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Banjo Jim's in the press:


  FOR EVERY PLAYER IN ANY STYLE
 
Great Guitar Towns
Acoustic Guitar examines eight US cities where the guitar is king.

By David Hamburger

What makes a city a great guitar town? Just as the acoustic guitar comes in many guises - from bluegrass dreadnoughts to nylon-string classicals to jazzy archtops - the criteria for that lofty designation varies greatly. From the bursting-at-the-seams live scene in Austin, Texas, to the Big Apple's jaw-dropping guitar shops and rich history of players, you'll find that each of the cities profiled here offers something unique to guitarists. Whether you need a bluegrass jam to test your flatpicking skills (try the Bay Area or Nashville) or you want to listen to a great fingerstylist or singer-songwriter (check out the Twin Cities or New York City), you'll find no shortage of places to go. We've included links to the websites of the venues, guitar shops, artists, and festivals in these cities. Consider it a guitar-holiday planning guide. So grab your guitar, book a plane ticket, and start playing.


NEW YORK CITY
New York City is a social and ethnic melting pot, but it's also a musical one. You can hear American styles such as folk, jazz, rock, and blues, as well as music from almost any other corner of the earth, in clubs nightly. You can even find cross-pollinations of nearly any imaginable combination of these. It has played host to an army of acoustic guitar players, and it continues to support a thriving scene. New York, New York - it's a hell of a town.

PLAYERS AND HISTORY

New York City was home to two big waves in folk music - the Bleecker Street scene of the 1960s (Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Phil Ochs, Tim Hardin, and many others) and the Fast Folk scene of the '80s (Shawn Colvin, Steve Forbert, John Gorka, Christine Lavin, Richard Shindell, and Suzanne Vega). Few of these artists live in the Big Apple today - and some, sadly, have passed away - but there's no denying that these artists set the stage for today's up-and-comers. Founder of the Fast Folk cooperative magazine and record label, Jack Hardy still lives in Manhattan and hosts a weekly song-swap gathering on Mondays. Brooklyn-born Richie Havens performs in the New York area at least once a year; and bluegrass mandolin player Chris Thile and Steve Earle now call New York City home.

VENUES

On any given night, New York City has more live music going on than any other US city, with most venues offering a mix of electric and acoustic performances. You can flip through weeklies such as Village Voice or Time Out for guidance, or scan acousticlive.com. More often than not, you can go to clubs with a reputation for good acoustic music without checking listings in advance. Banjo Jim's, on the Lower East Side, is one sure bet; a vibey barroom with no stage per se, the club works magic with a few well-placed lights and a bare-bones PA system. The weekend bookings tend to be amped up, but on any given weeknight you can find some of New York City's most engaging acoustic pickers and singer-songwriters. The Living Room and Rockwood Music Hall - two other clubs that present noteworthy acoustic-based artists nightly—are a short walk (or cheap cab ride) from Banjo Jim's. Despite its moniker, Rockwood is a small, positively homey hall. The Living Room venue is spacious by comparison, and it also houses Googie's Lounge—a smaller music room upstairs. Caffe Vivaldi, just off Bleecker, is also worth checking out. In Brooklyn, Barbès hosts some of the most eclectic sounds, while Pete's Candy Store and Spike Hill are geared toward the singer-songwriter scene.

 AUSTIN
In Austin, the songwriters aren't afraid of roots music, and the roots musicians aren't scared of songwriting, which makes for plenty of good listening if you like either. You'll find a hefty dose of what's thought of as "Texas songwriting," the story-oriented, regionally aware approach epitomized by the likes of Townes Van Zandt, and any number of acoustic bands that draw freely on a mix of old-time, honky-tonk, early jazz, and hokum to create their sound. It's a city with a vibrant live scene, a quirky personality, and guitars everywhere you turn.

PLAYERS AND HISTORY

Austin has been home to a broad range of nationally known songwriters, some native Texans and some, to paraphrase a popular bumper sticker, who got here as quick as they could. Nanci Griffith and Lucinda Williams both spent time here, while the various Flatlanders (Butch Hancock, Joe Ely, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore) came down from Lubbock; Willie Nelson has been around since he left Nashville in 1972. But you don't have to be from anywhere near here to help export Texas's musical culture: Jerry Jeff Walker and Asleep at the Wheel's Ray Benson both came from the Northeast. Others who have come to Austin to set up shop include Eliza Gilkyson (Los Angeles), Slaid Cleaves (Maine), and Michael Fracasso (Ohio), along with Fort Worth native James McMurtry.

