Transforming archives into art for the modern age

“A new book, Caffè Lena: Inside America’s Legendary Folk Music Coffeehouse, offers a fascinating visual history of this famed venue — still open and hosting concerts more than half a century later.”

“Esteemed jazz pianist Erroll Garner will be the focus of an upcoming 60th anniversary tribute from Sony Legacy. The Complete Concert By the Sea.”

“A new three-disc collection…contextualizes the world of Van Ronk….placing him alongside notable folk icons including Jean Ritchie, Mike Seeger, Utah Phillips and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott as well as Woodstock-based singer-songwriters like Happy & Artie Traum. Lena’s Saratoga Springs locale is almost 200 miles upstate from Greenwich Village, but the folk community that performed there still comes shining through.”

“The GRAMMY Awards celebrate what is considered to be the best contemporary music issued in the last year … .Only one key category, Best Historical Album, gazes back to celebrate the best resurrected recordings. Each year the nominees span genres and decades, homing in on moments in history that either altered its course or captured particularly unique frequencies. “The Concert By the Sea” …record became a touchstone of mid-’50s jazz, and helped pave the way for a series of hit jazz records by artists including Miles Davis, Ahmad Jamal and Dave Brubeck. The new reissue for the first time presents the entire concert, rather than just the highlights that came out on the original album.”

“An exhaustively researched coffee-table book, CD boxed set and an audio archive destined for the Library of Congress. Together they make a case for the club as a landmark outpost of folk music in America.

Studio Arbo has found an elegant and productive way to introduce audiences to the concept of storytelling and curation. I know them to be a resourceful and unflappable professional team, and endlessly curious students of American cultural history.”

“When a newbie named Bob Dylan first performed at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the audience was so loud that the owner took to the stage and ordered. ‘Listen to him, dammit.’ The legendary venue… is celebrated in a new CD box set and in Caffe Lena, an illustrated oral history.”

“An…account of the misfits, poets and prophets who passed through this fabled… club during and long after the folk boom.”

“The Caffe Lena book helped us tell our venue’s story of social justice, deep friendships and endless songs to an international audience. It catalyzed a transformation of our small non-profit organization. Over the course of the following two years, using the book as a marketing and fundraising tool, we completed a $2 million renovation of our building. The book Jocelyn created saved our venue.”

“…I worked with a great production team that created an awesome framework so that it has shape and structure. I wish that the episodes could even be a bit longer since there is so much good stuff that has to be cut in order to make it 30 minutes!”

“Remastered and finally available in its entirety!”

“It was like a refresher course in everything that I’ve been trained in playing with the jazz masters and with the classical masters. It brought it all back home.”

“Exclusive images and stories about the folk royalty who have played at this famed Saratoga Springs coffeehouse.”

GRAMMY Award Nominee: Best Historical Record

“All music begins as live music, and the reason we call them recordings is that no matter the format, whether it’s Edison cylinders or MP3s, they are records of a live performance. Today, the Caffe Lena History Project is working to preserve and document the life and history of the Caffe and its founder. In the days before YouTube and video ready smartphones at concerts, live music usually disappeared as soon as the stage went dark. It’s so important that we preserve what we can.”

ASCAP Deems Taylor Award: Best Multimedia Project

“A couple of years ago I was approached by a bright and inspired young woman who was working on a book about Lena Spencer and her Caffè. She had unearthed a treasure trove of photographs containing a who’s-who of musicians that had graced the Caffè Lena stage. My first time on a stage performing for an audience was at Caffè Lena in 1965. Jocelyn showed me pictures I had never seen of my dad performing there. Caffè Lena gave a stage to people who were telling the American story. Looking at the photos brought me back to a beautiful time.”

WEBBY Award Nominee: Best Sound Design

“Working with Jocelyn’s team has been a true pleasure from start to finish. The team offered varied and diverse strengths while making sure we were bringing together the necessary perspectives to create episodes that were sharply and insightfully attuned to issues of race, gender, politics, and global cultural histories.”

Signal Award Winner: Best Sound Design

“A great sensitivity to the material and the voices of podcast guests. I cannot recommend Studio Arbo enough for future projects, and hope you will have the opportunity to work with them.”

“Few have Studio Arbo’s ability to engage public audiences in the excitement of research and discovery. Their focus on heritage and culture appeals to diverse audiences. How they use oral history, recordings, and documents to reconstruct the past makes for great storytelling and team building.”


“Arbo’s unique skill set in archival storytelling helped us to create First We Feast’s first ever podcast series, “The Meals That Made Me” in honor of our 10th Anniversary. Their dedicated efforts in pioneering this special series in creative collaboration with our team resulted in a powerful presentation that honors both the history of our brand and our foray into new storytelling platforms. If your organization is in need of storytelling to amplify your brand, I highly recommend working with Studio Arbo.”


“A pure joy to work with — their commitment to excellence was evidenced on a consistent basis throughout the entire process. Their passion, dedication, kindness, and professionalism are second to none. I’m happy to have had the opportunity to work with Studio Arbo.”

“I can’t overstate the cultural importance of projects like this, nor the brilliance of the Studio Arbo team in bringing this to life. We know the truest impact of sharing our stories with the people we live and work with is the time spent reflecting upon one’s own work and life, and the ideas and meaning we make after sharing those reflections together. The incredible crew at Studio Arbo were a pleasure to work with every step of the way”