Deep Inside New York – Five Spot Café

Cooper Square, NYC, 1959

Club di jazz newyorkese creato da Joe Termini e da suo fratello Iggy nel Lower East Side, sulla Bowery, all’altezza di Cooper Square. Dal 1956 vari gruppi jazz si esibiscono in questo modesto caffè frequentato da poeti e pittori d’avanguardia, numerosi in questo quartiere dove gli affitti in quegli anni erano molto bassi. Dopo il gruppo di Dave Amram, il quartetto di Cecil Taylor (con Steve Lacy) vi suonò per sei settimane e, nell’estate del 1957, quello di Thelonious Monk (con John Coltrane) vi si esibì regolarmente fino alla fine dell’anno e vi tornò per una scrittura a lungo termine la primavera seguente e fino all’estate (gli album <<Thelonious In Action>> e <<Misterioso>> vi vengono registrati in agosto). Il club avrà inoltre un ruolo importante per la diffusione di nuove forme apparse agli inizi degli anni ’60: Eric Dolphy vi registra tre album memorabili nel luglio del 1961 (<<Live At The Five Spot>>); poi Pepper Adams (1958), Randy Weston (1959) e Jimmy Giuffre (1960). Anche Charles Mingus si fece sentire spesso al club, compresa la sera d’estate del 1962 in cui venne chiuso. Quando venne abbattuto l’edificio che l’ospitava, il Five Spot aprì le porte non lontano, all’angolo tra la Bowery e l’8a Strada, vicino a St Mark’s Place. Monk e Mingus furono a lungo in cartellone. Al Five Spot sono dedicati due temi: Blues Five Spot (Monk, 1958) e Spot Five Blues (R. Weston, 1959).
[X.P.]
​
Entra nell’atmosfera del Five Spot Cafè con la playlist delle 23:00

​New York jazz club created by Joe Termini and his brother Iggy on the Lower East Side, on the Bowery, at Cooper Square. Since 1956 various jazz groups have performed in this modest café frequented by avant-garde poets and painters, many in this neighborhood where rents were very low in those years. After Dave Amram's group, the Cecil Taylor's quartet, with Steve Lacy, played there for six weeks and, in the summer of 1957, Thelonious Monk's, with John Coltrane, performed there regularly until the end of the year. He returned for long-term writing the following spring and until the summer. The albums << Thelonious In Action >> and <<Misterioso>> are recorded in August. The club will also play an essential role in spreading new forms that appeared in the early 1960s: Eric Dolphy recorded three memorable albums in July 1961 (<< Live At The Five Spot >>); then Pepper Adams (1958), Randy Weston (1959) and Jimmy Giuffre (1960). Even Charles Mingus made himself often heard at the club, including the summer evening of 1962, when it closed. The demolition of the building that houses the Five Spot Café forced the club to open its doors not far away, on the corner of the Bowery and the 8th Street, near St Mark's Place. Monk and Mingus were long on the bill. Two themes, dedicated to the Five Spot, are Blues Five Spot (Monk, 1958) and Spot Five Blues (R. Weston, 1959).
[X.P.]

Relive the atmosphere of the Five Spot Cafè with the 11:00pm playlist