Late Sets at Smalls

Smalls is a basement on West 10th Street that Mitchell Borden opened in 1994 as a room where young players could work on the music all night, and it still runs on that idea. The main room is tiny, the bandstand is a few feet from the front row, and the bookings lean toward straight-ahead bebop and hard bop played by musicians who live in the city. Sets run from early evening into the small hours, and the late jam is where you hear the next generation testing itself against the house rhythm section.

Buy a ticket for a specific set on the SmallsLIVE site; walk-ins get in when there is room, which is less often on weekends. Sit close, keep your phone away and plan on one drink rather than a meal. If a set you missed sounded good, the SmallsLIVE archive streams and records nearly every show, and the money goes back to the musicians. Pair it with Mezzrow, the club's sister room down the block.