As you take the steps down into the belly of Tanqueray’s, an underground bar in Downtown Orlando, you come across a smoky jazz haven adorned with Christmas lights and a wall of mirrors that makes the cramped venue appear twice as big.
Cast in a shroud of blue and red lighting, the Absinthe Trio, a local jazz fusion band that plays on Wednesday nights, cruises through complex compositions that nod your head for you. As spectators linger between the tables to get a closer look, guitarist Bobby Koelble throws his long, dark dreadlocks over his shoulder and gracefully executes catchy transitions on his fret board.
If you asked Koelble where he’d be the next day, the answer might surprise you.
Koelble spends Thursday afternoons at UCF as an adjunct jazz guitar teacher.