The Old Fashions have been under the radar

Evan and Joshua at the Underground
Photo by The Old Fashions

The Old Fashions jazz duet is making its mark at the Mob Museum

Past decade influences are coming back in style at a rapid rate. For two Las Vegas jazz musicians, they are hoping that continues and the 1920s come roaring back in style.

The Old Fashions is a Las Vegas duet jazz band made up of Joshua Benitez and Evan Doremus. Benitez is the crooner and trumpet player in the band and Doremus is the piano player and occasional singer. They play throughout the city, but their main venues are the Underground, a speakeasy in the basement of the Mob Museum, and Double Helix, a whiskey bar at Town Square.

"We were just throwing out any sort of old school terms," Benitez said, on picking a band name. "We were trying to go for funny, but we just didn't know. And we're both whiskey fans, so I was like, 'F--- it, the Old Fashions.'"

Benitez and Doremus met in 2016 through a mutual friend who had been living with Doremus at the time. They decided to start the band by the end of 2016. Doremus grew up in New Orleans and brought a background in jazz music to the band.

"I can't really think about getting interested in music," Doremus said. "It's always been around a lot."

While he was growing up, Doremus' father restored, built and tuned old or broken pianos, so Doremus would play on them with his father after they were done being restored.

At first, Doremus didn't care for the piano. He thought it was boring learning the simple songs out of his piano book when he was a kid. As he grew up, Doremus started adventuring out and learning other instruments. He started to play the drums, which he enjoyed, but his talents didn't advance much because he didn't have people to play with.

After learning how to play with rhythm, and getting a feel for how song structures worked, Doremus got back into playing the piano in high school.

"There's a tradition of New Orleans piano players in particular," Doremus said. "It's like a funky, like really, like a really melodic, but kind of sloppy, but really fun way of playing the piano. That always stuck in my head and I always wanted to be able to do that."

After graduating college in Louisiana, Doremus moved west to Las Vegas. His roommate, David, was teaching photography to a friend who had come over to hang out one day while Doremus was playing on his piano. That friend turned out to be Doremus' future (and current) bandmate, Joshua Benitez.

Evan and Joshua playing a show at the Underground
Photo by Danny Smyth

Benitez grew up in Las Vegas. He started his music career in middle school when he decided to play the trumpet.

"Something about the trumpet really speaks to me," Benitez said. "Cuz my voice, much like the trumpet, it's loud and blaring, and I just like how it cuts through everything else. That's the one instrument you're going to hear throughout the mix."

Benitez models his playing style after Louis Armstrong for his "lazy, yet much spirited tone and style."

As he got older, Benitez began singing. It wasn't until a night of karaoke with some friends that he realized he was a good singer. After that night, he started to include the singing with his trumpet playing and wanted to look for a piano player to start a jazz band.

Once he and Doremus officially formed the band, the Old Fashions started playing in dive bars. Their first few shows were at two local Las Vegas bars, Money Plays and The Mint. After playing at these locations for a while, another local jazz singer, Kai Brant, approached them during a show and introduced them to people who run a bar at the Mob Museum.

Distillery in the Underground bar.
Photo by Danny Smyth

In April 2018, the Mob Museum opened their new speakeasy called The Underground, a prohibition style bar and distillery located in the basement. Pictures, facts, alcohol bottles and more from the 1920s and 1930s cover the bar, hoping to take their patrons back to the time when alcohol was illegal.

Low lighting, soft jazz music and very unique drinks make the bar very intimate. To top off the speakeasy vibe, the Underground has a fully functioning distillery in the back room. The bar makes their own moonshine that is used in their specialty drinks.

The Old Fashions had their first show at the Underground in December 2018. Following this show, the Old Fashions played at the speakeasy on New Years Eve.  Since then, the Old Fashions are one of the most consistently booked bands at the Underground.  Their shows take place on Friday and Saturday nights. Patrons must pay a small fee to get into the speakeasy. However, if the public really wants to get into the Prohibition Era, there are secret passwords given out on social media to gain free admission through the backdoor.

With the emergence of speakeasies and prohibition era locations popping up all over, it's only a matter of time before the 1920s and 1930s music and clothing come back in style.

"I think in these next few years, you're going to see a lot of it coming back," Benitez said. "This music has the kind of soul and spirit to it, that you really don't get when someone is just pressing play on a Macbook."

