"New York's Real Jazz Deal" ~ Manhattan
TimesReservations: Email: Gordon@BigAppleJazz.com Phone: (718) 606-8442 Fax: (212) 656-1057
"New York's Real Jazz Deal" ~ Manhattan
Times
Reservations: Email:
Gordon@BigAppleJazz.com
Phone: (718) 606-8442
Fax: (212) 656-1057
"If you want to try to hear the music in the city's
bones the way a New Yorker like me does,
take a tour like Gordon Polatnick's Big Apple Jazz Tour..." ~
Gene Santoro
from
Welcome to New
York
Gordon Polatnick's Big Apple Jazz Tours
2010 Student Jazz Tour Opportunities
Great Day in Harlem Jazz Portrait: 1958We invite groups of any size on our authentic and exciting immersions deep into the vibrant, historic New York City jazz scene. Itineraries are flexible; we will easily adjust them to your timing and budgetary needs. Big Apple Jazz, LLC has been the leader in jazz touring since 1997. Here are some ideas and associated costs for your consideration.
Fees:
Tour/immersion options: Prices start at $300 for a rich 4-hour tour
Great Day in Harlem Tour: Take a stroll on the Blvd. of Dreams and rub the lucky Tree of Hope. This tour includes sightseeing of all historic and current jazz venues within Harlem’s famous jazz neighborhoods from Jungle Alley in Central Harlem to Duke’s Place up on Sugar Hill. See the sites of the Savoy Ballroom, Cotton Club, Small’s Paradise, Connie’s Inn, and Minton’s Playhouse. This tour can be customized to include live music, clinics, the Apollo Theater tour ($18 per ticket 20 minimum), and all meals.Uptown / Downtown Tour: All the greats made their mark on the Big Apple Jazz scene and on this tour we’ll show you where it’s at! Tour includes sightseeing from Thelonious Sphere Monk Circle and Swing Street in Midtown, down to Charlie Parker Place in Greenwich Village and on up to Duke Ellington Blvd. and Nat King Cole Walk in Harlem. We’ll also stroll on the African American Walk of Fame and stop at plaques for Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Tito Puente and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson - the Mayor of Harlem. This tour can be customized to include live music, clinics, the Apollo Theater tour ($18 per ticket 20 minimum), and all meals.
Clinics: $25 per student or $300 minimum
We specialize in bringing established working musicians of New York City together with jazz music students for informative and enjoyable learning experiences tailored to your group’s interest and level. Q and A sessions can also be added so a dialogue can take place, wherein students get advice on how to get their careers started after school.Monk the Play: $50 per person or $600 minimum
The multi-talented Rome Neal transforms himself into Thelonious Monk in Laurence Holder’s one man play. After seeing the performance, Max Roach commented, “Acting was superb ... it was Monk.” We will need at least 2 months advance notice and prepayment to make this reservation.Live Jazz (Private Setting): $30 per person or $600 minimum
This is an exciting opportunity to have your group be the exclusive guests in a neighborhood Harlem apartment, brownstone speakeasy, or members’ only club. You call the tune: This can be experienced only through Big Apple Jazz and it is available any day or night at any hour. This includes 1-hour of live music and a half hour of Q and A with the musicians and hosts. Meals and drinks can be arranged at your request starting at $15 per person. For two sets of music the price is $40 per person.Live Jazz (Public): Club rate (rates vary) + 10% service fee.
New York has living legends and unsung masters of jazz performing nightly on and off the beaten path in clubs of all sizes and styles. We will help you choose the venue and performance appropriate for your group’s size, budget and musical preference from among the 300 jazz venues in the city. (Club prices range from $3 to over $50 per ticket – enough variety to suit any budget). Clubs include Birdland, Village Vanguard, Blue Note, Dizzy’s, Lenox Lounge, Smalls, St. Nick’s Pub, Showmans and many, many more. Meals are available at an additional fee – please ask. Meet and greets with the performers may be arranged at no cost – please ask.Meals: $15 - $75 +10% service fee. 10 guest minimum
Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Late Night Snacks. Meal options start at $15 for a soul food buffet, which includes a multitude of savory entrees, side dishes, desserts and a soft drink (tax and tip included). Group menus are available upon request for any type of cuisine including Caribbean, New Orleans, Italian, Sea Food, Soul Food, BBQ, or any others you may desire. Live jazz with dinner or brunch can be offered together. Let us know your preference and budget and we’ll work out the menu and reservation.Guide service: Minimum fee: $300
Guide service in English: $75 per hour, 4-hour minimum.
Guide service in other language: $100 per hour, 4-hour minimumTransportation: Minimum fee: free if walking
Touring bus: (56 seats): $200 per hour, 4-hour minimum
Mini-bus (20 seats): $150 per hour, 4-hour minimum
Van (10 seats): $125 per hour, 4-hour minimum
Limo (6-8 seats): $120 per hour, 4-hour minimum
Subway/Bus full-day pass: $10 eachReservations: Email: Gordon@BigAppleJazz.com
Phone: (718) 606-8442 Fax: (212) 656-1057
Student groups are also encouraged to book online with Zerve for a special 5-hour Sunday Jazz Tour of Harlem for only $49.00.
Or a weekend evening immersion of Harlem's jazz scene for $99.00 per ticket.
