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ADAM MCCULLOUGH
Kermit Ruffins performs at (le) Poisson Rouge.
Rock ’n’ Roll ’n’ Romance at (le) Poisson Rouge
David Handler and Brice Rosenbloom
envisioned a club that would be flexible
not just in terms of booking but in
the physical space itself when they founded (le)
Poisson Rouge eight years ago in Manhattan.
But even still, they probably hadn’t anticipated
being called on as a makeshift wedding chapel.
That’s what happened when guitarist Nels Cline
and multi-instrumentalist Yuka Honda (perhaps
still best known as half of Cibo Matto) had
a sudden change in wedding plans and were
looking for options.
It was November 2010 and the couple was
set to have the ceremony in Central Park with
a reception at the West Village club; they soon
discovered that the Parks Department permit
didn’t allow for a P.A. or more than 100 people.
“We were starting to get nervous and every
place was really expensive,” Cline recalled. “We
thought, ‘Let’s just do it at Poisson Rouge.’”
The venue’s facilities allow for a concert hall
arrangement with the stage at one end of the
room or a more intimate setup with a circular
stage in the center, which is what Cline and
Honda opted for. Three large screens on one
wall gave them a place to project images of the
outdoors. With the help of the club’s extensive
lighting rig and a few well-placed cherry blossoms,
they were able to create the atmosphere
they wanted. The guest list would bring tears
to any Downtown music fan’s eyes, and with
Cline’s Wilco bandmate Jeff Tweedy officiating,
the couple had an unforgettable reception—
with a decent P.A.
“I ended up stage-managing at my own
wedding!” Cline exclaimed, still laughing at the
memory.
(le) Poisson Rouge opened on Bleecker
Street in 2008 with the goal of being a multiple-purpose
space, according to Handler, a
native New Yorker who knows well what the
city has to offer—and what it lacks.
“In a city like ours there are a host of venues
dedicated to any one genre, but not many that
host all under one roof and at the level that
we do,” he said. “No expense or attention was
spared on the production, and our Bleecker
home is physically quite malleable—offering
seated, standing and hybrid configurations.”
With a capacity of 350 seated or 750 standing
(depending on the show), Poisson Rouge
brings eclectic programming to its stages, not
just jazz, pop and experimental music, but a fair
bit of contemporary composition and even the
occasional burlesque show.
Jazz, however, was flowing through the
space even before Poisson Rouge opened its
doors. From 1958 to 1994, the basement room
housed Art D’Lugoff’s renowned Village Gate.
Albert Ayler, Alice Coltrane, Ahmad Jamal,
Sonny Rollins, Herbie Mann, Thelonious
Monk, Nina Simone and Jimmy Smith all
recorded live albums there, and Poncho
Sanchez hosted a longstanding “Salsa Meets
Jazz” series with a wealth of players merging the
two worlds. The club is also a primary venue for
the annual Winter Jazzfest, which was founded
by Rosenbloom.
“We stand on the shoulders of giants for
sure,” Handler said. “The site is hallowed
ground as far as I’m concerned. Jazz and counterculture
Mecca that the Village Gate was
(hosting everyone from Morrison to Ginsberg,
Ella to Warhol, Mingus to Lenny Bruce), it was
Art’s commitment to eclecticism that I identify
most closely with. We were lucky enough to get
to know him in the last years of his life and his
receptivity to our endeavor, the extent to which
he made himself available to us is something I
will always be grateful for.”
The nightclub atmosphere and moving colored
lights can come as a shock to the no-nonsense
jazz musician—or fan—as it did to Cline
the first time he wandered in, for a JACK
string quartet concert featuring a John Zorn
composition.
“They were playing at this place that looked
like a rock club,” Cline said. “It had all these
groovy lights and the place was packed.”
But having since played there numerous
times with a variety of projects, he’s warmed
to the room and—as he did for his wedding—
learned how to get the atmosphere he wants for
his gigs.
“It you don’t want to have all those lights
moving around, you just tell them,” he said.
“I think a lot of people don’t direct their own
shows in the serious music world.
“There’s hardly anybody putting on adventurous
gigs in Manhattan,” he added. “It’s absolutely
the best spot, in my opinion.”
—Kurt Gottschalk
46 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2017