Showman's

Showman's was the last of Harlem's storied organ lounges¹. Jack McDuff, Seleno Clarke and Dr. Lonnie Smith played there early in their careers, and so did Lou Donaldson and George Benson². In early 2000 Clarke and Benson hosted a fundraiser there for McDuff, their buddy and mentor, who often played the room².

It first opened in 1942³. Al Howard, a New York City police officer before he owned it, bought it when it stood a few doors down from the Apollo Theater, whose performers then included Sammy Davis Jr.². After a fire it moved to the Eighth Avenue spot that later became the Magic Johnson Theater, and eventually to 375 West 125th Street². In 2010 Time Out sent readers for the weekly tap-dancing showcase, perhaps the only such game in town, and for well drinks, Heineken and Corona, all served in chilled wineglasses⁴. Barry Jenkins's If Beale Street Could Talk includes a scene there³.

Al Howard died of COVID-19 on October 21, 2020, at 93². The Amsterdam News called Showman's Harlem's last remaining jazz club and bar, a place locals and tourists had flocked to for over 50 years². By September 2024 it still hadn't reopened¹. The room sat unoccupied, interior and signage intact, which Big Apple Jazz read as a glimmer of hope, though the same report had word that Showman's was trying to sell its Hammond B-3 organ¹. Its list of Harlem clubs marks it RIP Covid⁵.