RIP, The Bottom Line, NYC

Lenny D.Guitarist · January-27th-2004, 06:53 PM

The Bottom Line Club in NYC has been forced to close its doors. I've been there tons of times;
it was nowhere near the ripoff that the Blue Note has turned into. The owners blame the 9/11
tragedy for the drop in attendance. Hope somebody takes it over and restores its grandeur.

Pete C · January-27th-2004, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lenny D.Guitarist
The Bottom Line Club in NYC has been forced to close its doors. I've been there tons of times;
it was nowhere near the ripoff that the Blue Note has turned into. The owners blame the 9/11
tragedy for the drop in attendance. Hope somebody takes it over and restores its grandeur.

Lenny, the real story has been gone over here before. NYU owns the property and squeezed the Bottom Line out. Nobody will restore it to anything. It'll serve some NYU function.

GoodSpeak · January-27th-2004, 11:31 PM

Pity.

Ron Thorne · January-28th-2004, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pete C
Lenny, the real story has been gone over here before. NYU owns the property and squeezed the Bottom Line out. Nobody will restore it to anything. It'll serve some NYU function.

One can only hope that it serves some real and tangible function as it did in the past.

January-28th-2004, 03:45 AM

What great Jazz club exists anymore?

Another bullshit tragedy. But one that Jazz, and all improvised music, has seen SO many times in the past.

52nd street for instance?

R.I.P.

stonemonkts · January-28th-2004, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Scott Dolan
What great Jazz club exists anymore?

Well, even though some here revile it, the Village Vanguard is still there, same as it ever was.

I was at the Bottom Line once, when Springsteen was there in 70-something (Born To Run was just released).

Chris D · January-28th-2004, 09:52 AM

That would have been '75.
Spanish Johnny drove in from the underworld last night....

Gentle Giant · January-28th-2004, 11:22 AM

NYUk, NYUk, NYUk

Sob, actually. Why it's not protected as a national landmark is beyond me...and I've never even been there.

Ron Thorne · January-29th-2004, 04:35 PM

Wouldn't it be hip if NYU created a jazz museum in this venerated space?

It breaks my heart to consider what we've lost, as pictured below ... virtually wall-to-wall jazz clubs on one street in New York City. A black & white version of this wonderful William Gottlieb photograph sits on the desktop on my computer, so I "go there" every day.

52nd Street Between 5th & 6th Avenues Circa 1948
© Copyright by William P. Gottlieb

January-29th-2004, 04:55 PM

WOW! Great pic, Ron! I believe thats the first time I've ever seen that in color.

That must have been one of the most incredible scene's of alltime.

There have been many nights where I'll just put on some Bird, or Monk, or Dizzy, and close my eyes and wonder what it would've been like.

"Miles" had some awesome recollections of the 52nd street scene. Does anybody know if there has ever been a book written that gives any more extensive accounts of that scene at the time?

Pete C · January-29th-2004, 05:04 PM

I think some comments here are based on a mistaken premise. The Bottom Line was not, and never was, a jazz club. They were a very eclectic music venue that featured a bunch of jazz over the years, but it was far from a major part of their programming.

Pete C · January-29th-2004, 05:05 PM

By the way, the only surviving building of old 52nd Street is the 21 Club.

Ron Thorne · January-29th-2004, 05:21 PM

I was aware that the Bottom Line was not a jazz club, per se. Yet, it's another important music venue lost, and one in which there were many memorable jazz performances. There would likely have been many more such jazz billings if its future hadn't been snuffed. From what I've been able to glean from online accounts, it sounds as if the owners made some really serious tactical errors at a time when they had backing from AT&T (among others), and an offer from Siruius Satellite Radio to pay their entire back rent of $190,00.00 to NYU.

Now, it's planned to be used for classrooms for NYU, after gutting and renovation. Sad.

Chris D · January-29th-2004, 05:39 PM

Using space for classrooms is never sad, if you ask me.

Ron Thorne · January-29th-2004, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Chris D
Using space for classrooms is never sad, if you ask me.

