Iconic Phoenix venue to close after 35 years. How to celebrate its final run

When The Rhythm Room reopens in late August, it will mark the beginning of the end for the landmark Phoenix blues club and music venue.

Bob Corritore, the club’s longtime owner, tells Phoenix New Times he’s closing The Rhythm Room on May 30, 2027, capping a 35-year run that includes hosting thousands of concerts.

Corritore says the decision to close comes as he approaches his 70th birthday in September and wants a slower pace of life after decades of owning a club.

“After 35-plus fantastic years of running the Rhythm Room, I have decided to retire the club and enter into the next chapter of my life,” Corritore said in a statement.

Before the Rhythm Room closes next May, Corritore will celebrate its legacy with an eight-month run of concerts. He says it will give regulars a chance to say goodbye after the club reopens on Aug. 27 after its current summer hiatus.

In his statement, Corritore says its The Rhythm Room’s “final season” and is meant to be a proper sendoff for the club.

“We will have numerous amazing shows and we hope that you will celebrate the Rhythm Room’s legacy in our last run,” Corritore says.

It will mark the final chapter of a venue that’s been a beloved part of Phoenix’s music scene for decades.

‘One piece of magic after another’

The Rhythm Room debuted in 1991 inside the former home of Indian School Road bar the Purple Turtle.

Corritore, a Chicago native and harmonica player, already knew the venue well. After moving to Arizona in 1981, he performed there alongside blues artists including Louisiana Red and Tommy Dukes.

When Phoenix businessman Lenny Frankel asked him to help transform the bar into The Rhythm Room, Corritore jumped at the opportunity. Over the next 35 years, he booked and performed alongside hundreds of blues legends.

“Being able to see my heroes perform on that stage, and sometimes play with them … (has) just been one piece of magic after another,” Corritore says.

Some of Corritore’s most cherished memories of The Rhythm Room include playing alongside the late Chico Chism, onetime drummer for Howlin’ Wolf, who became a regular fixture at the venue.

“Chico took great pride in the Rhythm Room and was really our ambassador. Every time a band came in from out of town, they all knew Chico and he was there to greet him,” Corritore told New Times in 2016. “And when Chico and I were traveling to Chicago or elsewhere, Chico always asked musicians, ‘When you gonna play my club?’ I wasn’t going to dispute that. It was Chico’s club.”

While blues remained the Rhythm Room’s cornerstone, Corritore booked a wide variety of artists over the decades, including rock, country, jazz, reggae and roots artists.

“There’s just been these moments I was able to put together that might never have happened otherwise,” Corritore says. “Doing a Rudy Ray Moore comedy show or a great country show with Dale Watson. Having rock legends like Leon Russell or Pat Travers come in. All of that’s been great.”

Corritore also opened the club to Arizona independent concert promoters, including Charlie Levy.

“It was the best place in Phoenix to see a show,” Levy told New Times in 2016. “Bob let us bring a lot of the bands that are now super popular. I remember seeing Mumford & Sons there and Ratatat there.”

Corritore says The Rhythm Room’s varied concert offerings helped secure its place in the Phoenix music scene.

“It all seemed to fit together into a nice collage of something that could serve the community and institutionalize the value of The Rhythm Room.”

‘I have nothing but gratitude’

Corritore says deciding to close The Rhythm Room wasn’t a snap decision. The club’s first-ever summer shutdown this year, prompted by rising operating costs and slower business during Phoenix’s hotter months, gave him time to reflect on the future.

“This year I will celebrate my 70th birthday, and I’m going to give myself permission to live life with a more measured, less hectic pace,” Corritore said in his statement.

Corritore told New Times the realities of owning a music venue also factored into his decision.

“I think it’s time to just take things at a more relaxing pace rather than always hustling to make the next bills or payroll,” Corritore says. “Owning a club and having the responsibilities of all that in today’s world, it’s a little bit too hard.”

Corritore says Phoenix nightlife has changed dramatically since the Rhythm Room opened in the early 1990s, making it increasingly difficult to operate an independent music venue.

“People were going out every night of the week back then. It was glorious. Our bartenders couldn’t get drinks served fast enough. But it’s a different world now,” Corritore says. “People don’t drink like they used to. And sadly, it’s an alcohol driven business.”

Corritore says leaving the Rhythm Room behind won’t be easy. In his statement, he singled out longtime manager Lynsey Curtis while thanking the staff, artists, promoters and audiences who helped build the club over the past 35 years.

“To say that I’m going to miss all of this would be a huge understatement,” Corritore says in his statement. “I look back at the many amazing achievements of the Rhythm Room and all of the people that it’s touched and I have nothing but gratitude.”

Although he’s stepping away from owning a club, Corritore says he isn’t retiring from music. He plans to continue performing, promoting concerts and hosting his long-running weekly KJZZ-FM radio show, “Those Lowdown Blues.”

“I think if you close one door, another one’s going to open up,” he says. “Stuff is going to happen.”

As for what comes next for the Rhythm Room’s property, Corritore says no decisions have been made.

“I’m talking with various people and I’ve got some things that might happen, but I don’t have anything to report,” he says. “It’s really not about that. It’s about needing to retire.”

For now, Corritore says he’s focusing on giving the Rhythm Room the sendoff it deserves.

‘We’re going to go out with a bang’

Before the Rhythm Room closes, Corritore plans to celebrate its 35-year legacy.

“Until the end of May, we’ll be booking shows. We plan on just having a wonderful last run,” Corritore told New Times. “So it should be pretty powerful.”

One of the first major events will be a dual celebration of Corritore’s 70th birthday and the Rhythm Room’s 35th anniversary on Sept. 25. Blues artists Billy Flynn, Tia Carroll, Willie Buck, Carla Denise and Oscar Wilson are among the musicians scheduled to perform.

Corritore hopes longtime regulars will use The Rhythm Room’s remaining months to experience the venue a few more times before its final bow next May.

“This announcement makes it easier for everybody because all of a sudden they realize this is a finite amount of time to go appreciate the room and remember the good times,” Corritore says. “It’s not done yet.”

He says the farewell season is less about mourning the club’s impending closure than celebrating everything the Rhythm Room has meant to Arizona musicians and concertgoers over the past 35 years.

“We plan on having just a wonderful last run, a finale season,” Corritore says. “It’s been an amazing run, and we’re going to go out with a bang.”