View Boston

This guide to View Boston traces the fifty-second floor's earlier life as Top of the Hub, a restaurant and piano bar that hosted live jazz seven nights a week for half a century. It follows the musicians who ran the bandstand across the decades, from pianist Ray Santisi and drummer Harvey Simons in the tower's early years to bassist Bob Nieske, who kept the music going from 1993 until the room finally went quiet. Even during the 2009 financial crash, the general manager kept the band playing, calling the music a gift to guests rather than a way to make money.