Smalls Jazz Club

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The Smalls Jazz Club in New York City
Robert M. Rucker performing at Smalls

Smalls Jazz Club is a jazz club located at 183 West 10th Street, Greenwich Village, New York City, New York, United States.[1][2] Established in 1993, it earned a reputation in the 1990s as a "hotbed for New York's jazz talent" with a "well-deserved reputation as one of the best places in the city to see rising talent in the New York jazz scene".[3][4] Its jazz musicians are noted for being "talented, though largely unknown" while its music is characterized as "modern versions of bebop and hard bop".[5] The club's subterranean main room is in a basement, with an original capacity of 50 people,[6] later expanded to 60 people.[7] Smalls Jazz Club should not be confused with Harlem's Small's Paradise, which was founded in 1925 by Ed Smalls and closed in the 1950s.[8]

History

Smalls Jazz Club was established in 1993 by Mitchell "Mitch" Borden, a former nurse and teacher. Its atmosphere was characterized as being young, bohemian, and talkative. The music started each night at 10:30 PM and would last until 6:00 AM the following morning. The entrance fee was US$10.00; no alcohol was served.[9] Musicians who played here in their earlier years include Ehud Asherie, Ari Hoenig, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Avishai Cohen, Guillermo Klein, Mark Turner, Zaid Nasser, Sacha Perry, Jason Lindner, Lou Donaldson, and Tommy Turrentine. The house pianist was Frank Hewitt.[10]

Increasing financial difficulties led Borden to close Smalls on May 31, 2003. The closure was due declining attendance in the post-September 11 days, rent increase in this part of the city, and a smoking ban prohibiting smoking in indoor public places. Smalls' concerts moved into a pool hall next door, the Fat Cat Club,[11] which was open four nights a week until 2:00 AM. In 2004, the Brooklyn Jazz Underground premiered with four shows at Smalls.[12]

After briefly serving as a Brazilian music venue, Borden and his associates, the musicians Michael "Spike" Wilner and Lee Kostrinsky, reopened Smalls in early 2006.[7] The club was fully restored and refurbished, and the sound quality was improved. Chairs were purchased at 17 different stoop sales, there's a wall poster of Louis Armstrong, and there is a full service bar.[7] The entrance fee was raised to US$20. The first music set begins at 7:30 PM, and now, instead of the all night jazz sessions, there are two or three sets per night.[7] All concerts are broadcast live on the club website, and are available in replay. The renovated club has featured artists such as Omer Avital, Bruce Barth, Seamus Blake, Peter Bernstein, Jimmy Cobb, Steve Davis, Joel Frahm, Kevin Hays, Ethan Iverson, Jazz Incorporated (Jeremy Pelt, Anthony Wonsey, Louis Hayes), David Kikoski, Ryan Kisor, Bill Mobley, Tim Ries, Jim Rotondi and Neal Smith.

Recording labels

The Impulse! Records label recorded several albums here in the 1990s, including Live at Smalls. The club has its own record labels, Smalls Records under label owner and producer Luke Kaven,[10] and SmallsLive.

Discography, Impulse! Records, The Smalls Years

  • Jazz Underground – Live At Smalls (compilation)
  • Omer Avital Group – Kentucky Girl
  • Charles Owens Quartet – Scenic Roots
  • Jason Lindner Big Band – Exophony
  • Zaid Nasser Quartet – Everything Happens To Me
  • Across 7th Street – The Kettle Is Whistling
  • Frank Hewitt Sextet – Prince Albert

Discography, Smalls Live

The new owners of Smalls created their own jazz label, Smalls Live, which publishes some concerts at the club. It is distributed by Harmonia Mundi.

  • Planet Jazz – Live At Smalls (8 and 9 January 2010)
  • Ethan Iverson Trio – Live At Smalls (16, 17, 18 November 2009)
  • Jim Rotondi Quintet – Live At Smalls (21 and 22 October 2009)
  • Seamus Blake Quintet – Live At Smalls (August 31 and September 1, 2009)
  • Neal Smith Quintet – Live At Smalls (23 and 24 August 2009)
  • Ian Hendrickson-Smith Septet – Live At Smalls (8 and 9 February 2008)
  • Steve Davis Quintet – Live At Smalls (7 and 8 January 2009)
  • Peter Bernstein Quartet – Live At Smalls (17 and 18 December 2008)
  • David Kikoski Trio – Live At Smalls (18 and 19 November 2008)
  • Kevin Hays, Doug Weiss, Bill Stewart – Live At Smalls (13 and 14 August 2008)
  • Ryan Kisor Quintet – Live At Smalls (16 and 17 May 2008)
  • Bernstein, Goldings, Stewart - Live At Smalls (6, 7, 8 January 2011)

Discography, other recordings at Smalls

  • Yves Brouqui – Live at Smalls (Elabeth, 2001)
  • Richie Vitale Quintet – Live At Smalls (TCB Records, 1997)
  • Kurt Rosenwinkel – Live At Smalls, Vol. 1 (Bootleg, 1999)
  • Kurt Rosenwinkel – East Coast Love Affair (Fresh Sound, 1996)

References

  1. ↑ Zibart, Eve (6 April 2010). The Unofficial Guide to New York City. John Wiley and Sons. p. 451. ISBN 978-0-470-63723-4. Retrieved 9 April 2012. 
  2. ↑ Otis, Ginger Adams; Greenfield, Beth; Louis, Regis St. (1 August 2010). New York City. Lonely Planet. p. 309. ISBN 978-1-74179-591-2. Retrieved 9 April 2012. 
  3. ↑ Traditional Jazz Club of Toronto (2005). Coda. J. Norris. p. 33. Retrieved 9 April 2012. 
  4. ↑ Meyers, Joseph; Han, Katie; Davis, Allison (8 September 2008). Inside New York 2009. Inside New York. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-892768-41-4. Retrieved 9 April 2012. 
  5. ↑ Shearer, James Edward (August 2002). Jazz basics: a brief overview with historical documents and recordings. Kendall/Hunt. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-7872-9556-1. Retrieved 10 April 2012. 
  6. ↑ Trager, James (26 October 2004). The New York Chronology: The Ultimate Compendium of Events, People, and Anecdotes from the Dutch to the Present. HarperCollins. p. 415. ISBN 978-0-06-074062-7. Retrieved 9 April 2012. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Dollar, Steve (23 January 2007). Jazz Guide: New York City. New York Review of Books. pp. 31, 32, 33–. ISBN 978-1-892145-43-7. Retrieved 10 April 2012. 
  8. ↑ Kirchner, Bill (14 July 2005). The Oxford Companion To Jazz. Oxford University Press. pp. 725–. ISBN 978-0-19-518359-7. Retrieved 10 April 2012. 
  9. ↑ Sandke, Randy (2010). Where the Dark and the Light Folks Meet: Race and the Mythology, Politics, and Business of Jazz. Scarecrow Press. pp. 161–. ISBN 978-0-8108-6652-2. Retrieved 10 April 2012. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Jazz times. Jazztimes. 2007. pp. 117, 150. Retrieved 10 April 2012. 
  11. ↑ New York Times Guides (18 November 2004). The New York Times Guide to New York City 2005. New York Times Books. p. 316. ISBN 978-1-930881-10-5. Retrieved 9 April 2012. 
  12. ↑ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 16 December 2006. pp. 42–. ISSN 00062510. Retrieved 10 April 2012. 

External links

Coordinates: 40°44′4″N 74°0′10″W / 40.73444°N 74.00278°W / 40.73444; -74.00278

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