The Grove Street Stompers
Arthur's Tavern57 Grove Street, New York 10014
The Grove Street Stompers bring their standing Monday-night engagement to Arthur’s Tavern with a Dixieland and traditional-jazz set. Led by trombonist Peter Ballance, the group describes its sound as a mix of Dixieland and swing in the Eddie Condon style. The listed working band includes bassist and vocalist Mike Weatherly, clarinetist Joe Licari, trumpeter Barry Bryson and drummer Giampaolo Biaggi. Sit-ins have long been part of the Stompers’ practice, with professional and amateur musicians welcomed into the music.
The band began in 1962 under pianist Bill Dunham, its founder and leader until his death in 2016. Ballance has played with the group since the 1970s; Weatherly has been a member for about 14 years, while Licari joined in August 2004 and received the New Jersey Jazz Society’s Distinguished Musician Award at the Pee Wee Russell Memorial Stomp. The Wall Street Journal called the Stompers’ weekly run “a 50-year feat of endurance and consistency virtually unmatched in the city’s musical history,” noting that Arthur’s had kept them on every Monday since 1962. Writing about the band’s open-door sessions, The New York Times heard “the loose, relaxed swing of a jamming group” alongside ensemble playing “surprisingly crisp” even with visitors joining in.
Arthur's Tavern is a basement club in the West Village where jazz, Latin, and blues are played with deep roots and modern energy. The stage is small, the room intimate, and the audience sits close to the musicians, often with a few people standing near the back. Shows start around 5 PM and go late, with some sets extending into the early hours. The club has a history of hosting top-tier performers since 2001, including regular appearances by Yuichi Hirakawa Jazz Group. It's a place where music is the center, and conversation flows naturally between the audience and the performers.