Friday, September 3rd, 2010—Bar 236
Day 236—Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
Arthur's Tavern
The old donation bell hasn’t rang in quite some time and happily tonight it rang twice.
First off, it looks like I’m going to be making some more friends from the land down under. Claire and Mick Campbell generously sent in twenty dollars and told me they were going to be in New York City in a couple of weeks at the end of September. So they’re going to be joining me on the crawl and I’m looking forward to meeting some new Australian mates! Thanks Claire and Mick, we’ll be seeing you two soon!
The second donation was from Nicole Salazar who sent in a generous ten dollar donation. She said it was for the “continuation of the 365 day bar crawl.” Thanks so much, Nicole, due to fine folks like you, I continue to crawl!
Okay, it’s not as late as last night, so we’ll venture a little further away from where I work. I’ve been to all kinds of bars so far, but tonight while looking for a place to go to I realized I hadn’t yet been to a jazz bar. And if you’re going to a jazz bar, why not go to the oldest one in town? Arthur’s Tavern in the West Village has been in the same location since 1937 and people call it, “The Home of the Bird,” because jazz great Charlie Parker used to regularly play gigs at the tavern. If it’s good enough for “The Bird,” it’s good enough for me, let’s fly on over there.
And here we are at the legendary Arthur's.
Wow, it's packed in here. Nice and dark and lit up with Christmas tree lights. A festive mood indeed.
Bartender Kiddra serves up a beer.
Peace, cheers and beers.
An unflashed view from where I sit at the bar.
Some of the bottled beers available and the Wicked Witch. Auntie Em! Auntie Em!
There's tables off to the side, and as you can see, the joint is packed.
Here's an enlarged clipping from the New York Times about Arthur's hanging on the wooden wall opposite the bar.
And another one from New York magazine hangs beside it.
A shot outside the tinsel covered window.
Rich was seated next to me at the bar.
And his friend John joined him later.
And now the band takes the stage, it's just about showtime, ladies and gentlemen!
And here's tonight's featured act, Sweet Georgia Brown. Here she's signing some CD's before the show starts. Georgia has performed on Broadway and has sang with Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson, Fathead Newman, KoKo Taylor and Stanley Turrentine.
And here we go, it's showtime.
People immediately get up and start dancing.
Georgia is putting on one hell of a show and getting the crowd moving.
A great performer, singer and a wonderful set at Arthur's Tavern.
And as I walked home, I stumbled upon this storefront...FIRE! Goodnight, everybody.
Review
Arthur’s Tavern is a New York landmark and has been on the block since 1937. The space is small and packs them in seven nights a week due to the live music and the fact that there’s never a cover charge for the entertainment. The front area houses a bar and tables off to the side and in the back, the bands play in the piano bar area with people dancing in the limited dance floor.
There’s a full bar here and it’s a two drink minimum during music sets. While it’s billed as a jazz nightclub, there’s all kinds of music featured here. Live jazz runs from 7pm to 10pm Tuesday through Saturday, there’s Dixieland jazz, Siunday and Monday catch the best rhythm and blues from 9pm to 3am and more R&B Tuesday through Saturday, 11pm to 3am.,
When you get lost between the moon and New York City, the best that you can do is to fall into Arthur’s Tavern, enjoy the music and have a drink or six.
Arthur's Tavern
57 Grove St. (Near Seventh Ave. South)
212-675-6879
And Now, For Fat Al...The Byrds!
31 Comments
Reader Comments (31)
Is this the same Arthur's you visited for "99 Beers?" If so, it looks a lot more fun this time! I love the Christmas decorations...LOL
@Aaron: I can't remember if I came here for the 99 Beers book, but then again I can't remember last night. It comes with the territory. And it was a great night, Christmas decorations and all!
Arthur's looks like an awesome place to drink, dance and listen to some great live acts! I can't believe that with the talent they showcase, there's no cover charge and only a two drink minimum! Shows that this place really is all about the music. I'd love to go there next time I'm in town. And even if I'm there at an off-hour and miss the live show, I'll bet the house plays a mean mix (see, those cd's stacked up behind Kiddra). I mean, I love the jukeboxes as much as the next Biff, but sometimes you've just got to hand your ears over to the bartenders and let 'em do their magic. Thanks for taking us along to this West Village gem, Marty! This post was on FIRE!
