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Renowned NYC Klezmer Club In Dire Straits

Tonic, the rennovated Kedem winery which houses one of NYC’s hottest jazz clubs (known for its weekly Klezmer brunches and existence as John Zorn‘s playground) is enduring a financial crisis and needs your help to stay afloat.

Since 1998 Tonic has been a haven for creative music. We have helped nurture the vital community of musicians and audiences who keep this music alive. Now we are in danger of closing and ask you to help us keep Tonic alive.
Over the past few years we have suffered a series of blows: our rent has doubled since 1998, our insurance costs have tripled, we’ve been robbed, and we’ve been plagued by the expense of maintaining a building in ill repair — including the collapse of our main sewer line.
Any of these things would be challenging on their own but together they’ve taken a more serious toll and we are now facing the threat of eviction.
A number of outstanding musicians have come forward to help save Tonic and throughout February we will be holding a series of fundraising concerts. If Tonic has been an important venue to you, we ask that you please attend as many of these concerts as possible.

Upcoming concerts include Yoko Ono & Sean Lennon this coming Saturday, alternately Sean Lennon & Vincent Gallo next week, the outstanding funk outfit Sex Mob, and others throughout the remainder of the month. Check Tonic’s calendar out here or visit their homepage and make a donation.

6 thoughts on “Renowned NYC Klezmer Club In Dire Straits

  1. Sorry for not blogging about this myself…
    Frankly, I’m really disappointed with Tonic. Why the hell are they holding out the hat NOW saying that they need $100K? Didn’t they know that they were in trouble earlier? Really, it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me. I hope they can pull through, because we need a home for experimental music in this city.

  2. If I recall correctly, this is the spot where I met you all those years ago, right Mobius? Or was it CB’s Gallery?
    Ah, old times.

  3. I just read somewhere that John Zorn has started a new performance center called “the Stone”. So with or without Tonic, I don’t think downtown music junkies will go homeless.

  4. It was, indeed, Tonic. In the basement. I was there with Shosho. God I miss Shosho. You read “Believe It Or Not” and was instantly a fan. You told me about RHP, but I slept for like, a year or two before I actually came through. And now… We see how that turned out.

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