“Sittin’ In: Jazz Clubs of the 1940s and 1950s” Vol. 2 — Birdland

June 1st, 2021

 

.

 

.

…..Jeff Gold’s book Sittin’ In: Jazz Clubs of the 1940s and 1950s is a visual history of many of the country’s most influential night clubs and ballrooms during jazz music’s golden era.

…..The book is centered around a collection of memorabilia Mr. Gold discovered, and features photographs of club patrons taken by in-house photographers, as well as postcards, handbills, menus, matchbooks, and posters.

…..In cooperation with Mr. Gold, Jerry Jazz Musician will occasionally publish a noteworthy excerpt from the book.   In this edition, Gold writes about New York’s Midtown Manhattan club Birdland, and shares photographs and memorabilia from his collection.

.

.

___

.

.

 

Birdland

1678 Broadway, Just North of West Fifty-Second Street

.

.

 

 

Birdland souvenir photograph with frequent patron Marlon Brando (right) posing with clubgoers, date unknown

.

___

.

 

…..

…..On December 15, 1949, former [midtown Manhattan jazz club] Royal Roost partner Morris Levy opened Birdland with his brother Irving, manager Oscar Goodstein, and six other partners.  The three-hundred-seat basement club, named in honor of bebop giant Charlie “Bird” Parker, opened with A Journey thru Jazz 1920-1950, showcasing the history of jazz as played by some of those who had created it:  trumpeters Max Kaminsky and Hot Lips Page, up-and-comers Stan Getz and Lennie Tristano, Lester Young, Harry Belafonte, and Parker.

…..Birdland historian Leo T. Sullivan wrote, “Many jazz clubs opened and closed over the many years, but never has there been a venue showcasing such incredible jazz greats on a nightly basis as the ‘Jazz Corner of the World,’ Birdland.”

…..The club featured a long bar on one side, booths on the other, and tables running down in the middle.  Above the booths were portraits of jazz stars painted by Diana Dale, the club’s hatcheck girl.  For those too young to drink or who came only to listen, there was the “bullpen” or “peanut gallery,” a section to the right of the bar separated from the rest of the club by a barrier.  When the club first opened, there were birdcages with live finches hanging from the ceiling; unfortunately, the noise and smoke proved too much for the birds, who lasted only about a month.

…..Birdland didn’t have a dance floor, and the stage was small enough that on occasion, if a large group was playing, the piano was placed on the floor.  Nearby was a radio booth where Symphony Sid broadcast nightly to listeners on the East Coast, from midnight until six o’clock in the morning.  Pee Wee Marquette, standing three feet, nine inches tall, was the clubs notorious emcee, most famous for intentionally mispronouncing the name of any performer who refused to tip him.

…..Birdland booked top acts for six-night runs, with Mondays reserved for jam sessions.  As one of the main bebop venues, the club played host to Parker as well as Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis.  Count Basie, a favorite of Morris Levy’s, made Birdland his New York base of operations and signed to Levy’s record label, Roulette, in the late 1950s.  The club did well with women vocalists, booking Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Washington.  Other musicians who appeared included Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, Lester Young, Stan Getz, and Dave Brubeck.  George Shearing wrote the standard “Lullaby of Birdland” after Levy asked him to compose a theme song for Symphony Sid’s broadcasts.

…..As the club’s popularity grew, it became a draw for celebrities; patrons included Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Judy Garland, Sugar Ray Robinson, and even classical music icon Igor Stravinsky.  Eventually the Birdland name gained enough cachet that the club was able to sponsor national – and, in at least one case, international – concert tours during the mid-to late 1950s.

