• Jazz Standard

  116 East 27th Street, 212-576-2232; jazzstandard.com

  It’s a darkened club with the familiar notes of “My Funny Valentine” echoing through the air. But after the song is over, a child approaches the microphone and asks the musicians if their fingers hurt when they play. That’s standard practice for the Jazz Standard Youth Orchestra, whose twenty musicians come from all over the city to perform every Sunday afternoon at Blue Smoke’s popular downstairs jazz club. Kids are encouraged to dance in the aisle to jazzed-up versions of “This Old Man,” “Working on the Railroad,” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” while their parents dig into proprietor Danny Meyer’s BBQ. The one-hour show has become so popular that veteran saxman Frank Foster heard about it and requested a guest set with the group, which is expected sometime this summer. A five-spot gets you in the door (reservations suggested); eating and drinking are optional. Who knows? Maybe the next Bird is in your own nest.

From the 2004 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine