Caffè Lena for the uninitiated

Description:

Caffè Lena is proud to offer the best in acoustic music.  The feeling is mutual from the artist's who play at Caffè Lena.  Well-loved national artists like Dave Van Ronk and Odetta play yearly at the caffè because of what the caffè means to them.  National recording artists proudly list Caffè Lena in their press kits.  We  proudly present local artists and in the best Caffè Lena tradition, we also showcase the best up-and-coming artists.

also see Caffe Lena pages at Freestone.com .

Accommodations

Location:

Local Directions:

From the South:

Take I-87 (Northway) north to Exit 13N (Rt.9)  Proceed 4.25 miles and turn right onto Phila Street.  The Caffè is 1 1/2 blocks down the hill on the left hand side of the street.

From the North:

Take I-87 (Northway) south to Exit 15 following the signs to Saratoga.  The two lane road becomes the main street of Saratoga Springs- Broadway.  Proceed on Rt. 9 south (Broadway) for .4 miles.  Turn left onto Phila Street.  The Caffè is 1 1/2 blocks down the hill on the left hand side of the street.

From the West:

Take the Thruway (I-90) to Exit 28 (Fonda-Futonville) Proceed on Rt. 30A north through Johnstown to Rt. 29 east.  At Rt. 9 (Broadway in Saratoga) take a left and an immediate right (Phila Street).  The Caffè is 1 1/2 blocks down the hill on the left hand side of the street.

From the East

Mass. Turnpike (I-90) west to NY I-90.  West to I-787 north to Rt.7 West to I-87.  North to Exit 13N (Rt.9 North) 4.25 miles and Phila Street is on the right.  The Caffè is 1 1/2 blocks down the hill on the left hand side of the street.
 

Hours Open:

Thursday  is Open Mike Night.  Hear the best in up-and-coming talent.  Doors open at 6:30, sign-up is from 7:00 to 7:15.  Show begins 7:30.

Friday and Saturday the doors open at 7:30 PM and the show starts at 8:00 PM.

Sunday the doors open at 6:30 PM and the show starts at 7:00 PM.
 

Calendar of Events:

Reservations:

Please leave a message with (1) the show you wish to attend, (2) your name, (3) the number in your party and (4) your telephone number.  Unless otherwise notified, you may consider your reservation confirmed.

Reservations are recommended, usually just a day in advance.  If you make last minute plans to come to Caffè Lena- just come on up and we will make every effort to seat you.

Membership:

After coming to Caffè Lena you may want to become a member.  Our membership is what keeps Caffè Lena the oldest continuously running coffee house in America.  Caffè Lena is a non-profit organization and all contributions are tax-deductible.
 
Our Caffè Lena members are proud to support a legendary music venue.  You may find membership information on your table at Caffè Lena or on our calendar.  Membership includes our newsletters, dollars off  admission and coupons.

To become a member of Caffè Lena please contact us at the cafe, on the phone or at lena@caffelena.org
 

Caffè Lena History

In the ensuing years, Lena created a legend.  It is the oldest continuously run coffeehouse in America.  Caffè Lena has been associated with artists who have had a profound effect on American Music.  Bob Dylan played there on his first tour of the East.  Don McLean first played "American Pie" on the Caffè Lena Stage.  Arlo Guthrie sang there long before the rest of the world heard his music.

While a lot has been made of the many artists who have performed at Lena's, the real secret to the magic of Caffè Lena was Lena Spencer herself.  She and her cafe became one.  It was more than just one of the finest listening rooms anywhere.  The charm and simplicity of the woman is reflected in the cafe which she created.  It was a home for artists and audiences alike.
 

Lena is now gone.  She had left a legacy which friends all over the world recognize as a special place where artistic endeavors of all kinds can feel welcome.  With her passing, many of us have dedicated ourselves to continuing the Legacy of Lena Spencer.
 
 

Lena Spencer- In Her Own Words

"How do you condense in a few short paragraphs the memories, the experiences, the love that spans two and a half decades.  They'd fill a book and someday they will.  The story of a vision and hope for dream fulfillment shared by Bill Spencer and myself.  The weekly trips from Boston to Saratoga, chugging along in the recalcitrant Morris Minor, to spend the weekend with hammer and nails, mops and blooms, then back to Boston to jobs to make a little money to buy the chairs and tables, the sputtering espresso machine, the cups and saucers and all the paraphernalia needed to open the doors on a venture with an uncertain future.

