A New York music institution died Thursday.
Jim Allen was a pianist at Marie’s Crisis Cafe, the storied West Village showtunes bar, for nearly 30 years. Even as he suffered from cancer, Allen, who was 52, showed up to work weekly to play six-hour shifts till 3:30 a.m.
Time Out New York’s Adam Feldman told us he was a “showtune savant,” and a gifted pianist who could play all night without using sheet music. A fellow Marie’s piano player, Drew Wutke, misses his colleague.
“He made room for me, and set the example to make Marie’s a place where everyone — as long as they didn’t ask for a song he didn’t like — has room to call it home,” he said.
Hordes of friends and fans gathered Friday night at the bar to celebrate the cantankerous Allen, who would force customers to “say please” when they requested a song.
Of Allen’s good manners, bartender Doug Thompson said, “What I will always appreciate most was his ongoing attempt to educate people on how best to respect Marie’s.”
Many barflies sang through tears, and shrines were set up with photos, quotes and Mountain Dew: Allen’s preferred office beverage.
Allen, who spent most of his life in the bar, once said in an interview with Time Out, “I play here on Christmas and New Year’s and all the holidays, with people who don’t have family. This is my living room: the Fellini version of The Waltons.”
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