None beter at what they do. Bruce is intimately involved with the scene of improvised music. His knowledge is deep and exceptional. Intimate concerts take place at the shop that will leave you in awe of the musical creativity that you have witnessed. read more

A hidden gem! (Literally... it's at basement level, so easy to miss.) John was kind, helpful, and fun to talk music with, and I left with a T Bone Burnett album from the shop's well-cultivated collection. read more

Wasn't open for some reason. Called the number and still no answer... weird! Is this place open to the public still? read more

Downtown Music Gallery is a challenging music store in a few ways. The most obvious reason is due to its new location. Consider it a haul into no man's land. You'll have to take a metro into Chinatown, then hoof it for a few blocks and, ultimately, turn onto Monroe Street. Keep an eye out for the sign or you'll walk right by it. Downtown Music Gallery definitely serves as a destination more than a casual drop in because one just happens to be in the neighborhood (i.e. Bleecker St.). Out on Monroe St., you're not in the neighborhood -- you're lost. Another challenge is making sure you get there when the place is open. I found out the hard way that one needs to call ahead on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because the place isn't officially open. If you find yourself traveling all the way out to Downtown Music Gallery on one of these days, you better give 'em a call or your feet won't be the only thing complaining and spouting out vulgarities (er, through the toes). However, despite the distance and hours, Downtown Music Gallery is a required stop for those who prefer jazz, experimental music, or anything that is far from the mainstream. These guys have an epic collection of CDs that I imagine the unaccustomed ear would say is confusing racket, whereas fans of the genres would consider this place a godsend for their tastes. Most new CDs go for $14-15, though there are a few sections (rarities, etc) that probably ask for more. There are a few $5 boxes underneath the main selection that one can find more mainstream artists, but these artists tend to be more along the lines of David Bowie and Neil Young than anything from the new indie movement. I did manage to get a M.I.A. disc, so it's possible one could find something of interest. I guess these sections are included for those who bring friends that aren't into the store's main material. There is a $2 bin section on the floor, but like most cheapo bins, you'd have to really hope for anything interesting out of this section. There was a decent amount of vinyl, a selection of DVDs in the back and a very minimal collection of books. Bruce, who was at the counter at the time, was quite friendly, informative and helpful. Ultimately, the store is an excellent stop for those into the music they offer. Note: I *highly* recommend bringing cash. I was informed belatedly that the store prefers not to accept charge cards that are to be used on orders less than $50. Eep! A bit of an inconvenience. Either plan to spend a lot (which isn't hard for some) or make sure you stop by an ATM during your trek to this place. read more

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This is an incredible place to find and to get happily lost in jazz music. I have never met anyone who knows jazz like Bruce. You could ask him anything about anything in this wonderful gallery of music and he will know. Whether a jazz aficionado or a beginner like me, Bruce is so kind and helpful!! Thank you so much, Bruce, for sharing your knowledge, passion, and this gem with us all!! read more

If you are into avant-garde music (jazz, post-war classical, etc), mainstream jazz, downtown NYC music, new experimental music, etc. this is the place to go in NYC. From Halvorson & Wooley types to Sun Ra, all the Tzadik releases, Cage, Partch, etc, jazz, Walter Weasel, Otomo Yoshihide, etc. You can some rock too. They are really unpretentious for being so immersed in the scene and love helping you discover new music. read more

The music they offer is off-the-charts amazing. Bruce and Manny know their stuff, are very ready to help, and are generally very nice. Downside - their new location is the pits. Hard to get to, and all kinds of nastiness. I know the changing times have forced this, and it's certainly not their fault, but it's still a bummer. 5+ stars for the music selection and knowledge of the staff....much less for the new location. read more

The best record store on the east coast. (I've never been to Amoeba) A strong statement? Let me explain. Record stores, for the most part are no longer needed. We are now a pirating culture that doesn't pay for anything any more. Well, that's fine unless the music you're looking for is too rare to be found through pirating. That's why you HAVE TO go to the Downtown Music Gallery for all your avant-garde/experimental jazz/noise/neo-klezmer etc needs. Let's face it, if you want the entire Anthony Braxton discography, or the latest release on the Tzadik label, you're gonna have to come here and buy it. I know what your'e thinking. "Sure but still I don't need a store when I could just go to Amazon." Yeah, and if it's out of print, there will be some jerk on there selling his used copy for $50-$120!!! Screw that guy. This store, through some divine miracle keeps the OUT OF PRINT avant/jazz/noise stuff you're looking for! The store is staffed by 2 guys who seemingly know everything which can be convenient. I don't even live in NY. But I always have a small checklist in the back of my mind for things I need to go find at this store next time I'm in town. By the way, not far away is a store called "Other music." But Downtown Music Gallery is really where you go if you really need to find the real 'other music.' read more

