{ I’m estimating 30 entries about “room(s)” so far this season of Lent 2024. Too early for the homestretch? Perhaps. Today, another entertainment room.}
Maybe it’s not been too evident that the title of this blog is “Peace, Grace, and Jazz,” not “Rooms I Have Occupied.” Today I can add the “jazz” thing and combine it with a special room.
Once upon a time, our area was known primarily for shoe manufacturing. Endicott Johnson Shoe Company had factories in all three of what were known as the “Triple Cities” of Endicott, Johnson City, and Binghamton, NY. (Note the shoe manufacturer did not take its name from two of the “cities” mentioned; they were named after founders of the shoe company: George F. Johnson and Henry B. Endicott.) In addition to the huge factories, the benevolent founder affectionately known as Geo. F. built parks and carousels, homes, libraries, medical centers, recreation centers, a golf course, and a large theater for vaudeville, all to provide for the well-being of his workers. The theater’s name? The Goodwill.
The shoe business is gone now. Most of the factories are torn down, though some are being beautifully re-purposed for apartments. The EJ homes are still here, the golf course hosts a PGA Champions Tour event each summer, and the carousels still turn (and always for free). The hulk of a theater, once home to live music and then movies, still stands awaiting a very expensive renovation. Maybe.
Next door to the theater stands an old firehouse. Yes, I forgot to mention, Geo. F. made sure there were fire stations near the factories, just in case. While the old Goodwill sleeps, performance is alive and well in the re-purposed fire station, part of what is hoped to be the Goodwill Performing Arts Complex. With contributions from the Schorr Family, the Firehouse Stage occupies the garage where once big trucks awaited calls to action. And it is my jazz club.
Well, not mine exactly, but it’s where I go most often to hear local, regional, and sometimes national jazz talent. I have loved that music since my teen years, and still have fun introducing myself as a “Presbyterian minister and jazz DJ.” For well over 20 years, I played jazz on Richmond, Va. radio stations, and continue even in the September of my years (or is it November? Brrr.) to host a jazz show, “Classic Vinyl Jazz,” on a Binghamton, NY community FM station. Radio and CDs and LPs are great outlets for listening, but nothing beats live performances of any kind of music. So, there is this jazz spot in Johnson City.
On the outside it still has the look of a fire station. But inside, with seating around tables for four, the stage situated near the firehouse doors, a bar in the lobby area…well, it’s an intimate space for about 110 jazz lovers, as well as patrons who come for other kinds of music, comedians, drama, and small-scale musical productions such as “Into the Woods.” My experiences in jazz clubs are very limited. I’ve been to Blues Alley. The Bimhuis in Amsterdam, and the Jazz House in Copenhagen. And some Richmond restaurants that featured intimate jazz performances. That’s it. So, for me, the Firehouse Stage is THE jazz venue, and I try to make as many dates as I can. Joan goes with me frequently (bless her heart), and arriving to find a full house is almost as exciting for me as it must be for Mike Carbone who curates the artists’ appearances there.
When I first went to the venue, local jazz legend, sax player, arranger, impressario, and retired Professor of Jazz Studies at Binghamton University Al Hamme brought in a stellar lineup of performers, but also hosted monthly jazz jams where local and regional musicians of varying talents shared their tunes. Now many were former jazz pros, some having played in well known big bands, but a few were wanna-be jazz folk not quite up to it. (Please, vocalist! Be like Columbus; discover a key and land on it!) But they got their share of applause.
When the jams had played out, the monthly jazz gigs became more a showcase for professional talents from far and wide. The jams were a great place to meet local musicians and fans, and I made a lot of friends there. But the new format has brought in folks from the Central NYS jazz community and beyond, introducing us to new talents and old pros alike. Mike Carbone, himself an exciting jazz sax virtuoso, has done a terrific job of varying the styles of jazz so we in the audience grow in appreciation of what the jazz stage has to offer.
From big bands to jazz trios, I’m in my happy place listening to live music in a special club where fire sirens once sounded an alarm and where now the music can be so hot one is happy for a nearby hose on the wall. Or, a drink from the bar.
So, where do YOU go for live music? Or, what “happy place” feeds your spirit with music of any sort?
Peace, Grace, and Jazz! 