By Dan Ray
Ever heard of Duke Ellington or Ella Fitzgerald? Yeah? Well, that’s partly because local jazz clubs keep their music alive.
Here in Des Moines, Noce has been showcasing jazz for 10 years now. The little club at 1326 Walnut St. plans to celebrate its first decade with a sold-out party next Wednesday, New Year's Eve.
Don’t worry if you didn’t snag a ticket in time — there are a few other shows planned to close out 2025 and many, many more planned for 2026. According to a press release from co-owner Max Wellman, the club will add Tuesday shows to next year’s lineup and bump “Jazz on the House” shows to Wednesdays, leaving Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays for even more local headliners, national acts and an expanding repertoire of Noce originals like Voix de Ville, After Hours and Last Call sets.
We asked Wellman to share a few thoughts about Noce’s first decade. His answers have been edited for length and clarity.
When you opened Noce, you wanted to bring more national artists to Des Moines. How’s that going?
We’ve been able to bring in some really wonderful touring acts. This year we had Jane Monheit and Stella Cole, people who’ve been nominated for Grammys or signed to record labels. Before Noce, it would have sounded crazy that artists of that caliber would stop in Des Moines and play a 100-seat room.
On the flip side, it was immediately surprising how much of the popular programming was coming from the local scene. They’re doing this show here with a 10-piece band, and it’s a totally different experience than anywhere else locally.
What are some memorable moments from the last 10 years?
We threw a huge weekend full of shows for Scott Smith. He’s a Des Moines boy — went to Roosevelt and then Northwestern — and he discovered Ann-Margret, who was a big-time movie star. She came and surprised him for those shows, and it was so cool having classic Hollywood royalty in here mixed with that local lore.
Similarly, Julius Brooks, who passed away this year, spent countless evenings here. He was a local giant in the music scene and played all over the world. I think of special shows we did with him in this space, like the dedication of a portrait here for his 90th birthday.
What else would you like to highlight?
There’s so much cultural overlap with all of the music that came after jazz, like drag and vaudeville and performance art. So a lot of our cabaret programming, like “The Domita Show” and Voix de Ville, is an extension of that or a modern version of that. It’s one of my favorite things about the place.
Beyond programming, one of the biggest takeaways from these 10 years is that there’s a group of people who’ve become so tight-knit over this space and time. That’s what keeps it here and makes it worthwhile. That is never more true than between me and my business partner, Maria Reveiz. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to go through the process with her and this team.
What can you tell us about the New Year’s Eve party?
Our first day of business was New Year’s Eve in 2015, so that’ll be the actual 10-year birthday. The show we’ll be running packs in a retrospective on the decade with my big band. We’ll have some onstage interviews, as well.
So it’s like Taylor Swift’s “Eras”?
That’s right. (Laughing.) This is my Eras Tour.
What’s next? What will the next 10 years look like?
We’re looking to produce more shows in other venues and also open other venues. I’m looking for the right opportunity. Iowa City is next.
Dan Ray is a musician and freelance journalist. She’s covered music, arts and culture stories for Seattle Mag, Little Village and dsm magazine and recently returned from a few months in Denmark.
