Jazz came to Truckee in 2002 when a business in a historic Bridge Street building was purchased by JJ Morgan and Mark Estee.

Moody’s Bistro and Lounge, previously known as Coburn’s Station and The Passage, has what Morgan describes as “jazz or its cousins” play Wednesday through Sunday.

Morgan became a jazz fan by listening to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. He started the Up and Down Club in San Francisco in the early 1990s, just when jazz began a resurgence in popularity. The connections Morgan made at the Up and Down Club continue with Moody’s, which has become a regular stop for New York bands when on a Northern California tour.

Peter Epstein, who heads the University of Nevada, Reno jazz department, also brings visiting artists to the Truckee club.

Opening a Northern California jazz club bucks a trend. After living in the Berkeley-Oakland area for more than a decade, Mitch Marcus moved to Queens, New York.

“There’s a lot of playing opportunity,” he said. “A lot of Bay Area musicians have migrated out here, so I have a whole network of people (to work with). There’s certainly a vibrant scene (in California). There’s just not much of an outlet for it. That’s been my problem out there.”

Moody’s received national acclaim in 2003 and 2004 when Paul McCartney, in town for ski vacations, came onstage to jam.

Morgan and Estee recently purchased Baxter’s Bistro & Lounge in Northstar-at-Tahoe, where jazz is offered three nights a week.

Winter highlights will include a Nov. 28 show by Italian artist Gerardo Balestrieri and Jan. 23’s Fishtank Ensemble. Adam Theis’ two groups, Super Taster and Shotgun Wedding, will perform at Moody’s, Baxters and Northstar’s Village Dec. 29-Jan. 2. Stevie Wonder sat in with Super Taster during a summertime show in the Bay Area.