Impresario Jack Kleinsinger, a former assistant attorney general of the State of New York, had a passion for jazz, and in 1973 decided to try producing jazz concerts. Growing up in New York, as a child, went to the Roxy, the Paramount, the Apollo and other theaters to hear the music. He became hooked on jazz, and so he began producing at Greenwich Village’s Theatre de Lys, with one successful concert leading to another. Now, Jack Kleinsinger’s Highlights in Jazz has become the longest running continuous jazz series in the history of New York. He has produced hundreds of jazz concerts to date, featuring the most popular and greatest names in jazz, such as legends Zoot Sims, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Maxine Sullivan, Buddy Rich, Dave B
rubeck, Bucky Pizzarelli, Cab Calloway and hundreds more. Kleinsinger’s shows consist of a theme, a lineup of top flight musicians and a special guest.
NiteLife Exchange (NLE) celebrates Jack Kleinsinger’s Highlights In Jazz (JK) with Six Questions
NLE: You started your career as an attorney, with an impressive background in that field. What was the epiphany—the AHA moment —that led you to producing Highlights in Jazz?
JK: Some of my musician friends (Bucky PIzzarelli, Phil Bodner and Zoot Sims) suggested that since I loved Jazz and was friendly with many musicians that I should take over a club or rent a concert hall and “get it out of my system.” The rest is history.
NLE: Pre-Highlights, how was your life defined by jazz? What was your involvement in the jazz world?
JK: My father loved jazz and took me to performances at an early age. From high school (with a fake ID) to the present I have heard live jazz at least once a week.
NLE: What were the biggest challenges in starting Highlights, and then in keeping it going all these years, especially in the two-year pandemic lockdown?
JK: Holding on to my sadly aging audience has become extremely difficult, especially during the pandemic period.
NLE: In this, the 49th year of “New York’s Longest-Running Jazz Concert Series,” of the many hundreds of shows produced, which ones stand out as favorites, and which ones not so much?
JK: My favorite concerts have always been our annual tributes to living jazz legends. None of my concerts stand out as disappointments and I am proud of all of them.
NLE: Who have been your biggest influences in jazz—especially growing up and as a young person embarking on an adult’s life journey?
JK: Bucky Pizzarelli, Clark Ferry, Billy Taylor, Doc Cheatham and my father.
NLE: Going way back, the phrase “jazz is dead” has been an oft-heard prediction. How did this term arise and has there ever been any truth to it? Where do you see jazz headed into the next decade or so?
JK: The audience for jazz is diminishing as jazz players have gotten more avant grade and no longer play standards or perform in jam sessions. I feel in the future that jazz’s appeal will be limited to other musicians.
Listen to one of Jack Kleinsinger’s early Highlights in Jazz concerts:
