Jam Sessions in New York City

TBL · New Member Joined: 07 Sep 2019 Posts: 1

I'll be in New York City in two weeks time (21/22 Sept) and I wonder if there are any venues which host amateur jazz jam sessions you could recommend?

HERMOKIWI · Heavyweight Member Joined: 24 Dec 2008 Posts: 2581

Smalls Jazz Club, 183 West 10th Street, has an afternoon jam session scheduled from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The times are misleading, however, because the house band plays until about 5:15 p.m. and they try to wind things down at about 6:45 p.m. so the jam session is more like 1 1/2 hours than the 3 hours advertised. It is a good jam session however. You can play on every tune if you want to.
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markp · Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 6:01 am Post subject:

When I was in NYC a few weeks ago there was a great one several nights a week at Cleopatra's Needle I believe on the Upper West Side. There was no cover and the food was great and it wasn't really crowded the nights I went.

The players that sat in were mostly great, but a couple who weren't as good seemed to be treated with courtesy and encouragement.

http://www.cleopatrasneedleny.com

lakejw · Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 8:34 am Post subject:

Weekends are tougher for jam sessions...most of the 'variety' of sessions happens on weeknights, when a lot of cats are off of gigs.

Smalls's early session is a good bet, they also have a nightly "after hours" session that begins at 1AM. Though, as someone else commented, the won't start bringing people up until 2-2:30AM (and that's if they started on time).

Fat Cat is close to Smalls, and has a similar after-hours session. I might recommend that one for the 21st because it's being led by trumpeter Greg Glassman, who I wholly recommend anyone should go see. Incredible musician and a very gracious session leader. Also it's cheap to get in - only $3 if memory serves.

That whole area is a haven for visiting musicians because you have Smalls, Mezzrow, Fat Cat, and 55 Bar all within a few blocks of each other. Plus, a ticket at Smalls works at Mezzrow and vice versa, so you get two clubs for the price of one.

Also, I should issue a caveat, I'm not sure what you mean by "amateur", but the players at these sessions can be somewhat serious, particularly the late night session. If you're not comfortable playing tunes from memory, transposing keys on the band stand, or already have a headful of standards, etc...you might have a bad experience with some folks vibing you. Not trying to scare you, and no judgement here, just the facts! Smalls's early session can be better for less experienced players, because you have a lot of younger students coming in, that can't come to the late session.
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Turkle · Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:38 am Post subject:

theslawdawg · Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 10:41 am Post subject:

This is a great thread. We are visiting NYC in a few months. Taking notes!
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