2517 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
1963-2000
Originally owned by Joe Cohen, his father, and his brother, Kenneth. Opened in September 1963.
Owned by Joe Cohen (1963-1997). Booked by Ann Mabuchi (1978-1994), Vincent Brienza (1997). Bought by Retail Resource Group in 1997, but ownership reverted to Joe Cohen later that year. Club was closed for less than a month in August 1997 before reopening in September under the management of Cohen family friend Catherine Stuart. Joe Cohen died on October 5, 1997. The building was sold in 2000 to developers for conversion to apartments. In 2000 it did not reopen after the annual August sabbatical. Stuart retained rights to the One Step Down name and hoped to relocate in 2001, but this did not come to pass.
Initially, the bar’s attraction was an all-jazz jukebox. It began hosting a Monday night jam session, and by 1978, the club had hired Mabuchi and was offering live music on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights with a Saturday afternoon jam session. Jam sessions were proposed by pianist John Guernsey, who ran them for the first two years. Sessions were run by pianist Lawrence Wheatley on Saturday and Sunday afternoons through 1997, succeeded by Peter Edelman when the club reopened in September 1997.
Recordings by Andrew White (1979), Andrew White (1998), Peter Fraize (2000).
Artists
- Bill Glaser (1978)
- Marc Cohen (1978)
- Nathen Page (1978)
- Bernard Sweetney (1978)
- Kenny Reed (1978)
- Terry Plumeri (1978)
- Marshall Hawkins (1978)
- Carl Cornwell (1978)
- Dave Palamar (1978)
- Kevin Toney (1978)
- Yochk’o Seffer (1978)
- Tim Eyermann (1978)
- Adam Makowicz (1978)
- Charles Covington (1978)
- Barbara Lea (1979)
- Marc Cohen (1979)
- Bob Moses (1979)
- Big Nick Nicholas (1979)
- Marshall Hawkins (1979)
- Carol Sloane (1979)
- NYC Jazz Cooperative (1979)
- Buck Hill (1979)
- Tommy Flanagan (1979)
- Philly Joe Jones (1979)
- Bob Moses (1979)
- Charles Davis (1979)
- Joanne Brackeen (1979)
- Ronnie Wells (1979)
- Cecil Bridgewater (1979)
- Andrew White (1979)
- Warren Chiasson (1980)
- Horacee Arnold (1980)
- Roger Rosenberg (1980)
- Big Nick Nicholas (1980)
- Billy Mitchell (1980)
- David Friesen (1980)
- Tom Harrell (1980)
- Roy Haynes (1980)
- Turk Mauro (1980)
- Richie Cole (1980)
- Skip Gailes (1980)
- Reuben Brown (1980)
- Roland Hanna (1980)
- Kenny Barron (1980)
- George Coleman (1980)
- Dave Liebman (1980)
- Benny Carter (1980)
- Sonny Stitt (1980)
- James Moody (1980)
- Mickey Bass (1980)
- Jimmy Knepper (1980)
- Barry Harris (1980)
- Cedar Walton (1980)
- Lew Tabackin (1980)
- David ‘Fathead’ Newman (1980)
- Bobby Hutcherson (1980)
- Shirley Horn (1980)
- Shirley Horn (1981)
- Slide Hampton (1981)
- Dewey Redman (1981)
- Anita Moore (1981)
- George Adams (1981)
- Carol Sloane (1981)
- Jane Ira Bloom (1981)
- Charles Tolliver (1981)
- David Schnitter (1981)
- Bobby Watson (1981)
- Bob Berg (1981)
- Joe Lee Wilson (1981)
- Joe Henderson (1981)
- Dorothy Donegan (1981)
- Joe Chambers (1981)
- Dewey Redman (1981)
- Shirley Horn (1982)
- Arnett Cobb (1982)
- Dewey Redman (1982)
- Mickey Bass (1982)
- Johnny Coles (1982)
- John Handy (1982)
- Joe Chambers (1982)
- Joanne Brackeen (1982)
- Ricky Ford (1982)
- Johnny Griffin (1982)
- Lew Tabackin (1982)
- Leon Thomas (1982)
- Jimmy McGriff (1982)
- Ray Bryant (1983)
- Emily Remler (1983)
- Pepper Adams (1983)
- Nat Adderley (1983)
- Shirley Horn (1983)
- Joe Henderson (1983)
- Arnie Lawrence (1983)
- Bosco Petrovic (1983)
- Odean Pope (1983)
- Jon Faddis (1983)
- Bobby Enriquez (1983)
- Emily Remler (1984)
- Ira Sullivan (1984)
- Allen Houser (1984)
- Bill Kirchner (1984)
- Ran Blake (1984)
- Charlie Rouse (1984)
- Carter Jefferson (1984)
- Cedar Walton (1984)
- Stafford James (1985)
- Marc Copland (1985)
- John Abercrombie (1985)
- Jimmy Heath (1985)
- Carol Fredette (1985)
- T Street Band (1985)
- Pepper Adams (1985)
- Harper Brothers (1985)
- Jim Snidero (1985)
- Lee Konitz (1985)
- Dewey Redman (1985)
- Allen Houser (1985)
- Arthur Blythe (1985)
- Gary Bartz (1986)
- Steve Novosel (1986)
- Lennie Cuje (1986)
- Reuben Brown (1986)
- Ronnie Patterson (1986)
- Jack Wilkins (1987)
- Bobby Watson (1987)
- Woody Shaw (1987)
- Frank Wess (1987)
- Walter Davis, Jr. (1987)
- Harper Brothers (1989)
- Johnny Griffin (1989)
- Freddie Hubbard (1990)
- Mundell Lowe (1990)
- U Street Project (1990)
- Valery Ponomarev (1991)
- Brian Lynch (1991)
- Anita O’Day (1991)
- George Coleman (1992)
- Ernie Andrews (1992)
- Slide Hampton (1992)
- James Morrison (1992)
- Nancy King (1992)
- Dave Pike (1993)
- Jae Sinnett (1993)
- Carter Jefferson (1993)
- Cedar Walton (1995)
- Larry Willis (1997)
- Jerry Gordon (1997)
- Larry Willis (1997)
- Jerry Gordon (1997)
- Andrew White (1998)
- David ‘Fathead’ Newman (1999)
- Ray Brown (1999)
- Talib Kibwe (2000)
- Peter Fraize (2000)
- John Previti (2000)
- David ‘Fathead’ Newman (2000)
- Harry Appelman (2000)
- Glenn Wilson (2000)
- Calvin Jones (2000)
- Joe Locke (2000)
- Allyn Johnson (2000)
- Steve Novosel (2000)
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