Gotham Yardbird Sanctuary Inc.

GYS will use the funding directly to our programming Yardbird Jam under Creative stage making project.

We will bring free-to-all Live Jazz entertainment and subsidize the live shows in restaurants, bars, art galleries and food courts to generate immediate jobs for Jazz artists while supporting local businesses.

And bring Jazz back to people to thrive through the difficult time together!

GYS was founded by myself, a freelance Jazz musician, and my husband Mitch Borden, the original founder of legendary Jazz clubs Smalls and Fat Cat in NYC to remedy the dire situation of NYC’s Jazz community and local businesses.

GYS creates and subsidizes free live shows to provide much needed jobs for the artists while supporting the local businesses. 

GYS will revive NYC with the power of Live Jazz and rebuild this city as a haven not only for Jazz artists but for aspiring entrepreneurs and artists from all over the world.

NYC is a Mecca of Jazz. This is one of the biggest Jazz musician community in the whole world!!

And now even the very top names are suffering from uncertain future.

We are creating grassroots movement to promote this unique American art form right in the epicenter of Jazz, NYC.

GYS will create a leading example of solving problems with cutting edge solutions for tomorrow’s Jazz. We believe NYC will have to let Jazz lead another Renaissance movement and reclaim her status as a city of dreamers. But with new philosophy of green consciousness and food independency and social equity. 

Our approach comes from our eyes on musicians and their daily struggles.

A non-profit by musicians and for musicians, indeed.

We both know all of the great NYC’s Jazz artists as a family. Our approach is personal and grassroots. We are regarded highly from the community through our dedicated work of last 25 years in Smalls and Fat Cat. 

We are introducing innovative solutions from musician’s view point but also as an entrepreneur’s view point. This gave the birth of Yardbird Jam to support local business by subsidizing the show to take off the financial burden of local businesses for the live entertainment they need to cover the loss during the COVID crisis.

Jazz is a music that has been proving enormous humanity throughout the dark history of Black American’s struggle in the USA and gave strong messages all over world.

Promoting this art form of unity is one of the most humane thing I can imagine doing in my lifetime!