2024 Big Apple Jazz Scene: Harlem Jazz Clubs: Minton’s Playhouse and Beyond
by Gordon Polatnick
Happy Autumn Friends:
The Good News First: This has been a bounce-back year in the storied Harlem jazz club world, (which we’ve been tracking since 1997).
The pandemic and resulting inflationary economy has done a number on the scene. Minton’s Playhouse, which had a strong weekly schedule of excellent musicians, (and the best jam session since St. Nick’s Pub closed), shuttered itself at the start of 2023, but has been revitalized under new management this year, 2024. Coming on strong with 2 jazz sets nightly from Thursday through Sunday – adding after-hours jams till 3AM several nights a week. Thursdays are currently hosted with great passion by Mingus Big Band trumpeter, Philip Harper. Many of our Harlem Juke Joint Tours end right there so you can stay all night if you choose and even participate in the jam whether a newcomer or veteran of the scene.
On a sadder note, Harlem had lost two of the most venerated club owners to COVID-19, Al Howard of Showman’s, and Sam Hargress of Paris Blues. Both of their iconic jazz clubs (dating back to the 40’s and 60’s respectively) have not reopened. They remain unoccupied with their interiors and signage still in tact, leaving a glimmer of hope for the future – though we just got word that Showman’s is trying to sell their legendary Hammond B-3 organ. It was the last of the storied organ lounges of Harlem.
The Hammond organ sound is the historic sound of Harlem jazz for many. All the stalwart fans, still on the scene, recount the days when seemingly every street boasted a rockin’ Hammond organ lounge. On a happier note, even though no original organ lounges exist in Harlem now that Showman’s has closed, you can still dependably hear that soul jazz sound whirling out of two distinctive Central Harlem venues every Sunday: Nate Lucas keeps the faith in the Red Rooster, while Greg Lewis holds it down at The American Legion Post #398 only 8 blocks away. (The Big Apple Jazz Harlem Juke Joint Tour on Sundays will undoubtedly get you to one of these two shows).
In another part of Harlem, we used to love to take folks to two wonderful newer clubs on Sugar Hill that have also closed now, The Cloak Room and The Porch. Thank goodness though for Berta Indeed and Marjorie Eliot who, respectively, have a heroic track record of keeping the jazz scene alive on Sugar Hill going into their 3rd decade of live shows: Marjorie, at her Triple Nickel apartment concerts every Sunday (now Friday and Saturday too); and Berta, currently curating the fantastic weekly Friday night shows at Hamilton’s Bar and Kitchen, and Sunday afternoons at Ralph Ellison Memorial: Invisible Man park at 150th and Riverside 2pm-5pm.
Just down from Sugar Hill near the site of 2 sports meccas: the old Polo Grounds and Rucker Park, is an unlikely pairing that juxtaposes the old and new school Harlem jazz scenes: Lucille’s plays host to the young lions’ jam sessions weekly on Wednesdays featuring vocalists; and Thursdays featuring talented trombonist, Rashaan Salaam, leading a straight ahead jam session. While just two blocks away, Patrick’s Place, which is not only home to the best jerk chicken in Harlem, it is also home to the venerable jazz legends of Harlem who have weekly residencies there. You can catch swinging bands with vocalists every Thursday; Harlem sax legend Patience Higgins’ concert and jam sessions every Friday; a variety of great bands, Saturdays; and Boncellia Lewis’ jazzy gospel brunch every Sunday.
There is a great sense of the old school Harlem jazz scenes dotting the Central Harlem corridor as well in hidden jazz haunts way off the beaten path. Witness 449 LA SCAT and New Amsterdam Musical Association (NAMA) with their completely authentic Harlem jazz showcases. NAMA has been in the same location since 1922 – reportedly, as the nation’s first Black musicians union. Founding members included James Reece Europe and Eubie Blake. 449 has been a hidden-in-plain-sight gem since the early 2000’s – there for all to see right on Lenox Ave, and right around the corner from Harlem’s prohibition era “Swing Street” – once dotted with speakeasies 100 years ago, giving 133rd Street its name and reputation for good music and a good time.
Today, Swing Street – 133rd – is dotted with only one club -Bill’s Place – resurrected from a long-forgotten venue where a young Bille Holiday was spotted singing in 1933 by a young John Hammond. Hammond went on to aid her career, likewise the careers of Bessie Smith, Count Basie and Benny Goodman. (Later he would shepherd the careers of Dylan, Aretha, and even Springsteen).
But these ghosts of the Harlem Renaissance/Prohibition Era jazz scene are still haunting Bill’s Place every Friday and Saturday along with their 21st Century counterparts. It’s not a nostalgia scene other than the setting. Instead expect these seasoned players, led by Bill Saxton, to be blowing harder than hard for two sets every weekend.
The Harlem jazz scene that your author encountered in 1997 when St. Nick’s Pub was leading the charge of making sure jazz was swinging nightly, is no more. We cannot point to one club today that books jazz 7 nights a week as they do Downtown and Midtown. We gave it a try with EZ’s Woodshed, Big Apple Jazz’s day club, offering jazz starting at 2PM daily from 2006 to 2008. Nowadays, you may find that Shrine and Silvana are making strides to offer a lot of jazz but they are world music venues, so the schedule is a mixed bag. Minton’s and Room 623 show signs of expanding their calendar and may one day be counted on for just such jazz consistency – stay tuned. In the meantime, Gordon Polatnick and Amanda Humes are keeping tabs on the scene for you and can be counted on to show you where the best players and best vibes are happening nightly. See our Harlem and Private Tour links below.
Paris Blues, Harlem. Photo Credit: Gordon Polatnick. All rights reserved
Showmans, Harlem. Photo Credit: Gordon Polatnick. All rights reserved
PEACE
For an in-depth walking tour or step-on licensed guide service of these historic Harlem jazz sites, you can contact Gordon at Big Apple Jazz Tours to make arrangements.