For the Jazz lovers travelling to NYC

New York: A city that has long been a city known for jazz – New York. What’s less well-known is how kid- and family-friendly jazz performances here can be. Many performers have day jobs as educators, and although many venues are nightclubs, there are jazz performances where even toddlers are welcome.

“When I was a kid, the Vanguard was an extension of my home. It was not only smoky, it was noisy. Now? Forget it. Make a peep and the noise police will shush you,” says Deborah Gordon, general manager of the Village Vanguard, opened by her father in 1935. “It was a rough-and-tumble place when I was a kid, and 13-year-olds definitely weren’t allowed in. You’d have to hang out on the stairs if you wanted to listen.”

A lot has changed. Today, the Vanguard is non-smoking and cleaner, and the minimum age to attend a performance is 13. But Gordon says not all kids are ready at that age for jazz (she says she wasn’t).

Visitors should keep a few things in mind before making a reservation: “Do your homework first about who’s playing, and see if it’s what you want to hear,” she says. Also, no food is served, and the place is, still, a nightclub.

The Blue Note, Smalls Jazz Club, Birdland Jazz Club and the Jazz Standard have no minimum age and welcome well-behaved children accompanied by adults. The minimum age at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola is 7, and the Jazz Standard hosts a “Jazz for Kids” program on Sundays.

As for types of jazz, Todd Stoll, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s vice president of education, recommends vocalists and big band music as a good entry point for kids. He urges families to explore Jazz at Lincoln Center’s YouTube channel, featuring videos explaining improvisation and various jazz artists and genres. Jazz at Lincoln Center features performances for kids as young as 8 months.

“We call them Family Jazz Parties, and we have six to eight of them a year. They’re family jazz concerts for a kid and a caregiver, with jazz that is very digestible for kids of that age group (8 months to 5 years) while also enjoyable for parents, held in a carpeted venue where kids can move around,” Stoll says. In addition, visitors to New York can buy tickets to a single WeBop jazz appreciation class for a young person and a caregiver.

Jazz at Lincoln Center also offers two family-oriented concerts a year, created by Wynton Marsalis and inspired by a format begun by Leonard Bernstein in the 1950s. The concerts combine music and education around a specific concept, genre or important figure.