Mona’s: FREE Wild Jazz Tuesdays and Cheap Booze

Ladies and Gentlemen, Ladies and gentlemen! Step right up, step right up! What we got here is somethin’ ya can’t get anywhere else! What is IT, ya may be askin’ ya self. Well, it’s amazing, it’s spectacular, it’s the most terrific thing that you have ever seen! It’s entertaining, it’s clever, it’s as crazy as you are! It’s FREE FREE FREE! It’s old-fashioned, swingin’ and cool. It’s a million to one and gets rid of the blues. Now, I ain’t gonna keep ya guessin’, and I ain’t gonna give ya anymore clues! It’s a wild jam jazz session at Mona’s on Tuesday nights and if ya missin’ it then, well, ya killin’ ya self, and that just ain’t right!

Nick Russo on guitar and banjo, Dennis Lichtman on clarinet, Jared Engel on bass and Gordon Webster on piano! These are the four base members of the band, but the greatest thing about Tuesday nights at Mona’s is ya never know who’s gonna pop in and play a couple tunes with ’em. This is technically a jam session, but if ya can’t keep the beat ya might as well keep ya seat. They play swing, stride and hot jazz, and they go fast, slow and are always on point! I could give ya more, but I’m just gonna tell ya that they are swingin’!

Not only is Mona’s a great little dive with an amazing jukebox and pool table in the back and a nice place to go whether the jazz is on or not, but the drinks are cheap, too. Well drinks go for $5 and all the other liquors go for $6 to $10; beers are $4 to $6. Buy-backs are common, so be nice to the bartender.

If I haven’t told ya enough by now, then forget about it!

Mona’s
244 Ave. B (between 13th St. and 14th St.)
[Alphabet City]

Image from nymag.com