New Yorker Magazine, Drom mention in Under the Radar column >>
Under the Radar
Big venues with big talent get all the attention, but there’s excellent music in little clubs all over town. Here are a dozen.
BANJO JIM’S
9th St. at Avenue C (212-777-0869)—To get to the bar inside this minuscule rose-colored roadhouse, it’s often necessary to weave a course through twirling two-steppers. The musicians play country, jazz, and folk.
DEATH BY AUDIO
49 S. 2nd St., Brooklyn (no phone)—At this pleasantly dilapidated space, which has the air of a suburban seventies-era rec room, influential local tastemakers, like the promoter Todd P, host a stream of bands from such divergent subgenres as noise pop, Balkan dance music, and stoner metal.
DROM
85 Avenue A (212-777-1157)—Drom, which means “journey” in Romany, has a spacious Japanese-influenced cocktail bar in front and a performance room in back, with clear sight lines to the stage. The bookings here span the world, and recent and upcoming acts include the Turkish pop star Deniz Seki and the Japanese koto master Michiyo Yagi.
GOODBYE BLUE MONDAY
1087 Broadway, Brooklyn (718-453-6343)—The owner, Steve Trimboli, a colorful impresario and longtime veteran of the city’s music scene, describes this eccentric outpost in Bushwick as a “free-form-I-book-anybody venue.” The walls are covered with assorted detritus (a mixture of “tchotchke art, trash art, and real art,” Trimboli calls it), and the space is cheap (a glass of “good” wine is four bucks, “better” just five).
HANK’S SALOON
46 Third Ave., Brooklyn (718-625-8003)—This diminutive, hundred-year-old tavern in downtown Brooklyn might soon be like the Upper East Side’s famous P. J. Clarke’s, dwarfed by high-rise condominiums and skyscrapers. (Atlantic Yards is slated to rise nearby.) Hank’s has menacing flames painted on its exterior, but it’s a friendly dive, with alternative-country, rockabilly, and garage-rock bands.
JAZZ GALLERY
290 Hudson St. (212-242-1063)—This nonprofit venue is not a place to drink (there’s no bar) or to hang out (there are no sofas or settees, just fifty folding chairs and some benches). But, with its compact stage and impeccable acoustics, it is a place to discover emerging players, many of whom already have solid reputations as sidemen. A-list players can be found here, too: the saxophonist Steve Coleman conducts a weekly composers’ workshop on Monday nights.
MONKEY TOWN
58 N. 3rd St., Brooklyn (718-384-1369)— One of the more original recent additions to the New York nightlife scene, this intimate space has low couches around its perimeter. The musicians perform in the center while visuals are projected on the walls around them (and on the audience). For the most part, only musical acts that are willing to engage in a cinematic collaboration are booked, and a widely diverse group—including the Dirty Projectors, Ikue Mori, and Damo Suzuki, from Can—has taken up the challenge.
PETE’S CANDY STORE
709 Lorimer St., Brooklyn (718-302-3770)—A Mecca for outer-borough concertgoers, Pete’s has a dark, cozy back room that resembles a cabaret car on the Orient Express. Along with hosting regular readings and trivia contests, Pete’s is one of the city’s most respected listening rooms among the indie-folk set.
ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL
196 Allen St. (212-477-4155)—This extremely intimate lounge, where audiences pay close attention to the lyrics, boasts a sparkling baby grand that dominates the stage and occupies much of the room. The acoustics—no doubt influenced by a combination of the piano, the exposed brick, and the owner, Ken Rockwood, who, on most nights, runs sound—lend warmth to each song, harking back to the days of vinyl.
SMALLS
183 W. 10th St. (212-252-5091)—In its nineties heyday, this little jazz club was the breeding ground for a whole generation of now significant players, including Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Mark Turner. The economic aftereffects of 9/11 hurt the club; last year, Lee Kostrinsky and Spike Wilner, two musicians, bought it. They retained the founder, Mitch Borden, as a wise gatekeeper, and installed a sleek bar, a new piano, and more comfortable seating.
UNION POOL
484 Union Ave., Brooklyn (718-609-0484)—Three years ago, the owners of this popular Williamsburg establishment turned its back room into an inviting performance space, with red velvet curtains, a high stage, and an excellent sound system. Mostly local bands, including, on occasion, the neighborhood icons TV on the Radio, frequent the stage here, and the only drawback is that it can get as crowded as the L train at rush hour.
ZEBULON
258 Wythe Ave., Brooklyn (718-218-6934)—Three Frenchmen with a love of John Coltrane run this softly lit, dark-wood bistro. The slate here includes jazz and rock musicians, Afro-pop artists (Kaleta, a guitarist who has played with Fela Kuti and King Sunny Adé, performs often), singer-songwriters, and, since Tonic’s demise, last year, some of the downtown musicians who used to frequent that venue. 03/10/08 >> go there
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