Smalls Jazz Club, located at 183 W. 10th St. in Manhattan, has announced the SmallsLIVE membership program, with all proceeds directly supporting the club and its performing jazz musicians.
All revenue collected from memberships will go to the following areas:
Increased artist wages. Smalls’ goal is to make the club competitive with other venues in the city. With a $20 cover charge and only 60 seats, there is a direct ceiling on possible earnings.
Subsidizing club expenses such as rent, insurance, maintenance and the general cost of running the club day to day. Although a new lease assures the club of another 10 years, it also comes with a 35% rent increase, with another 50% increase over the next five years.
A portion of each membership will be donated to the Harry Whitaker Foundation, a special, charitable foundation created by Smalls and dedicated to the late pianist Harry Whitaker. The mission of the Harry Whitaker Foundation is to provide emergency financial relief for jazz musicians in need. To qualify the musician would have to have performed at Smalls at some point in their career-this represents some 2000-plus musicians, a base that is continually growing.
From the perspective of preserving and sharing, an extensive, free archiving system was created on the website to record and document every set of music played at the club and the musicians who were involved, from 2007 through today.
Membership platforms include:
48-Hour Pass ($3)-Two days of unlimited access to all Smalls’ live video broadcasts.
Video Membership ($20)-(For the cost of a single admission) Yearly, unlimited access to all live video broadcasts.
SmallsLIVE Membership ($100)-Yearly, unlimited access to all live video broadcasts, plus unlimited streaming access to the entire SmallsLIVE album catalog, and a complimentary Smalls t-shirt.
Patron Membership ($500)-Yearly, unlimited access to all live video broadcasts, unlimited streaming and download access to the entire SmallsLIVE album catalog, complimentary Smalls t-shirt, and a gift set of 20 SmallsLIVE collectable CDs.
Benefactor Membership ($1000)-Yearly, unlimited access to all live video broadcasts, unlimited streaming and download access to the entire SmallsLIVE album catalog, complimentary Smalls t-shirt, the full catalog of SmallsLIVE colleciable CDs, and a special Benefactor Membership Card, good for a 50% discount on all shows for themselves and a guest, as well as drink specials.
