My Favorite Live Jazz Venues in NYC

Village Vanguard:  178 Seventh Ave. South, just below 11th St.  The best of the best.  Some of the best live recordings of all time happened here, my favorite place to hear music.  Awkward room (long and narrow) but walk down the steep steps into history.  Opened by Max Gordon in 1935 (who passed away in 1989), it was run for many years by his wife Lorraine until she passed away in 2018.  Read her autobiography Alive at the Village Vanguard, it's a fascinating book that chronicles her life in jazz and two husbands - first Blue Note Records founder Alfred Lion, then Max Gordon.  Talk about classic doubleheaders.  There was a great 2007 feature about her on NPR. 

Smalls:  183 West 10th Street (at 7th Ave) and its sibling Mezzrow next door at 163 West 10th (mellower, sort of like the old Bradley's) are both run by the SmallsLive Foundation.  They are great late night spots just down the block from the Vanguard.  Many sets per night of different artists starting early and running until long past your bedtime. 

Smoke:  2751 Broadway (106th St.).  212-864-6662. Uptown, great artists (with a Chicago core) and very good food, a first class sound system, and an elegant setting.  Ideal for a date night or Sunday Brunch.

Blue Note:  131 W. 3rd St. 212-475-8592.  OK, it's a huge room with a few sketchy sight lines that is part of a huge global chain of clubs, but it attracts top shelf talent, and has impeccable sound.  Good food too.  

The Jazz Gallery:  1160 Broadway, 5th floor (between 27th-28th St.).  A non-profit organization/performance space dedicated to emerging jazz artists.  Up an elevator in an office building, it's not your typical space, but everyone there is listening.

Dizzy’s Club (Jazz at Lincoln Center):  Frederick Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th St., 5th Floor. 212-258-9595.  Part of Jazz at Lincoln Center, it has the most spectacular view from any club I have been to, and some superb musicians can be heard here. Also check out the classes at JALC's Swing U.