P.S. Is it just me, or is John Gene Siskel's identical twin?
@ Aaron,yea it is the same..
i actually had to pull down the book and look...
looks like you had more fun this time Marty..
@Biff: You're right, I should've asked him for a Netflix pick.
@Gidget: That's weird, I don't remember going there for the book, but it was eight years ago. As I always say, fun flies when you're having time.
These type of bars,,,,with live jazz is real New Yawk,,, I see people out on the town dressed up a little, drinking, and enjoying live music. Arthur's is the real thing and Im happy to see that they get crowed. Sweet Georgia,,,she got soul. Marty sometimes I think you are really lucky to be able to do this crawl in NYC,,no other city in the world with the variety of bars, most of us will never be able to go and do this,,,to some this is as far as they get,,,,those that can go only hit a few good bars. For sure Arthur's is a must visit,,, Another great bar.. May I add that you are a man of great energy and this undertaking is not for the faint of heart. Not everyone can do this,. To Marty!
Couldn't think of a better place to bring a date for an extraordinary evening. You're on a roll, Marty!
Another cool glowy place. I'm impressed you stayed in such a packed place, but looked fun. And I second @Al, not many people could do this and you have a great place to do it in. Hell we have zero bars in my town, wouldn't be very fun. Thanks for continuing to take us along for the ride. To Marty!
@marty, my god it was the smallest review I think in the book..
page 144.
totally nondescript.
i cheated i looked in the glossary just now.
@Gidget: I probably went there in the daytime. I need to re-read my own book!
@everyone else: Thanks for the kind words and for continuing to stop by and comment. You're the ones that keep me crawling. TO ALL OF YOU!
Great spot and photos and I have to chime in with what a great variety of bars you're hitting. I went to the bar list and looked at some of the old spots and this is really a fascinating guide of not only bars, but the people you meet along the way.
Now thats entertainment !! Like a Christmas gift in September , with the lights !!
TO : Sweet Georgia Brown
i agree with JHwang, it feels like christmas in september in this place! ho ho ho (and i don't mean the women. LOL!)
@ 365: Awesome little place. The party was in full swing by the time you got there. Good times on the crawl.
TO Mick and Claire! On ya guys! Hope to see your comments here from time to time! The bar is always open.
TO Mick and Claire! Clacky's right, the bar here never closes here so fill 'er up! Just keep your mitts off of my Budweiser!
imho...365 never really recovered from that irish hooligan who said that paddy maguire's opened at noon...what followed and his aching sideburns the next morning...plus the reported heat sorta made "99" a task... a "job" if you will...whereas "365" is more of a lark...fun if you will...other than the occasional bitchin', moanin', groanin', and whinein' about friday nights this so far has been a hoot if you will..."99" did have it's moments—tripping the cripple, mister softee, the little sock guy, never getting that copy of "juggs", etc...moments within moments within moments...like lookin'; into a mirror that is facin' a mirror if you will...KOC
rr
@raginrr: You hit that nail on the head! The 99 Beers book was really written from a cynical perspective and the reviews were somewhat secondary to the travelogue writing and adventures inbetween. 365 is the flip side, more about the bar with the travel being the subplot. I've never really thought about it till now!
FIRE ! FIRE !
That bar looks indeed like a christmas tree!! haha but I like it !!
Georgia Brown's show looks amazing, I tried to find on youtube about her but not sure I found the right things... If someone find a video, share the link ;)
Oh and I don't know if it works in USA or Australia, but we get a new funny thing on web here : Go to google France and search "Trou du cul" (means Asshole) then click on "J'ai de la chance" (I'm feeling lucky) See the result?????? HA HA HA ! :D
oops my link doesn't work !!!! ok I'm drunk and retarded so copy and past www.google.fr !!!!!! haha
@Gidget: I like page 97 ... :)
PS .... can somebody else count the book also ? I have -- and I swear Marty had 100 beers, not 99 ...
@Gene could you possibly have that much time to count the book??? and no i cant count that high so I am taking his word for it...whats so exciting about 97?
Birds, everywhere birds...