…..While Levy was committed to integration and Birdland an oasis of sorts from racism, things could be different just outside the door. On August 15, 1959, Miles Davis, who was performing with his quintet at the club, stepped outside to take a break.  In his autobiography, Davis recalled: “I had just walked this pretty white girl named Judy out to get a cab.  She got in the cab, and I’m standing there in front of Birdland wringing wet because it’s a hot, steaming, muggy night in August.  This white policeman comes up to me and tells me to move on…’Move on, for what?  I’m working downstairs.  That’s my name up there, Miles Davis,’ and I pointed my name on the marquee all up in lights.  He said, ‘I don’t care where you work, I said move on!  If you don’t move on I’m going to arrest you.’  I just looked at his face real straight and hard, and I didn’t move.  Then he said, ‘You’re under arrest!’

…..A fight ensued, with Davis badly beaten by three officers before being hauled off to jail, charged with disorderly conduct and the assault of a police officer.  The story was widely reported, with photographs of a bloodied Davis, and eventually the charges were dropped, but Davis never forgot the incident.  “[It] changed my whole life and my whole attitude again, made me bitter and cynical again when I was really starting to feel good about the things that had changed in this country.”

…..Many legendary live albums were recorded at the club, including Art Blakey’s two-volume A Night at Birdland (1954), Count Basie’s Basie at Birdland (1961), and most of John Coltrane’s Live at Birdland (1964).  But as rents in the area rose, running a profitable jazz club became increasingly difficult, and in June 1964, Birdland filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, closing for good the next year.

…..The club’s legacy was boosted in 1977 by Josef Zawinul’s song “Birdland,” featured on his band Weather Report’s bestselling album Heavy Weather.  In 1980, the Manhattan Transfer’s version of the song won a Grammy Award, and in 1991, Quincy Jones’s version won two more.  In 1986, a new club with the Birdland name opened in the midtown theater district.

.

.

___

.

.

Birdland postcard, 1950s

.

.

Birdland handbill for a 1955 engagement with Al Hibbler, Dizzy Gillespie, and Gil Melle

.

.

Handbill advertising 1956 Birdland shows with Count Basie, Johnny Smith and Bud Powell

.

.

Birdland menu, date unknown

.

.

Birdland souvenir photograph with Dizzy Gillespie posing with fans, date unknown

.

.

Birdland souvenir photograph, date unknown

.

.

Jazz DJ Symphony Sid pictured on the inside of a Birdland photo folder along with other notable jazz figures.

.

.

 

Concert tour program, 1955

.

.

Concert tour program, 1956

.

.

 

Concert tour program, 1957

.

.

Birdland photo folder, date unknown

.

.

 

___

.

.

 

 

Listen to a 1954 recording of Sarah Vaughan (with Clifford Brown on trumpet) singing George Shearing’s composition “Lullaby Of Birdland.”   

.

.

Listen to the 1977 recording of Weather Report playing Josef Zawinul’s composition “Birdland”

.

.

___

.

.

Click here to read Vol 1, on the Savoy Ballroom

Click here to read Vol 2, on Birdland

Click here to read Vol 3, on Club Ubangi

Click here to read Vol 4, Four Harlem Nightspots

Click here to read Vol 5, on Connie’s Inn and Smalls’ Paradise

.

Click here to read our interview with Jeff Gold

.

.

___

.

.

photo courtesy Jeff Gold

Jeff Gold is a Grammy Award-winning music historian, archivist, author, and executive.  Profiled by Rolling Stone as one of five “top collectors of high-end music memorabilia,” he is an internationally recognized expert who has consulted for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Museum of Pop Culture, and various record labels and cultural institutions.  He has also appeared as a music memorabilia expert on PBS’s History Detectives and VH1’s Rock Collectors.  His other books include 101 Essential Rock Records: The Golden Age of Vinyl from the Beatles to the Sex Pistols and Total Chaos: The Story of the Stooges/As Told by Iggy Pop.  He own the music memorabilia website Recordmecca.com and writes about topics of interest to collectors on its blog. 

Follow Jeff on Twitter at @recordmecca or on Instagram at @recordmecca.

 

.

.

___

.

.

 

All text and images — unless otherwise noted — © Jeff Gold.  Excerpted from Sittin’ In:  Jazz Clubs of the 1940s and 1950s (Harper Design).  Published by permission of Jeff Gold.

