Last Friday, a friend invited me to go see him play the banjolele (half banjo/half ukulele) at a jam session on the Upper East Side at 10 AM. Woof! Who has a jam session at 10 AM? Who has a banjolele?? Because I have a crush on him, I said yes. I’m so so so glad that I did.
The jam session, which is held every Friday from 10 AM to noon, is at a butcher shop and bodega called Conte’s on 89th and York. It is owned by an adorable 77 year old man named Nick Conte who worked in the shop for 8 years before the previous owners handed it over to him in 1989.
The Jam session is led by Dominic Chianese, aka “Uncle Junior” from the Sopranos. He’s a regular at Conte’s and one day he brought in a guitar and played some songs for the guys behind the counter. The next week a few friends joined him, and eventually it became a regular session of old-timey American and Italian songs. When I was there last week there were 12 guitars, an accordion, a drum, a shaker, a banjo, and the cute little banjolele.
After chatting up a butcher-turned-actor named Frankie the Butcher, I called my dear friend Tommy to come meet me for coffee and some tunes. Tommy grew up in Yorkville, and I knew that this was right up his alley. He had been meaning to come see the jam session for a while after reading about it in the New York Times a few months back. He took the wonderful pictures below.
The jam session was filled with creative people who love doing what they do. As a performer, it’s easy to lose that love, and sometimes you have remind yourself why you chose a career in the arts in the first place. Yes, it is a job. Yes, it is hard work. But watching those musicians, some of whom who have already “made it,” take the time to just play, sing, and laugh purely for the joy it brought them was really inspiring. THANK YOU NEW YORK!!!
Lindsey Gentile is an actor, writer, comedienne, and all-around gal-about-town. Every Thursday, she reports from the front lines of single life in NYC. Check out her website HERE. Need more Big City Siren? No problem.
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Lindsey Gentile is an actor, writer, comedienne, and all-around gal-about-town. Originally South Florida, she now lives in a small studio apartment in Hell's Kitchen with her dog, Oliver, who she adopted as a ploy to pick up men. Every Thursday, she reports from the front lines of single life in NYC. 
Born and raised in New York, Maria Gorshin is a frequent contributor to WestSideRag.com and UntappedCities.com. She delves into the secrets of New York architecture on the second Friday of every month in her column "Talking to the Walls." You can also check out her blog at CityGirlWrites.blogspot.com. 
Rooted in culture, education, lifestyle and entertainment, Desi has been inspired by the stories of children she’s met around the world. She’s taught and mentored children throughout NYC, Canada and Ecuador and has produced and co-authored several children’s musicals and story-book play adaptations. She is the creator and host of Women in the Making: Tomorrow's History Today©, a radio show on WBAI 99.5 FM highlighting the views, perspective, questions, goals and accomplishments of today's girl. WIM covers a full range of topics from images in the media, finances and school to healthy eating, careers and the role of girls and women in revolutions around the world. Desi also created What’s Cookin’ in the World, Miss Desi? © an arts-based international cooking program to address the bevy of health issues plaguing today’s youth, including childhood obesity. What’s Cookin’© explores culinary cultural landscapes and fosters in students new cultural experiences while “pushing” their palates, offering them options for healthy eating. Desi is currently exploring nutrition and the connection between food and wellness while apprenticing at Natural Gourmet Institute for Health & Culinary Arts. She holds an MBA in media management from Metropolitan College of New York and a BA in Communication from the University of Hartford. Desi sits on the board of award-winning Children’s Theatre Company in NYC and is a reporter for WBAI Radio in NYC and Rice N Peas magazine in London, where she’s written articles on the ever-changing ideals of beauty, health, music, hip-hop culture, politics and fame. 
Pi Douglass is a veteran of thirteen Broadway shows including: "Hello Dolly", "Purlie", "Jesus Christ Superstar", "The Wiz", "A Chorus Line", and "La Cages Aux Folles". He has done industrials and commercials for many leading businesses and traveled around Europe in the role of the lead singer, "the Cop", on a tour with the "Village People". In 2006, along with his writing partner, A. Wellington Perkins, Mr. Douglass produced "In Our Time", about the Gypsy Robe Awards, at Lincoln Center. The show was sponsored by Actors' Equity and the League of Women during black history month for the celebration of African Americans who had received the Gypsy Robe Award. Pi himself received the Gypsy Robe Award three times during his stage career. Some of his works as a playwright and author along with his writing partner, A. Wellington Perkins include: "Champagne, Fireworks, and Two Old Dolls", "Pride Day", and a TV series screenplay, "Striver’s Row". Mr. Douglass also wrote, produced, and performed in his own Off-Off-Broadway one-man-show, "A Slice of Pi". 