Acoustic roots music is also a big part of the scene, which includes James Hand's stone-cold honky-tonk; the South Austin Jug Band's jamgrass; early jazz from the White Ghost Shivers and Giant City; and the old-time Boxcar Preachers, Onion Creek Crawdaddies, and Double Eagle String Band, not to mention the long-running satirical institution that is the Austin Lounge Lizards. As with songwriters, many of Austin's best pickers have come from the Northeast, such as Hot Club of Cowtown founder Whit Smith, jazz mandolinist Paul Glasse, dobroist/steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar, and Acoustic Guitar contributing editor and country blues maven Steve James.

VENUES

The Cactus Café, located on the campus of the University of Texas, is the town's acoustic-music highlight, a listening room hosting a range of national acts from Del McCoury and Gillian Welch to Jorma Kaukonen and John Hammond. Local and regional guitarists fill the weeknights, scheduling CD releases and specially themed shows, and opening for touring artists. South of the Colorado river (not to be confused with the river that runs through the Grand Canyon), Flipnotics Coffeespace ("Flip's" to the locals), presents guitar music seven nights a week, and the Central Market supermarket is home to an early-evening weekend music series that's popular with families. And south Austin restaurants Artz Rib House, Jovita's, Maria's Taco Xpress, and the Green Mesquite all offer some combination of evening, weekend, and brunch shows featuring bluegrass, singer-songwriters, acoustic rockers, and more.

Austin, of course, has its share of bars and nightclubs, many with a thriving tradition of happy-hour residencies. The Continental Club has long been a home to all kinds of roots music, and its 6:30 - 9 PM weekday slots have been held down at various times by the late Hot Club of Cowtown, the Django-inspired Paris49, and hippie-blues stylist Toni Price. For hardcore honky-tonk and hillbilly-inflected songwriting, get yourself to the Broken Spoke dance hall or the considerably more compact Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon, where your view of the band may be blocked by a throng of enthusiastic two-steppers wearing everything from Stetsons to tattoos and piercings, or, more likely, both.

Click here to see the whole article about more guitar towns, including Nashville and San Fransisco...
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EntertainmentMusic & ArtsUkulele's aloha zen: A tiny guitar is building a following in the big city

Ukulele's aloha zen: A tiny guitar is building a following in the big city

By Leah Chernikoff

Wednesday, December 2nd 2009, 4:00 AM

Jason Tagg and Ted Gottfried of the band Sonic Uke strum matching instruments during Ukulele Cabaret Night at Banjo Jim's on E. Ninth St.
Zalcman for News
Jason Tagg and Ted Gottfried of the band Sonic Uke strum matching instruments during Ukulele Cabaret Night at Banjo Jim's on E. Ninth St.

Singer-songwriter Dana McCoy plays a ukulele at the Cabaret Night.
Singer-songwriter Dana McCoy plays a ukulele at the Cabaret Night.

The ukulele, that four-stringed instrument that brings to mind kitschy Hawaiian grass-skirt performances and Tiny Tim, is suddenly hip.

Sunday, up to 3,000 uke-enthusiasts are expected to attend Roger Greenawalt's "Beatles Complete on Ukulele" concert in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The Brooklyn - based record producer will play the entire Beatles catalogue (185 original tracks) on the ukulele in one 12-hour stretch backed by indie musicians including Guster's Ryan Miller, members of the Pierces and Adam Green.

Greenawalt credits the ukulele's increased following to something he has dubbed the "Aloha Zen" effect.

"It really transforms your mind," says the 47-year-old, who first picked up the instrument shortly after 9/11. "I started playing it, and as soon as I did I felt happier," he says. "It's no joke — it's better than yoga."

If the expected attendance at Greenawalt's concert is any indication, more and more New Yorkers are finding happiness in the uke.

In addition to the "Beatles Complete on Ukulele" concert, a ukulele cabaret has been meeting at various bars in downtown Manhattan on the last Friday of every month for the past five years, and the annual NY Uke Fest has been strumming along since 2006.

