The New Moulin Rouge

There's a part of many people that wants to sit down behind a set of drums and see how well they fare.

At the New Moulin Rouge on Rutledge Avenue, walking up from the crowd, checking out the drum kit and deciding to play is perfectly acceptable behavior. Encouraged even.

In France, the Moulin Rouge was and is just that: a place where anything goes. The Parisian cabaret introduced the modern-day can-can and made red lights seem more imaginative than anything else.

It still evokes the grandeur and somewhat provocative nature cultivated inside the red windmill around the turn of the century.

In Charleston, the New Moulin Rouge is known as one of the bars with a mixed crowd. Owner Bill Wilson has been cultivating that accepting vibe since the mid '90s.

"The bar is musically geared. People can come in to listen to music. To play music. And it doesn't matter: Music doesn't have color."

During Wednesday and Sunday jazz nights, patrons can leave their seats not only to dance, but to join the band, once on drums and once on bass guitar when I was there.

"The guys that are playing now came in to play one night and just kept coming back," Wilson says.

Wilson started out playing in The Secrets in 1997, and decided he wanted to start a band for the New Moulin Rouge when they broke up. He met a bass player, they kept the same name and slowly recruited patrons to join their twice-weekly jazz nights.

The guys used to play until morning until the 2 a.m. bar closure ordinance.

"We've been trying to gain momentum again ever since. The crowd is finally blossoming," Wilson says.

The guys start earlier now. Regulars saunter in and set up around 10 p.m.

From the stage, Wilson says, "We just like to jam. We come here and try to make someone happy."