Williamsburg Music Center

Poorly run place with a bad vibe. If you are a musician and thinking about playing here be sure you have a solid following as this place has zero built in crowd and minimal street traffic. I say avoid.

Pretty cozy living room environment. Lovely jazz. Don’t expect complicated spirits but overall we enjoyed our time here. Pretty cool jazz-​time!

I am a musician, a professional saxophonist of 18 years who performs in the New York Metropolitan area. I was recently hired to perform at WMC. WMC was highly disorganized when I performed there. A large amount of miscommunication became apparent as I talked with the owner, Gerry Eastman. I have a solo act, and they were somehow unaware of this fact when I arrived. I had this fact abundantly clear in all of my emails to WMC, as well as the signed contract that I sent to them. The owner, Gerry Eastman, had me perform for only 15 minutes of the two agreed-​upon sets, and then told me to stop playing, as he felt not enough people came to see me perform. He turned people away, as they did not want to pay the $ 10 cover/​two-​drink minimum. This place should not be trying to charge such a high price for such a small and poorly run venue. Also, two of my good friends came to see me perform. I had already been asked to stop performing, and had LEFT the venue. Gerry and his bartender charged my friends the $ 10 cover, despite the fact that I was no longer physically at the venue, and was therefore no longer performing. They were angry with my friends when they asked for their money back. I would not recommend this venue to professional musicians.

Love it here. Grab a table on the mezzanine.

Stopped in last night during a random night in Williamsburg. As a avid jazz listener I’m surprised I didn’t hear about this place before!
Pros: Intimate setting… living room feel… Ode to «Cheers» go there 2 – 3 times and everyone will know your name. GREAT MUSIC!
Cons: Cash bar… Spirits limited to standard beers, wines, and a few other harder options.
All in all… I’ll be back.

Quite a unique place: it looks like you’re listening to a concert in somebody’s house… and that’s actually the case. The owner/​jazz musician (who also plastered the wall with his pictures, just to make sure you don’t miss the point) pretty much turned the ground floor of his joint in a mini concert hall where people can go and jam over the weekend. Beers and win is served on the side. Organize your own concert if you want — when I went there, the 5 bands that were playing were all related.

Recently renovated. Great place to listen to jazz. Looks like they throw in stand-​up some nights, too

Wow.
I’m speechless. Really.
A bassist who played with Count Basie?
These guys are serious. The trance I am in proves it.
I’m hesitant to write this review as there were literally only ten of us in the room, 4 of which were the musicians. Obviously the intimacy is part of the charm. But the Friday night jam session is amazing! And it is a nonprofit and they would certainly appreciate our funding. If you love jazz get yourself to WMC. Scat. I mean, stat.

Since moving to New York, I have absolutely fallen in love with JAZZ.
Growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood gave me a bit of a chip on my shoulder. I’ll refer to it as the Token Black Syndrome.
As the Token Black at my high school for instance, I eschewed any and all stereotypes of what a black person would do. (yes, I was a total dumbass)
For instance:
When I was invited to play on the girl’s basketball team, I replied, «Why cause I’m black?»
When I was asked to join the choir, I replied, «Why? Cause all black people can sing?»
When I was kicked out of AP English, for stealing my teacher’s dog, dying it purple, and teaching it to howl along with «Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I asked «Is this because I’m black?»
My point (yes, I do have one) is that I have never had exposure to amazing jazz like I’ve had since moving to New York (sadly, the PGHS Jazz band really does NOT count).
WMC is a secret gem that hosts classes and Friday evening performances. The rumor is that all of the greatest known jazz musicians have used WMC as an unofficial Jam destination.