Big Apple Jazz

Tree of Hope Story on Podcast

October 28, 2024 Harlem’s Tree of Hope: 90th Anniversary: November 4th 1934       Harlem’s Tree of Hope: 90th Anniversary: November 4th 1934 Big Apple Jazz Tours takes visitors to see where the Tree of Hope stump was placed and explains what happened to it.  Visit the jazz tour pages and select the Harlem Juke Joint […]

“Bebopping…” The 1st blog blast from the past.

October 21, 2024 “Bebopping…” The 1st blog blast from the past.       “Bebopping…” The 1st blog blast from the past. Marcus Persiani, Avi Cohen, Patience Higgins, Wayne Escoffery – St. Nick’s Pub jam session Having just discovered this vintage blog post from the “smoking-in-clubs-days” on an old hard drive, I rush now to chuck it […]

Harlem Jazz Club Survey 2024

September 26, 2024 2024 Big Apple Jazz Scene: Harlem Jazz Clubs: Minton’s Playhouse and Beyond       2024 Big Apple Jazz Scene: Harlem Jazz Clubs: Minton’s Playhouse and Beyond NAMA – New Amsterdam Musical Association – photo by Gordon Polatnick Happy Autumn Friends: The Good News First: This has been a bounce-back year in the storied […]

Harlem Jazz Tour Recap

February 27, 2023 Jazzy Fun with ChatGPT and the Duke Ellington Memorial       Jazzy Fun with ChatGPT and the Duke Ellington Memorial I was wondering if ChatGPT, the latest Artificial Intelligence phenomenon, would be a useful tool for blogging about jazz subjects that I’m interested in, so I started a chat about Billie Holiday and I found […]

Manhattan Jazz Clubs Open Oct 2021

October 7, 2021 COVID Current List of Open Manhattan Jazz Clubs – OCT. 2021       COVID Current List of Open Manhattan Jazz Clubs – OCT. 2021 The light at the end of the tunnel report – We are finding it difficult to pull together jazz tours that can get to three clubs a night within 4-5-hours […]

NYC Jazz Clubs: COVID Survival

December 29, 2020 Still Life: NYC Jazz Clubs – COVID – Survival Score Card       Still Life: NYC Jazz Clubs – COVID – Survival Score Card      As we head into the 9th month of pandemic deprivation, we are not confident that jazz life will ever resemble pre-COVID status.   All music venues struggle […]

Bill Saxton’s Holiday Jazz Stream

December 23, 2020 Bill Saxton – Harlem’s Saxa Claus – Streaming Holiday Cheer       Bill Saxton – Harlem’s Saxa Claus – Streaming Holiday Cheer I met Bill Saxton at St. Nick’s Pub one Friday night in 1997 during one of his weekly gigs.  Over the years we have remained friendly, our lives intersecting significantly in […]

Church of Coltrane Jazz Legacy

December 23, 2020 The Church of Saint John Coltrane – A Blast from the Past       The Church of Saint John Coltrane – A Blast from the Past   The Jazz Churchby Gordon PolatnickOriginally published in the Haight Ashbury Free Press circa 1995     Sometimes I think I’m the only one who understands what true religion […]