"I was completely shocked to find there was a whole community of ukulele-ists," says Dana McCoy, a singer-songwriter and ukulele player based in Manhattan. "I thought I was alone out there."

McCoy, who was one of 26 performers at this past month's six-hour ukulele cabaret at Banjo Jim's in the East Village, also notes the happy-making effect of the instrument.

"There's very little music by the ukulele that isn't joyful and playful," says McCoy. "I think that is part of the attraction."

Jason Tagg, 35, and Ted Gottfried, 56, who make up the punk-rock ukulele band Sonic Uke, founded and co-host the ukulele cabaret.

"We used to be yelled at for playing ukulele and called things like Tiny Tim," recalls Gottfried, who would jam out on the stoop of his W. 10th St. apartment.

"There was just a sea change where before it was ridiculed and then everyone loved it," says Gottfried, a bookkeeper now based in Brooklyn.

Two years ago, Tagg recorded and posted on YouTube a video called "Ukulele Weeps" of ukulele-ist Jake Shimabukuro playing the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in Central Park. The video went viral, and to date has been viewed more than 4 million times.

"People passed this video around and said, 'Hey, it's a ukulele. I could buy one of those for $20,'" says Tagg, a Manhattan-based programmer. "So it is an instantly accessible instrument."

With just four strings, two octaves, a low price point and diminutive size, the ukulele appeals to both amateurs and professional musicians, like the Beatles.

"The Beatles are a ukulele band," explains Greenawalt, whose concert kicks off at 11 a.m. Sunday at Brooklyn Bowl. "John Lennon's first instrument was the ukulele, and by the end of George Harrison's life, he was carrying two ukuleles as his carry-on baggage. He was the most spiritual musician, and where did he end up in terms of enlightenment? Ukulele."

Call it recession-friendly therapy.

If you're seeking a little pick-me-up in these bleak times, the ukulele might just do the trick.

  
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Goings On About Town

Night Life

October 27, 2008

ROCK AND POP

 

BANJO JIM’S

9th St. at Avenue C (212-777-0869)—Oct. 24: Charlie Louvin, the baritone half of the Louvin Brothers—one of country music’s most influential and revered vocal-harmony duos—began making records in the late forties with his brother, Ira. The act split up in 1963, and Ira was killed in a car crash two years later. Charlie’s output may have slowed over the years, but interest in the Louvin Brothers has only grown, at least in certain circles: Gram Parsons once reportedly paid people to search L.A. music shops for their out-of-print records. Last year, Charlie released a self-titled album, his first in more than a decade, and it received a Grammy nomination. He’s been back in the studio, and has two new records. “Steps to Heaven,” on which he’s accompanied, for the most part, by only a piano and a gospel choir, is out now; “Charlie Louvin Sings Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs” comes out in December.
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Lucid Culture

Monica Passin/Sean Kershaw and the New Jack Ramblers at Banjo Jim's, NYC 4/24/08

April 25, 2008

It's no secret that New York has one of the most vital, thriving country music scenes anywhere. Forget any snide commentary you may have overheard about urban musicians playing country: if anything, the music coming out of the New York country scene is far more traditionally-oriented than most anything Nashville is producing these days.  Tonight's bill paired two of the more popular country acts in town. Monica Passin, frontwoman of long-running Rodeo Bar honkytonkers L'il Mo and the Monicats played mostly solo acoustic, with occasional help from a couple of women who sang harmonies, and the New Jack Ramblers' amazing lead guitarist. She's pretty much everything you could want in a country singer: pretty voice, good songs, good taste in covers and backing musicians. Her best song was a minor-key rockabilly number - the first one in that style she'd ever written, she said - possibly titled This Cat. The lead player used Passin's ominous chord changes as a springboard for a riveting, intense, jazz-inflected solo that drew roars of appreciation from the crowd. On the last song, Passin invited Lisa, the bar owner up to sing harmonies, and as it turned out she's actually good! Not since the days when Juliana Nash ran the show at Pete's Candy Store has there been a bar owner who's been able to show off such a soaring, fearless voice. Bands in need of a frontwoman ought to stop by the bar: she won't embarrass you, and if all else fails you'll always have a place to play.

