The Nash has raised a glass to longtime supporter, the late John Dawson.  

JD’s at The Nash recently opened with the venue’s new Series 6 liquor license, turning the previous Series 7 beer-and-wine operation into a full bar with the spirits that Dawson believed jazz deserved.

“He always talked about the old Rat Pack days,” said Dave Lunt, who leads The John Dawson Foundation, which provided majority funding for the liquor license. 

“The cigars, the Scotch — the whole experience. It wasn’t just a pre‑packaged beer. It was the full liquor that went with the music.”

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Bar sales will support the John Dawson Education Center, a 3,200-square-foot expansion that opened in 2024, featuring three rehearsal rooms and serving more than 100 students per week.

Joel Goldenthal — The Nash’s co-founder and sustainability specialist — said The John Dawson Foundation donated $1 million to The Nash to separate its performance and education spaces. The gift fulfilled Dawson’s legacy of supporting the next generation of jazz musicians.

“The entire emphasis of the liquor license was predicated on this being a sustainability piece for The Nash,” Goldenthal said.

The Nash, which opened in 2012 and is named after musician Lewis Nash, is the signature venue of Jazz in Arizona Inc. Now in its fifth decade, the nonprofit continues to advocate for the Valley’s jazz community through performance, education and outreach.

Dawson’s love of jazz was lifelong. He presented live jazz for four decades at The Scottsdale Plaza Resort (JD’s Lounge) and Remington’s Restaurant and supported the work of Jazz in Arizona.

Honoring Dawson is a full-circle moment for Goldenthal. The two met in 1976, when Goldenthal played piano in the Scottsdale Sheraton Motor Inn lobby. Dawson had just pulled the hotel out of receivership.

“He had a piano player in the lobby, which was me,” Goldenthal said. “Over the next several years, Mr. Dawson reimagined that property into the Scottsdale Plaza Resort and opened a lounge called JD’s, which is where the name comes from.”

Herb Ely, a prominent civil rights attorney who recently died, and Goldenthal cofounded The Nash in Downtown Phoenix in 2012 to “give the fifth-largest city in America a place for jazz.” Liquor wasn’t available, something that stumped other Valley venues and philanthropists.

“[Patrons] said we should serve alcohol — ‘It’s a jazz place after all.’” Goldenthal said. 

But Arizona’s 300‑foot rule — no liquor within that distance of a church or school — blocked the venue from doing so. The Nash eventually secured a beer‑and‑wine license after persuading the city to declare its first entertainment district.

“The city statutes say it can have up to three entertainment zones. At that point, there had never been one declared,” Goldenthal said. 

As the club evolved — late‑night sets, a more intimate room, a growing young audience — the need for a full bar became obvious. And for Dawson, it would have been non‑negotiable.

“He always envisioned jazz with the happiness it would bring,” Lunt said. “The experience. The Scotch. The cigars. That was part of it for him.

“We’re happy to carry on what he was passionate about — supporting jazz, supporting the community, supporting the experience.”