Violinist Mitch Borden, the visionary creator of Smalls Jazz Club, can be found each night standing outside the venue's stairwell entrance sawing away in a style orthogonal to the jazz downstairs. The role of musical doorman has been his station since the club first opened in 1993. That, and providing an essential room for up-and-coming jazz musicians to grow. Soon after opening, Smalls emerged as home to the most important jam sessions in the city, often running until dawn every night. He would even let worn-out players crash on his couch. Burrowed under 7th Avenue in that sleepless district known as the West Village, it's certainly not the only jazz club in the area -- The Blue Note and The Village Vanguard are mere blocks in perpendicular directions -- but definitely the most independent. By design or misfortune, the room operated BYOB back in those early years. The beret-wearing Borden freely admits that making money never factored into this endeavor (paying the rent, well that's a different story). He simply wanted jazz to flourish in a environment where musicians, not the owner, controlled the musical direction. Such idealism caught up to him in the wake of 9/11 though and Smalls shutdown later that year. When they finally reopened in 2005, now under new management, he returned to his well-worn spot outside. To this day, he continues luring patrons down the precariously steep descent to the club below. A beat siren perhaps, or maybe just a welcome sign for a jazz community so grateful for his efforts. As a listening room, the interior is free from televisions and talking areas. A bar runs along a sea of chairs facing the bandstand, behind which hangs an enormous but jovial portrait of Louis Armstrong. Perhaps Pops, the godfather of modern improvised music, acts as a not-so-subtle reminder for the players to honor tradition. Or maybe it just looks cool.  The musical styles at Smalls vary from traditional to the fringes of modern jazz, often in the same evening. It’s also not uncommon to run into famous players here, some of whom just enjoy the thrill of an intimate performance, while others come to scout talent. Meanwhile, all performances are recorded and archived on their website. Pick a player and listen to their complete set without ads or interruption. Here’s the news flash. Smalls recently added a live video feed to their website, for free. It stays on as long as the place is open. Thanks to this pinhole-sized spycam one can bear witness to the nightly goings-on, from jam sessions to rehearsed ensembles of varying sizes. Even the between song banter is audible (including musician’s talking trash about one another!), all in the name of capturing the good, bad, and beautiful of a jazz laboratory. This is the link to the video stream: http://www.smallsjazzclub.com/index.cfm?itemCategory=32338&siteid=272&priorId=0&banner=a Reprinted from Andrew's blog. More articles from this blog can be found here: alienintheheights.wordpress.com