Jazz Club Woes

[kh1958]

Dear SmallsLIVE Supporters:

Many have noticed that we have had no live stream during the last few days and that our website’s calendar is blank.  I apologize that it’s taken me until now to inform everyone as to the situation.  I want to preface everything by saying that it is on the strength of our supporting members that we have managed to stay afloat during the more than one-year of the COVID lockdown.  I am grateful to the passion and faith of those that care about Smalls and our music.
 
Smalls Jazz Club was reported anonymously to the State Liquor Authority to the effect we were breaking COVID rules.  The rule we were specifically breaking was the SLA’s rule that no venue was allowed to advertise or ticket a musical event.  This is a law specific to New York State and is a controversial one.  It was actually not widely reported on but here is an article that came out around the time the rule was enacted last year CLICK FOR LINK.  This rule caused controversy and was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge CLICK FOR LINK.  This rule was relaxed for the entire state with the exception of New York City, where it remains in effect.  The person who complained to the SLA knew well about this rule and pointed it out specifically in their anonymous report.  An inspector from the SLA and two undercover police officers came to our venue on two occasions.  They were rudely mannered and disrespectful to my mangers and myself.  They pointed out many little infractions that were non-COVID related.  They pointed out that our food menu was inadequate.  This is also a new rule of the SLA, that bars must serve “substantial food” with any alcoholic beverage.  We’ve never had to do this in the past.  Smalls is a tavern license with no kitchen.  We turned to our local sandwich shop to cater for our shows in order that we could serve food but this wasn’t considered enough.  The SLA insisted we were a restaurant.  They also made observations about our tight spacing, masks and the usual COVID precautions.  Those of you who know me know that we have done everything we can to facilitate safety for our patrons.  There has not been a lot of guidance in this matter and we’ve had to feel our way along.  We have been using temperature checks, log books, masks, gloves, dividers, HEPA filters and ultra-violet lights as well as a 25% capacity.  The sheriff's department, which had come by the place a week before, found us COVID compliant.  The SLA did not.
 
Of course, the big infraction was the fact that we advertised shows (i.e. our website) and that we had tickets.  Our problem, of course, is that we really have no other method of operation except this one.  We can’t seat on the street.  We really don’t have a kitchen.  We are known, for the last 25 years, as a place for live music.  The inspector was merciless and fast tracked us to a secret hearing of the SLA commission to vote on summarily suspending our license.  We were not informed of this hearing and not allowed to defend ourselves.  This was an execution ground for bars that were to be terminated by the SLA one after the other.  Ours was the last bar on the agenda.  By some miracle (and our attorney said that they had “never seen this before”), two of the three commissioners voted not to terminate.  I am not clear why we were spared but I’d like to believe that they knew who we were and didn’t want to extinguish a cultural institution.  We will still get fined and probably significantly but Smalls will live to see another day.
 
I don’t want to comment on the anonymous nature of the complaints or of someone’s desire to destroy our club.  New York has changed inexorably.  This is a new climate and one of fear and lack of good information.  People are understandably scared and, by us trying to go back to even a limited version of normal, it was too much of a threat.   I contend that music and social gatherings are critical for the health of the society. At Smalls we do not flaunt rules.  COVID has taken my father and is very personal for me – I do not take it lightly.  But I must stand by Smalls and our right to present music and to support what remains of the jazz music community in this city.  Day by day we soldier on.  I intend to begin our live stream next week from a closed club, just as we did last year when we were locked down.  I look and pray for a time when this crisis has passed and that the people can feel safe enough to come into our basement and enjoy the best that this culture has to offer.
 
Once again, I thank everyone for their support and pertinence.
 
Spike
 

GoFundMe campaign for Shapeshifter Lab, Matt Garrison's Brooklyn Club.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-shapeshifter-lab

The last few days, ShapeShifter Lab has been featured in important segments on CNN , NPR  “All Things Considered” and interviewed by the Washington Post, speaking as one of the many small businesses that have been negatively impacted by the Covid-19/Financial crisis.


The delay in federal relief funding and the difficulties in lease renewal negotiations while waiting to be allowed to reopen, have left us with possibly having to leave the building where we/you/us have built our business and have made our musical home over the last decade. 


Although this will likely occur within the next few months, there is a silver lining and we are also impelled to see important opportunities ahead:

1. Our 501c3 ShapeShifter+ is pointing us to an important path forward

2. Some important/vital collaborations are forming with incredible, like minded entrepreneurs, with whom we see an option to move to a new location. We’ll launch a press release regarding that situation once there’s a clear path.

3. The software we’ve been creating for quite some time now, finally, has an option to be launched the RIGHT way. More to come on that exciting project as well.
In looking ahead, we are hopeful to partner with you and hope you will consider making a donation to ShapeShifter Lab through: GoFundMe


The funds will be used to:

- Assist in either remaining on site at Whitwell Place, or if negotiations fail with the current property owners, to relocate our operations to a new location within the next few months.

- Launching our new ShapeShifterLab/ShapeShifter+ programming series

- Supporting artists, organizers and other institutions in moving forward with their vital presentations with us, either on site or remotely

It has been an honor and a privilege to serve our Gowanus/Park Slope community and beyond, to celebrate the moments of joy together, to be part of the beautiful creative and forward thinking environment we’ve built together with all of you. We look forward to continuing on that path, in unity, as we slowly all gather our bearings after these unprecedented times. We hope you’ll work with us to, not only continue our groundbreaking path, but to also partner with us as we strive to build back, stronger and better!

