Williamsburg Music Center — Black-Owned Brooklyn

“Discover yourself,” says Gerry Eastman, owner of Williamsburg Music Center, one of Brooklyn’s last remaining Black-owned jazz clubs. “Then you don't have to worry about anybody discovering you.”

Already an accomplished jazz guitarist, bassist, composer and bandleader when he moved to Brooklyn in 1979 from Buffalo, N.Y. (he’s toured with Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan and other legends of African-American classical music), Gerry sought work as a composer here but faced resistance from white-owned venues. So in 1981 he opened his own jazz club and nonprofit dedicated to giving a platform to Black composers.

Back then, he estimates the Williamsburg Music Center was one of at least 20 Black-owned jazz clubs on the Brooklyn scene. Today he can name just one other besides his own spot, where he offers seriously good live music every week from Thursday to Sunday.

“For 38 years I’ve never had to work for anybody,” says Gerry, now 73, who owns the building and lives in an apartment backstage. “That means I’m in charge of my finances. And it means I’m free.”

“Discover yourself. Then you don't have to worry about anybody discovering you.”

Williamsburg Music Center’s intimate atmosphere — exposed brick walls adorned with framed concert photos and sheet music, cozy leather couches, a wood-paneled bar, small balcony, and a vintage record collection displayed onstage — makes for a unique live music experience.

“This is just my living room,” Gerry says with a shrug, pointing out his own instruments hanging on the wall, his personal memorabilia serving as decor, and the piano from the house he grew up in. “I just added some tables and chairs and said, ‘Okay, let’s do this club thing.’”

The club's original goal of supporting Black jazz composers remains in effect 38 years later. While a racially diverse roster of musicians perform live on the club’s legendary stage, Gerry (who plays with his own band every Friday) places a special priority on nurturing Black talent.

When he bought the building in 1981 for about $50,000, accommodating both the jazz club and his apartment, Williamsburg was a grittier neighborhood. Now one of Brooklyn’s most gentrified enclaves with a proliferation of arts venues, boutiques and restaurants, Gerry regularly fends off developers looking to buy his prime, high-ceilinged real estate.

“My last offer was $10 million,” he says. “But I got kids and grandkids who I’ve inculcated with the value of property. There’s no way that I would sell it.”