Richie Cannata's Monday Night Jam
The Bitter End147 Bleecker Street, New York 10012
Richie Cannata’s Monday Night Jam brings its long-running open-mic session to The Bitter End. Rather than a fixed band or announced lineup, the night is built around musicians coming together to improvise and collaborate, with Cannata hosting. Expect a jam-session format in which the players can change as the evening develops; the available information does not name a backing group or confirm which guest musicians will join this particular night.
Cannata is a New Yorker, born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, whose forte is tenor saxophone. He is also a pianist, clarinetist, flutist and keyboard player, and is known for playing regularly with Billy Joel’s band. Across his career he has worked with Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, the Beach Boys, Bernie Williams, Phoebe Snow, Rita Coolidge, Corey Hart and Tommy Shaw, and has produced albums for several of those artists. He has hosted this Bitter End jam for more than 20 years. One reviewer compares the session to “great pickup basketball,” calling the talent “amazing” and noting that musicians sit in only when they are “100 percent sure” they can play. Cove City Sound Studios says the jam has earned a reputation as “one of the best open mics in New York.”
The Bitter End has been a fixture of Greenwich Village since 1961, known as one of New York City's oldest rock clubs. It's a modest basement club with a stage and a bar, where the audience sits close to the performers. The room has exposed brick walls and a rustic feel, and the atmosphere is warm and conversational. Shows are typically ticketed with a small cover charge, and the evening combines listening to live music with casual conversation and drinks. The venue has hosted legends like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, and continues to be a place where songwriters and musicians share new material. It's a steady, reliable spot for live music in the city.