- Most Popular Tour!
Your Harlem jazz tour guide customizes the best itinerary for each given night, based on the most talented players in Harlem’s most exciting jazz clubs.
Quick Details
Don’t Miss This Intimate NYC Jazz Tour
Want to customize your NYC jazz experience? With a private group tour, we can arrange a visit to an old Harlem speakeasy and get to do a workshop with a local musician for an additional $40 per person; or arrange for some of your talented members to join a jam session (price depends on the day of the week).
We can visit a Harlem brownstone and arrange a private recital for the group to fit their itinerary for $35 per person. There is no limit to what can be accomplished, and we work hard to suit any budget. The important thing is getting exactly what you want out of your Big Apple Jazz experience. Live jazz styles available are limitless here in New York City: Swing, Vocals, Bebop, Latin, Soul Jazz, Acid Jazz, Blues, Fusion, Trad., Modern, Free and from soloists to orchestras – everything is here.
Seven nights a week, anytime from early evening to 12AM., some great live jazz can be found playing somewhere in town. Big Apple Jazz Tours is the only tour company in New York that is capable of getting you where you’re going and getting it done right.
Sample options
- Weekend jazz brunch: $60 per person
- Jazz w/ dinner: $110 per person
- Jazz set (without food or drink): $35 per person
- Great Day in Harlem Tour: 5-hours of mini-bus sightseeing, and live music in two clubs, plus a delicious soul food dinner: $199 per person.
- Private tour guide service to historical jazz sites of New York – 4-hours: $150/per hour. Group price: $600. Plus expenses.
Sample Itineraries
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1:00PM – Pick Up from your hotel by Gordon Polatnick, founder of Big Apple Jazz Tours. We will start with a short drive with commentary up to Harlem, the cradle of the New York jazz scene since the early decades of the last century.
1:30PM – Our route will take us past the Apollo Theater for a photo stop, and the Legendary Tree of Hope on our way to visit the home of Harlem’s jazz and theater hostess, Marjorie Eliot, for a private recital in her living room. Marjorie’s apartment building, The Triple Nickel, was also home to jazz greats Count Basie, Johnny Hodges, Andy Kirk among others. A jazz trio will play the standards Ellington, Strayhorn and other composers who’ve left their mark on world culture from their Harlem home base.
2:30PM – A special stop up the street to browse in a vintage jazz bookstore housed in a Harlem brownstone; or to see the oldest residence in Manhattan, the Morris-Jumel Mansion, and its lovely grounds leading to the most charming and picturesque hidden street in NYC: Sylvain Terrace. This hill-top oasis offers wonderful views of Yankee Stadium across the Harlem River.
3:00PM – The next portion of the tour is dedicated to learning about and visiting the sites that made jazz history such as the sites of the original Cotton Club, Savoy Ballroom, Minton’s Playhouse, Small’s Paradise, Connie’s Inn, as well as the Sugar Hill and Striver’s Row homes of Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Mary Lou Williams, Eubie Blake and others. And if time and weather permit, take a short walk along the Harlem Walk of Fame to the site of the original Big Apple jazz club.
5:00PM – We will conclude the tour back at your hotel in time to rest up for a great evening of jazz..
Total: $1500 divided by number of participants (included mini-bus seats up to 34 guests at a time). No food included.
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You will be picked-up from your hotel by Gordon Polatnick, founder of Big Apple Jazz Tours, for an evening of great jazz and delicious soul food in a fabulous supper club in the heart of the jazz district of Harlem. Our route will take us past some of the finest row houses and brownstones created over a hundred years ago by the best architects of New York.
Your menu choices will consist of a variety of delectable Southern and Caribbean cooking options including: Pan Seared Salmon, Honey BBQ Baby Back Ribs, Sautéed Shrimp, Chicken & Waffles and Centered-cut Pork Chops. Desserts include: Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie, Homemade Bread & Butter Pudding w/rum and caramel sauce and Peach Cobbler. Side dishes include collard greens, plantains, macaroni and cheese, corn bread and other delights, coffee or tea and a soft drink round out the menu for a superbly savory meal.
One of the finest female vocalists from the Harlem jazz scene and her quartet will be on hand to serenade us for two magnificent sets of standards and foot stompers. And you never know who will walk in off the street to sit in.
10:30PM Back at hotel. It will be an evening you will not forget that delivers on Harlem’s historic promise that it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
$750 for transportation by mini-bus up to 34 guests
$400 for licensed guide service for up to 4-hours. Including sightseeing and commentary.$25 for 2 sets of jazz.
$50 for 2 course meal and soft drink, with no alcohol, or
$75 for a 3 course meal adding dessert and coffee/tea.
All taxes and gratuities are included in price quotes.