9/11/2023 0 Comments Best jazz club new york![]() We lucked out by randomly hitting a show that was perfect for me: standards from the great American songbook. We really enjoyed the intimate venue and of course Charlie Musselwhite is fantastic, and a plus was that we could make an earlier train back to NJ as the concert itself was maybe 1.25 hours which was fine. Some people didn't get the right check anyway. Doors opened at 7:00 and they give you a little ticket while you are in line, to associate with your check. Staff was efficient with the checks, slow with the drinks in some cases (the couple next to us got their bottle of wine after their dinners were finished). The food looked good and large portions, but this is only observation as we didn't order it. Wine was a small pour and I don't think it was the chardonnay I ordered. No dance floor - all space covered by tables. All the seats were good, we had paid more and sat in the section nearest the stage. Tables are shared (met a nice couple next to us) and are perpendicular to the stage, so your neck may be strained a bit. But they have a blues series (is it new?) and we attended a great Charlie Musselwhite concert. Smalls is located at 183 West 10th Street between 4th Street and 7th Ave South in the West Village (21, ).We had not been to Iridium mostly because we far prefer blues over jazz. Thankfully, he was able to revive it after a few years, and aside from the no smoking, the doubled cover charge ($20, though sometimes it's $0), and the full service bar, it still feels like the old Smalls. After many returns, one day the doors were shut! Owner Mitch Borden had gone bankrupt-surely the fact that he had only been making money off a $10 cover (which you could talk down easily if you were short on cash) did not help. The space was raw, but filled with music and people who wanted to be around that music-and you could head there any time, day or night or dawn. ![]() It was BYOB, and you could sit and drink out of a mug and smoke your cigarettes while listening to whatever stellar musicians were sweating away on the small stage in front of you. SMALLS: A million years ago a friend brought me to Smalls jazz club, a dark little cave down some stairs on West 10th Street. Shows are technically free, though you'll probably be solicited for a (worthy) $10 donation in addition to jazz, they've also got lots of global music, including a stellar Slavic Soul Party, and weekly performances by Brooklyn-based cumbia band Chicha Libre and the Guinean Mandingo Ambassadors.īarbes is located at 376 9th Street between 6th and 7th Ave in Park Slope, Brooklyn (34, ). Village Vanguard is located at 178 7th Ave South between Perry Street and Waverly Place in the West Village (21, ).īARBES: This intimate jazz-meets-beer-bar in Park Slope isn't as flashy as some of the city's bigger joints, but performances here are so finely curated, and the bartenders are so sublimely laid back it'll impress even the snobbiest and most claustrophobic jazz fan. For the second half of September the Bill Charlap trio will be packing them in. On the other hand, the club is small enough that there isn't a bad seat in the house, acoustically. Seating is first-come, first-serve, and it doesn't hurt to show up a half hour early if you want the prime positions by the band. Tickets are $25 each, plus a one drink minimum. The room still resonates with those vibrations. The seating can be cramped, and if you don't get there early you may end up swiveling your head like an owl to see the band, but the Vanguard isn't about watching, it's about closing your eyes and being transported by some of the most acclaimed jazz musicians in the world. Referred to by some musicians as "the Carnegie Hall of jazz" the little room boasts excellent acoustics and perfectly subdued mood lighting to accompany the often thrilling performances. VILLAGE VANGUARD: This 78-year-old subterranean West Village temple to jazz is arguably the most serious club in town.
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