 

Sean Kershaw and the New Jack Ramblers aren't exactly under the radar, maintaining a hectic gig schedule in addition to the regular Sunday night residency they've been playing at Hank's for what seems forever. They're a rotating crew of some of the best players in town: the weekly Sunday show originated out of necessity, as this was the only night everybody in the band didn't have a gig. Tonight, backed by just lead guitar and upright bass (their awe-inspiring pedal steel player Bob Hoffnar wasn't available, and you really don't need drums in a small room like Banjo Jim's), Kershaw ran through a mix of what sounded like covers but probably weren't. The guy's a hell of a songwriter, a prolific, versatile writer as comfortable with western swing as honkytonk, rockabilly or stark, Johnny Cash-inspired narratives. Tonight's show was the western swing show, driven by the lead guitarist whose ability to burn through a whole slew of styles was nothing short of spectacular, everything from jazz to rockabilly to blues. He made it seem effortless. They gamely ran through the old standard Smoke That Cigarette in addition to a bunch of originals, some recorded, some not, closing the first of their two sets with what has become Kershaw's signature song, Moonlight Eyes. Originally recorded with his first band, the fiery, rockabilly unit the Blind Pharaohs, it's a genuine classic, something that sounds like a Carl Perkins hit from 1956. Kershaw has played it a million times, but still manages to make it sound fresh, the ominous undercurrent beneath its blithe romantic sway more apparent than ever tonight, stripped down to just the basics.

 

And what was even more apparent was that both of the acts on this bill would probably be big stars in a smaller metropolis: here, they're only part of a widespread, talented scene.

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The wooden porch out front is the first sign that this (Lower East Side) bar is different.
A small, neighborhood watering hole with nightly music, often of the country-bluegrass variety,
Banjo Jim's isn't unlike a place you'd find at the end of a long dirt road in rural North Carolina.
Beers are reasonable ($5), and the ambience rustic and intimate.
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Odetta, Honored at Banjo Jim's

By Safia Jama Cross

One cold Saturday night last December, Odetta arrived at Banjo Jim's.  She was there to see her friend, singer-songwriter Emory Joseph, perform.  Later that evening, the country band Cheatin' Hearts sang a Leadbelly song and Odetta rose to sing, delighting the crowd.

On May 8th, 2008, Odetta came back to Banjo Jim's for a tribute organized by friends and open to the public.

"I heard Odetta had a really great time here that night," said Timothy Hill, waiting to perform at the tribute, which included performances by David Amram, Guy Davis, and Christine Lavin.  "She said it reminded her of the old days in the folk clubs in the Village, when people really cared about the music."

Odetta Holmes Felious, born in 1930, trained in opera before turning to folk music (opera's doors were not open to a young black woman in the 1950's).  She became a prominent figure in the folk scene of the 1960's, performing at the first Newport Folk Festival in 1959 and at the March on Washington in 1963.  Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Janice Joplin have all cited her as a major influence.

An hour before the show, a line had formed around the block, and the small room quickly filled to capacity (the sound guy was annoyed that his wife's friends couldn't get in).  Filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus sat in the front row and the evening's host, vintage hippy and official clown of the Grateful Dead, "Wavy Gravy," formerly known as Hugh Romney, blessed the stage with smoke from what looked like a small joint. 

"He wants us to get a contact high," said a petite brunette woman who introduced herself as Dale.  "I hated that stuff in the 60's."  Then word got around that it was sage: before each show, Wavy Gravy conducts a native ritual, blessing the space in which he performs.



A film crew was present, at work on a documentary on the life of Wavy Gravy (who famously said from the stage at the original Woodstock, "What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000!")  The film is directed by Michelle Esrick, who helped to organize the tribute, and Executive-Produced by D.A. Pennebaker.

Wavy Gravy wore a tied-dyed shirt, white sneakers with tied-dyed shoelaces, and a black bowler hat.  He held a leash attached to a small plush platypus sporting a button that read, "Less Stuff, More Fun."  He settled down into a chair, put on a red clown nose, and shuffled through his notes.

"I can't read this," he said, rejecting an index card filled with introductory remarks written in pen.  "Can you rewrite it bigger please, using a Sharpie?"

Soon, the front door opened and Odetta entered, wearing a camel shawl and a multi-colored knit beret. The room erupted in cheers and applause.  She smiled brightly.  Someone in the VIP section, consisting of eight folding chairs, lost her seat and Odetta was now in the audience, front and center.

