55 Bar
{{Short description|Jazz club in New York City}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox venue
| image = 55 Bar, Greenwich Village in 2012.jpeg
| image_caption = The 55 Bar in 2012
| image_alt = The bottom floor of a building with a sign that says "55 Bar". A sandwich board reads, "live jazz and blues".
| mapframe = yes
| address = 55 Christopher Street
| city = Manhattan, New York
| country = United States
| coordinates = {{coord|40.7338|-74.0023}}
| type = Bar
| opened = 1919
| closed = 2022
| yearsactive = 1983–2022
}}
The 55 Bar was a bar and jazz club located at 55 Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The bar was established in 1919 and operated as a speakeasy during the Prohibition era. The bar began jazz performances in 1983. The venue closed in 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic. Musicians with regular shows at the bar included Jeff Michael Andrews, Mike and Leni Stern, and Wayne Krantz.
History
File:51-53 Christopher Street, NYC, New York in 1928.png
The 55 Bar was established in 1919 by Hyman Satenstein.{{Cite book |last=Reaven |first=Marci |title=Hidden New York |last2=Zeitlin |first2=Steve |date=October 5, 2006 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=9780813541242 |chapter=Art and Music, City Style |pages=190–191 |doi=10.36019/9780813541242-006}} According to one account, Satenstein, who was returning from fighting in World War I, received the property by gambling in a card game.{{Cite news |last=Dollar |first=Steve |date=September 1, 2006 |title=Jazz in New York City: An Insider’s Guide to the City’s Jazz Clubs |url=https://jazztimes.com/features/lists/jazz-in-new-york-city-an-insiders-guide-to-the-citys-jazz-clubs/ |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=Jazz Times}} Shortly after the bar opened, the United States banned alcohol. Satenstein illegally operated it as a speakeasy until the ban was lifted and he received a liquor license. The bar was acquired in the 1960s by Bradley Cunningham, who would later open a jazz club, Bradley's. Before the 55 Bar became a jazz club, many local jazz musicians were customers.
The 55 Bar was acquired in 1981 by Peter Williams. It began featuring jazz in 1983.{{Cite news |last=Hentoff |first=Nat |author-link=Nat Hentoff |date=January 26, 2005 |title=A Bar Where Jazz Fans And Performers Feel at Home |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB110670220529836128 |url-access=limited |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=The Wall Street Journal}} Daily performances were initially open to the public and were not paid. Jazz shows began when bassist Jeff Michael Andrews asked Williams if he could perform at the bar. Andrews invited guitarist Mike Stern, who began performing at the venue fortnightly until its closure.{{Cite news |last=Brady |first=Shaun |date=April 27, 2024 |title=Favorite Number |url=https://jazztimes.com/features/tributes-and-obituaries/favorite-number/ |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=Jazz Times}} Stern's wife, Leni Stern, also began a residency there. In the 1980s, the 55 Bar largely featured guitar-heavy jazz fusion.{{Cite book |last=Gazit |first=Ofer |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/56410 |title=Jazz Migrations: Movement as Place Among New York Musicians |date=2024-06-16 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-768277-7 |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oso/9780197682777.001.0001}}{{rp|22}} It participated in the Greenwich Village Jazz Festival annually from 1986 to 1989.{{Cite news |last= |date=August 22, 1986 |title=Village Clubs Featuring Festival Sounds |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/22/arts/village-clubs-featuring-festival-sounds.html |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite news |last=Troup |first=Stuart |date=August 28, 1987 |title=A Festival Opens in the Heartland of Jazz |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/722770152/?match=1&clipping_id=165047796 |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=Newsday}}{{Cite news |last=Nelsen |first=Don |date=August 26, 1988 |title=Clubs Full of Jazz in Village |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/465555895/?match=1&clipping_id=165047848 |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=New York Daily News}}{{Cite news |last=Nelsen |first=Don |date=August 20, 1989 |title=All Jazzed Up for Village Fest |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/406604854/?match=1&clipping_id=165047891 |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=New York Daily News}} The bar gained a reputation for hosting talented jazz musicians in a dive bar atmosphere. Guitarist Wayne Krantz performed there beginning in the 1990s. Writer Steve Dollar credited the bar as the place where Norah Jones was discovered.