Dear Friends:

It's been an exceptional year!  Smalls has turned 20 and to celebrate we are finally ready to officially announce our big news: we are opening another venue!  My partner Mitch Borden and I have been working in secret for the last 7 months on this special project.  Due to the complications involved in obtaining a full on-premise liquor license we have been reluctant to speak about it in fear that something could derail our plans.  However, as of last Friday, we received our license and now are really set to open our place.

The new club, which we are calling "Mezzrow" in honor of Mezz Mezzrow, is located at 163 West 10th street - literally a stones throw from Smalls (Smalls is 183 West 10th street).  Mezzrow, like Smalls, is a basement club - a real speakeasy vibe.  We've put a ton of work into making it beautiful and comfortable.  We installed an antique bar (built in Chicago in 1929) and the place looks absolutely amazing!  We also bought a truly exceptional Steinway grand for the club that will be worthy of the great musicians who will be playing on it.  The idea for Mezzrow is that of a "piano room".  There was a time in New York where there were many piano rooms - places where you could go to hear great pianists in solo, duet or trio settings.  Our model was the legendary Bradley's, which used to be on University Place.  This is the  concept for Mezzrow: an adult place to hang out, have a cocktail and listen to great jazz piano music.  It will be run in tandem with Smalls and (we hope) to have a cross-current of clients going back and forth between the two clubs.

I've been asked already; "why Mezzrow?" and "why name a piano club after a clarinetist?" or "who the hell is Mezzrow?".  Here's a short paragraph that I'm including on our new website (soon to launch):
 

Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, (November 9, 1899 – August 5, 1972) was born in Chicago to a poor Jewish immigrant family.  As a juvenile delinquent, he was in and out of reformatory schools and prisons where he was exposed to jazz and blues music.  He began to play the clarinet and decided to adopt the African American culture as his own.  He became a ubiquitous figure on the Chicago jazz scene of the 1920’s and ran in the circles of musicians that included King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Jimmy Noone, Al Jolson, Baby Dodds, Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Bellson and many others.  Mezz was an advocate for the pure New Orleans jazz style.  Mezz became close friends with Louis Armstrong and later became his personal assistant.  In the late thirties, Mezz moved to Harlem in New York City and married an African American woman.  He continued to play and also organize recording sessions with many great artists.  Mezz Mezzrow also became famous as a marijuana dealer and advocated for the use of the herb as a healthy alternative to alcohol and other drugs.  His product was so well known in the jazz community that musicians called it “mezz”, “the mighty mezz” or “mezz-rolls”, as in marijuana cigarettes.
 
Above everything Mezz Mezzrow was an advocate for integration and equal rights at time well before the movement of the 1960’s.  Eddie Condon said of Mezz Mezzrow: “When he fell through the Mason-Dixie line he just kept going". Mezz was the original hipster, slang master, jazz musician and bohemian spirit.
 
Mezzrow’s autobiography, Really The Blues, is a colorful masterpiece - a true glimpse into the underworld of speakeasies, gangsters and the masters of jazz music as well as a morality tale through the American odyssey 

We still have some small stuff to do before we can open but I am anticipating to be open by mid-July or August 1rst at the very latest.  I will be sending out a special email announcing our opening and the launch of the Mezzrow website, which will give all the info, performance dates and on-line reservations.  In the meantime, please go ahead and "like" our Mezzrow fan page on Facebook.  We'll be updating this page with photos and other info as we progress.  Here's the direct link ------>  https://www.facebook.com/mezzrowclub

My very best wishes to everyone and I hope to see you at both clubs!  Please remember in these spiritually trying times to keep a positive outlook and to act compassionately to your fellow Earthlings.

Best Regards,

Spike