Opening the evening's festivities, Wavy Gravy said, "If you took the brown antacid..."

The older folks in the audience cracked up at the reference to Woodstock 1969.

Soon, local bluegrass band Vincent Cross and Good Company took the stage and began an upbeat rendition of Sitting on Top of the World.  The audience swayed and sang along to the chorus.

And now she's gone, but I don't worry, I'm sittin' on top of the world.

Chaney Sims, daughter of bluesman Bill Sims, was also on the billing.  She stood sipping tea and clutching a plastic bag for two hours as she waited for her set.  When she began her performance, barefoot, she took out a terrycloth towel and some raw greens.  "I'm washing collard greens in Banjo Jim's," she laughed. "I bet that's a first!"  But her medley of monologue and song turned serious, tearful even, as she said to Odetta, "We've never met, but I wanted you to know that you helped me to realize that I am somebody."

After eleven, the room was straining at the seams.  "The dam's gonna break!" said a man from his safe perch on a bar stool.

Finally, Wavy Gravy introduced the guest of honor.

"Martin Luther King Jr. called her the Queen of American Folk Music ... I present Odetta!"



She began to sing, accompanied by piano, and the distinction between stage and audience faded ... people crouched down at her feet, the people behind them stood, and the people behind them sat up on the bar.  Her voice sank dangerously low, paused, and then warbled into a soprano.  Aches and pains from hours of standing or sitting were forgotten as Odetta began House of the Rising Sun.

When I was a young girl, I used to seek pleasure.

When I was a young girl, I used to drink ale.

Out of an alehouse, into a jailhouse. My body is ruined.

They left me here to die.

Upon finishing, she asked, "I wonder, can I sing two more songs?"

"Sing four!"

"Sing sixteen!"

Ten minutes later, some younger folks at the bar began chanting:

"O-DET-TA! O-DET-TA!"

Would she sing another? The room was silent, waiting.

"She said no," said Emory Joseph, who had performed a bit earlier.

But there was still the finale: Odetta led the room in singing the folk anthem This Little Light of Mine, and the voices of everyone in the room melted into one.

All around the world, I'm gonna let it shine--let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.



Sometime after midnight, proprietor Lisa Zwier-Croce, known as Banjo Lisa, stood outside.  She was flushed, jubilant.

"I heard Odetta, and I was healed," she said.

Safia Jama Cross is a freelance writer based in New York City.

Photos by Mark Amrhein.  View his photo gallery here.

Direct link to this page: indiesoundsny:odetta honored at banjo jim's
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The Week in Twang, Day by Day

By NATE CHINEN
Published: February 29, 2008

Acoustic music, especially bluegrass, has found new momentum and a new generation of pickers, and can be found every night of the week these days in clubs around New York.

Tuesdays

TERRY WALDO’S RAGTIME AND STRIDE PIANO, 8 p.m., Banjo Jim’s, Avenue C at Ninth Street, East Village; (212) 777-0869, banjojims.com.

Wednesdays

ADAM LEVY’S WISH LIST, 8:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., Banjo Jim’s, Avenue C at Ninth Street, East Village; (212) 777-0869, banjojims.com. ...

If there’s only one night to spare, reserve Wednesday, which offers a reliable abundance. On one recent Wednesday I started out at Banjo Jim’s on Avenue C, where Mr. Levy was performing along with a handpicked slate of other musicians. The night is called Adam Levy’s Wish List, and it reflects the bar’s newly adopted booking policy. “We wanted to build nights around the social connections among musicians,” ... one of the owners, said.



Live Rock on a Small Bankroll

By BEN SISARIO
Published: December 14, 2007

New York is a paradise of live music, but much of it can be discouragingly expensive. Tickets for the major concert halls typically start at $40 or $50 and rocket upward from there. Even in clubs it’s not unusual to pay $25 or $30 to see a hot touring band.

But in a kind of alternate universe for the modestly compensated (and the merely stingy) the city also has a vast network of bars and restaurants that waive a cover charge. Establishments that don’t charge at the door are dotted throughout the city, but the Lower East Side is the capital.

One frigid night on Avenue C ... I ducked into Banjo Jim’s... There Terry Waldo, a pianist and historian who studied with Eubie Blake, was presiding over a leisurely ragtime musicale.