I've been a regular at DMG for the 25 years I have lived in NYC. I unfortunately have to leave the area for upstate, and can't purchase as much music as I used to, but I have to say this store is the last bastion of the downtown scene. A lot of my collection and influences came from artists regularly stocked there. If you are a fan of "out" music, there really isn't anywhere else. You need to go. Bruce, as the remaining owner after MannyLunch retired, is a one-of-a-kind person - I last saw him at one of The Stone closing week gigs, and also hung out with the gang up in Victoriaville in QC for the festival a decade ago. You won't find a more knowledgable and nice person. I will miss Downtown Music Gallery and will make it a destination when I do come back to visit NYC. I hope it lives forever. read more

Extremely knowledgeable staff and incredible selection in small basement space located at deep east Chinatown. Make sure you duck your head when you go down the stairs. New and used CD, Books and Vinyl: -experimental music -jazz -rare to very rare albums -African -Tzadk galore (John Zorn's record label) They even have some live music. read more

My shipment from Downtown Music Gallery was damaged. They never responded after I contacted them.

NOT a place to shop online.Others do everything better. Placed last order several years ago,and found out over a week later they couldn't get a copy. Might be OK,if you're in the store,otherwise ,DMG was... Selling illegal copies of,LICK MY DECALS OFF ,BABY while the Captain was dying:UNFORGIVABLE read more

It is a miracle they did not get flooded during Sandy. I thought for sure the place would be totally under water, as the basement across the street had water to the ceiling. But evidently DMG was "bone dry." Glad to hear, as the neighborhood, and the City in general, needs more places like this. read more

The Downtown Music Gallery is the premier shop for buying free jazz and free improvisation albums. Bruce and Dave are knowledgeable, helpful, and truly love the music. The DTMG also has a great series of ongoing concerts in the store. Please visit their store in NYC or online and tell them that Heath Watts sent you. read more

It's a good thing I didn't know this place existed until just recently. I was so much more into downtown-style jazz and improv while I lived in Boston, even. Now that I'm here, it's still somewhat overwhelming. This somewhat small and crowded shop specializes in downtown jazz and improv (think John Zorn and the old Knitting Factory scene, like, circa 1992), modern jazz, contemporary classical music, electronic composers, and similarly out rock. Prices are reasonable, the staff is largely friendly, and they've got a great email newsletter. I try not to read the thing, because I know I'll just want to go in and drop $100. But sometimes, that's a good thing. An awesome, awesome record store. read more

This is the place to have your mind blown. There is probably no other place like DMG anywhere on Earth. It's rare to find a niche-market music store at all anymore, much less one specializing in music that lives in the shadowy netherworld between rock, jazz, folk and classical. If you're the type of listener whose ears are on a constant search for something you haven't heard before, then this is the place. Just tell the store's odd-couple owners, Bruce and Manny, what you like and they can recommend something when they're not busy pleasantly bickering with each other. read more

Best music selection in New York City! They also have in-store performances of people from locals and out of town. This is how a New York record store should be. Definitely check this place out! read more

If you like jazz, art rock, experimental, and world music...this is the best record store in the city, maybe the world.

Smart, friendly service and very focused collection of new jazz and experimental composers. Also picked up some super rare shit like Harmonia and Roxy Music bootlegs from the 70s read more

This place is awesome. If you like jazz and vinyl you will like this shop. Yelp is making me type more so I can post the review.

For avant-garde music, and particularly for the downtown NYC avant-garde artists (John Zorn & friends, and other artists recording on Tzadik and similar types of labels), this is the Holy Grail. Being from Philadelphia I know how difficult it is to find CDs like Downtown's stock, and I'm sure it's the same elsewhere. The only other options I know are a few larger shops (eg, Amoeba in California, the Jazz Record Mart in Chicago and AKA Music in Philly) that have reasonable avant-garde sections. Bruce and Manny are absolute authorities on this stuff, and I've often found a place to double-park my car with someone in it (parking near the store is practically impossible to find) and ask one of them for something to fit a vague description of what fits my mood at the time. They've never let me down. Hopefully their mail-order business will bring them enough money to keep the store open. Another great feature of the store is that they have free in-store performances by local performers and, while it's pretty snug in there, this kind of thing is generally long gone elsewhere. At least in the Northeast US (and probably in the entire US) "Downtown" has no rival. And, yeah, it's kind of in no-man's land, but it's NYC's Chinatown so if you go there hungry you can find a great little place to eat while you're there. read more

This place has an amazing selection of avant-garde jazz and all sorts of experimental music that is unrivaled in NYC. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable, and they're happy to play any CD that customers want to hear. I always walk out of this place having discovered new music that I never would have heard anywhere else. I've been in a lot of record stores in a lot of different cities around the country and in Europe, and rarely have I seen such a comprehensive selection of so many different kinds of experimental music. Everyone who works there is clearly excited about the music and eager to share their knowledge, making a trip to DMG well worth it for anyone with adventurous taste in music who is in the NYC area. read more