And the early folksingers, strangers to us at first, but soon to become close and devoted friends:  Dave Van Ronk and Dick Weissman and Logan English and Molly Scott who recommended and introduced us to their fellow artists and the list was started.  The weekly Monday night trips to New York and the Hoots at Gerde's, the visits to Izzy Young at the Folklore Center on McDougal, the Gaslight and the Bitter End, the Feenjon and in Boston, the Golden Vanity and the Yana and all those places where we met and heard so many more and the list grew and grew.

Then after two years the heartbreak of Bill's leaving and the determination to go it alone, come hell or high water.  And although the heat became intense at times and the water rose to waist level more often than not, always there were loving friends to cool things down and dry things out and give me the incentive and inspiration to go on.

What memories there are!  The young hopefuls seeking a stage to further their hopes and dreams;  the heartbreak when they were shattered; the joy when they were realized.  Ian Buchanan giving up his weekend gig to Reverend Gary Davis because he needed the money more.  Gary's subsequent visits.  And Annie Davis making sure he didn't her into the "holy ghost".  And the all-night talk with Mississippi John Hurt after the show and a late night meal at Hatties.  And the wonderful sessions with Joe Venuti and the afternoon concert when Maxine Sullivan joined him.   And the magical evening that went on until 5 am when Bob and Evelyne Beers brought their Thanksgiving guests by and we sang and sang.  And Sonny Matthews with his gnarled, arthritic fingers playing Scott Joplin rags like a virtuoso.  And Pasha, that great old Siamese who stood at the top of the stairs to help me greet the guests and most of the time meowed in perfect pitch.  And loving and devoted Tom Gregory who sat at the back table doing his crosswords and who despite his impaired hearing, knew when the music was good or bad and tuned his hearing aid up or down accordingly.  And John Wynne-Evans who brought such good theater to the Cafe and gave me the opportunity to realize my acting ambitions.

How do you single out any one person, any one event.  You don't.  Every single person who graced our tiny stage, the great, the near-great, the not-so-great, they are all, in their own way, responsible for my still being here.  I've lasted for some twenty-five years.  I've done some things right, I've done some things wrong, but right or wrong, I've always tried to do the best I could.  And I couldn't have done it without the help of God and a lot of love from a lot of wonderful people.  Thank you and God Bless You All.

Love, Lena     1985
Written by Lena Spencer to introduce the program for the Caffè Lena Silver Celebration.

"Today is January 8, 1989, four days after my 66th birthday and into the 29th year of the existence of my cafe.  The Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs, New York.  It is purported to be the oldest continuously running coffeehouse in the U.S. and since the claim has never been challenged we'll go long for the time being with that claim.  Of course the term coffeehouse should be defined in terms pertinent to the past 35 years or so.  If you mean coffeehouse as a place where you go to have coffee and donuts maybe a pie of pie or a hamburger or a ham and cheese sandwich or the like, a place that might have a counter with stools, a grill behind it for hamburgers or hot dogs, a girl or guy behind doubling as server and short order cook, a place that some people refer to as a "greasy spoon", that's not what we mean.  As a matter of fact even those places have joined the ranks of endangered species.  Actually what coffeehouse means in this context is the places that sprang up in the late fifties what were meant to be patterned after the coffeehouses of the 18th (?) century in England, known as penny universities where the literati of the day day gathered to exchange ideas, talk about their work, meet with their peers.  A nice concept that worked in some places.  They became places where bohemians (later referred to as "beatniks") gathered to recite their abstract poetry, some good, some pure shlock, to the accompaniment of jazz.  The early coffeehouses were dark and exhibited abstract art and served espresso coffees and were hangouts for the bohemian intelligentsia.  They sprang up on various parts of the county:  San Francisco's North Beach, L.A.'s suburb of Venice, Chicago's Old Town section, N.Y.C.'s Greenwich Village and other major cities.