WEEKEND IN NEW YORK: HONKY-TONK CITY;
Torchbearers of Urban Twang

By SETH KUGEL
Published: August 13, 2006

There's a spirited country scene every weekend in New York City and, modest though it may be, you'd need a cold, cold heart not to be charmed. Still, it's not quite pedal-steel guitar country around here. When people think New York and music, they conjure jazz and punk, hip-hop and doo-wop, not Waylon and Willie and the boys.

Among Manhattan's most country-friendly clubs: Banjo Jim's of the East Village and Rodeo Bar in Murray Hill. There's not much that's country about Banjo Jim's appearance beyond the name, but great groups come through often; one regular is Jimmy Nations' band. Jimmy (actually James Sardone, currently of Pelham Bay in the Bronx) arrived from North Carolina in 1997 and played gigs in the city before that. At a recent show, he got the crowd hooting and hollering by saying, ''Let's hear some George Jones,'' and leading into ''I'm Ragged but I'm Right.''

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Back Pages Dept.

The Chill

by Nick Paumgarten July 7, 2008

If you had stumbled into Banjo Jim’s, in the East Village, on a recent Wednesday night and encountered a sixty-something guy leading a band through a fervent rendition of “Wild Thing,” for an audience of two dozen or so, you might have concluded, “This is lame,” and slipped back out the door. But it wasn’t lame, because the sixty-something guy was Chip Taylor, who wrote “Wild Thing,” among many other hit songs, both country and rock—“Angel of the Morning,” “Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)”—and who has, at various times, rounded out the royalties with his earnings as a professional gambler, and who also happens to be the brother of the actor Jon Voight, which makes him an uncle to Angelina Jolie. So here was a man who can perform “Wild Thing” whenever and however he likes.

Taylor was at Banjo Jim’s to celebrate the release of his latest album, “New Songs of Freedom.” Among the guests was his ex-ex-wife, Joanie, whom he remarried two months ago, in Las Vegas. Earlier, he played a song that he wrote for her in 1956, “Little Joan,” and she stood by the bar, beaming.

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Banjo Jim's: 
Toe-tap on down to Avenue C for twangy tunes and suds – Hop Devil, Victory Pilsner, and Smuttynose, to name a few – at the petite, countrified Banjo Jim’s. Amiable, plaid-clad regulars and the stray sideburned hipster hunker down on stools and jaw at the tiny bar until a manic fiddler or banjo-plucker gets them to their feet for some “in and out and around you go” sashaying. The nightly live music lineup features bands like Ollabelle, The Doc Marshalls, and Lil' Mo and the Monocats, who have roused plenty of hootin’ and hollerin’. Order a round of beers and join in.
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Adam Levy's Wish list @ Banjo Jim's

Written by "Pete" and exceprted here...
for full article, click here

Themes I keep coming back to in Indie Sounds are community and collaboration.  They are a constant here in the independent music scene, though a constant that constantly changes.

Departing from the usual single act cover star this month, Indie Sounds decided to focus on one particular endeavor that embraces both community and collaboration.

Last fall, Adam Levy was just off his third - and he says probably final - tour of the world as Norah Jones' guitarist. Looking to release his latest solo album Washing Day, he got together with Banjo Jim's proprietors... and so was conceived the music series now known as Adam Levy's Wish List.

Indie Sounds: Let's start with Banjo Jim's.  What's the story of the venue?

Lisa Zwier: An amazing guy named "Banjo Jim" Croce was the inspiration for Banjo Jim's. His beautiful, generous and intensely positive spirit affected everyone he knew and got the attention of everyone he met. He was a great banjo player - he played on Michelle Shocked's first record Short, Sharp, Shocked - and he staged managed at The Bottom Line for many years, and he was one of those super-hero guitar tech/road managers in his slightly older years. He worked for heavies like Richard Thompson, Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Art Garfunkel, The Smithereens, The Fab Faux and others.


Banjo Jim Croce with Banjo by Lisa Zwier-Croce.

Banjo Jim was also my husband, and he died five years ago in a car crash. We had a beautiful memorial concert for him at The Bottom Line where several of the aforementioned played. That sweet event sparked the idea to open a musical venue in his name so with much planning, hard work and the stars aligning on his birthday, December 15th, 2005, Banjo Jim's was born.