What's sad to me, Chris, is that an agreement couldn't be reached to keep the nightclub open. I'm certainly an advocate of higher education and adequate classroom space for students. It just seemed to me that keeping the Bottom Line open and finding additional classroom space were not mutually exclusive situations. And, it appears that it will be four years and at a greater cost (as usual) before NYU students will enjoy this "new space".

Chris D · January-29th-2004, 05:52 PM

I know, Ron. I was being a tad bit flip there. Sorry.

steve(thelil) · January-29th-2004, 07:09 PM

WARNING: POST BELOW WILL REEK OF "AREN'T I COOL FOR ALL THAT I"VE DONE" (, but I just can't help it)

I've been to the Bottom Line many times and will really miss it. Over the years I've had many memorable nights, including a couple of NRBQ shows (including one where we followed their taxi back to there hotel, just because we could and another on New Year's Eve that turned out to be Al's last show)

Other long remembered nights included Jan Hammer and Jerry Goodman with BILL EVANS as the opening act.,
Elvin Jones with Wynton and Sonny Fortune,
JOBRIATH (!),
Dan Bern,
Richard Thompson AND T-Bone Burnett (Warren Zevon was standing next to my seat the whole T-Bone set, unbeknownst to me until T-Bone called him onstage for "Gloria"),
David Johanssen (another New Year's Eve), and other very memorable nights I've forgotten.

BUT NYU gave it a long time to pay long overdue rent and work it out (despite the fact that they wanted the building for other purposes and the rent was way below market value). Even the Bottom Line people in their statements over the last couple of months said NYU was not being a bad guy.

Also, while I miss great venues that close as much as the next fucking saint and/or guru (eg. BRADLEY's is MISSED) NYC is one place where for every venue closed, another opens. And there are several consistently excellent clubs devoted to acts that would meet anyone's definition of jazz. It is not uncommon for all of the following clubs to have people I really dig on the same night:
Birdland,
Vanguard,
The Jazz Standard,
Iridium
Smoke
Sweet Rhythm (formerly Sweet Basil)
Fat Cat
55 bar

And I might also want to check out the following places for great music and probably jazz on any given night, even if are not, strictly speaking, Jazz Clubs:
Tonic
Swing 46
Kavehoz
Jazz Gallery
Knitting Factory

And a promising sounding new place is opening on the East Side in the 50's, I think. Maybe the boundaries are even expanding

And there's the Blue Note, which I've never been to but that I'm biased against.

And there are probably another dozen places I that I haven't been to yet that I have vaguely heard of and sense that I would probably dig .

A new place is opening on the East Side in the 50's, I think. Maybe the geographicalboundaries are even expanding. Maybe I'm full of shit.

And then there are all the memorable places I've fogotten,

but then again, I'm the fucking walking wounded.

Pete C · January-29th-2004, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by steve(thelil)
And a promising sounding new place is opening on the East Side in the 50's, I think. Maybe the boundaries are even expanding

Promising? They want to be a cross between the Oak Room at the Algonquin and the Cafe Carlyle. Cover will be $50 on weeknights and $75 on weekends, plus a $25 minimum.

Enjoy.

Ron Thorne · January-29th-2004, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pete C
Promising? They want to be a cross between the Oak Room at the Algonquin and the Cafe Carlyle. Cover will be $50 on weeknights and $75 on weekends, plus a $25 minimum.

Enjoy.

I'm having a Walter Matthau moment now. . . "Holy Moly!"

Tom Storer · January-30th-2004, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by stonemonkts
Well, even though some here revile it, the Village Vanguard is still there, same as it ever was.

Who on earth reviles the Village Vanguard? Gosh.

I used to go to the Bottom Line in the 70's. I recall seeing Gary Burton's quintet with Mick Goodrick, Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow and Bob Moses. And Oregon, Betty Carter, George Coleman, Stuff, Mose Allison.

Ah, well. There goes Gloria Mundi.

steve(thelil) · January-30th-2004, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pete C
Promising? They want to be a cross between the Oak Room at the Algonquin and the Cafe Carlyle. Cover will be $50 on weeknights and $75 on weekends, plus a $25 minimum.

Enjoy.

I didn't know. I could have maybe guessed, but I tried not to let my anti-East Side bias show.