In New York City, the cabaret laws enacted in 1926 during Prohibition strictly forbade the gathering of more than three musicians and forbade the use of brass or percussion instruments, except in those few nightclubs that were specially licensed and [+]In New York City, the cabaret laws enacted in 1926 during Prohibition strictly forbade the gathering of more than three musicians and forbade the use of brass or percussion instruments, except in those few nightclubs that were specially licensed and regulated by the city. The laws were believed by many to be in part instruments for preventing the congregation of black people, and the mixing of races. Jazz was held as a culprit, a source of moral decadence, and the cabaret laws afforded the city the means to zone jazz into virtual extinction. The laws persisted on the books until 1988 when they were overturned on the grounds that they violated the constitutional right to free speech, as famously argued by Paul Chevigny. In the aftermath, myriad small jazz clubs flourished in a renaissance of jazz in New York. Smalls was notable among them.
Smalls, and its successor in the present day, Fat Cat, were the brainchildren of quixotic jazz-lover Mitch Borden, who wanted to build a club that would serve the needs of jazz musicians and enthusiasts. Artists of special merit were featured regularly, receiving the rare opportunity to develop their repertoires and styles to maturity. During the day, musicians would come to Smalls to rehearse, some even sleeping there when they couldn't find housing. Each night, music flowed until dawn -- and the price was right. As word spread, Smalls developed into the social hub of the NY jazz scene. A steady stream of musicians from around the world came to listen and to congregate in its fabled back room, which hosted long listening sessions, and a perpetual conversation about music and life. We who were involved with Smalls on a week-to-week basis formed a close-knit community, bearing witness to one-another's lives, loves, and sometimes deaths. We are the "we" in the title of this record, and we count ourselves fortunate to have had Frank working and living amongst us.
Frank Burton Hewitt was born in Queens, NY on October 23rd, 1935, and grew up in Sugar Hill, Harlem. His mother, a church pianist, exposed Frank to piano music and started him on lessons early in childhood. Over the course of ten years of classical study, he developed into a capable pianist. He attended the High School of Needle Trades, originally
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