"Top 10"--2012, By: Todd McComb LIVE AT DMG----"YAD" Jeffrey Hayden Shurdut's octet recording Y A D was taped at the Downtown Music Gallery store in July, and (naturally) featured in their weekly newsletter on 9/21, including a recommendation from both partners there. Although I'd never heard anyone in this octet before --and Shurdut records albums with a range of performers, so this isn't a consistent group -- the description and enthusiasm were enough to prompt a listen. I've found the music rather captivating. Before discussing some more specific impressions, I should note that Shurdut (b.1969) is actually a hugely prolific recording artist, even if his recordings appear in obscure places. For instance, Ayler Records is in the process of releasing a 40-CD (download only) set; Yad is his sixth release on the JaZt Tapes label; he released recordings under his own label for a while, and had a trio release earlier this year, Bound and Gagged (featuring drummer Marc Edwards, from the Cecil Taylor Unit and elsewhere, along with bassist Janas from the octet) on the Improvising Beings label. I did listen carefully to Bound and Gagged, and a smattering of other online material, but can't say I've thoroughly surveyed Shurdut's discography. Although his style clearly interests me, the volume is daunting. I do come back to Yad, however, perhaps in part because I heard it first, but also because -- bluntly -- there's less screaming, and the chamber conception in the way the different instruments take part at different times fits well with my preoccupations on group interaction. The music is strongly conditioned by the environment, urban living in general, but also the specific setting. It seems entirely fitting that Shurdut would record somewhere "strange" like a record store, and indeed performing & recording in a wide variety of locations has been an important part of his discography. This idea on environment penetrates the technical nature of the music in that Shurdut tunes to his surroundings; he has, as one story goes, put his electric guitar (although on Yad he plays saxophone, and not guitar) on the floor of a subway car to tune itself to those resonances. The music is not only based on the resonances of space around it, the musicians manage to draw tunes, relationships & structures out of that resonance. This is what takes the conception beyond pure environmental sounds, and into the direct realm of human mediation & even semantic content. In addition to these very local technical features, the musicians draw upon the urban soundscape more generally, with various passing sounds of traffic or machinery -- human originated noises, including shouts, but recontextualized. Shurdut is constantly shaping this process, and it would seem the act of recording is a part of the performance. (In other settings, he has, for instance, painted while improvising jazz.) Bill Dixon has various students active in the world of improvised music today, doing some interesting things, and I've been intrigued by some similar efforts, such as Jeff Arnal's (who studied with Milford Graves [*], who was also at Bennington College) with his group Transit. Shurdut would appear to be taking a significant & decisive next step in what had been Dixon's impetus to recontextualize landscape sounds (and it's not entirely urban for Dixon, but often is). This music deserves to be considered in the same breath, although I know of no meeting between the two. There's a similar approach to abstraction, and a resulting profundity from the mundane. As I've mentioned in the past, this sort of music often "functions" well for me in dealing with noisy urban environments, and Yad has potential in that area, one I'll be testing a bit more in the future, but it's also strongly localized via its technique. In that sense, it's rather different from a more general urban soundscape conception, and I'm guessing may seem more awkward some places than others. That said, I've enjoyed it every time. Shurdut and company's improvisations have such an unplanned sweep to them that it's kind of stunning that they end up projecting such a strong sense of equilibrium in turn. It's hopefully not drifting too far into poetics to equate this with the equilibrium of contemporary urban life, even if that life can be more unsettling in reality than it is on Yad. The other fact to note, I guess, is that the word "yad" refers to the surrogate hand used to turn pages of the Torah. No doubt this is an acknowledgement of reflective distance. read more

Pretty incredible place for live performances and recordings you won't find anywhere else.

Great store! I wish i had more time to go there. Very helpful staff that's turned me on to lots of music i never would have bought based on magazine reviews. I wish there were more stores like this in NYC. read more

We have been "taking advantage" of this INCREDIBLE music resource for years now. THIS SHOP IS THE BEST - A REAL TREASURE!! Bruce Lee is the most knowledgeable person on the planet re the EXCITING musical avant-garde. Plus, he has the best personality, sensitive and smart. What a great, unusual, creative venture!!! read more

