UWS Smoke Jazz Club To Reopen After Summer With Expansion

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Call it another high note for live music and New York City's jazz scene.

Smoke Jazz & Supper Club announced Wednesday that the live music venue and restaurant will be joining Village Vanguard, Blue Note, Small's and Birdland in reopening its doors to jazz aficionados, connoisseurs and lovers — and with planned expansions to their nook on Broadway and West 106th.

"It’s been a crazy year for all of us and while the pandemic is not quite over yet, we are thrilled to be planning for the next phase," co-owner Molly Johnson told Patch. "Musicians have been practicing in their homes for 14 months so yes, a jazz renaissance is what we are all working on as part of the New Roaring 20s!"

Co-owner and founder Paul Stache and Johnson have been in discussions for the last several years about adding two adjacent and vacant storefronts to the club and are in the process of combining these spaces.

"When the need to provide more separation between patrons at our famously cozy club became a requirement, we knew we would need extra space to re-open and remain viable," Stache and Johnson wrote in Wednesday's announcement.

Smoke Jazz & Supper Club, a mainstay since 1999, received a Shuttered Venue Operators Grant through the Small Business Administration, which guaranteed the venue's reopening. In their announcement, Stache and Johnson expressed heartfelt gratitude.

"We are relieved and grateful and have so many to thank: The Senators and Representatives who wrote and passed the bill; the Small Business Administration (SBA) who managed the applications and awards; the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) who guided and advocated for us; and, most importantly, everyone who sustained us with letters, phone calls and support over the last 16+ months. These funds will allow us to pay off some of our debt and offset the tremendous losses we accumulated during the shutdown."

Like many others, Smoke Jazz Club went through the pandemic's unprecedented trials and tribulations.

It began when the Smoke team announced last year on March 14 that in-house dining and takeout were still being offered—but all shows were cancelled starting March 16. The business stayed ahead of the game by installing sanitizing dispensers at the club's entrance. The show before the storm was a four-night run with Al Foster, Ron Carter and Kevin Hays Music.

A couple of days later on March 16, Smoke Jazz & Supper Club closed.

"It's important to recognize our friends in NYC who are also finding ways to get through the pandemic," said Johnson, referring to the city's jazz venues. "We certainly feel very grateful to have this opportunity to rebuild and continue with the plans that we started to put in motion four years ago.

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A few days later, a regular by the name of Wayne S. Kabak, an Upper Westsider, penned a letter for the community asking for donations. His words sing of place carved out in the mold of his home:

"Smoke has been a home-away-from-home for us for over 20 years. It’s the kind of place that people conjure in their imaginations when trying to envision the ideal spot to experience this music. If the day ever comes when I walk past an empty storefront on Broadway that has been the home of Smoke, all of our lives will have lost something that is irreplaceable."

Smoke Jazz & Supper Club remained active on its social media, and took pause at the start of the protests for George Floyd to make a statement.

"In light of recent events and the events of some four centuries, Smoke Sessions Records agrees that the show must be paused. Our label might not be big but our commitment to racial justice is."

On Oct. 7, Smoke Jazz & Supper Club announced its plan to try something new: outdoor seating inside greenhouse-like pods, with live jazz inside through the windows.

On Nov. 19, Smoke Jazz & Supper Club closed its sidewalk dining and released a statement. "The fact that schools are closing because of the pandemic while bars and restaurants remain open is a tough one to justify. We were personally (like many of you) sheltered in for 15+ weeks earlier on this year. We want to do everything in our power to prevent us from having to go back to that place as a city."

Now that the venue is reopening, outdoor seating will still remain an option, Johnson said.

The live entertainment and music industry suffered huge losses at the onset and throughout the pandemic. Trying to dodge curveballs, Smoke Jazz Club created Smoke Screens, a streaming concert series produced live at Smoke Jazz Club. The series offered world-class jazz artists to jazz lovers around the world.

Smoke Jazz Club live-streamed for around 46 weekends during the year they've been closed.

"That means around 92 unique live shows!," Johnson said. "We’ve had people purchase tickets from all around the world — Singapore to Argentina, U.K. to Australia. Some of our most loyal watchers have barely missed a show, staying awake to watch even though the show could be at 1 or 2 a.m. in their time zone."

The team placed transparent folding screens —a delicious find, because what might the music sound like if they weren't? — between the musicians during live streaming events, like the one below during a sneak preview of the Christian Sands Trio.

Currently, the two weekend sets are streamed live at 8 p.m. in New York City and are available for purchase and streaming for 48 hours after each performance for listening and viewing opportunities in any time zone.

Although live-streamed shows are an alternative and supplement, most know nothing — absolutely nothing — can replace live music.

Cory Weeds, a Vancouver-based saxophonist who posted an image last April of his daughter coming on stage while he performed at Smoke Jazz Club, wrote to Patch from Vancouver about the club's reopening:

"Smoke Jazz Club was the first jazz club I visited when I went to NYC for the first time in 2002. I had been operating my club in Vancouver for two years and wanted to see the “big time.” I knew that’s where all “my” people played…Eric Alexander, Peter Bernstein, Mike LeDonne, Joe I Farnsworth, David Hazeltine, Steve Davis, Jim Rotondi and so many more. Owner Paul Stache was so kind to me when I met him the first time and we became quick friends.

I can only describe Smoke as home. To me there is something so comforting about the smell and the feel of being in that place. Even writing this gives me a pang of excitement thinking about the many many nights I have been in the audience AND on the stage. As I walk up Broadway to the club i start to jog as I get closer I get so excited about being in that space.

When the pandemic hit my first fear for NYC was how is Smoke going to survive this but knowing Paul as I do I quickly realized it’ll take more than a pandemic to keep Paul down. Not only did he not stay down, he’s coming back bigger and better. I’m so proud of him and the Smoke family and can’t wait to get back there."

Smoke Jazz & Supper Club will continue to follow CDC recommendations and follow best practices to keep staff, audience and musicians and the community at-large safe.