Greenwich Village, a neighborhood synonymous with artistic innovation and cultural ferment, holds countless stories within its winding streets. Among them, the building at 15 Barrow Street stands as a testament to this rich history, having morphed from a legendary jazz venue into the beloved Barrow Street Ale House. This unassuming address has witnessed the evolution of music itself, playing host to some of the 20th century’s most influential jazz musicians before transforming into a modern-day haven for craft beer enthusiasts – and, remarkably, circling back to its musical roots.
The story begins in the war years, in a dimly lit space then known as “The Pied Piper.” Even in its nascent form, 15 Barrow Street was drawing in the luminaries of the jazz world. From 1944 to 1945, the venue resonated with the sounds of extended residencies by the legendary James P. Johnson, alongside Pee Wee Russell and Frankie Newton. Ensembles led by Max Kaminsky and Willie “The Lion” Smith further solidified its early reputation as a jazz hotspot.
December 26, 1944, marked a pivotal moment as trombonist Wilbur De Paris inaugurated the Piper’s public jam sessions with a “Swing Soirée.” This groundbreaking event featured a constellation of jazz stars, including Sidney Bechet, Hank Duncan, Eddie Dogherty, Bob Wilber, Mary Lou Williams, Al Hall, and Bill Coleman, setting the stage for the venue’s continued prominence in the jazz scene. The club’s vibrant atmosphere during this period is further evidenced by a rare live recording from August 1947, capturing Lennie Tristano‘s “All Stars” in action. This photograph, a snapshot from that era, showcases (from left to right) Bill Harris, Denzil Best, Flip Phillips, Billy Bauer, Lennie Tristano, and Chubby Jackson, immortalizing a moment in jazz history within the walls of 15 Barrow Street.
From “Pied Piper” to “Café Bohemia”: A Jazz Rebirth
The post-war era brought shifts to the New York jazz landscape. By 1949, Jimmy Garofolo, a quintessential old-school bartender and lifelong Greenwich Village resident, took ownership of 15 Barrow Street. The once-thriving jazz scene on 52nd Street was waning, and many clubs faced closure or adapted their musical direction to survive the changing tastes of the early 1950s. The venue’s unexpected transformation into “The Café Bohemia” was, as Garofolo himself admitted, almost accidental.
“For six years I tried to make the place pay, first as a bar and restaurant, then with girly shows, and then with various acts,” Garofolo recounted, highlighting the struggle to find a sustainable formula. However, fate intervened in the spring of 1955 when jazz musicians began participating in impromptu jam sessions with the house band. Adding to the allure, the legendary Charlie Parker, who resided across the street with black surrealist poet Ted Joans, became a regular patron of the bar.
A memorable anecdote from Garofolo illustrates Parker’s influence. “One night I had to throw out a character who’d been drinking Brandy Alexanders without any money to pay for them,” Garofolo explained. “The next thing I knew, he was back [with tenor saxophonist Allen Eager] offering to play a few weeks here to pay off his obligation – and because he wanted a regular home base from which to play when he was between engagements. Somebody told me his name was Charlie Parker and he was a saxophonist. I was pretty naive about jazz at the time and I didn’t know him from beans, but it turned out he was a big man in the jazz world. When I put out signs announcing he was going to play, I had a stream of people coming in wanting to know if the great Charlie Parker was going to play here. It was the way they said ‘here’ that got me.” Although Parker’s untimely death on March 12, 1955, prevented him from ever performing at the Bohemia, his association and intended performance were enough to spark significant buzz. Garofolo seized the opportunity and officially shifted the club’s focus towards jazz.
The Oscar Pettiford Era: Hard Bop Takes Center Stage
The revived jazz club needed a house band, and Oscar Pettiford stepped up to lead the charge. Kenny Clarke, in a 1977 interview, recounted how it came together. “Allen Eager was a good friend of the owner. So Allen got us the job, Oscar Pettiford and I. He said ‘This guy has a striptease show in his place and I’ve talked him into bringing in jazz, so I’d like for you and Klook to come over and start out with me’. So we did, Duke Jordan, Oscar and myself. After a while, Allen, you know, he’s crazy about horses and he’s always marrying rich women. So he just left. He said ‘Okay, you guys, you’ve got it’.“
Within weeks, “progressive jazz” became the club’s full-time offering. The official opening night on Monday, May 30, 1955, featured Hank Mobley, Art Farmer, and Horace Silver alongside Pettiford and Clarke. Pettiford became the musical director, maintaining Clarke as a constant while rotating other musicians. Pianist Dick Katz and saxophonists Gigi Gryce and Jerome Richardson were among the notable musicians who joined Pettiford’s ensembles.
