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There used to be a time when you could go to midtown Manhattan and bounce from drum shop to drum shop. All of them were basically family-owned operations, and the service was second to none. With the closing of Barry Greenspon's Drummer's World earlier this year, there's basically only one left - Steve Maxwell's Vintage and Custom Drums Shop. The New York Times was kind enough to profile this scene earlier back in February:

A three-floor elevator ride above the dissonant grind of the theater district, Steve Maxwell Vintage and Custom Drums sits as calm and orderly as a library. The main showroom is a percussive playground: bass drums, tom-toms and snares neatly stacked four and five high, their shells lustrous shades of mahogany, indigo, copper and champagne sparkle, accented by winking chrome.

Leather stick and cymbal bags hang from the blond wood walls, waiting to be plucked by the people who weave among the instruments, appraising them with scholarly gravity. The frequent pop and sparkle of snare drums and ride cymbals emanate from two glass-fronted, sound-insulated demo rooms, a legacy of the third floor's previous tenant, a recording studio.

We wish Steve well, even if we are a bit sad at the ending of an era:

The almost four-year-old shop, near 48th Street, is itself a rarity, the only serious drum store left in New York City, and one of a few nationwide to survive the Internet, the economy and big-box retailers. On this afternoon, Mr. Maxwell and his employees were busy absorbing inventory from Drummers World, a nearby shop that closed earlier that week.

"I tip my hat to Barry," Mr. Maxwell said of the defunct store's owner, Barry Greenspon. "Thirty-two years, that's a good run. I'm going to miss him."

Yes indeed, we're going to miss ole Barry, too. This other article from December captures the mood nicely, too:

For years Drummers World on West 46th Street was a destination for percussionists of all stripes. Numerous jazz drummers made trips there. Roadies for famous touring bands stopped by. People involved with Broadway productions bought instruments. Even members of symphony orchestras traveled to the shop to find equipment.

At one point in the past decade, there were three drum stores on the block of 46th Street between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue. Soon, that number will be reduced to zero. Wednesday is the last day of business for Drummers World, which opened on West 45th Street in 1979 and moved to 46th Street 11 years later.

On Tuesday morning the store's founder and owner, Barry Greenspon, sat at his desk talking about its history. Photographs of patrons like Elvin Jones and Paul Motian hung from the walls, as well as a picture of Mr. Greenspon himself, taken more than 40 years ago, showing him sitting at a drum set, wearing a white button-down shirt and swinging a pair of sticks.

"I have a lot of good memories," he said. "It was more than a business; it was a blessing."

Ahhhh...the ending of an era is never easy, particularly this one which played so prominently in so many jazz drummers' lives, not only here in New York City but from all over the world. Barry was a special cat, and his departure leaves a huge hole in the lives of jazz drummers around the world.

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