"I was born on January 4th, 1923 in Milford, Mass., daughter of Antonio and Vincenza (Moccia) Nargi.  My parents were emigrants from Italy, the town of CastelVetere Sul Calore, providence of Avellino.  I was born a twin, I never did find out if I was the first to emerge from my mother's womb- but my twin died at the age of two weeks.  She was given the name Celestina (heavenly one) and I was called Pasqualina (Little Easter- little Pasquale?) so what.  I was the first female child of the union.  There were three older brothers Luigi (Louis) Vincenzo (James) and Eduardo (Edward).  I was born at home.  The house was on Hayward Street and was the equivalent at that time of an apartment house.  There were seven apartments but it was not a high rise.  It was a long two story building that took up one whole block and was called a seven-chimney house."
 

Caffè Lena- In Their Words

"Caffè Lena is one of the best stages to play in the country.  I always feel honored to perform there."
 Tom Paxton
 
"Musicians, singers and songwriters pay their dues and learn their crafts the old-fashioned way . . . in special places where people can listen and interact.  Lena's helps you decide if music is something you ought to be doing, or where you should get a "real" job.  Caffè Lena, a national treasure, is not only a part of the lifeblood of the music industry, but serves as a bridge between the generations."
Arlo Guthrie
 
""I remember two things, two images in my mind, before I'd ever been there;  that it had been there forever and that it was so nice to sing there. . ."
 Michael Cooney
 
"The Caffè was her big focus, but her work didn't end there.  She spent a lot of time helping people get recording contracts and other bookings.  For instance, she booked me on the David Frost Show with the Everly Brothers and Joan Baez around 1970"
Frank Wakefield
 
"Caffè Lena has been a warm and intimate place to hear great music for decades"
Jay Ungar
 
"We remember the cheery old wood burner stove and the water heater behind the stage; a time that was not easy for the Caffe"
Bill and Andy Spence
 
"This is not just an old cafe.  Look more closely.  Shhh- Close your eyes and listen.  This is a cathedral.  A place where the human spirit is kept alive."
  Rick Kunz
 
"I came stompin' up to the place, got took care of, got a place to sleep, got fed and got a place to work.  Lena's one of my oldest friends.  It wasn't just that she let me play there.  She took care of me.  I felt she loved me.  I hope I can hold onto my ideals as long as she has.  Like Caesar Chavez and Pete Seeger."
Arlo Guthrie

Theater:

Writer's Circle

The Writer's Circle meets every Wednesday at 8:00 PM.  Every is welcome to come and talk about writing, read current works or just sit and listen.  A donation of $2.00 is requested.
 

Drumming Circle

The Drummer's Circle meets at Caffè Lena Tuesday nights.  Please e-mail (  ) for further information.

Spa Ha

List current activities
 

Workshops

Caffè Lena presents occasional workshops at the caffe.  The current listing is

(list)
 
 
Music Lessons

Caffè Lena offers music lessons through various artists.  (including Glen Weiser, Dave Richell, George Ward, ...)
 
 
 

Volunteer

Booking

The Caffè Lena Experience

At the end of a Caffè performance I watch the departing audience.  Something has happened; a chemical transformation or crystallization, or perhaps it's fusion.  People come in as separate individuals, brows creased by the worries of the week, tense, pre-occupied.  They keep to themselves in tight clustered groups.  Their shoulders are high, their movements stiff.  Yet as the night progresses, a strange thing happens.  After a couple of hours of smooth, honeyed jazz by the Lee Shaw Trio or the raucous joy of Klezmer music or Sara Milanovich's foot-tapping fiddle playing or the thought provoking sweetness of Bill Staines, the listeners have changed.  They are breathing more deeply, standing more closely touching, moving more slowly.  They leave the Caffè laughing, talking and content.  It happens night after night: the healing transformational power of music.  Wow! It is great to witness.  We continue to give at least three magic shows a week.  This is healing at its most convenient.  You don't have to travel to Europe for the hot springs, or Peru for the shaman or Baja for the spa.  You need no prescription.  You don't even have to pay hundreds or thousands: a ten dollar bill will do it.  Come see for yourself.  Give the music a chance to weave its magic spell on you.
- Eva Nagel