Minton’s Playhouse Harlem Speakeasy
The Big Apple Jazz Plaque Free Concert by Jimmy Heath and band
Reference: “Dear Gordon, Thanks a million for the fabulous Harlem jazz experience you mastered so wonderfully! I wish all my colleagues from the UN could hear your charming stories and insights, or the fantastic jam sessions you gave us the chance to enjoy in some cool clubs. My stay in New York would have been much poorer without this tour! Thanks for opening my eyes to the places where I can have the most authentic and thrilling jazz experiences!!! I’ll be back!” ~ Ambassador Simona Miculescu,
Permanent Representative of Romania to the UN
Big Apple Jazz Tours offers you the chance to experience the most vital and impressive jazz scene in the world through never before available tours and jazz immersions exclusively designed by Gordon Polatnick for your groups to enjoy. We built our international reputation on introducing groups of all sizes to the authentic and diverse jazz scene that could only exist in New York City: home to all the legends from Duke Ellington to John Coltrane; and all the most famous clubs from the Savoy Ballroom and Minton’s Playhouse up in Harlem, to the Vanguard and Blue Note down in Greenwich Village.
The highlight of any trip to New York is the chance to visit an intimate, off-the-beaten path neighborhood club to hear the top jazz players go at it, and then have members of your group join in the session as welcomed guests. For a comparable price, many non-performing tour groups have also valued this interactive experience high above their night as passive observers of a Broadway show – and a night of jazz includes dinner as well!
Big Apple Jazz Tours provides the guide service and organization that you can trust will deliver the kinds of experiences groups come back for year after year.
For more information please call or email Gordon Polatnick for a private consultation: (718) 606-8442 or gordon@bigapplejazz.com. All age groups are easily accommodated.
Gordon Polatnick's
REFERENCES
"I look forward to answering all your questions and am committed to helping you get the most out of your visit to New York."
Reservations: Email:
Gordon@BigAppleJazz.com
Phone: (718) 606-8442 Fax: 212
656-1057
Blues Clubs are also an option on a Big Apple Jazz Tour
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"If you want to try to hear the music in the city's bones the way a New Yorker like me does, take a tour like Gordon Polatnick's Big Apple Jazz Tour..." ~ Gene Santoro from Welcome to New York Gene Santoro is the author of Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus and Highway 61 Revisited: The Tangled Roots of American Jazz, Blues, Rock, and Country Music. He covers music for the New York Daily News and is a columnist for Chamber Music. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Post, the Village Voice, New York, the New Yorker, Discover, the American Scholar, the Atlantic Monthly, People, Entertainment Weekly, DownBeat, and Billboard. |
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"Thanks so much for putting together an unforgettable jazz evening in Harlem . The group loved being able to take the A Train into Harlem (made them feel adventuresome) as well as the outstanding dinner and music. I’m really glad I stayed and had a chance to enjoy the speakeasy. Both places, the dive and the speakeasy, sure had a great atmosphere and I loved being able to hear such great music in such a small close-up setting." ~ Catherine J. Heeg International Professional Speaker and Trainer - Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| "...thank you for last Monday night and the invaluable tips which you gave us. I was a bit suspicious at the outset of our contact as I thought I could find out most or all things from the internet. But, there is in fact, nothing which surpasses local knowledge...There are venues around town that are tourist traps and there are other venues that involve the real thing presented by real people...I want to tell you about our experiences because I am so excited by them..." ~Mark Blumberg - President Jazz Action Society SOUTH AUSTRALIA Inc. "Promoting Australian Jazz and Jazz In Australia" |
| "Thank you so much for guiding me to that fantastic Monday Night Harlem Jam. Without your help I could have never been exposed to such a wonderful true jazz experience like that in my life. I now know what is the real jazz , the music and the atmosphere." ~Osamu - Chiba, Japan. |
| "It was a dream come true for Matt as he ably played his sax with the outstanding musicians assembled. He will never forget his many solos and especially the extremely warm reception." ~Jim Kane (Matt's Father) - Auburn, MA |
| "In addition to meeting and listening to some great characters the evening had a real bonus in that I enjoyed your company so much. Thanks again for a great night." ~Brain Mate Stoke on Trent - England |
| "Your tailor-made tour of jazz clubs was the indisputable highlight of our visit to New York." ~Kees Broekhof Trombonist and jazz enthusiast, Oegstgeest, The Netherlands |
| "When I tell people about the tour, I find that I am talking about you and your style as much as the music." ~Nat Carney, York, PA |
| "These places we went to...there is no way we would have seen these places without you. We want everybody to know that this tour is a must." ~Adrian Stoppelman and Graciela Rodriguez Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| "...Gordon proved to be so thoroughly knowledgeable of jazz locales and players that he could attune the tour to our personal tastes and experience with jazz...The others in our group of Philadelphia doctors, lawyers and professors thoroughly subscribe to the above." ~Dr. Jack Dobbyn - Philadelphia, PA |
Reservations: Email: Gordon@BigAppleJazz.com Phone: (718) 606-8442 Fax: 212 656-1057
| This is a unique opportunity for seasoned fans and for the curious. New York City is the undisputed world capital of jazz. The New York music scene offers the world's top players in several clubs seven nights a week. N Y jazz fans are treated to an assortment of outstanding choices nightly: From the upscale Village venues such as Blue Note, to the vintage Harlem night clubs such as Lenox Lounge. You can experience the excitement of catching many performances around town in a single night -- often finding top players at after-hours jam sessions till 4:00 AM or later if you know where to go. Our service provides the guides and solves your transportation needs -- from individuals to large groups. Our expert consultants can also advise you where to go and how to get there if you're on a tight budget. |
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