About Cafe Coda
Welcome to Café CODA, Madison’s premier jazz space and the coolest place to be. You will find us in the heart of the creative and cultural hub of Madison, located at 1224 Williamson St. We offer a wide variety of creative and cultural arts to fit your entertainment needs. Whether it’s musical performances, workshops or master classes, we’ve got you covered!
From the moment you step through our door, you are greeted by aesthetics that feel as though you’ve been transported to Paris, New York or Chicago. Inspirations were combined from places all around the world where the owner, Hanah Jon Taylor, has traveled and performed.
Our name and logo come from the musical passage. It signals the end of a composition, when musicians bring the piece to an end. It connects and unifies the piece and is symbolic for what we dream will happen with jazz in our community.
We’re dedicated to the presentation of traditional, contemporary and creative music. Our mission is to keep music in the air, and we hope to both inspire and influence our community along the way. We offer the space and opportunity for entertainment experiences that are up close and personal. With our live performances, intimate seating, food and bar items, you’ll have plenty of options.
Hanah Jon Taylor
Meet the owner Hanah Jon Taylor– an internationally known saxophonist & flutist, known for his improvisational style. Over the last 30 years, he has performed worldwide with musicians such as Richie Havens, Roscoe Mitchell and many others. He has also shared jazz and inspired those around him as an artist, educator, and small business owner. He was even honored for career achievement in 2019 at the Madison Area Music Association Awards (MAMAs).
Hanah has showcased a wide variety of musical interests in the community. Starting in the earlier years of his career with the House of Soundz and later co-founding the Madison Center for Creative and Cultural Arts. In more recent projects, he brings musical performances to Chicago parks and underprivileged communities via a mobile stage, called the Culture Coach. In September of 2018, Hanah was able to open his dream jazz club on Williamson Street. Here at Café Coda, he brings in artists and musicians to offer access to special performances in our Madison area, but continues to focus on developing local talent as well. He also marks the importance of working with youth. He hosted ‘Cool School’, a free program for youth to have access to music lessons on weekends. More recently, he’s focused on master classes with MMSD and hosting young professionals networking events.