[HutchFan]

Ugh.

With regards to what happened at Smalls, it sounds like someone had an agenda.  Terrible.  I'm just glad that they didn't get shut down.

 

[kh1958]

Shapeshifter Lab is a very nice venue--most notably, I saw Greg Osby there.

[sidewinder]

I’m sorry for Spike with his loss and hope that they pull through all of this OK.

[sonnymax]

45 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

With regards to what happened at Smalls, it sounds like someone had an agenda.

That's certainly the way Wilner's message reads. But in an article published yesterday in the Jewish Insider, he says the following:

Wilner isn’t optimistic that live entertainment in New York will return to normal any time soon — if at all. “I doubt we’ll ever get 100% capacity again,” he told JI. “We’ll be lucky to get 50%.”

Ever?

“I mean, all I can say is in comparison to what we used to have as to now,” he elaborated. “I can tell you that, right now, there are musicians who won’t set foot in the place, that we get hostile Facebook comments and stuff from people who don’t want to see us open.

So it might not just be a "someone" who has an agenda.

Edited March 20, 2021 by sonnymax

[bertrand]

The Smalls issue is very tricky. I saw him berate a famous musician for not wanting to play there although he was willing to play a larger venue. And I did witness a Melissa Aldana gig where no one in the front row, just a couple of feet away, was masked and they were laughing and giggling. She seemed very nervous. I stopped watching. Spike himself always walks around without a mask and has been taken to task. All of this can be seen on the videos, of course.

Anonymous complaints are always sleazy, but it seems there were not so anonymous complaints also...

 

Edited March 20, 2021 by bertrand

[JSngry]

Didn't this guy cry "victim" a few years ago about a completely unrelated matter? Some agent or somebody called him out about something, some shit like that.

I liked it better when mobsters ran this shit, at least the grudges part of it. Spare us the public tears, just fix the problem and keep moving along.

[Ken Dryden]

What do expect from a city run by a moronic mayor and a clueless city council? They are doing their best to kill off small businesses like jazz clubs with their draconian, nonsensical edicts. 

Spike Wilder is hardly getting rich running such small capacity clubs with low cover charges where people tend to nurse one drink for an entire set, even prior to COVID-19.

[BillF]

 

[clifford_thornton]

Shapeshifter is a cool spot but the sound can be a bit difficult in the space (not to mention lines of sight). If they do in fact move somewhere else, hopefully it's somewhere that is a bit more forgiving to the ears and eyes. 

I also know that musicians have legitimate complaints about both Smalls and Shapeshifter. It does remind me a bit of the whole Tonic situation, where there were protests in the streets led by Marc Ribot when it shut down, but when it was active every musician and many patrons had a litany of negative things to say!

[Hardbopjazz]

Today, the Keykorner started a go fund me campaign to stay afloat.  

https://www.gofundme.com/f/keeping-the-music-alive-at-keystone-korner

 

 

[sgcim]

On 3/21/2021 at 9:25 PM, Ken Dryden said:

What do expect from a city run by a moronic mayor and a clueless city council? They are doing their best to kill off small businesses like jazz clubs with their draconian, nonsensical edicts. 

Spike Wilder is hardly getting rich running such small capacity clubs with low cover charges where people tend to nurse one drink for an entire set, even prior to COVID-19.

Someone who has gigged there a lot, and knows SW well, told me that SW's late father owned a chain of pharmacies, so that might explain Small's situation.

I think that the wiping out of small businesses in NYC started long before the current administration.

[Ken Dryden]

The thing that puzzles me the most about this stupid situation is the ban on advertising. How can any business survey at 25% capacity if they can't even promote themselves? 

Too many politicians are in the pockets of big business and have no clue about the damage they do to small businesses, regardless of which party they label themselves. 

Maybe Spike has deeper pockets than we think, but Smalls and Mezzrow have been two of my favorite haunts on visits to the city in recent years.

 

 

[JSngry]

3 hours ago, sgcim said:

I think that the wiping out of small businesses in NYC started long before the current administration.

Not a resident, much less a voter, but from what I've heard from those who are/were, yeah, long before. Real e$tate gone wild.

[Ken Dryden]

I can't imagine that basements like the ones most jazz clubs occupy are all that attractive to most businesses, unless they are entertainment -oriented, but landlords are jacking up rents for every business tenant in many cases. But NYC and state officials are piling on too much with their draconian rules. 

[randyhersom]

Someone should talk to the Yang Gang

[Guy Berger]

On 3/20/2021 at 0:00 PM, bertrand said:

The Smalls issue is very tricky... And I did witness a Melissa Aldana gig where no one in the front row, just a couple of feet away, was masked and they were laughing and giggling. She seemed very nervous. I stopped watching. Spike himself always walks around without a mask and has been taken to task. All of this can be seen on the videos, of course.

 

This sucks.

[duaneiac]

I noticed last week that Cafe Stritch here in San Jose is still closed.  The message on their website is not encouraging.  If they are not open by now, it would seem very unlikely that they will be able to hold their annual celebration of all things RRK, the Rahsaanathon, in August..  I hope they do survive and come back soon.  It is/was a nice venue and gave me the thrill of a lifetime just seeing RRK's stritch hanging on the wall there (as well as his top hat).  Here's the story of how they came to possess those items.