New York City jazz hotspot Smoke begins its twenty-sixth year in 2025. As founder/owner Paul Stache points out many clubs come and go in a few years. So, what does Stache attribute Smoke’s impressive quarter century run to?
Knowing what he likes and keeping Smoke true to that formula. “It’s improvised music. And I think that ultimately it’s what I enjoy. That’s the perk that I have, booking the club, and ultimately what people are looking for. I think that there is a very loyal, regular customer base that comes to hear music,” he says.
As Stache and I spoke over Zoom, it’s about this, about building and maintaining a place where the most productive jazz musicians in the world need to play.
Steve Baltin: Congratulations on the twenty-fifth anniversary.
Paul Stache: I signed the lease in 1998 and opened the doors in April 1999, so yeah, time flies. Like, “Shit, 25 years, how did it go? But here we are, yeah.
Baltin: I imagine when you opened Smoke in ’99, there was a much different element you were looking for than when you’re 25 years older and have all this different experience and also have all these relationships with the musicians.
Stache: I think that’s right. I think that when I first came to New York, when I opened Smoke, I was 25, And when I moved to New York City, going to New York City, jazz Clubs was the part that made me feel at home. I grew up around jazz. My dad was a big jazz fan, and he had a big record collection. And when I first opened Smoke, I realized that many of these legendary players that I used to listen to growing up now live in New York. So, I spend a good amount of time trying to discover who is still in New York and who is available to play. I booked the Benny Golson’s of the world and the George Coleman’s and Harold Mabern’s. It was a lot of legendary heart boppers. I was just amazed by all these legends lived here in New York, Buster Williams, all these people are right here nearby. It was a natural thing for me just to just call those cats first and start there. I really set a foundation musically for the club and for the booking. Most importantly, present the legends of this music really. Then obviously over the course of 25 years, you’re absolutely right. You make new relationships, you meet other musicians. People always ask me, “What kind of music do you book at Smoke?” For me, the primary thing is it’s got to be great music. And I try to make the tent as big as I can. And obviously, there’s a certain audience that has an aesthetic that comes to Smoke too. I obviously want to present what people want to hear and what people enjoy, but first and foremost, for me, it’s got to be really good music. And when you have George Coleman and Harold Mabern open the club in 1999, you set a standard and a bar pretty high in terms of what’s presented. But there’s obviously so much great music in New York. People ask me, “Why don’t you open up another Smoke somewhere else?” I say, “You know what, it’ll be hard to do. The New York musician pool is just so deep and there’s a lot of talent here. It’s, of course, never easy, but it is easier in New York because of the talent that’s right here.
Baltin: How has the scene changed in your 25 years?
Stache: I was talking to Al Foster the other week and we were looking to find out who else is in the Hudson Valley. It turns out that part of the New York jazz scene lives in the Hudson Valley. Hudson. You’ve got Dave Holland up there, you’ve got Al Foster up there, and I think Joe Lovano’s up there. Kevin Hayes was coming this weekend. There are many musicians who left the city because the city became unaffordable, Lorenzo Tujá. And that definitely has an effect. I position myself now more than ever, not only as a presenter, but also as a travel agent. I actually picked up the phone right before this zoom and needed to book a hotel via email because yes, you’re right. The people of New York are like before. So this affects us too, that’s for sure.
Baltin: Are there any artists for you who define Smoke and who grew up in the club?
Stache: I think Emmet Cohen started coming here to play when he was [young] and it’s been really fun to watch him grow into the musician he is now and it’s just wonderful that he’s still playing at the club for a few years. times a year. Gregory Porter, I don’t forget meeting his manager Paul Ewing before many people knew how incredibly skilled Gregory Porter is. He handed me a CD and I said, “I don’t normally do e-books about artists on CDs. ” » But Paul Ewing insisted that I check it out. So I did it. I brought it without delay, I don’t forget it, Gregory Porter and his organization ended up in a normal residence on Thursday nights. I think they played at that residency for two or three years, I mean. Gregory is notoriously a big star now and with good reason. I’m probably missing other people here. Clearly there have been many wonderful musicians who have come along and noticed many skills expand and grow. Orrin Evans started betting here very early, Jeremy Pelt. Many musicians began to emerge in their teens or twenties and have now become artists. In some ways, it’s been a lot of fun to be a part of this adventure.
Baltin: What do you think is Smoke’s role for artists?
Stache: I’m a fan of music; I don’t consider myself as somebody who is trying to discover artists. I try to provide a venue that allows music to flourish and artists to develop their music. And sometimes when that works out here for them, that’s amazing. We feel lucky to be part of that.
Baltin: What do you attribute Smoke’s longevity to?
Stache: I’m not saying it’s easy to fill a jazz club five nights a week with shows, it’s a lot. One of the reasons for the longevity is that put options in New York can be very, not just New York, I’m sure too, modern and a position is big for a few years and then it stops being big and then it disappears, right? ? He doesn’t? So I think leaning on the neighborhood, the audience, the network paintings and the New York audience and presenting music for New Yorkers is what worked for us. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a lot of those credits to some of the phenomenal musicians who come through here. Brandford Marsalis has just passed through the club. A few weeks ago we had Brad Mehldau and Dave Holland, we just closed a race with Cyrus Chestnut. We have Joe Lovano next week. We have Ravi Coltrane hitting the club, opening our Coltrane Festival. We were very fortunate in the sense of what we were able to present. We feel very lucky and grateful to have the opportunity to showcase such wonderful artists. It’s a hard labor of love. It’s the music we love and the music we need to hear. Of course, there are many paintings between the two, but New York audiences also know what they need to see. We are grateful for the artists. Well, it’s funny though because, you know, again, I know.
Baltin: What have you heard from artists on why they want to play Smoke?
Stache: I think the intimacy of the room has something to do with it. Although we are a little bigger now, we have an 80-seat space. It’s an 80-seat space with no real green room. We have a little workplace that I give to the musicians when they feel the need, just relax, step aside, step away for a moment. But all that is combined with the audience. So I think the feedback that artists get from audiences is a little more immediate, a little warmer, and a little more intimate here than other places. During the break in filming, the artists meet with everyone else in the lounge next to the bar. It is an intimate feeling. I think that has something to do with it. The other thing I think about, without patting myself on the back too much, is that I have strict criteria for what a concert hall should look and smell like. I think in many cases about the way music is offered. If I have a mistake. I think my partner, who is the executive chef, shares this sentiment: in some ways we are a bit of a perfectionist. If you feature Brad Mehldau, you better make sure you have the most productive piano you can find. And Ron Carter, you better make sure the bass has the sound formula to play, that it sounds as smart as Ron Carter sounds. And those kinds of things are important. I think artists appreciate having a collection of microphones, a sound formula, and a sound engineer who cares about it and can access it, because let’s face it, the audience that comes here is their life set. They practice for hours a day. They play music all the time. So if you’re going to place them in a room, make sure they look good and sound good.
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