
New York City has always claimed bragging rights as the jazz capitol of the world, but in recent years, jazz in NYC has surged in a special way. Thriving indie labels (Pi, Aum Fidelity), new festivals and series targeted at young listeners (Winter Jazzfest, one of the best things to do in the winter in NYC) and the continued vitality of old standbys (opened in 1935, the Village Vanguard still routinely holds some of the best concerts in NYC) have combined to restore the music’s status from respectably classy to a genuinely hip part of New York nightlife.