A Night of Exploring Two Famous Downtown Jazz Bars 🎶

🎢After trying out all the jazz bars around Columbia University (with Google ratings above 4.5), I started exploring the jazz bars in Midtown and Downtown. Last year, in the middle of a weekday in December, I visited two historic jazz bars that are often mentioned in jazz magazines and reviews: Smalls and Mezzrow. Both are said to be owned by the same person, they share the same website, and they’re just across the street from each other. Here’s the quick conclusion first: You can switch between them, but it’s not necessary. Mezzrow is more comfortable and has a better atmosphere. 🌟 🌺 On that Thursday night, both places were packed. If I hadn’t arrived early, I wouldn’t have been able to get a ticket on the spot. According to their website, the ticket policies are the same for both. Each audience member needs to order at least one drink per set, even if it’s just a Coke. 🎢You can buy tickets directly at the venue for a discounted price of $25. After the pre-sale tickets are sold out, they reserve 15 spots for walk-in ticket buyers, but pre-booked ticket holders get priority seating. Student tickets are $10, but only for midnight shows (12AM) from Sunday to Thursday. There are no student discounts on weekends. Before the pandemic, you could use a ticket from one bar to listen at the other, but that’s no longer allowed. 🍃 You can find the daily bands for both bars on their official website, and they also offer live streams (so if you’re around, keep your voice down if you’re using recording equipment). There are three or four jazz performances each day at each venue. From my personal experience at both, the quality of the bands was excellent. Let’s start with Smalls. The stage is right at the front of the venue. The seating is quite compact, almost like being in a small classroom where everyone sits in rows to listen to a lecture, without tables or small stage boards. In terms of acoustics, it doesn’t matter if you sit at the front or the back, but if you want to take photos or record videos, it’s best to get in line early. 🌊 Mezzrow, just a few steps away in another basement, has a different layout. Unlike Smalls, which is a square space, Mezzrow is like a long corridor with the band at one end and the bar at the other, with some protruding extra spaces in between. But again, due to the compact space, it doesn’t make much difference where you sit. I sat right by the entrance door. The atmosphere is better than Smalls, with table boards, candlelight, and waitstaff coming over to take your orders. The venue host even proactively told me I could stay for the next set an hour later, which didn’t happen at Smalls—I’m not sure about their policy. 🌸 #Jazz #JazzMusic #NewYork #Exploration 🎶🌟