Feel Brooklyn  - July to December 2023 -

Feelin’ groovin’ , in Brooklyn!

​Feelin' groovin', in Brooklyn

Sep 01 2023

New York is the most famous city as a culture center. In this article, I will focus on the music scene in Brooklyn. How was the Brooklyn Music developed? How are there the differences compared with Manhattan’s music? Let’s see some live houses and record shops! 

[Live House] 
​Ornithology Jazz Club, in Bushwick​

Ornithology Jazz Club is the jazz live house in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Every night, top level jazzy live concerts are held by two professional bands.

These lives are a tip system. So, there is no seat charge in many times. Customers can order so great food and drink. For example, tacos, beer, so many types of cocktails and so on. So, many local people use this jazz club not only as a live house, but also as a restaurant and bar.  
 
In addition, jazz jam-session is held every midnight. In this jam-session, many young players gather here. Ornithology Jazz Club is as famous as Smalls Jazz Club in Manhattan as the place of jam-session. Like this, many generations of people gather at the Ornithology Jazz Club every day.  

About the Brooklyn music and Manhattan music, John Di Martino, professional jazz pianist said “Music is not different. But environment is different.” The biggest difference in the environment is land price. Brooklyn is cheaper than Manhattan to live in. Many young musicians and students can’t live in the Manhattan area because of land price. So, they live in the Brooklyn area. Because of this situation, many young musicians and students gather at the Ornithology Jazz Club for jam-session. So, in the jazz community, there is not a big difference between Manhattan music and Brooklyn music. But by the difference of environment, new music scene has been developed in Brooklyn. 

WATCH THIS VIDEO

WATCH THIS VIDEO

[Live House] 
Baby’s All Right, in Williamsburg​

Baby’s All Right is a live house and restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Usually, this live house opens at 6pm. And live music starts at 7pm to 2am. But it is changed depending on music lives. All kinds of music live are held in this live house. For example, hip hop, pop, rock, singer songwriter and so on. Customers enjoy a variety of music in front of the stage in a standing position. Like this live house, there are many live houses that are not bound by music genre in Brooklyn. For example, Pete’s Candy Store, Barbès, and so on. About the Brooklyn’s music scene from the pandemic, the manager of Baby’s All Right, Mr. Manny said “There's always music going around. And it seems like ever since things opened back up again from the pandemic. There's a lot of new venues opening up in the Brooklyn area.” The music scene in Brooklyn keeps changing with the times. And, about the difference between Manhattan music and Brooklyn music, he told me that Manhattan music tends to chase new genre music like Indie EP. Compared with Manhattan, Brooklyn music is a little older genre like Punk rock in many cases. These trends apply to not only music, but also some cultures.

WATCH THIS VIDEO

[Record Shop] 
360 Record Shop, in Red Hook​

360 Record Shop is not only a record shop, but also a book shop, live house, and community spot in Red Hook, Brooklyn. This shop opens at around 12pm. But opening hours are changed by schedule. Because sometimes this shop hosts many types of music shows. Same as music shows, all genre records are sold in this shop. 90 percent of them are used records. The owner of this shop, Mr. Bene, tries to let the shop speak to the diversity of New York. 

This shop is also a community spot for local people and customers.   

There are some sports stuffs in this shop for children. Sometimes, children play near the shop. And there is also a studio on the basement floor. In this studio, Mr. Bene teaches music for children. About that the shop is also gathering place, Mr. Bene said “ You know, so you don't have to come in with a lot of money. Yeah. You can also just come in and listening to music. “Like these, people of all generations can gather in 360 Record Shop for many kinds of purpose. So, 360 Record Shop is a very important place for many people as not only a record shop, but also a community spot!

[Record Shop] 
Fifth Avenue Record Shop, in Park Slope​

Fifth Avenue Record Shop is the oldest record shop in Brooklyn. This shop was established in 1966. Usually, this shop opens from 11am to 7pm. Many types of used or new records are sold in this shop. The owner of the shop, Mr. Bryan, is very friendly to talk with. As the owner of the oldest record shop, he feels the differences between Manhattan music and Brooklyn music. About the differences, he told me that Manhattan music is more commercial than Brooklyn music like Broadway Musical shows. Because Manhattan is a more expensive area than Brooklyn. So, Manhattan music tends to be commercially to earn much money. 
​
Like these, there are many live houses and record shops in Brooklyn. Especially, many record shops are in Brooklyn. Depending on the music genre, there are some musical differences between Manhattan music and Brooklyn music. Manhattan music tends to chase trends and be commercial.  But Brooklyn music is often pure music. The reason for these differences is the manly land price. Financial affordability can affect culture and musicality. But some Brooklyn areas are more expensive than some Manhattan areas recently. New York is the city of rapid change. In the future, how will the New York music change? Nobody knows how the New York music scene will change.