One might think it’s somewhat mind-boggling that Spike Wilner manages to run three clubs and have a career as a musician, but Wilner doesn’t.
“People say that, but I never understood why it’s so amazing,” Wilner opines. “I think that people have a misconception over what’s involved, maybe, and they give me a lot of credit. I don’t think it’s necessarily justified.”
Still, the immensely talented pianist has put out over a dozen studio albums and four live ones while running the ever popular clubs Smalls and Mezzrow — both in the West Village — and he’s recently opened a brand new joint, Jazzcultural, at 349 West 46th St. in Midtown.
Wilner, a native New Yorker, remembers being “a very young kid, maybe 4th grade” and seeing a movie about Scott Joplin.
“It really inspired me to just want to play ragtime music,” he says. “Later I was in my high school jazz band, and then I decided to go to a jazz conservatory at The New School under the direction of Arnie Lawrence, in 1986.”
Although he ended up doing some teaching himself, Wilner is not exactly encouraging the academic pursuit of jazz.
“I don’t really believe in jazz education,” he states. “I am a product of the jazz schools, but quite honestly, I don’t believe in them, especially now. I think they’re a terrible waste of money and time for people, for the most part, because I don’t think jazz is something that is teachable.”
Not that those years in school were a total waste of time, though.
“Not by any means,” he admits. “I met most of my dearest friends there, and my colleagues are guys that I met there. If there’s one benefit to music school, it’s meeting your peers. I became good friends with many, many fantastic musicians.”
Many have played at his Village clubs, along with once unknown names who have managed to climb to the upper echelons of jazz. Take Samara Joy, who recently had a multi-night run at Jazzcultural.
“She’s an artist I’ve known for years,” Spike recounts. “She played some of her first gigs at Mezzrow when she was about 17 years old.”
And now, he says, “she’s just an absolutely brilliant musician.”
Evan Sherman, Joy’s drummer, also has a personal connection to the scene.
“I grew up in New Jersey, and Smalls became my safe haven and the center of my musical universe. Spike and the staff always made me feel like family. Even as a teenager in high school, I looked forward to Friday night jam sessions that went until 4 a.m., where I first encountered the great Roy Hargrove, who generously shared his music and inspired so many of us,” Sherman recalled. “Playing with Samara at Jazzcultural was especially meaningful, performing with my bandmates in the new addition to the Smalls/Mezzrow family. I’m forever grateful for these home stages and the welcoming spirit of community that Spike has continued to foster.”
One of Wilner’s goals in opening the new space was to have a spot where people could go and hear jazz during the day.
“I really wanted to have a daytime jazz club,” he explains. “I wanted to have something that was open in the day because I had recently become a dad and it just wasn’t feasible for me to be hanging out late at night anymore in the clubs as much as I liked that aspect of the lifestyle. I couldn’t go to my own clubs and hang out anymore because it was just too late. So that became the impetus for Jazzcultural.”
Sticking strictly to an “unapologetic” jazz-only policy, Jazzcultural attracts some major players like Brad Mehldau and George Coleman, as well as some very talented unknowns for the afternoon jam sessions.
Wilner continues to book up-and-coming talents, who, he says, are all over the city: “I hear a whole range of artists, young men and women that are unbelievable. I’m always discovering new super talents, and I’m also always hearing veterans that are just getting better and better as they get older because jazz is a nonstop developmental kind of music. You can be good when you’re young, but if you keep it up through your life, you can be even better, because it’s really about growing.”
Wilner continues to gig regularly at Mezzrow and practice as diligently as he can with a seven-year-old demanding his attention.
“It’s not like I’m not doing the eight-hour practice days like I did when I was a kid,” he admits, “but I will get a good hour and change in if I can. My main thing for piano itself is Bach. If you don’t have time to improvise, just play Bach, and you’ll be fine.”
As for his personal approach to music, Wilner has a “certain aesthetic that I prefer, which is just tasty melodic phrases rather than aggressive, angry flurries of notes. Melodic interpretation is a lost art nowadays. No one does it, but it’s still what I like the best. So in a lot of ways, I’m an anachronism. In my heart, I am a Zen Buddhist, and I’ve lived my life that way.”
“I’m the prime example of a guy that’s had a pretty broad career that no one’s ever heard of except in the context of running clubs,” he continues. “And a lot of that is my fault because I’ve not pursued a career of being a leader. I don’t really relish fame, and quite honestly, now that I’m a dad, I don’t want to travel anywhere. I just want to stay in town so that I can be around my daughter.”
Which brings us back around to the fact that jazz fans can rejoice in the fact that there is an excellent new jazz joint in town, where purists can enjoy quality music day or night and, who knows, maybe even get discovered.
Info about Jazzcultural, Smalls and Mezzrow is at jazzcultural.com and on Instagram @jazzccultural, @smallslive, and @mezzrowjazzclub.
Spike Wilner’s music can be heard on most streaming services.