{{Cite news |last=Dollar |first=Steve |date=February 21, 2003 |title=Making Backup Tracks |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/728461735/?match=1&clipping_id=165048010 |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=Newsday}} Jones had visited the bar in 1999 as a new resident of New York City, where she met guitarist Adam Levy, with whom she formed her backing band.{{Cite news |last=Davis |first=Reid |date=February 26, 2007 |title=Norah Jones |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/norah-jones/norah-jones |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=Paste}}{{Cite news |last=Richardson |first=Derk |date=August 28, 2003 |title=More Than Backup / Guitarist Adam Levy moves out from behind Norah Jones for his own CD |url=https://www.sfgate.com/music/article/More-Than-Backup-Guitarist-Adam-Levy-moves-out-3311940.php |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=SFGate}}
Queva Lutz acquired the 55 Bar in 2001. She aimed for the venue to have a higher profile and to feature innovative music, citing the example of the Village Vanguard. Lutz, who booked all the venue's performers, began to feature emerging musicians in free early shows before the late-night shows with established artists. Lutz died in 2007{{Cite news |last= |date=March 5, 2007 |title=Queva Jayne Lutz, Owner Of NYC’s 55 Bar, Dies |url=https://downbeat.com/news/detail/queva-jayne-lutz-owner-of-nycs-55-bar-dies |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=Downbeat}} and her son, Scott Ellard, owned the bar until its closure. In 2014, David Bowie visited the bar at the recommendation of jazz musician Maria Schneider and saw a performance by Donny McCaslin's quartet. He invited the group to collaborate on his final album, Blackstar.{{Cite news |last=Greene |first=Andy |date=November 23, 2015 |title=The Inside Story of David Bowie’s Stunning New Album, ‘Blackstar’ |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/the-inside-story-of-david-bowies-stunning-new-album-blackstar-231351/ |access-date=February 9, 2015 |work=Rolling Stone}}
The 55 Bar was closed for fourteen months during the COVID-19 lockdowns.{{Cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Mark |date=September 17, 2021 |title=Benefit gigs to help keep 55 Bar open |url=https://jazzjournal.co.uk/2021/09/17/benefit-gigs-to-help-keep-55-bar-open/ |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=Jazz Journal}} It could not keep up with the cost of real estate in New York City.{{rp|32}} The bar held benefit concerts, and a GoFundMe campaign raised $61,000, but it was unable to recover its lost revenue. It closed permanently on May 23, 2022. Over 100 people attended on the final day. After the final performance, featuring Paul Jost, people gathered outside and a 16-member brass band played until the police dispersed the crowd.{{Cite news |last=Lang |first=Emily |date=May 24, 2022 |title=Last call at the 55 Bar as the West Village jazz club closes its doors |url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/last-call-at-the-55-bar |url-access=limited |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=Gothamist}} The COVID-19 pandemic in New York City had caused the closure of several other jazz clubs, including the Jazz Standard.{{Cite news |last=Scherstuhl |first=Alan |date=July 21, 2022 |title=Smoke Rises: A Jazz Room Returns on the Upper West Side |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/21/arts/music/smoke-jazz-club.html |url-access=limited |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=The New York Times}}
Venue
The 55 Bar was located in the basement of 55 Christopher Street, at the crossing with Seventh Avenue, between the Stonewall Inn and the Lion's Head tavern. It did not serve food, and it maintained a one drink minimum. Lutz described the 55 Bar as an "old fashioned jazz club". It was a small venue that became familiar to its musicians, enabling them to share ideas with each other.{{Cite journal |last=Gagatsis |first=Alexander |date=2022-08-04 |title=Jazz Places: How Performance Spaces Shape Jazz History by Kimberly Hannon Teal |url=https://academic.oup.com/ml/article/103/3/569/6631047 |journal=Music and Letters |language=en |volume=103 |issue=3 |pages=569–572 |doi=10.1093/ml/gcac059 |issn=0027-4224|url-access=subscription }}