Katz, in Ira Gitler’s “Masters of Bebop,” lauded Clarke and Pettiford as “the finest rhythm team I ever heard.” Despite their musical synergy, their personalities sometimes clashed. “Sometimes Oscar and Kenny were like two old women. They’d bicker. Each would accuse the other of goofing in the music, when they’d actually sound great.” However, Pettiford’s heavy drinking and resulting bar tabs led to a premature end to this ideal musical partnership. During his time at the Bohemia, Pettiford penned “Bohemia After Dark,” which became the club’s signature closing theme. Katz fondly remembered Pettiford’s playful musical jokes, often inviting renowned jazz musicians to sit in and sight-read his new compositions, particularly enjoying their struggles with the bridge of “Bohemia After Dark.”
Cannonball Adderley’s Star is Born at the Bohemia
A pivotal Sunday evening, just three weeks after the official reopening, saw the arrival of Julian “Cannonball” Adderley and his brother Nat at the Bohemia. Visiting New York from Florida, they came to hear the Pettiford group. The band that night included Pettiford, Clarke, Silver, and trombonist Jimmy Cleveland. However, saxophonist Jerome Richardson was absent. When a substitute couldn’t be found, Pettiford spotted Julian with a saxophone case.
Initially suggesting Charlie Rouse borrow Adderley’s horn, Rouse, who had previously played with Julian in Florida, proposed that Julian sit in instead. A somewhat skeptical Pettiford called out “I’ll Remember April” at a fast tempo, followed by “Bohemia After Dark,” seemingly to test the newcomer. However, Julian not only met the challenge but exceeded expectations, captivating the audience and earning an invitation to play the rest of the set.
When Garofolo inquired about the alto saxophonist, Nat, mistaking him for a union representative, simply blurted out “Cannonball,” a childhood nickname. Garafolo announced “Cannonball” to the enthusiastic crowd, and as biographer Cary Ginell notes, “from that moment on, Julian Edwin Adderley would become Cannonball (or Cannon) to everyone except his wife, his mother and his father.” Cannonball became an instant sensation, hailed as the “New Bird.” He officially joined the Bohemia house band just two days later. Within a week, Kenny Clarke arranged a recording date with Savoy Records, resulting in the album “Bohemia After Dark” (June 28). Savoy quickly scheduled a follow-up under Cannonball’s name (“Presenting Cannonball,” July 14). Cannonball’s momentum continued with a five-year contract with Mercury Records’ EmArcy label, cementing his meteoric rise to jazz stardom, all ignited at the Café Bohemia.
Miles Davis and His “First Great Quintet” at the Bohemia
Fresh off a successful appearance at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival, Miles Davis was approached by record producers George Avakian (Columbia) and Bob Weinstock (Prestige) to assemble a group for the Bohemia. Following the Pettiford band era with Cannonball, Miles debuted at the club in early July with a quintet featuring Sonny Rollins, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. Initially considering Cannonball as a replacement for Sonny Rollins, Miles faced a setback when Adderley returned to his teaching job in Florida.
However, upon Philly Joe’s recommendation, John Coltrane joined, completing the lineup of Miles Davis’s legendary “First Great Quintet,” a defining ensemble of the hard bop era. After initial tour dates, the quintet arrived in New York for their first stint at the Bohemia in October, returning repeatedly from spring 1956 through autumn. Their performances consistently packed the venue.
The iconic sound of this Bohemia-era band is immortalized in the 1956 Prestige albums Steamin’, Cookin’, Workin’, and Relaxin’, as well as Columbia’s ‘Round About Midnight. The Quintet frequented the Bohemia until May 1958, eventually moving to the Village Vanguard for better compensation. Interestingly, Cannonball’s first performance with Miles, which led to Miles’s “First Great Sextet” and their collaborations on Milestones, Something Else, and Kind of Blue, occurred at the Bohemia on October 11, 1957, further solidifying the club’s central role in jazz history.
Café Bohemia: Hard Bop Central (1955-1958)
Reflecting on the club’s first year, the “Village Voice” in June 1956 declared: “What Jimmy Garofolo, 42, knew about progressive jazz one year ago wouldn’t have filled a single bar – of music. What he’s learned since, however, was filling his bar – the Café Bohemia – every night last week, when the nightspot celebrated its first anniversary as a jazz club. Seating only 100, the tiny Barrow Street club has become the only place in America with a policy of ‘progressive jazz only.’ ‘No rock ‘n roll, no vocalists, no big bands, no nuttin’ except small jazz combos,’ Garofolo told The Voice. ‘Once Birdland and Basin Street were the mecca of all true jazzmen; now a lot of them won’t go on the road until they’ve played the Bohemia, too. We’re a small place and we’ve given many a new outfit their first chance’.“
Pianist Randy Weston described Garofolo as “a tough little Italian-American cat,” known for his intolerance of disrespectful patrons. “If a customer had a bad attitude, he might jump over the bar and attack them.” The Bohemia rapidly gained recognition among jazz musicians, becoming the third pillar of the “Three Bs” – Birdland, Basin Street, and the Bohemia – bridging the gap to later iconic venues like the Five Spot and Half Note.
