developing waterborne concerts-notably The Concert Cruise (1971-1996) and The Jazzboat (1974-1996), aboard which Stan Getz, Art Blakey, Gerry Mulligan and Wynton and Branford Marsalis performed, among others. In its second decade, it branched out into new arenas, including folksinger Tom Rush's holiday concerts at Symphony Hall (1981-1986), a jazz concert series at Jacob's Pillow in the Berkshires, Jazz at the Pillow (1982-1987), a jazz concert series at the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston, Jazz at the Plaza (1983-1987), an annual concert at the Crane Estate in Ipswich, MA, The Castle Hill Jazz Ball (1983-1986) and a unique event featuring a specially designed fireworks display in Boston Harbor synchronized to a live performance of Handel's Royal Fireworks Music, The Royal Fireworks Concert (1982-1988). In 1985 it began programming for the Regattabar, the jazz club that opened that year in The Charles Hotel. At the same time it began shifting its concert productions to the hotel's Charles Ballroom, where it was able to arrange double bills involving the Ballroom and the Regattabar that presented Stan Getz opposite Astrud Gilberto, Woody Herman opposite Anita O'Day, Stephane Grappelli opposite Toots Thielemans, Astor Piazzolla opposite Gary Burton, Dizzy Gillespie opposite Arturo Sandoval, Michael Brecker and Pat Metheny opposite Chick Corea and Gary Burton, Wynton Marsalis opposite Marcus Roberts. In most cases the main attractions joined together in special encores. In its third decade, Water Music focused more on programming the Regattabar and producing its own jazz concerts at various venues around town featuring Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Joshua Redman, Cassandra Wilson, Dave Brubeck, Branford Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Dave Holland, Joe Lovano, Jane Monheit, Chucho Valdes and Sonny Rollins. After a nineteen and one-half year association, The Charles Hotel terminated its relationship with Water Music in June of 2004. Water Music entered its thirty-fourth year of activity opening a new 200-seat jazz venue in an historic space in East Cambridge, The Real Deal Jazz Club and Cafe, and now presents shows in that facility as well as in the major theater venues in the Boston area.		About The Real Deal “A room to hear music where the views are unobstructed, the sound system clear, and the bar quiet. All three are impeccably achieved.” —THE BOSTON GLOBE The Real Deal rolls on. Opened in August 2004, the new club has much to recommend it—a capacious and graceful space with, thankfully, no columns obstructing views. A well-lit stage is provided to insure good sightlines, but perhaps the most important feature about the Real Deal is its fine acoustics. Patrons have remarked that performers have sounded at their best there, and performers have been equally enthusiastic about the performance environment. The club is set up cabaret style, with all seats at tables. Food and beverages, which include appetizers, sandwiches, wine, beer and soft drinks, are available for purchase. They are prepped in a separate space, so that patrons are not distracted by the clatter of dishes, glassware and ice while trying to listen to the music. Table service is provided. The facility is less than a two-minute walk from the Lechmere T stop, and, perhaps more importantly, it is one block away from the 1,100-car East Cambridge Garage, which charges $3.00 to park on evenings and weekends. Complete directions & a map can be found by clicking on the Directions & Parking link above. We are extremely pleased with the reaction we have had so far, both from the artists who have appeared there and from the patrons who continue to support us. The Boston Globe Calendar, reviewing the Real Deal in the fall of 2004, called it “a room to hear music where the views are unobstructed, the sound system clear, and the bar quiet. All three are impeccably achieved.” In his year-end Boston Globe column in 2005, Bill Beuttler listed the ten best jazz concerts of the year. Water Music concerts at the Real Deal and other venues again, even with a less extensive schedule, won six of them. This season you will still find Water Music at some of its other usual haunts—The Berklee Performance Center and Sanders Theatre, and we hope we will see you there, too. For more information about the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, click here.