[Dixielandjazz] New York City's Premier "High Class" Jazz (sometimes) Club

[Steve Barbone]

What a legendary venue. Bobby Short held court there for MANY years. Visit
it when in NYC if only to see how the other half lives. <grin>

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Wiping the Stains Off a Bit of Old New York Glamour

NY TIMES - By MELENA RYZIK - September 18, 2007

The Marcel Vertes murals are still there, but the club that has been host to
everyone from Woody Allen to Bobby Short will look a little different when
it reopens tonight after a three-month renovation. After more than 50 years
as a New York institution of cabaret and jazz for the caviar and pearls set,
the Café Carlyle, inside the Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side, has
undergone its first face-lift.

Among the changes that give it a new younger look and feel: slickly recessed
L.E.D. lighting, shiny, patterned blue banquettes to replace the old
salmon-colored ones, mirrored columns, beaded gold wallpaper, tuna tartare
and of-the-moment cocktails like the agave gingerita (tequila, fresh ginger,
Cointreau, egg white) on the menu. All this in a room that had been largely
unchanged since 1955. (The smoke stains were legendary.)

Scott Salvator, a decorator known for residential design, was behind the
renovation. ³This is not a criticism, but it¹s an observation,² he said of
the decades-old style. ³There wasn¹t this enormous attention to detail. It
was a lesser quality. It was more about decorating and pasting and gluing.²

³People drank then too, so if it wasn¹t exactly right, you¹d have another
drink and it looked fine,² he added.

Central to Mr. Salvator¹s vision was raising the dropped ceiling that gave
the 90-seat room a cavelike intimacy. It¹s now two feet higher. The
acoustical tiles that originally covered it are gone too. ³They looked like
they would be in a rec room in Long Island,² Mr. Salvator said, with an
implied shudder.

A state-of-the-art sound system replaced the two corner speakers. Some of
the ductwork in the ceiling is exposed, for that downtown loft vibe, said
Fred Petry, the renovation¹s project manager. The new stage has a unique
trundle design, to accommodate groups like Mr. Allen¹s jazz combo, which has
had a Monday night residency there for years, as well as solo performers
like Judy Collins. The club has even gone green, sort of: some of the
soundproofing material in the ceiling is recycled denim. ³It has a certain
amount of rigidity, but it still has a pliability,² Mr. Petry said. ³From an
acoustics perspective, it was the right fit.²

The change is one of many planned for the hotel. A longtime haven for
presidents (including John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson) and
paparazzi-shunning celebrities (no names, please, but think Jack, Warren and
Diana), it was bought by Maritz, Wolff & Company, an owner of the Rosewood
Hotels and Resorts luxury chain, for nearly $130 million in 2001. The
banquet rooms on the second floor were also renovated; a spa is to open in
2008.

But the cafe, on Madison Avenue and 76th Street, has maintained a soigné,
vintage New York chic even with or because of its dishabille setting. ³It
combines a class with still allowing people to get down,² said Barbara Cook,
who, along with Mr. Short and Eartha Kitt, has performed there most often.
(Ms. Kitt opens the season tonight; Ms. Cook is scheduled for the spring.)
³If you sing in a room that¹s too elegant, people feel as if they need to
behave properly,² Ms. Cook said. ³Not that people don¹t behave properly at
the Carlyle; don¹t get me wrong, they do. But they¹re not overawed by the
room.²

And much about the space will feel familiar, including the murals depicting
muses, pastoral scenes and animals by Vertes. Glenn Palmer-Smith, a painter,
and two assistants spent months of eight-hour days restoring the original
work, which had been damaged by smoke and age. Where parts of the wall that
had been covered are now exposed, Mr. Palmer-Smith also added new sections
to the mural at the owners¹ request. They include a tribute to Mr. Short,
who died in 2005, placed near the entrance. All are painted in the signature
Vertes style, with light brush strokes and a sense of whimsy. (In one corner
a cat paints a portrait of a nude.)

Though Ms. Cook had not yet seen it, she was pleased by the idea of the
renovation.

³They¹ve always needed more lights,² she said. ³I always wanted them to
improve the sound system.² The restoration of the mural, she said, ³does
sound like it would be an improvement, though frankly I didn¹t notice that
it was in need of being cleaned.²

No matter its look, the Café Carlyle is her favorite place to perform, she
said, adding:

³I¹m so glad it¹s still there. It¹s so much a part of what makes New York,
New York.²