The Bohemia’s initial year was prolific, witnessing the recording of at least half a dozen LPs live within its walls, including:
- George Wallington: Succeeding Pettiford as musical director, Wallington recorded “George Wallington Quintet at the Bohemia” (Progressive/Prestige, September 9, 1955) featuring Donald Byrd, Jackie McLean, Paul Chambers, and Art Taylor.
- Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Blue Note captured “The Jazz Messengers at the Café Bohemia, Vol 1 & 2” (November 28, 1955) with Hank Mobley, Kenny Dorham, Horace Silver, and Doug Watkins.
- Charles Mingus & Max Roach: Debut/OJC released “Mingus at the Bohemia” (December 23, 1955) featuring Eddie Bert, Mal Waldron, and George Barrow.
- Kenny Dorham: Blue Note recorded “‘Round About Midnight at the Café Bohemia” (May 31, 1956) with J.R. Monterose, Kenny Burrell, Bobby Timmons, Sam Jones, and Arthur Edgehill.
Later live recordings at the Bohemia included performances by the Miles Davis Quintet with John Coltrane (“The Unissued Café Bohemia Broadcasts,” Domino Records, September 1956-May 1958), the Randy Weston Trio with Cecil Payne (“Jazz à la Bohemia,” Riverside, October 14, 1956), and the J.J. Johnson Quintet (“Live at Café Bohemia 1957,” Fresh Sound Records, February 1957).
In a 2005 Downbeat article, jazz journalist Ted Panken compiled recollections from contemporaries, painting a vivid picture of the Bohemia’s atmosphere fifty years prior:
- George Avakian described the audience as reminiscent of European cafes, “where people were serious and intense, and paid attention. They regarded the music as an art form, and even acted, oh, a little superior about the fact that they were there and listening to Miles.”
- Billy Taylor noted the club’s unique vibe, “It was a hip place, more like a club in Harlem than anything on 52nd Street. People who lived or worked in or frequented the Village considered themselves a lot hipper than other people in town. In many cases, they were!“
- Roswell Rudd vividly recalled the intimate setting and the intensity of the music, “It was a rectangular room, with the bar and bandstand the long way. The music was right in your face. It was great to be 10 feet from Coltrane, and hear how he’d put himself into the most unbelievable corners and punch his way out. Saxophone players sat at the bar with their jaws down. They couldn’t believe anybody would challenge himself that way.”
Rebirth of Bohemia at Barrow Street Ale House
The original Café Bohemia closed its doors as a jazz club in 1960, marking the end of an era. In the ensuing decades, 15 Barrow Street took on different identities. By the late 1960s, it became a notable lesbian bar, even listed in the 1969 Gay Scene Guide as “The Bohemian” and explicitly noted as “for GIRLS only.” Various restaurants occupied the ground floor over time.
However, in 1990, a new chapter began as Barrow Street Ale House opened its doors, establishing itself as a popular craft beer bar, full-service sports bar, and restaurant, becoming a fixture in Greenwich Village nightlife. Then, on October 17, 2019, history came full circle. After a 60-year absence, the Café Bohemia was reborn in the basement of the Ale House. Forbes magazine aptly described the revived venue as a “hole-in-the-wall seating just fifty, but with soul, heart and history,” once again featuring live jazz, blues, and folk music.
This revival resonates deeply with the spirit of the Prague-based “Bohemia After Dark” Project, conceived just months before the relaunch. Together, they celebrate the enduring legacy of this Greenwich Village landmark, drawing upon the rich heritage of the bebop and hard bop eras, ensuring that the musical soul of 15 Barrow Street continues to thrive within the walls of the Barrow Street Ale House.
Sources:
- Original article provided.
- “Masters of Bebop” by Ira Gitler
- “Village Voice” archives
- “Downbeat” magazine archives
- “Forbes” magazine online.
- “Gay Scene Guide” 1969.
- Cary Ginell biography of Cannonball Adderley.
- Miles Davis Autobiography.
- Kenny Clarke 1977 interview.
- Randy Weston recollections.
- George Avakian recollections.
- Billy Taylor recollections.
- Roswell Rudd recollections.