Eli Smith on the porch at Banjo Jim's.  Photo by Megan Day.

IS: What's the venue's musical mission?

(Banjo Jim's): Our musical mission is to create a relaxed and inspiration-fostering space for musicians to feel appreciated and to be able to spread their wings and do their thing. We also want to foster a real musical community spirit. Our unofficial slogan is "there's a whole lotta love in the room," which is something Banjo Jim used to often say.

IS: So, what about Adam Levy's Wish List?

Adam Levy: I wanted to go someplace where I could build something unique, over time. Not just a weekly residency, like every Tuesday at 9pm, with no continuity before or after my band's set. I've worked closely with (Banjo Jim's) to create nights that flow. Some have been more successful than others, but at least we're trying something cool and unusual.

IS: And why at Banjo Jim's?

Adam: I'd seen some great shows there, and felt that 'whole lot of love' in the room. Getting (them) onboard ... it just seemed to happen easily. Part of my motivation was wanting to have a CD release party that lasted more than 50 minutes. Who knew it would last six months, and keep going strong?

(Banjo Jim's): Adam approached us about doing an album release series for Washing Day to run on Wednesdays in October, 2007. We thought it would be fitting if this series was actually a celebration of Adam, his work and many musical alliances and friendships, and it was under that word, "celebration," that we invited the first performers to play.

As a venue, we were pre-disposed to such an approach. We were systematically exploring at that time how to begin booking our nights as cohesive and inter-related gigs based on the musical and social relationships among the musicians we asked to play, to make them more into events than simply a series of unrelated, fragmented bookings. And we wanted to influence the character and expectations of our audiences, encouraging them to stay for the whole night, rather than just come out for a single performer. If those musical and social relationships were compelling enough, we felt each performer's audience would be more likely to stay, and the audiences would cross-pollinate, which would be good for the venue and for the various musicians, building their followings.

Musical venues are under a lot of financial pressure to survive; rather than booking a lot of 42-minute gigs and turning the room as frequently as possible, we wanted to book whole nights and get people to stay. More like all those wonderful late jams at places like Studio Rivbea and Ornette Coleman's Prince Street loft, (from years ago). Of course, Adam was a perfect (choice) to explore these possibilities and he deserved something more than just another CD release residency. We booked one Friday in September 2007 and five Wednesdays in October under the heading of the CD-release celebration of Adam, and those were so much fun, we decided to continue and Adam named the nights "Adam Levy's Wish List."

IS: So what's the process for putting the nights together?

Adam: Lots of phone calls and e-mails, and the occasional get-together over coffee.... We have fun with it. One night was slated as an all Adam Levy night... my band, plus another Adam Levy from Minneapolis. There was to be a third from LA, but he didn't make it.

(Banjo Jim's): We get together every couple of months over breakfast at Brown's and talk about who we'd like to have play. We try to push the envelope, see how far our nights can reach, how diverse our genres can be. We think about old friends and friends of friends, and who has played with whom in the past, who'd be fun to jam with or put in a room together, and who we know through whom that can invite some of the people we'd love to have.

Then we start contacting people and more ideas and relationships emerge, casual comments, unexpected links. Like having Lenny Kaye do an oud set and Jimmy Lee a saz set on the same night, and then just to put that night over the top, have Bobby Previte's trio (of which Adam is part) take the late midnight set.


Lenny Kaye  and Tony Shanahan.  Photo by Pierre Jelenc.

Adam's band almost always plays one or two sets at 11pm. We then usually book two sets before Adam, and then a late set to follow featuring someone whom Adam often joins, like Bobby Previte or Bill Sims Jr. or Matt Munisteri.

IS: Notable nights and/or performances?

Adam: Brazz Tree, ventriloquist Carla Rhodes, vocalist/violinist Jenny Scheinman, rock legend Lenny Kaye on guitar and oud, amazing bluesman Bill Sims Jr., and Michael Leonhart. Liz Stahler and Brianna Lane just did a duo set... they're not a band, but two amazing singer/songwriters from Boston and Minneapolis, respectively.

Mazzswift1
James Peter Lee and Mazz Swift.  Photo by Pierre Jelenc.

