Almost Forgotten: The NYC Jazz Club
How New York City jazz clubs are navigating openings and closures due to the pandemic in 2022
When New York University student Ria Patel played her saxophone at her first ever live jazz performance at Arthur’s Tavern in 2019, she didn’t think it would be her last time playing at the venue. She had dreamt of this moment since she was five years old, and thought that she would experience this moment in a large music hall surrounded by an exuberant audience. Arthur’s was a smaller venue, comfortably seating less than fifty people. But for some reason that meant more to Ria. In 2020, Arthur’s Tavern was temporarily shut down as a result of New York City’s pandemic restrictions. In 2021, it closed down for good.
Ria recalls sensing excitement and thrill in the air. “Arthur’s had a homely charm like no other venue in the city,” she said, “and I’ll never forget how I felt when I heard the first few claps at the end of my performance. It was intoxicating.”
With lockdowns and restrictions on sizes, the concert industry in the United States took a particularly large hit during the pandemic. But with most of the world reopening throughout 2021 and 2022 as restrictions have lifted, several large venues brought back performances and major artists announced their world tours.
Smaller venues, however, like jazz clubs, are faced with a continual struggle of whether to cater towards their audience’s needs or their landlords. Family owned establi shments like Arthur’s were forced to shut down for longer periods of time whereas other popular establishments took advantage of the ongoing pandemic and revamped their business models. But still, several jazz club owners say they are continually suffering due to issues surrounding high rent costs and smaller crowds.
New York City is a historic and cultural hub for jazz music. The art form was introduced to the neighborhood of Harlem in the 1920s after which it became an iconic aspect of the Roaring Twenties. Artists like Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, who called the city home, later helped to revolutionize jazz as a cultural institution within the Big Apple. Today, New York City boasts hundreds of historical jazz clubs of which several are at risk of shutting down or have shut down.
Arthur’s Tavern is a West Village mainstay within walking distance from Washington Square Park. For the past sixty years, Arthur’s has been serving the community with relatively inexpensive drinks as well as live jazz performances with free admission. But last summer, after jazz clubs were allowed to reopen to the general public, the management of Arthur’s Tavern chose to shut it down.
The owners of the tavern, Blue Note Entertainment, decided to shut down the club and sell the building instead. Bill Saxton, a patron for the venue, explained their decision. “The rent costs were just way too high. They were asking for thousands of dollars more than what we would make within a month of reopening. It just didn’t make sense.”
Ten blocks away from Arthur’s Tavern lies the hole in the wall, “Smalls Jazz Club”. Small’s began in the 1990’s as a refuge for underground jazz artists who are largely unknown to the public. Spike Wilner, the pianist and co-owner of Smalls jazz club, focused on reviving the institution shortly after jazz clubs were allowed to reopen. He created the SmallsLive Foundation, which specializes in the subsidization of expenses for smaller venues like Small’s to remain open. Through the foundation, Wilner was able to make Smalls, a nonprofit organization which has helped to sustain the business.
“Right now, we’re still remedying the pandemic,” Wilner remarked, as he pulled out his calculator to do some math. “The landlords have increased our rent by 30% but we’re still operating at 40% capacity. I’m hoping the foundation will take care of that for us but who knows”
There is also a large push from the local community to reopen smaller jazz venues. A petition was launched on Facebook after Arthur’s Tavern announced its closure, and it has since received over 20,000 signatures. However, Blue Note Entertainment has not responded to the backlash as of yet and Arthur’s still remains closed to the public.
While jazz clubs were deemed non essential services by the New York City government, urban jazz culture remains essential to the cultivation of urban art in Manhattan. Jazz remains an integral part of Manhattan’s story not only in the hearts of fans of the popular art form but also in the minds of academic scholars who appreciate it. Prof Matthew Kwatinetz, an Associate Professor of Real Estate Economics at NYU, also spoke of the value of paying attention to essential services like jazz clubs saying that, “We should think of culture, music and small business as necessary urban infrastructure, and that it should be treated the way we treat public transit, bridges, schools, daycare…”
There are some jazz clubs however, which have sustained an audience throughout the pandemic after reopening. Up north, in Harlem, the iconic prehistoric speakeasy Bills Place is still thriving after over a century of operation. The establishment has had a reservation system in place for the last decade due to its high demand. Reservations fill up within the first few days of their opening on the company’s website.
I’ve been coming here with my family for the past thirty years, ” said Lilia Johnson, a huge fan of Bill’s Place, who sets up a reminder on her phone when new reservations are announced. “So much has changed about Manhattan but Bill’s is still the same. I don’t think it will ever change much, and I think it’s because they’re known here for Harlem people like me.”
Despite several shutdowns and reopenings, the innovative jazz scene continues to expand throughout several boroughs in the city. In Brooklyn, the newly opened, Ornithology specifically caters towards the youth by combining vegan food with jazz music. Located in a rustic carriage house, Ornithology was created by Rie Yamaguchi-Borden and Mitchell Borden, who also co-founded Smalls jazz club. The new club focuses on not only reimagining the jazz scene but also offering space for musicians who need it.
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Source Contact Information:
Ria Patel
Bill Saxton
Spike Wilner
foundation@smallslive.com
Matthew Kwatinetz
mk7808@nyu.edu
Lilia Johnson
*Declined to provide contact information*
