People who don't have preferences or have trouble making decisions might find the calendar of upcoming events comprehensively listed on the Highline Ballroom's website a bit daunting at first. In the middle of the trendier-by-the-minute Meatpacking District, on West 16th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, just a few brisk paces from the newly opened High Line Park, it's got much to offer a music lover's wish list. And it doesn't matter what kind of music. Because this venue's got it: rock, indie rock, pop, folk, hiphop, country, experimental and genres yet to be named. And then, there's the jazz...
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People who don't have preferences or have trouble making decisions might find the calendar of upcoming events comprehensively listed on the Highline Ballroom's website a bit daunting at first. In the middle of the trendier-by-the-minute Meatpacking District, on West 16th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, just a few brisk paces from the newly opened High Line Park, it's got much to offer a music lover's wish list. And it doesn't matter what kind of music. Because this venue's got it: rock, indie rock, pop, folk, hiphop, country, experimental and genres yet to be named. And then, there's the jazz...
Last month, a knowing audience waited for veteran saxophonist {{Charles Lloyd = 8821}} and company to come onstage and a heightened sense of expectation simmered in this sleekly inviting, spacious room. The comfortable good-vibe venue offers solid acoustics and excellent views to a spectatorship of 700 or so patrons standing or a smaller number seated in the main area fronting the stage, two raised lounge areas to the sides, each adjacent to a long bar of its own, as well as an upstairs bar-cum-balcony. And in June, jazz drummer extraordinaire Brian Blade stretched out in a cozy, eclectic show celebrating his new CD featuring him as a “singer-songwriter”.
Highline Ballroom owner Steve Bensusan knows a thing or two about jazz. His father Danny started the Blue Note club, still family-owned and run by Bensusan now, who also oversees their BB King's Blues Club. They also book the talent for two Blue Note venues in Japan and one in Milan as well as the Regatta Bar jazz club in Boston (and the new Showcase Live venue outside Boston).
For the Highline Ballroom, which opened in April 2007 with a performance featuring Lou Reed, says Bensusan, “We created a room that was big enough to be able to do huge names in a small environment - 700 capacity standing or have the flexibility of doing 400 or 350 capacity seated shows with a full kitchen and restaurant service throughout the show like in a typical jazz club.”
But diversity in the music is key, he stresses. “We've had big showcases, from Paul McCartney all the way to contemporary artists like James Blunt and Mos Def. And then we'll do the seated jazz shows like we're doing this month with the Piano Series.”
The Bensusan family devotion to showcasing jazz will be clearly reflected during these concerts, including {{McCoy Tyner = 10958}} with his trio and guest {{Gary Bartz = 3671}} and then {{Cecil Taylor = 4823}}. “We have the ability at the Highline to put in an opening act, like Jonathan Batiste for McCoy, who is a new, up-and-coming jazz musician who we believe in and would like to showcase.
”Then we're also able to do diverse artists in this series. For example, we can put in Phil Vasser, a country artist, [the night] after Cecil Taylor, going from one spectrum to the other. I think the series does a good job of showcasing pianists from different genres of music, from Peter Cincotti all the way to {{The Bad Plus = 13857}}. It's a wide range.” (Showtimes and admission prices vary and there is a $10 food/drink minimum per person at tables. Admission is generally first-come, first seated so it makes sense to arrive early if you want best choice of seating.)
Jazz, Bensusan admits, isn't always an easy sell - especially when it comes to new, younger talent. The great names are still popular, but over time, as they've aged, left the scene or passed away, their ranks have diminished, he explains. Who will be the stars of the future? “We kind of feel it's our responsibility to nurture some of the younger artists. The labels aren't doing much of that anymore. We provide a lot of work for these musicians. We can now also provide management services, as well as putting out records for them, to help them grow their careers so they can become the next headliners at the Blue Note... We really do have to start developing more talent for our venues and exposing more artists to different audiences.”
~ Laurel Gross
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