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.
