The Jazz Gallery is America’s premier performance venue for emerging artists who challenge convention, take creative risks, and lead their field as performers, composers, and thinkers. Through residencies, workshops, and exhibitions, we provide a platform for artists to discover their unique voices and a home for established musicians to continue to experiment and grow. Artists and audiences come together to celebrate jazz as a dynamic art form that reflects our world.

While the pandemic has been a uniquely challenging time for artists and presenters, The Jazz Gallery has become the frontrunner in the burgeoning field of virtual jazz programming. Our streaming and online programming now reaches audiences in 44 states and over 50 countries. We envision a post-pandemic future where lovers of jazz and improvised music from around the world will visit our venue as a prime cultural tourism destination.

The New York Times name-checked The Jazz Gallery as venue “taking the lead” in adopting streaming technology for presenting, while WBGO, the global leader in jazz radio, applauded us for having “cultivated one of the most robust online communities for jazz during the coronavirus pandemic.”

Artist compensation has been lagging for decades, and this critical situation has only worsened in the aftermath of COVID-19. According to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, “Since COVID-19, New York State has lost 50 percent of its performing arts jobs over the course of 2020. In New York City, the figure is 72 percent—more than any other industry.”

There are fewer and fewer non-commercial spaces for emerging jazz artists to come together in New York City –especially in Manhattan. Yet audiences continue to respond enthusiastically to The Jazz Gallery’s high caliber programming, indicating a continuing need for this space and platform to highlight these artists.

The need is there - the need to support these artists more fully, the need to expand the space to enhance audience experience, in an uncertain and ever-shifting landscape.

The Jazz Gallery has always been an artist-centered organization. The needs of our artists dictate our programming and how we operate, which has been the case since we were founded in 1995 by trumpeter Roy Hargrove, Dale Fitzgerald, and vocalist Lezlie Harrison. We are strategizing our next 25 years –sustaining world-class programming and our artist community.

We are prioritizing our needs: enhanced resources to support our artists, an expanded space for an optimal audience experience, a space for our community to come together.

A funder has made a major two-year commitment to The Jazz Gallery in recognition of our leadership. This commitment will allow us to launch our campaign Celebrating The Next 25.

Artist Enhancement Fund

With this commitment in hand, we first addressed the pressing issue of artist compensation. Our first priority is to ensure increased and sustainable artist compensation at The Jazz Gallery. Therefore, as of January 1st, The Jazz Gallery has increased the fees of all performing artists by a minimum of 25% up to 50%.

Enhance Audience Experience

Second, The Jazz Gallery had a singular opportunity to expand our current facilities by leasing and renovating the loft of the adjacent building to 1160 Broadway in NoMad. Thus, the combination will double The Jazz Gallery’s total space. Having developed an excellent rapport with our landlord during the past eight years of our tenancy, they generously reduced our rent during the pandemic and since reopening they have extended an offer to rent the adjacent space at a significantly under-market rate. By expanding our physical space, we will be able to provide our audiences with a world-class experience from the moment they step into The Jazz Gallery.

Our new enhanced audience space includes the Baisley Powell Elebash Lounge –an audience reception area that serves as an interactive common space for the international community of musicians, listeners, and visitors to New York City to come together. The walls will display rotating and permanent exhibits of visual art and photography related to jazz performance. A new Green Room has been created for the artists to relax in before and after performances. There is now a box office, refreshment area and two additional restrooms, one fully ADA compliant.

Enhanced Experience for listeners & artists

• A new comfortable, elegant waiting area, and most importantly, indoors! For patrons there is an easier, more efficient flow of traffic in and out of the venue. Audiences enter through East 27th Street and leave through the elevator or stairs at 1160 Broadway without needing to squeeze past patrons waiting to enter.

• Seating expanded in the performance hall by 20%, adding 3,000 potential audience members a year.

• Three restrooms instead of one, and full ADA compliance.

• Facility for enhanced sound and production capabilities.

The Jazz Gallery continues to be the same warm, intimate and utterly unique listening experience that it has been for twenty-seven years.

Community building & fundraising

As a welcoming community space, this new addition facilitates interaction between audiences and artists. It is an ideal place where our growing membership can interact with staff and artists before and after shows.

The renovation is complete as of April 2022. Support for this project will be distributed between the additional rent of the expansion area as well as necessary and final renovations to both rooms.