With the ranks of the fiscally challenged multiplying during these days of economic turmoil, many would welcome a reliable go-to spot for hearing their favorite types of live music without having to break the bank. Spike Hill in Williamsburg, Brooklyn--accessible to borough outsiders via a short hop on the L train to Bedford Avenue--is a neighborhood hang with a neighborly vibe that offers free music--that's right, no cover--on various nights. The diverse offerings in various genres are free-spirited too. And plenty of 'spirits,' as in moderately priced alcohol in the form of many draft beers and single malts are on hand also.
Check in on Monday nights to the stage/bar side of this family-founded, Irish-flavored, sit-down restaurant/venue for a full evening of eclectic jazz sessions scheduled non-stop from 7 or 8 pm, depending on whether there are four or five bands that night. Saturday afternoons into early evening offers several matinee-hours worth of some more straightahead jazz--standards as well as original songs--hosted and performed by singer-songwriter Calley Bliss and her band while the Monday night jazz series presents selections engineered by David Fine, a sound engineer and rock/roots drummer with a penchant for exploratory jazz.
”The bands that have shown me the most consistency and love of the place tend to be jazz fusion,” says Fine. “We don't see a lot of swing at Spike Hill. People don't read from “The Real Book” all that often. It's more common for bands to be covering Tears for Fears than doing a Duke Ellington tune.”
Band members tend to mix and match in various configurations, sometimes appearing as leaders of their own group and at others providing support, Fine explains. Names tend to recur, but new performers are introduced all the time, sometimes gleaned from the many email queries that Fine receives via the Spike Hill Web site. Returnees on the Spike Hill schedule include young electric bassist Matt Snow, saxophonists Ian Rapien, Igor Lumpert and Tony Barba, improviser/experimenter Michael Attias, trumpeter Miki Hirose, keyboardist Galen Pittman and others.
Boundaries of genres in some of these sets can be flexible. Speaking of Snow, for instance, Fine admits that occasionally an audience member will come up to him and say, “he's not really playing 'jazz'...” and Fine will respond, “yeah, yeah, I know...”
The whole question of “What is jazz?” can come up in a conversation with Fine (request a chat when you see him, if you like. He also performs the task of sound engineer on his jazz Mondays.) He's open to feedback but, despite his ample open-mindedness toward the music he programs, not music that sounds “like feedback.” He will program music that he personally doesn't enjoy, however. It's important, he feels, to include tastes that are not his own. “My general rule of thumb is I try not to ask the question, 'Do I like this kind of music? I try to consider, 'Are they doing it well and are they excited about it?”
Then again... “As I also do the sound on Monday nights, I've got to listen to the music too, so of course it's better if I like it...I prefer to like it, but I am definitely not opposed to booking something I don't like if I think it's good.”
He wants people to show up to hear the music at Spike Hill because they trust the venue and are open to sampling the music, even if they don't know who specifically is playing on that particular night. (They do have their regulars, as well as international tourists browsing the neighborhood, followers of the some of the bands, as well as others who drop in).
Fine takes music seriously. Jazz and otherwise. He seems to think about it quite a bit. So the question of “What is rock?” can easily come up in conversation too. For those who are curious and whose tastes range beyond jazz, listeners can come in some another night to hear Fine's own group, Big Grin. This drummer/booker's not so big on definitions, but for those who require one, he offers “psychedelic blues/rock.”
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