Legendary music venue shuts its doors
One of Sydney's best-loved jazz venues, Ultimo's Foundry616, is closing its doors after 12 years at the heart of the city's improvised music scene.
The Harris St club, founded by local jazz icon Peter Rechniewski, will bring down the curtain on Saturday with a final gig featuring vocalist Anna Weaving.
It all started in September 2013 as a 'labour of love', says 74-year-old Rechniewski, also a co-founder of the Sydney Improvised Music Association.
'I wanted to create a really good venue for the scene,' he says. 'One that had a good atmosphere with really good sound on stage that could present the best bands on the scene as often as possible as well as internationals.'
Rechniewski built it, and they came.
Over the years, Foundry616 has played host to a who's who of established and up-and-coming Australian jazz talent such as James Morrison, The Catholics, Barney McAll, Dale Barlow and Sandy Evans. Then there were the international artists including Lakecia Benjamin, Veronica Swift, Wayne Bergeron and Kamasi Washington.
A particular drawcard for many artists was the high-end Yamaha grand piano that Rechniewski installed, which led Kiwi-born jazz icon Mike Nock to make Foundry616 almost his second home for many memorable gigs.
'There was also a period when we were the main site for the Sydney International Women's Jazz Festival, and I was then co-artistic director,' says Rechniewski. 'We brought out some really, really good artists who were on the cusp of breakthrough.'
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