Smalls Jazz Club — Restaurant in New York

First of all, the club experience itself was very good: Very nicely decorated walls and ceiling, enough seating for the most visitors (not the case in all Jazzclubs around NYC), nice atmosphere and the drinks were great at a reasonable price. We were there at a Monday so I can not say how it is at the weekend but under the week it was not to crowded and there was no long line outside the club. If you just want to enjoy a drink, experience a "jazz club like"-bar or want to pretend you know jazz-perfect, except we paid over 24$ each for 45 mins of music, which is quite expensive compared to other Jazz clubs i went in NYC and Hamburg, Germany. If you want to experience for true Jazz though, DON'T VISIT! I can only speak for the group that played tonight, the Jonathan Barber Quartet, but after many great visits at Jazzclubs in NYC and Hamburg I get the impression that those guys are NOT EXPERIENCED in Jazz music and DON'T UNDERSTAND NOTHING OF MUSIC at all. It might have been an attempt of freejazz, but there was no substantial improvisation. Just playing random licks and loud high notes, unfitting and pretending to improvise. A standard Jazz improvisation starts with the introduction of a motive, often a jazz standard. The band just skipped this important part in two of three played pieces. After the introduction every instrument improvises above the motive. ABOVE THE MUSICAL MOTIVE, NOT JUST PLAY FREE LICKS THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MOTIVE!!!! The trumpet player always just played etudes, fast up and downplays. Although modern forms of freejazz don't have strict harmony, it is highly recommend to play the melody in the same pitch as the piano playing in the background. As an improvising musician things like hearing scales and adjusting the improvisement to it is standard. NO ONE in the group was able to do this. As well as this there was no interaction between the instruments, SUBSTANTIAL!!! And in the end, instead of leading back to the motive, the group just stopped and played the beginning again. I could continue like this for hours but I hope that those of you that understand enough of music to understand this stay away from that place and the other ones, the ones that were pretending to enjoy the "music" continue to hurt their ears. Miles Davis once said to Herbie Hancock, there are no wrong notes you can play when you can continue your play reasonable. The important part of the message is the "reasonable" not the "no wrong notes" ; )

Respond to Owner: I forgive you. You only want to protect your business and thats valid. Please don't get rude, we're all just humen. As a sign of my forgiving I changed the overall rating to 5 of 5 stars since this is the only thing you care about. Maybe I understand your kind of music one...

Smalls lives up to the reputation of being the more down-to-earth newer, up-and-coming version of the Vanguard. It is located in West Village, and the door is so small and unassuming you WILL miss it walking by, if it weren't for the small wooden tent sign on the sidewalk with the show times and artists listed. While waiting for my friend to show up I witnessed no less than 4 groups of people wandering around trying to find the place. The cover is $20/person, but there is pretty much an unspoken 1 drink minimum, as the bar waitress is UNRELENTING and you will feel real bad not getting at least a cup of coffee for $3. Beers start at $5 and go up from there.

We went to the 7:30p show for the Jochen Rueckert Quartet, it was not yet fully packed, but most of the seats were full at 7:30pm. We had to sit at the rear benches without backs, which was not friendly to people with old or weak backs. As the night went on into the second set the crowd thickened, and came many folks who must have mistaken a jazz venue for just another village bar...unfortunately. Many in the front kept trying to "shish" them up, but to no avail. The musicians just kept their heads down and did their thing.

On to the music...Jochen Rueckert is a German native drummer who composes for his own quartet. The music was post-bop modern, what I call NY jazz. They started off the first set with a bossa that was more bebop, and for the rest of the night they never looked back. The musicianship is stellar, as is most of the programming at Smalls. The group was enjoyable, but the saxophonist looked like he was pissed off most of the night. I guess that's just his game face. I thought, man he needs a different game face badly, as the rest of the band did not look pissed. They all looked like they were having fun, especially Jochen. Oh well.

I am thrilled that a place like Smalls exists, is successful, and has "made" it, in no small part due to their online streaming platform that develops an online audience of raving fans for the venue itself. It is a business model that needs to be duplicated 100x across the country. It give jazz lovers hope that jazz is still alive, and that a new Vanguard is still possible in the internet/Spotify age.

Save the folks that were lost and should have ended up hitting on girls in Washington Square instead (they lost one star for that), Smalls is the place to be. If you're a jazz lover, this is a pilgrimage, after you go to the Vanguard if...

Difficult to encapsulate the whole experience into a concise review, but I'll try. I saw Joe Magnarelli Quintet here on my blessed birthday, 12/08/2023. The Quintet was fantastic. Piano, upright bass, trombone, percussion, and Joe on the trumpet. The set was brilliant, with Freddie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon, and my personal favorite Herbie Hancock represented. There was also a Christmas tune in there, but they did a good one. Much appreciation goes out to the band, who made my birthday night special. The waitress who brought drinks to our seats was also very good, she was prompt to get us another round but did not inordinately obstruct our view of the performance. Drinks are a little pricey but it's to be expected in a specialty venue such as this. There is a one-drink minimum but not any sort of strict dress code. I was dressed in khakis and a sweater and I felt completely comfortable. The name is very appropriate, as it is a very small basement joint, and the place fills up very quickly. If you're going out on a weekend, especially during the holiday season, I would highly recommend a reservation. Both the early and the late set on Friday the 8th sold completely out, so I'm glad I bought tickets in advance. It was a really fun experience and I would be very happy to have the chance to revisit this place. I only wish there were more places like it left...