A treasure!! NYC you are so lucky to have this beautiful museum, this living testament to underground, experimental, avant jazz, and every other type of music that gets ignored pretty much every place else. Sure you can find some of the titles that DMG sells at other places, but no store goes so deep and extensive as DMG does. The owner Bruce and his first lieutenant Frank are 2 of the nicest guys around, and they know this stuff probably better then anyone. The store is a destination point for sure...you're not likely to find it just strolling around. But get there, and be prepared to spend some time. And some money. The majority of their stock is cd, but the smallish vinyl collection is extremely well curated and you'll find stuff that you won't see anywhere else. I've been collecting for over 40 years, have a pretty large jazz collection, but walked out of there with several gems. Whether you are a fan of the type of music I mentioned above, or simply want to explore some new stuff, do not miss this wonderful gem. Simply the best at what they do. read more

One of a dying breed: the record store, and this one is "old school" in the best possible sense: knowledgeable staff, diverse music selection (with a clear emphasis on jazz & experimental musics), reasonable prices and weekly live in-store performances to boot! Definitely worth the trip to downtown Manhaatan/Chinatown. read more

The very best existing record store in NYC dedicated to independent, improvised, experimental, jazz, art, prog etc. Go DMG! Support your music habit by shopping at Downtown Music Gallery. read more

I love this place. Highly recommended. Bruce is super knowledgeable and will kindly share his wisdom with just about anyone that walks in the door. (I watched him, as I spent hours carefully selecting a lovely Jazz record). If you are a collector and lover of music, do yourself a favor and check this place out. It will be worth your time. read more

super knowledgeble helpful guys. also real nice guys. amazing selection. also you can buy everything online at http://www.downtownmusicgallery.com/Main/index.htm which rocks! read more

I love this place! Some of the most interesting music around is playing here, great musicians, really cool room with wonderful audiences.

This is probably the best place for jazz, new music, improv type etc... in New York... They also have a bit of classic (in the way of king crimson and parliament) rock type ish... anything read about in JazzImprov, Signal to Noise, or Wire and ilk. CD and Vinyl, and some DVDs.... Staff are knowledgable, and most of them are friendly. read more

i am picking up some cds and records for a buddy from canada who loves jazz and he mention to me that this record place has the stuff he needs so as a great friend i will take a trip. the place is in the section of manhattan that i don't think i have ever been to, i have been to chinatown but this area near fdr drive is foreign to me. the location is 13 monroe st and is a basement take the stairs down shop that is small but has everything stacked on walls and more via wooden shelves , bins, cd wood units wall to wall, and crates of endless vinyls . the guys at the counter are very friendly and know their music stuff. this record store has music that you will never hear on any standard radio station which is fine cause many of the music now is just crap. many obscure artist and music that the avant garde listener will love . they also ship and have a newsletter to keep you up to date with what's up. i found 2 cds for my buddy which he could not find in canada ,some jazz-rock fusion band which i never heard of but glad i took my friends advice and gave it a listen . i ended up spending about an hour or so looking at all the vinyl record and cds while some cool music was filling the air. i found the prices to be fair and as long as i was able to find what i came for then i am a happy camper . overall worth the trek to this out of the way music shop. p s. call for store hours , cause different sites have different store hours . read more

One of the best CD/Vinyl shops in NYC. Some people may think it's a trip to the "boondocks", which is kind of ridiculous, as they are not in the boondocks but Chinatown. It's a simple trip on the F train to East Broadway, and it's about an 8 block walk to the store. It's a cozy place with a ton of fantastic avant garde jazz and classical (mostly 20th century stuff, Cage, Stockhausen, Varese). They also have some "normal" music (rock and classic jazz). The guys that run it, Bruce and Chuck, know their stuff and are not snooty and condescending as can be the case with record store people. As someone else on this thread said, the guys that run it are extremely unpretentious and helpful. The place isn't too far from the waterfront, so you can take in the view before or after you shop. And you can pass seafood markets in Chinatown and take some seafood home with you after picking up some Sun Ra and Peter Brotzmann. They also have live performances on Sundays. Awesome place. read more

My first visit was at 5PM on Sunday afternoon, about an hour before their weekly free in-store performances by musicians, some of whom I knew of. The stock was so amazing - current underground jazz, contemporary composers, sound-sculpture, obscure prog - plus many recordings that have no distribution in America bought directly from the worldwide musicians themselves, that I wound up staying for both sets - which I thoroughly enjoyed, BTW - just so I could continue shopping at 7:30! Since then, I have continued to buy from them via mail-order. Occasionally they have run out of some item that cannot be gotten again - but that's to be expected when asking for recordings that have small limited print runs from a place that actually specializes in such. Every so often, they even write back to me personally to suggest a specific item that they think I might like based on what I have ordered or discussed - an opinion manually written by a person, not some un-amusing automated 'other persons have also purchased' computer program. They've been spot-on every time! I go out of my way to visit again whenever in NYC as well. An amazing retail experience both instore and via mail-order that is virtually extinct in this country thanks to the soulless corporate know-nothing chain-store sold-by-the-pound mentality. read more