With almost every important jazz musician from around the world spending at least some portion of their career here in New York City since the 1910’s, we are blessed with a jazz tradition that is deep and varied and has only grown in stature to this day – only slightly dinged by the pandemic.  I have noticed a craving for live music and am happy to report that the clubs are starting to thrive again.       As someone who has been actively seeking out live jazz nightly in Manhattan for over 25 years, (with my explorations having ..read more

Harlem Jazz Crawl and Harlem Joint Tour guide, Gordon Polatnick.        When I started leading jazz tours in New York City back in 1997, part of my business model was to cater to those who wanted the insider knowledge without the tour.  I would have been my best client if I were able to split myself into two.  Sometimes you just want to be on a romantic date, or alone at the bar soaking in the sounds and the vibes of a great jazz session.  I used to get requests all the time from groups of guys, or company teams who just wanted to know where they could go t ..read more

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 as we did prior to March 2020.  In March 2021 we were able to start touring again – taking guests to live jazz performances in only one club per night, which was a blessing, hearing some of the most joyous nights of music we ever witnessed.   Nowadays, we are happy to report that hearing live jazz in two clubs per night is becoming typical on certain nights of the week.  Importantly, some regularly scheduled outdoor jazz events ..read more

     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 against all odds to remain in business during this extended lockdown.        Performers and performance venues were likely hit the hardest as precautionary health regulations were applied to their livelihoods without commensurate economic safeguards.  Legally halted from making a living, they should be considered for assistance or other relief.      In two heartbreaking and im ..read more

The Jazz Church by Gordon Polatnick Originally published in the Haight Ashbury Free Press circa 1995   Sometimes I think I’m the only one who understands what true religion is.   It’s that cozy state of mind where nothing is more apparent than the unassailable fact that each of us belongs here on Earth, and is deeply loved by an enduring spirit. If you’ve got that kind of religion, you want to share it. If you’ve really got that kind of religion nobody will mistake you for a used god salesman.  That’s your litmus test, my proselytizing friend, turn one person off and i ..read more

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 the early 2000’s when we each opened a Harlem jazz spot within a few blocks of the other.   Bill’s Place, 148 West 133rd Street, is now one of the most important jazz spots in NY as it literally ties Prohibition Era speakeasy jazz history with the modern jazz scene of today.  Serendipitously, Bill opened his club in the brownstone where Billie Holiday was discovered by John Hammond back in 1933.   The ..read more

As the winter of 2020 sets in, Big Apple Jazz is offering private tours during the day with a “Harlem Beat of the Streets” theme.  After owning a Harlem jazz cafe, and decades of experience as a tour guide locally and internationally I am doing what feels best in the moment: a relaxed, comfortable walking tour that shows off an historic neighborhood as it is in the exact moment of the visit. I should coin a phrase to explain how being in the moment is an unusual theme for a tour because typically there are schedules to keep and an agenda to strictly follow so the guest gets all that is pr ..read more

     If you’re a hopeless romantic pining for a sepia toned, 100 year ago version of New York City you will marvel at how well-preserved Harlem still appears to be.  If coming from the laughably tall and thin sky-scraper race to the clouds on 57th Street, it’s strangely comforting to note that the buildings on the south side of 125th Street between the 7th and 8th Avenues are all dwarfed by the mere 13-storied, (century old and still beautiful) Hotel Theresa.  The 2008 financial meltdown and this coronavirus pandemic have unwittingly conspired to slow down 21st centu ..read more

Everyone is asking the same question and dealing with the same conundrum: Is indoor jazz clubbing out of the question during COVID in NYC, and if not, how does it work?  New York got hit so hard at the start of Covid that the lockdown period was followed by a very prudent and organized phased reopening strategy.  At the end of September Phase 4 allowed for indoor dining restricted to 25% occupancy – which includes the possibility to reopen some live music venues. Taking the lead in Harlem for indoor entertainment is Silvana and Shrine, who hit the ground running in mid-October by str ..read more

During the months following the “stay at home” orders that kept New York City quieter than it had ever been, I ventured out briefly to see for myself what was happening on 125th Street, one of the busiest boulevards in Harlem.  My son, Eli, shot the video of poignantly empty sidewalks and shuttered retail shops in the middle of the day as I drove east between Frederick Douglass and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvds.  across from the Apollo Theater.  Of particular interest are the murals by Harlem’s famed artist, Franco the Great, who’s security gate paintings will be moved or destro ..read more