#jazz #band #music #bar #whiskey

People high-ly approve of the marijuana industry

Blackjack Collective dispensary
Photo by Doren Malik

The recreational marijuana industry is being welcomed with open arms

Since being made legal in January 2017, the recreational marijuana industry has boomed in Las Vegas.

Recreational marijuana is legal for people over the age of 21 all over the country. Currently, 11 states have passed legal recreational marijuana use laws. Citizens have used marijuana in many different ways for hundreds of years, but making it legal really changed the game. In the first year of legalized recreational marijuana, Nevada sold $425 million in products and netted nearly $70 million in tax revenue.

"I love to help people," said Valentina Spatola, events and promotions coordinator for Curaleaf Nevada. "Cannabis has a stigma that I hope changes with more education."

Consumers who buy marijuana from sellers outside of dispensaries may not be getting all of the information they may want regarding the product being purchased.

"There isn't enough education," Spatola said. "By purchasing through a dispensary, you know the product you're getting is safe, not harmful to your body, and state regulated."

Dispensaries and their parent companies put on various events to help spread industry and product knowledge to customers and the general public. Some of these events serve as educational classes, such as Budtender Fight Club. Some of the events help raise money for charity, including car washes, house parties or other things that will "help the city." The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is a non-profit company that spreads knowledge about the industry to help get it legalized across the country.

Vendor teaching a consumer at the Bizarre Bazaar Event
Photo by Curaleaf

"With the knowledge and education, we can collectively group together to make a change and decriminalize cannabis on a federal level," Spatola said. "Teaching and explaining the health benefits and explaining how this natural plant works is how we can get people to change their views on cannabis."

When consumers go to the dispensaries, the employees are happy to provide more information to the customers and answer any questions they may have when coming into the building. These employees study the different kinds of terpenes, the effects, the duration of the effects, and specific strains to be used for specific ailments or reasons.

Even with the in-store assistance, dispensary employees also do recommend that marijuana users do some research on their own to gain more knowledge. Their main websites used are Leafly.com and Weedmaps.com.

Nevada is doing all it can to help expand their recreational marijuana laws. The Nevada government recently passed a law that will remove marijuana from pre-employment drug testing, unless the job deals with security, construction, or the job has dangerous or harmful working conditions. This was a major step for the industry and Nevada. It's showing that more citizens, more specifically government officials, are becoming open minded and understanding about marijuana.

"It does have more benefits than what people realize," said Hope Paez, administrative assistant at Blackjack Collective Dispensary. "I grew up thinking it was a plant and it helps people. I didn't get taught that it was harmful and a drug and it's bad for you."

Many benefits have been found through THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol) products. These products can help with anxiety, eating disorders and sleep disorders, among other medical issues. They also come in all different forms as well. When the general public hears about marijuana, they immediately think of smoking. These different forms include edibles, THC infused drinks and THC pills.Many other products exist for people who don't want to smoke marijuana.

CBD products, something the general public tends to misunderstand due to a lack of education, don't always have THC (marijuana) infused in them. Some products can have THC, but not all do. CBD is mainly used to help with medical issues without getting the consumer "high." This is mostly used to help calm the body. This can also come in many different forms, mostly in oil or pill form.

UKU showing off their vape pens at Bizarre Bazaar event
Photo by Curaleaf

Paez said that she sees a small trend when it comes to the different age groups and the products they purchase. In her store, Blackjack Collective, there tends to be more people aged 45 and older than other age groups. That group, she said, leans more towards the pre-rolls, or premade marijuana joints, they can buy. The early to mid 20s crowd leans more towards the vape pens so they can walk around in public while smoking, even though it's still illegal to smoke in public.

Within the next fight to 10 years, the public is looking at the marijuana industry to make giant leaps. One of those hoping leaps is within the medical field.

"I'm hoping the medical field will be more open to natural and holistic remedies," Spatola said. "I also hope to see more veterans being able to get prescribed cannabis."

Another route that is hoped to be seen in the cannabis industry is in the social environment. Paez said that marijuana will start being brought into the food service industry.

"Definitely there will be lounges," she said. "You'll see restaurants that have cannabis made into their food. You'll probably see drinks, like bars that will have liquor mixed with it at some point."

#marijuana #weed #curaleaf #lasvegas #cannabis