A framed note hangs on the wall of Puppet's Jazz Bar. “Jamie and Seth, much love, Duke Ellington,” it says. Presented to the brothers backstage at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1971 when Puppet's proprietor Jamie Aff was six years old, it seems like a blessing, greeting patrons as they make their way into the cozy, dimly lit space on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
In October of 2004, Aff, who is also a drummer, bought the club and stripped it bare leaving only the silver tin ceiling. With the help of a friend, he built a walnut bar, added pine floors and a new bathroom. Seven months later, the club, which incorporates hints of the owner's martial arts and skateboarding background, opened with drummer Tommy Campbell's trio and has since become a place where established musicians can feel at home and up-and-coming local groups can get a gig.
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A framed note hangs on the wall of Puppet's Jazz Bar. “Jamie and Seth, much love, Duke Ellington,” it says. Presented to the brothers backstage at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1971 when Puppet's proprietor Jamie Aff was six years old, it seems like a blessing, greeting patrons as they make their way into the cozy, dimly lit space on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
In October of 2004, Aff, who is also a drummer, bought the club and stripped it bare leaving only the silver tin ceiling. With the help of a friend, he built a walnut bar, added pine floors and a new bathroom. Seven months later, the club, which incorporates hints of the owner's martial arts and skateboarding background, opened with drummer Tommy Campbell's trio and has since become a place where established musicians can feel at home and up-and-coming local groups can get a gig.
“It reminds me of jazz clubs in Japan or Europe,” said guitarist Randy Johnston who lives in the neighborhood and plays frequently at Puppet's. The room's capacity is 60 and one night last June when Aff was playing with pianist Arturo O'Farrill and bassist Alex Blake, it was jammed for all three sets. “It was packed from 8:30 until 2 in the morning,” Aff said. “People were standing in the nooks and crannies between the tables and it was just amazing. It was our best night ever, it was like 'wow! It can really happen here!'”
Johnston recalls some really extraordinary nights. “In a place like this, the audience is almost like another person in the band,” he said. “There have been a couple nights when everybody was in sync--collective experience.”
Aff, who has played drums since age 4, sits at the drum set every night, usually with one of the trios he plays in with musicians like O'Farrill, Blake, vibraphonist Bill Ware or saxophonist Seamus Blake. Bassist Boris Kozlov played one night last month and Tommy Campbell will be back Oct. 18th. On Mondays he hosts a jam session and Tuesdays and Wednesdays he reserves for new bands who play all three sets and take home what they bring in at the door.
Sets start at 9:15, 10:40 and midnight. The cover charge is five dollars and currently patrons can take their seats at the bar or at one of the tables that line the walls and order a beer, wine or sake from the cocktail waitress, but Aff expects his liquor license to arrive later this month when a full bar will be stocked.
The name Puppet's derives from Aff's skateboarding nickname, Puppethead. As a 13-year old in 1978 his body was a bit too small for his head so when he broke into one of his signature moves, which involved spinning around on the board and spotting like a ballerina, his pals thought he looked like a puppet and the name stuck.
A photo on the wall of the club captures Aff doing a trick called a frontside air in California in 1986. The photo beside it shows him skateboarding in a pool in the Bronx where he grew up until age 12 when he and his family moved to Greenwich Village. And alongside that hangs his skateboard, imprinted with the martial arts certificate he received from his teacher in Hong Kong, Grandmaster Hung Kam Pui who taught Jackie Chan. Photos of jazz greats like Dizzy, Pat Metheny and Tony Williams taken by Aff's brother Seth Affoumado share the wall, as does a painting of a Bird album cover by his friend Jeremy Henderson.
As member of the '70s skateboarding crew the Zoo Yorkers, Aff became immersed in the graffiti scene and lists a slew of friends he hopes to feature in art shows this fall: Zephyr, Futura 2000, Blade 1, Nic 707, Kit 17, Mark 198, Fuzz One, Noc 167, Tracy 168, LSD3, Revolt, OTB and the MG Boys. “We're going to have some famous guys come and do some stuff here,” he said. “...Even if they do one piece each, it will be great.”
He hopes that the art shows will help draw a crowd. Though many nights are busy, there are still quite a few slow ones that Aff wants to fill out. Even so, he's grateful for his steady customers who return again and again. “We have some nice crowds. We just want to get more nice crowds,” he said. “People are loving it. They want more, they're drinking, they're spending money, they're enjoying the music, what more can you ask for?”
~ Celeste Sunderland
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