When Jazz populated NYC

[Hardbopjazz]

Wow, what time it was when there were a plethora of clubs. Some I never even knew about. 

http://popspotsnyc.com/jazz_clubs/?fbclid=IwAR3o6n-DlchpqS0r9AZIJgfV6mTxrh95AJfDYLFkSkFItvYIV6kWSpjqtyg

 

PopSpots' Guide to Legendary Manhattan Jazz Club Locations from the Golden Era of NYC Jazz Clubs, 1930-1950

• 52nd Street and Times Square
• Harlem
• Greenwich VIllage

(exact addresses follow the maps; followed by over 80 photos of the clubs)

 

 

 

 

[BillF]

Fascinating stuff!

[ghost of miles]

Thanks so much for posting this.  Mark Stryker and I were discussing at the Detroit jazz event the other night at Le Poisson Rouge--we think (and a NYC friend said this as well) that LPR occupies the same basement space where the Village Gate once was?  The address is off by two numbers (158 vs 160 Bleecker) but my NYC friend swears up and down that LPR is where the Gate was.  I also visited the newly-reopened Cafe Bohemia Tuesday night; the performance space is in the cellar (and apparently was in the upstairs part in the 1950s) and certainly gives off a 50s Village vibe.  The site of Cafe Society is just half a block away (the home for many years now of the Axis Theater Company).  The building where the original Birdland was at 52nd and Broadway still stands, though the basement space where the club was located was utilized as a strip bar from the early 1980s till recently.  

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

Thanks so much for posting this.  Mark Stryker and I were discussing at the Detroit jazz event the other night at Le Poisson Rouge--we think (and a NYC friend said this as well) that LPR occupies the same basement space where the Village Gate once was?  The address is off by two numbers (158 vs 160 Bleecker) but my NYC friend swears up and down that LPR is where the Gate was.  I also visited the newly-reopened Cafe Bohemia Tuesday night; the performance space is in the cellar (and apparently was in the upstairs part in the 1950s) and certainly gives off a 50s Village vibe.  The site of Cafe Society is just half a block away (the home for many years now of the Axis Theater Company).  The building where the original Birdland was at 52nd and Broadway still stands, though the basement space where the club was located was utilized as a strip bar from the early 1980s till recently.  

LPR? What's that? 

[kh1958]

Le Poisson Rouge. The only time I've been there it was grotesquely overloud and standing only. Didn't like the place. 

[HutchFan]

Fascinating maps & images.

[Steve Reynolds]

1 hour ago, kh1958 said:

Le Poisson Rouge. The only time I've been there it was grotesquely overloud and standing only. Didn't like the place. 

I saw both Anthony Braxton’s 65th Birthday celebration as was as Misha Mengelberg’s last U.S. concert appearance with Instant Composer’s Pool (with Han Bennink, Wolter Wierbos, Michael Moore, Tobias Delius, etc.) at Le Poisson Rouge and both concerts were astounding - and the sound and sight lines were magnificent.

Edited January 16, 2020 by Steve Reynolds

[ghost of miles]

1 hour ago, kh1958 said:

Le Poisson Rouge. The only time I've been there it was grotesquely overloud and standing only. Didn't like the place. 

They have a fair amount of tables now--configured quite differently than when I attended a show there a year ago.

[BillF]

1 hour ago, kh1958 said:

Le Poisson Rouge. The only time I've been there it was grotesquely overloud and standing only. Didn't like the place. 

[Steve Reynolds]

30 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

They have a fair amount of tables now--configured quite differently than when I attended a show there a year ago.

In 2011-12 when I attended, there were plenty of tables/seats.

[ghost of miles]

10 minutes ago, Steve Reynolds said:

In 2011-12 when I attended, there were plenty of tables/seats.

That must have changed at some point--there were very few tables last year.  I didn't mind, but a jazz writer (fairly young guy, too) had warned me that any lengthy stay for a series of sets would most likely involve standing the whole time.  I found a good column to lean on, though.    This year there were plenty of places to sit, but I had bought a cheaper non-seated ticket, so this time around held up a wall, in tribute to that great supporter of building structures, Mr. Harpo Marx:  

 

[Brad]

Heard of a lot of these but also a lot are unfamiliar to me. Thanks for posting those maps. 

[Gheorghe]

Great ! Just viewed the Maps and the photos comparing how it looked like, and how it is now.

[porcy62]

WOW! Thanks!

[RiRiIII]

Thanks! Gunther Schuller had mentioned to me that dramatic decline in jazz clubs on NY, when he was in Athens 6 years ago invited by the Greek-American Union. He was so dissapointed namely for the musicians who cannot make a living out of jazz.

Edited January 17, 2020 by RiRiIII
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[duaneiac]

There's a lot of great photos at the site Hardbobjazz linked to in the original post.  I love this one.

That makes me nostalgic for a place and time I've never experienced.  One can almost hear that photo.  Wonderful.

It kinda looks like the start to a great 1950's mystery/comedy TV series about the fun-loving adventures of a millionaire heiress with a penchant for solving crimes and her jazz musician "companion" who goes along for the ride to get her out of the tight spots -- with both the criminals and the authorities, usually in the person of Inspector Haverman, played by William Demerast -- she so often finds herself in.  Tonight's episode:  "Crepuscule With Murder."

Interesting to learn that both Club Zanzibar and Bop City were in the Brill Building.

Edited January 18, 2020 by duaneiac

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, duaneiac said:

Interesting to learn that both Club Zanzibar and Bop City were in the Brill Building.

So was the Hurricane Club from where Ellington often broadcast.