Billy Jones, the co-founder and proprietor of Baby’s All Right and former booker at Pianos, Sin-é, and extra New York venues, has died. In line with an announcement from the groups at Child’s All Proper, Funny Bar, and Nightclub 101, Jones died on Saturday morning, June 7, as a consequence of “a extremely aggressive case of glioblastoma.” He was 45 years outdated.
Jones moved to New York within the early 2000s after falling in love with town’s fast-paced surroundings and boisterous music scene. Within the ensuing years, he turned his passionate fandom of bands and routine attendance at reveals right into a job as a booker on the now-defunct East Village venue Sin-é, in addition to Elvis Guesthouse and the Dance. His curatorial skills left a everlasting mark when he opened the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, bar and 280-capacity venue Child’s All Proper, in 2013, with Zachary Mexico. The spot helped revive town’s indie scene, and sometimes secured high-profile artists early of their profession like SZA and and Billie Eilish for intimate gigs.
Along with fostering a welcoming surroundings for artists and followers alike, Jones usually rallied behind the significance of 18-plus reveals at venues like Child’s All Proper. “You already know, there will probably be 10 tremendous sensible youngsters who’re followers and actually wish to be there. For us to exclude them primarily based on age isn’t cool, we wish to give them the chance to expertise the music,” he instructed Brooklyn Magazine in 2016. “18+ reveals are enjoyable, the youngsters are actually excited to be there and you may sense it. We do all age brunches. Individuals will write to us ‘I actually wish to see this band, and my father I’ve CCed has agreed to chaperone me,’ and it’s superior. Households prefer it, youngsters prefer it, it may be for everybody.”
Most not too long ago, Jones and Tom Moore, in partnership with Knitting Manufacturing unit Leisure, opened the brand new venue Night time Membership 101 inside New York’s historic Pyramid Membership. Following a soft launch on the finish of 2024, it opened correctly earlier this yr. It hosts dwell performances and DJ units courtesy of indie-rock, jazz, digital, and experimental artists, in addition to artwork reveals, themed dance nights, and community-focused occasions. Jones and Moore additionally opened, in the beginning of 2025, the jazz-bar-restaurant Humorous Bar on the Decrease East Facet of Manhattan.
Quite a few artists and music business friends have posted tributes in Jones’ honor, together with Cassie Ramone, La Femme’s Alix Brown, and Windser. “When Child’s All Proper opened, there was a sure synergy about it.. It answered the begging query of the place to go after DIY favourite 285 Kent closed. The reply, in keeping with Billy and Co., was to take the like-minded giddy, fever dream curation to a greater area each for the band and viewers,” Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo wrote on Instagram. “It appeared nice, it sounded nice, it IS nice, and CONTINUES to be. An innumerable quantity of bands have minimize their tooth in that area and gone on to do many a terrific musical deed. A whole lot of my favourite NYC recollections are at Child’s All Proper, Elvis’s Visitor Home, and Pianos; courtesy of Billy. Relaxation in peace, bud.”
The groups at Child’s All Proper, Night time Membership 101, and Humorous Bar shared a further assertion in tribute to Jones. “He was among the best to ever do it. We’re holding him within the gentle,” Jones’ colleagues wrote. “As his household, ourselves, our employees, and his associates all take time to mourn this profound loss, we ask that everybody simply attempt to do what he did every single day: share the love of music. There will probably be a memorial held in early July at Child’s All Proper—extra particulars to come back. All the time bear in mind: ‘It’s a sense.’”