Poet, novelist, and gay activist, Perry Brass has published 15 books and been nominated for 6 Lambda Literary Awards. Originally from Savanah, Georgia, Perry has now called New York his since 1966. In 1969, he joined the Gay Liberation Front and became an editor at "Come Out!", the world’s first gay liberation newspaper. Check out his musings on love, sex, and intimacy in his column "The Wisdom of Desire" on the 25th of each month. 
A writer, producer and avid traveler, Janice McDonald has visited all 50 states, more than 70 countries and all seven continents. While based in Atlanta, you are more apt to find her on an island in the South pacific or hiking the Inca Trail in Peru. They know her by name at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport!
Having spent 20 years at CNN, she continued her traveling escapades when she went out on her own and started her company J-Mac Productions. She works regularly with a host of networks in the area of field production and writing. Shows she has produced include Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern and International Open House with the Travel Channel.
Janice’s articles have appeared in newspapers and magazines across the globe. She is also the author of Historic Walking Guides: Bruges, The Insider’s Guide to Atlanta, The Insider’s Guide to Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand, The Myrtle Beach Pavilion and the soon to be published Aiken. 
Raised a Millenarianist, Villagemon has lived through many apocolyptic periods. He finds himself commenting more on politics than he ever intended, but he's a sucker for every new season of political hope. A Greenwich Village New Yorker since he learned to shlep and kvetch in 1982, he still remains attuned to those west of the river through frequent bicycle trips. His AANY column is a small step toward being a solid citizen and finding true north. 
Tamara Morgan is an art therapist and social worker in the South Bronx and a graduate of NYU’s Steinhardt School for Art Therapy. Diagnosed at birth with osteogenesis imperfecta, a condition that makes her bones abnormally fragile, Tamara writes about conquering the NYC as an individual with a disability. She lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 
Emily Sproch is a writer and a "Sex and the City" tour guide. Each Friday, she chronicles the fine line between reality and fiction in her column "Almost Carrie." She has lived in New York for over ten years—most recently in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn—with her husband Nick. 
Andrew Bell is a board member of VFP.org, correspondent and producer for WBAI.org 99.5FM, chapter organizer for the bigapplecoffeeparty.org, progressive political campaign operative, model, actor and former dancer who enjoys writing about his insights, observations and meditations gained while maintaining a Spiritual presence in the core of the Big Apple. Andrew is a resident of Manhattan. 
Thomas Pryor's work has appeared in The New York Times, Mr. Beller's Neighborhood, A Prairie Home Companion, New York Press, Underground Voices Magazine, Opium Magazine Online, Our Town, The West Side Spirit and Ducts. Thomas curates a monthly storytelling show at Cornelia Street Café on the second Tuesday of the month. His story, "Madame Butterfly Goes Down", is part of Thomas Beller's anthology, "Lost and Found: Stories from New York." His blog: "Yorkville: Stoops to Nuts," is listed in the City Room Blog Roll of The New York Times and his weekly radio show was featured on the Centanni Broadcasting Network. Two of his stories were published in “Mickey Mantle ~ Memories and Memorabilia” by Larry Canale. His newspaper column runs in Our Town and The West Side Spirit. Thomas appeared on PBS's acclaimed nostalgic TV series: "Baseball: A New York Love Story," and he was featured on public radio’s “This American Life.” Thomas is a regular contributor to NearSay.com and Askanewyorker.com. He has written his first book, "Yorkville: Stoops to Nuts." 
Addie Morfoot covers the film industry as a freelance journalist for "Daily Variety" and is finishing her MFA in Creative Writing at The New School. Last year, her world turned upside when she gave birth to her son, Harry. Catch up with Addie each Monday as she writes about juggling work, school, marriage, and motherhood in the Big Apple. 
Check out the AANY staff's musings on city life, pop culture, politics, and more. 
Kelly Rush is the Field Liaison for the Alliance for Downtown New York, the Business Improvement District (BID) for Lower Manhattan. Every other Thursday, she writes about what's up downtown and provides info on everything from where to find great corned beef to where to find great parking. Kelly received her MFA in Creative Writing at The New School and lives in South Slope, Brooklyn with her cat Bluey. 