Jazz Night

For many years, the focal center of modern jazz in New York was 52nd Street, but in the 1960s it seeped down into Greenwich Village. Many nightclubs and out-of-the-way bars began to open their doors to musicians like the Eastern Conference of Jazz Societies, which got into the swing of things at Slugs’ on East Third Street.

“During the decade after World War II, the Village turned a cold shoulder to modern jazz,” wrote John Wilson, jazz critic for The Times, 1960. “The jazz that Villagers and Village visitors wanted was the old pre-war brand put out at Nick’s and Eddie Condon’s. The few attempts that were made to import modern jazz were all eventually abandoned.

“It took the demolition of the Third Avenue “El” to get the modernists a Village audience. When the “El” came down, the appearance of open skies, fresh air and sunshine brought new residents into what had once been a drab neighborhood where Cooper Square joins the Bowery. Many of the newcomers were artists and musicians.”