Fat Cats

he basement of 75 Christopher Street was a jazz impresario’s dream. The underutilized 10,000 square feet of the sleepy Fat Cat billiards had enough space to build an entire jazz club within it. For Mitch Borden, whose tiny Smalls club had people lining up down the street to get in, a spillover club seemed like just the thing. He struck a deal with Fat Cat’s owners, got some acoustic panels and a bank of box fans, and took the "square" out of the square-feet by populating the space with some of the best tchochkes ever salvaged from a dumpster. The resulting club played host to some of the scene’s greatest acts and some of our best recordings.

Polish trumpeter and composer Piotr Schmidt returns, undeterred by the pandemic that is changing the face of our globe, to share with us some joyful moments inspired by the music we love so much.