Sometimes there are simply not enough hours in the day. Tonight I’m missing a show at the Walnut Room with the Crystal Skulls and Helio Sequence that has been on my calendar for weeks… but it’s 10 p.m. and I haven’t even washed my hair today. There is no way I’m going to make it. I know I’m getting older when leaving to go out on the town at 10 no longer seems like a bright idea on a Monday. Not too long ago I would have been heading out to catch Skunk Motel at the Snakepit, which never really started until 11 p.m. (Mondays are now men’s night, where guys drink free from 9 p.m. to midnight, just fyi for the guys.) Those were also the days when a morning coffee and a breakfast burrito made everything right, and work resumed daily at 9 a.m., no problem. Sadly, that stopped working right about the time I hit 29, (where I plan to stay for a few more years) and it’s been a slippery slope ever since.

Now when I go out on a Monday, the new rule is that if I’m not out of the house by 8 p.m., it’s probably not gonna happen. Girlie here needs her beauty sleep, you know. So last week, when I did motivate and get my butt out of my home-office-slash-dungeon at a decent hour, it was clearly far too early to find a rockin’ dance scene. So I went to Dazzle, where the jazz music starts at happy hour and goes all through the night.

Owner Donald Rossa just signed a new 5-year lease on the cozy little supper club, and he’s been busy remodeling to celebrate. He’s doing it in phases to help balance the costs (and not jack up prices, thankfully) so it’s a work in progress. But he started with the basics, and so far the first round offers several key improvements. The sound is now buffered between the cocktail lounge and the main stage and supper club side, thanks to lots of sound-absorbing wall and ceiling panels. The supper club now offers better sight lines; the old booths, which were formerly arranged so that one side faced opposite the stage, now offer everyone a view of the performances.

Of course, the weekly jazz shows continue as usual, and the comfort-food menu still has the mac & cheese and the $5 small plates. The next round of renovations will add more sparkle to the space, to better reflect its name, so look for sputnik chandeliers, a shimmery new bar, and other details to spruce it up. In the meantime, it’s a sure bet for good food, great music, and a place to go when you’d rather be heading homeward by 10 p.m.