The Van Dyck’s enduring song

From 1947 to its 2026 Hall of Fame induction, generations of owners built a Schenectady institution where music, hospitality, and community became one.

In the heart of the Stockade Historic District in Schenectady stands a brick building that has carried the sound of American music since 1947. In March, the Van Dyck — and the families and stewards who sustained it across generations — will join the Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Hall of Fame Class of 2026, honoring nearly eight decades of music, hospitality, and community in the Capital Region.

Where it all began: a supper club with a bigger dream (1947–1994)

The story began in 1947 when Marvin Friedman purchased a struggling French restaurant on Union Street and transformed it into something visionary. As his grandson Geoff Wexler recalls, “Marvin founded the restaurant with my grandmother… back in 1947. He found a floundering restaurant in the Stockade… and bought it… And that was the Van Dyck.”

Geoff remembers how his grandmother Ruth “brought all her china and her pots and pans and was the first cook,” while his grandfather built the front of house — and the music program. “They were always into music,” Wexler said. What began as a piano bar quickly evolved. Later owner Peter Olsen said Friedman, “brought up the finest musicians from New York City to a small club in upstate New York.”

“To me, the Van Dyck was a concept,” Olsen said. “It was a New York City jazz club somewhere north of the city.”

That concept — intimate, artist-focused, and ambitious — defined the room. “You could literally be three feet away from an iconic player,” Wexler said. “I just think that intimacy made it a very special venue.”

Under Friedman and later his nephew Donald Ira Wexler, who joined the business in 1974, the Van Dyck became both a nationally respected jazz-stop and a neighborhood institution. “We had music back in the day seven nights a week,” Geoff said. “We were a regular stop for up-and-coming artists as well as people who were more established.”

It was also, unmistakably, a community anchor. “Every night at dinner… my uncle and my father and even my grandmother used to go in and speak to the customers,” Geoff said. “It wasn’t just a financial relationship — they knew their customers.”

“We were there from ’47 to ’94,” he reflected. “It was great to see the young children’s birthdays and then their high school graduations and then they got married… It was part of their life.”

The original Van Dyck closed in 1994, ending a 47-year run — but not the story.

Saving the stage: reinvention in a city finding its footing (1996–2007)

In 1996, amid a difficult economic period for Schenectady, Olsen and partners reopened the building, eventually with Olsen as sole owner. “When I first saw the Van Dyck, it was in really rough shape,” he said. “We saved the building.”

Olsen led extensive renovations — structural steel reinforcements, balconies, skylights, a 40-foot mahogany bar, an upgraded sound system, and a Yamaha concert grand piano — and expanded the upstairs music room to 200 seats. “It was never just the facility; it was the music,” he emphasized. “There are a lot of great restaurants in the Capital Region. The music is what made the Van Dyck special.”

At a time when Schenectady’s industrial base had shrunk dramatically, Olsen doubled down on live performance. “Supporting live music was the goal,” he said. “And I think we did a pretty good job of it.”

For the first six years, there was live music every night: open mic jams, singer-songwriter nights, jazz sessions, and blues jams. “The open mic jams were a chance for everybody in the Capital Region to come play,” he said. “There weren’t that many places where local musicians could come up, learn their chops, play to a great audience and with a great sound system.”

National acts returned, too. “We were getting the top acts nationally that were playing in New York City and bringing them north,” Olsen said. “We had the audacity to present them in a small format.”

“The bands brought in 40,000 people a year… people that would not have visited Schenectady otherwise.” For many, the intimacy was the draw: “There’s something to that intimate nature that you get in a 200-seat music club that you don’t get in an arena. It’s a different way to experience live music.”

The club closed again in 2007 amid financial pressures, but the building’s musical identity endured.

Keeping the lights on: stewardship and continuity (2008–2022)

In 2008, the building was sold to the McDonald family, longtime local restaurateurs. Under their ownership, the space operated as Mad Jack Brewing Company while continuing to host live music and events. Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mad Jack Brewing Company closed in 2021. Their stewardship ensured that the Union Street address remained a gathering place — preserving the possibility that the Van Dyck’s musical heartbeat could return in full.

The jazz comes home: revival for a new generation (2022–present)

That revival began in October 2022, when restaurateur Chris Sule relocated Stella Pasta Bar & Bistro into the historic building and launched Seven Points Brewery. Live music returned immediately under the name the Van Dyck Music Club.

“This building has been operating as the Van Dyck since 1947,” Sule said. “A huge part of our community — the arts and entertainment scene here in the Capital Region.”

He leaned deliberately into the venue’s legacy. “Maybe we just name it after the Van Dyck. And that was like a light bulb going off. Of course we leaned into the history.” In October 2024, he formally launched the Van Dyck Music Club upstairs. “A music club is a spot where the attention is on the performers, and there’s a reverence and respect for what’s happening on stage,” he said. “Just like Smalls or the Village Vanguard or Cafe Lena… this is a music club. A listening club.”

Sule sees the continuity clearly. “It’s not so much about preserving what was here. It’s about preserving that quality and consistency — taking care of the customers, taking care of the musicians, and taking care of the building and the building’s history.”

And once again, the community has formed around the stage lights. “I see guests that have become friends… and it builds this community,” he said. “Once I see you two or three times, you’re part of the community.”

“The music can really bring people’s memories of the Van Dyck back. And I’m glad that we get to create new ones.”

A legacy recognized

For Geoff Wexler, the Hall of Fame recognition is deeply meaningful. “We’re overjoyed that their life’s work is still relevant today,” he said of his family. “It wasn’t just the business, but it was our art to the world.”

Across 1947 to 1994, 1996 to 2007, 2008 to 2021, and into its present chapter, the Van Dyck has been more than a venue. It has been a proving ground for musicians, a dining room for celebrations, a sanctuary for listeners, and a symbol of resilience in Schenectady’s ongoing renaissance.

“There’s a certain effect to seeing a top act in a club,” Olsen reflected.

In 2026, the Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Hall of Fame affirmed what generations already knew, inside those brick walls on Union Street, something enduring was built — not just a stage, not just a restaurant, but a community bound together by live music.

The inductee ceremony 7 p.m. Monday, March 23 at Universal Preservation Hall is open to the public and includes musical performances, a social hour, videos on the musical career of each inductee and acceptance speeches. Tickets are on sale now through the Box Office at Proctors in-person, via phone at (518) 346-6204 from 12-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday or online by visiting atuph.org.

Universal Preservation Hall and Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Hall of Fame are part of Proctors Collaborative. For more information on the Hall of Fame visit theeddiesawards.com.