(Banjo Jim's): A bunch of wild things have happened and several are coming up! For instance, in the very beginning, when it was very much a celebration thing, I didn't really know too much about who anybody was and I was scouting around Adam's friends list on MySpace and seeing all the people he's played with and somewhere in all this I came across this great band in LA called Firebug, which has a bassist named Adam Levy and I assume that's our Adam, so I asked them to play October 17th, you know, to rebook their LA-to-London flight to stop over in NYC and make the midnight set. Well it comes out that it's not our Adam. So I sheepishly tell Adam as he's setting up, we'll be having two Adam Levy's playing his celebration in a couple of weeks, him and Adam Levy from LA, and wait for his reaction. He takes it in and walks off and comes back to me five minutes later slyly grinning and says, "You know, there's an Adam Levy who plays lead for the Honeydogs out of Minneapolis who I always wanted to play a gig with ..."

So for October 17th, we wound up booking the world premiere of the Adam Levy Band with Adam Levy on guitar, Adam Levy on guitar and Adam Levy on bass.

Unfortunately Adam in LA couldn't make it at the last minute, but Adam Levy from the Honeydogs and Juliette Tworsey and Jules Shapiro of Firebug did and it was a great night. That was pretty funny.


Adam Levy by Pierre Jelenc.

IS: What are your aspirations for the series?

(Banjo Jim's): More of the same. Adam's Wednesday nights are a wonderful, intense, intimate scene, and usually about a third of the room consists of musicians coming out to hear each other's music. And Adam and I are talking about having some guest hosts on some night he's got to be out of town, just to add another layer of complexity to the wish list idea.

Adam: I don't know how long it will last. To me, it feels like the kind of thing that could stop and start. It's not about 100 percent continuity. It's more about creating miniature one-night festivals, over and over.

IS: What's next for the series?

(Banjo Jim's): We have about twenty people on our "wish list" that we are pursuing for gigs through the end of the summer. Our upcoming nights are April 23rd, May 14th and 28th, June 11th, 18th and 25th, July 2nd, 9th, 16th and 30th and August 6th, 20th and 27th.

IS: And for Banjo Jim's?

(Banjo Jim's): ...to keep to the heart of our original purpose, to keep it real, and to keep the room filled with that love!
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Banjo Jims Latino nights: Pan-American Folk

By Elissa Strauss

Wednesday, September 10th 2008, 4:00 AM

Latin NY Now features Latin traditional music monthly at Banjo Jims.

Tucked in an Alphabet City corner, Banjo Jims is the perfect place to hear good ol' American folk music live.

That means bluegrass, country, cajun - and also cumbia or son jarocho.

"If we say we are the Americas, we need something that shows we are including everybody," says Jamie Lyn, 34, co-curator of the venue's recently launched Latin nights.

Called Latin NY Now, the monthly series features four to five acts in the cozy, stageless space with hootenanny posters covering the walls. The next Latin night at the E. Ninth St. venue is scheduled for Sept. 27. There is no cover charge.

Gabriel Guzmán, a member of Semilla, a collective of dancers and musicians who have been playing Mexican son jarocho in the city for three years, says the Latin nights have given his group a chance to "share music and experiences with bands like ours."

Semilla tries to re-create the traditional fandangos - all-night parties - by urging the audience to participate. They often play "La Bamba," which Guzmán says is the best-known son jarocho song.

"People can stand close to us and, if they feel like it, try a few dance steps or sing," he says.

"In Banjo Jim's we have played for two hours straight until 2 a.m., but we could have kept going. In Mexico, a fandango may last until dawn."

Lyn, who plays at Banjo Jim's with her group the Red Tail Hawk Band, says the idea for the Latin folk nights came during a conversation with an employee at the bar - and the inspiration from the time she lived in Los Angeles.

"I'm Appalachian, our music is our story," says Lyn. "I found the same thing in the Mexican community there."

Sebastián Cruz, 30, who both performs at and helps curate the night, says that Latin NY Now gives him a chance to play the relatively unknown cumbia of his native Colombia.

"Latin night is not about salsa, Latin jazz, or samba, the music people know. It gives us a chance to play these Colombian and Mexican traditions," says Cruz, who plays with the experimental group Cheap Landscape.

"This is about everything that is traditional," he adds. "Not music made by some guy to make money, but what comes out of a people, a culture."

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