{"id":548,"date":"2020-08-04T15:40:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-04T15:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2020\/2020\/08\/04\/sculpting-sounds-at-brooklyns-soapbox-gallery\/"},"modified":"2020-08-04T15:40:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-04T15:40:00","slug":"sculpting-sounds-at-brooklyns-soapbox-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2020\/2020\/08\/04\/sculpting-sounds-at-brooklyns-soapbox-gallery\/","title":{"rendered":"Sculpting Sounds at Brooklyn\u2019s Soapbox Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When COVID-19 hit New York City in March, the music, as Jim Morrison crooned, was over.  But one place it never stopped was at Soapbox Gallery<\/a>, one of Brooklyn\u2019s <\/a>most unique and eclectic performance venues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soapbox Gallery is not the brainchild of a veteran promoter, profit-seeking barkeep or musician, but a music-loving sculptor with a true D.I.Y. spirit, Jimmy Greenfield.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A native of Poughkeepsie, Greenfield moved to NYC\u2019s SoHo in the mid-1970s to pursue a career in art.  While there, he drank in and was inspired by the loft jazz scene percolating at homey little venues like Sam Rivers\u2019 Studio Rivbea.  Like many visual artists, Greenfield became friendly and collaborated with the adventurous musos on that scene. And like many a SoHo artist, he was eventually priced out of the tony neighborhood and helped pioneer a new scene with a move to Brooklyn in the early 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenfield came to the street-level space at 636 Dean Street that would become Soapbox in 1996. He utilized it for years as his sculpture studio, with the street frontage being dedicated to installations by visual artists he loved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe gallery was inspired by the idea of a soapbox, the humble stage that one stands upon to deliver a message, a narrative story, that can start a movement that can perhaps change the world,\u201d says Greenfield. \u201cIt functioned that way for our art shows and, since 2014, with our escalating program of musical events.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music became a part of Soapbox Gallery in 2014, when Greenfield made his venue the home to periodic shows by critically acclaimed Brooklyn Raga Massive, a collective of world class musicians dedicated to furthering the understanding of Indian classical and Raga forms.  Within a couple of years, Greenfield decided to move his sculpture studio to another location and, over time, convert Soapbox into a full-time performance space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea was to create an intimate space, a sanctuary that was almost like a mini-concert hall,\u201d adds Greenfield. \u201cI wanted the best sound and atmosphere, so we completely renovated the space, with soundproofing, a dropped ceiling with acoustic tile, high-end sound mitigation and amplification.  We wanted the room to be a draw, the perfect acoustic environment that would attract the very best musicians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was serendipitous that Greenfield tapped his neighbor, filmmaker Dave Power, and his brother, the sound-painting saxophonist Hayes Greenfield, for advice on cameras and sound, and to execute all the physical labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur intention was to create not only a world-class performance space of intimate size, but a top-of-the-line production center as well,\u201d adds Greenfield.  \u201cWe designed where the camera drops would be, where the computers and controls would be, even a system to move the sound around the space and the stereo spectrum, all anticipating the era of streaming.  So we were ready for what has, unfortunately, become the performance model of today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another thing Jimmy did to attract a top-flight coterie of performers was purchase the world-class piano, the lightly used Yamaha C7 that is the physical centerpiece of the space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy friend Ludwig <\/a>found that for us, a 1998 Yamaha Grand that was barely used,\u201d continues Greenfield.  \u201cIt was another stroke of good luck in the collective, all D.I.Y. effort to build this space and scene.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scene started to gain critical mass in 2019 with Soapbox Gallery\u2019s weekly Piano Hangs, organized with David Berkman, noted pianist, author and director of the Jazz Department at Queens College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery Saturday, we would invite four to five pianists to perform and discuss their work,\u201d adds Greenfield.  \u201cThe series attracted high-caliber talent from the worlds of jazz, classical and beyond, like Fred Hersh, Chano Dominguez and Bruce Barth.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Into 2020, Soapbox Gallery continued to expand its palate of performances.  Greenfield added small groups like jazz trios, classical quartets, a virtual fest with the New England Conservatory Jazz Lab, and solo performances by notables like electro-jazzer Adam Neely, looping violinist and vocalist Natie, singer\/songwriter Tracey Yarad and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n