An Unsung Hero of Jazz Music in Tacoma

–by Mason Seay

 Jazz music still floats throughout the streets and neighborhoods of Tacoma. While Jazzbones and Bob’s Java Jive remain popular, The Spar Tavern is a hidden gem in Old Town. 

Let’s go back 110 years to 1916 when The Spar was built. The $7,500 building stands on the corner of North 30th Street and McCarver Street, while Old Town attempts to blossom after the new prohibition law. After the name was changed from the North Star Restaurant to The Spar Restaurant/Spar Lunch Room, the building was officially called The Spar Tavern in 1929, with the slogan “Where Friends Meet and Eat.” 

The Spar has been a community favorite for as long as people can remember. In 1938, the Tacoma Times wrote, “The Spar has won a wide reputation as one of the district’s most popular establishments…[customers] like to stop at the Spar because of its convenient hours and spirit of friendship.” The pictures on the walls serve as a “museum for the community,” which continues to grow as customers donate their own pictures of Old Town. 

Fast forwarding to the present day, The Spar still revolves around its community-based foundation. The Tacoma community had shown up weekend after weekend for the beloved “Sunday Blues,” but this was the only night people could come listen to live music at The Spar. That was until David Hudson started working at the venue. 

David was introduced to music at a young age, with his grandfather being his first musical influence. After watching a Blues band perform in Seattle, he got serious about drumming. At age 29, he had only ever had one drumming lesson, but never took it seriously, let alone perform in a band. As he pursued this passion, David would work at a phone company by day and perform by night. Over the next twenty years, he performed in more than 60 bands along the West Coast, playing with famous musicians such as Hubert Sumlin, Jody Williams, D.K. Harrell, and Duke Robillard. He attributes his dedication to his wonderful wife, Tracy, who stood by his side through this time in his life. 

After retiring, David and Tracy moved down to Tacoma. While ordering a Spar burger in 2021, one of the workers recognized David, as he had performed at The Spar many times before. With the venue allowing live musicians to perform for the first time after COVID-19, she offered David a job booking artists for their Sunday Blues. David recognized this as a great opportunity and took the job. Before taking this role, The Spar remained mainly a Blues venue, with their community-loved “Sunday Blues.” David had bigger things in mind, telling the owners, “I can bring a whole other side of Tacoma music [into the venue].” He walked up to Rena Manke and Adrielle Flinders, the granddaughters of Kathy Manke, who was the owner of the Spar until her retirement in 2018, and proposed the idea of Funky Jazz Wednesdays. David asked them to give him just 6 months, and if they didn’t like it or if it wasn’t successful, they could shut it down. Here’s the thing: David never doubted the success of Funky Jazz Wednesdays. 

Looking back over the past 5 years, David points to this moment as a turning point for jazz music in Tacoma, saying, “The fact that The Spar took a chance on this is the reason jazz is still alive in Tacoma.” 

Funky Jazz Wednesdays, as a concept, wasn’t just David’s idea, but Funky Jazz Wednesdays as a name was also his idea! He wanted to convey to the community that this wasn’t just traditional jazz. It was going to get your toe tapping, and the name had to carry on this message. The Spar brings in artists from around the world who introduce new styles of jazz to Tacoma, blending jazz with funk or performing a bluesy type of jazz in order to reach the entire community. Some jazz artists scoff at the idea of “modern jazz,” but in a broader sense, it’s what truly keeps jazz alive. 

But the main reason for the success of Funky Jazz Wednesdays at The Spar is the community throughout Tacoma. The artist and community symbiosis is essential for making this possible. People in Tacoma want to enjoy top-tier music, and they continue to make their way in and out of the venue just to check out the music. Musicians worldwide want to perform at The Spar when they come to the West Coast, and The Spar serves as a grand central station to welcome these artists into Tacoma. While many have considered jazz to be a dying genre, the commitment of community, venues, and musicians has helped push jazz music away from these claims. 

David still drums with bands at The Spar today. Performing with only about 5 bands per year, he has drifted away from his “empty calorie” ways when he used to perform with anyone who offered him a spot. His performances may be rarer, but they are much more fulfilling. When talking about The Spar and Funky Jazz Wednesdays, David says, “I love it here. Sometimes I worry about the future. I hope the next generation continues to show up there.” David has kept jazz alive in Tacoma, and now it is up to us to make musicians of the past 100 years proud. 

About the Author

Mason Seay prepared this blog post as the final project for Musical History of Tacoma, taught by Professor Kim Davenport at the University of Puget Sound in Spring Semester 2026; at the time, he was a junior majoring in Business Leadership.