Red Mill East / Panache

Dave DeRuyter purchased The Red Mill in Brookfield in 1992 and, in 1994, opened an additional location, the Red Mill East, at 4034 West Good Hope Road. Initially, local jazz musicians such as Melvin Rhyne, Chuck Hedges, and Mary White were featured. Jessie Hauck performed her final gig at the Red Mill East on May 17, 1995, before she was tragically killed a week later in a car accident. In 1996, DeRuyter began to feature nationally known jazz artists and, over the next several years, presented one of the most impressive lineups ever featured at a Milwaukee jazz club. Some of the artists who performed included Nancy Wilson, Jeff Lorber, Diana Krall, Ramsey Lewis, Dave McKenna, Frank Morgan, Kevin Mahogany, Dianne Schuur, Steve Allen, the Yellowjackets, Benny Green, Marlena Shaw, George Shearing, Buddy Montgomery, Joe Williams, Angela Bofill, Bob James, Monty Alexander, Jack McDuff, Roy Hargrove, Kurt Elling, John Pizzarelli, Joshua Redman (with Brian Blade, Larry Grenadier, and Brad Mehldau), Dave Weckl, Freddy Cole, John Scofield, and Cleo Laine. In 1997, DeRuyter opened New York, New York Café and Lounge in the basement to feature local players after the national acts performed upstairs. In the fall of 1998, he temporarily closed for renovations with the goal of adding recording equipment to tape performances before a live audience for cable television. In the summer of 1999, he began offering outdoor performances on the venue’s grounds. The star-studded lineup included Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter as a duo, McCoy Tyner, Diana Krall, and others. The budget was set with an expectation of 1,500 attendees per show, but the concerts averaged around 750—a financial setback for the venue. Nevertheless, DeRuyter continued presenting local and nationally known artists until he passed away in 2002, and the venue closed. In 2004, Erin Hackney and Daniel Vaughn opened Panache, a restaurant and nightclub on the same site, and presented jazz through the summer of 2005, when it closed. It reopened in 2010 for about a year as ARJ's Panache Lounge, again featuring live jazz.