Upon entering this Alphabet City no cover jazz
fixture, you may be greeted by Hamsa, owner Zach Chiraga’s white-and-brown pit bull which a neighbor affectionally calls “my pirate”. The dog might look intimidating, but is as friendly as the atmosphere of the club, named in honor of Louis Armstrong.
The venue is small, with the bar seating around 10
people. Several tables are scattered around and the band sets up next to the upright piano in front by a big bay window which allows for peering in by curious passers-by on E. 9th Street.
The crowd, according to Chiraga, are “in their late 20s, all the way to their 60s and 70s and there are a lot of people who come here to listen to the music, a lot during the week and also on weekends, when this place becomes like a ‘scene’.”
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Upon entering this Alphabet City no cover jazz
fixture, you may be greeted by Hamsa, owner Zach Chiraga’s white-and-brown pit bull which a neighbor affectionally calls “my pirate”. The dog might look intimidating, but is as friendly as the atmosphere of the club, named in honor of Louis Armstrong.
The venue is small, with the bar seating around 10
people. Several tables are scattered around and the band sets up next to the upright piano in front by a big bay window which allows for peering in by curious passers-by on E. 9th Street.
The crowd, according to Chiraga, are “in their late 20s, all the way to their 60s and 70s and there are a lot of people who come here to listen to the music, a lot during the week and also on weekends, when this place becomes like a ‘scene’.”
In pianist Joel Forrester’s point of view, the
audience “is comprised of people who find the place comfortable and those who are there to hear me; a good blend of friends and strangers.” Israeli-born
saxophonist Eli Degibri, who has performed there
several times, says that “it has a very nice vibe and the owner is really cool. The only problem sometimes,” he says, “is that people talk in the back of the bar and it makes it hard to play.”
The music grew with the venue’s popularity. “At first, it was just the new people and it sort of
pyramided out,” Chiraga says. “Somebody played here and then said ‘cool, I’ll bring my band here’ and now we have a bunch of people who play here and also hang out a lot. “There are a lot of regulars. Some people like a musician and they’ll come every week - we have a few nights a week that are residencies and you’ll see these people here, no doubt - they’ll bring friends to come along and have a drink - the musicians know the customers, so it’s a very tight-knit family place - even though the musicians play all over the city, they come here and know the customers by name.”
Keeping the music free is not easy, as he explains. “I have to pay cut myself so I can have a no-cover place in New York City - there aren’t many around - with the quality that we do.”
It is unlikely that a fan will see experimentally-minded performers here, as Chiraga supports more traditional forms of jazz. “Nothing too free or avant garde or anything like that - I’m not really into that myself - I’m sure many of the musicians play in bands like that, but here it’s pretty much straight, which is appropriate to the place.”
One of the most popular regular engagements at Louis 649 is the Brazilian night, which features bassist Leonardo Cioglia, who brings in assorted guests to the house every Monday. “Leonardo played here a couple of times and asked me if we could do this and we worked it out and put it together - it used to be on Wednesdays, but it was moved to Mondays,” says Chiraga. Among the players that have come in are drummer Duduka da Fonseca and pianist Helio Alves, both of whom have since become regulars at the place.
The drinks at the venue are priced at an average of $10, which is pretty much in sync with the current prices in the neighborhood. Customers will be
surprised to notice that the place does not carry
brand-name beers - they choose instead to serve only product made by microbreweries from Upstate New York and also from small distributors abroad.
The growing gentrification of the Lower East Side has been noticeable to Chiraga in the short time he’s been at the club’s helm. “It seems like people are
willing to spend more money and the neighborhood has drastically changed in the terms of people who are living around here and the prices of everything - the prices here - this place would not have lasted, say ten years ago.” Chiraga himself does not live in Manhattan and is now a resident of The Bronx. “I’m gentrified out of New York City,” he says with a chuckle.
The age of some of his customers is something that has impressed Chiraga lately. “I’ve noticed a lot more younger people coming out to listen to jazz. I’ve noticed in two and a half years that more and more I’m forced to check IDs because some people look like they’re fresh out of high school. It’s amazing, they come out here to listen to music and they’re interested in it and lot of people know about it. There is a
customer who comes here, he’s 22 years old and he knows everything there is to know about jazz.”
Curiously enough, it was after Chiraga - who was more of a rock fan - purchased the space that he learned to appreciate jazz more and at the time of the purchase, he did not initially intend to keep it as a jazz space. “I let it go for a little while as it was running before and it only took a few weeks for me to take a really deep interest in booking bands here every night and I’ve learned a lot about jazz, about listening to music, booking good bands, dealing with musicians and I’ve been enjoying it enough.”
~ Ernest Barteldes
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