.

.

.

 

 

 

 

Share this:

Comment on this article:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

In This Issue

The Modern Jazz Quintet by Everett Spruill
A Collection of Jazz Poetry — Summer, 2023 Edition

A wide range of topics are found in this collection. Tributes are paid to Tony Bennett and Ahmad Jamal and to the abstract worlds of musicians like Ornette Coleman and Pharoah Sanders; the complex lives of Chet Baker and Nina Simone are considered; devotions to Ellington and Basie are revealed; and personal solace is found in the music of Tommy Flanagan and Quartet West. These are poems of peace, reflection, time, venue and humor – all with jazz at their core. (Featuring the art of Everett Spruill)

The Sunday Poem

photo via Wallpaper Flare
“Dink’s Blues and drum fills,” by Joel Glickman

Interview

photo courtesy of Henry Threadgill
Interview with Brent Hayes Edwards, co-author (with Henry Threadgill) of Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music...The author discusses his work co-written with Threadgill, the composer and multi-instrumentalist widely recognized as one of the most original and innovative voices in contemporary music, and the winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

In Memoriam

Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
A thought or two about Tony Bennett

Podcast

"BG Boogie’s musical tour of indictment season"...The podcaster “BG Boogie” has weaponized the most recent drama facing The Former Guy, creating a 30 minute playlist “with all the latest up-to-date-est musical indictments of political ineptitude.”

Interview

Chick Webb/photographer unknown
Interview with Stephanie Stein Crease, author of Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America...The author talks about her book and Chick Webb, once at the center of America’s popular music, and among the most influential musicians in jazz history.

Community

FOTO:FORTEPAN / Kölcsey Ferenc Dunakeszi Városi Könyvtár / Petanovics fényképek, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
.“Community Bookshelf, #1"...a twice-yearly space where writers who have been published on Jerry Jazz Musician can share news about their recently authored books. This edition includes information about books published within the last six months or so…

Short Fiction

photo vi Wallpaper Flare
Short Fiction Contest-winning story #63 — “Company” by Anastasia Jill...Twenty-year-old Priscilla Habel lives with her wannabe flapper mother who remains stuck in the jazz age 40 years later. Life is monotonous and sad until Cil meets Willie Flasterstain, a beatnik lesbian who offers an escape from her mother's ever-imposing shadow.

Poetry

Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 16: “Little Waltz” and “Summertime”...Trading Fours with Douglas Cole is an occasional series of the writer’s poetic interpretations of jazz recordings and film. In this edition, he connects the recordings of Jessica Williams' "Little Waltz" and Gene Harris' "Summertime."

Playlist

photo by Bob Hecht
This 28-song Spotify playlist, curated by Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht, features great tunes performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Lester Young, Stan Getz, and…well, you get the idea.

Poetry

photo of Wolfman Jack via Wikimedia Commons
“Wolfman and The Righteous Brothers” – a poem by John Briscoe

Jazz History Quiz #167

GuardianH, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Before becoming one of television’s biggest stars, he was a competent ragtime and jazz piano player greatly influenced by Scott Joplin (pictured), and employed a band of New Orleans musicians similar to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band to play during his vaudeville revue. Who was he?

Short Fiction

photo via PIXNIO/CC0
“The Sound Barrier” – a short story by Bex Hansen

Poetry

"Horn" by Samuel Dixon
Jazz Haiku – a sampler

Short Fiction

back cover of Diana Krall's album "The Girl in the Other Room" [Verve]
“Improvised: A life in 7ths, 9ths and Suspended 4ths” – a short story by Vikki C.

Interview

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
Long regarded as jazz music’s most eminent baritone saxophonist, Gerry Mulligan was a central figure in “cool” jazz whose contributions to it also included his important work as a composer and arranger. Noted jazz scholar Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets, and Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht discuss Mulligan’s unique contributions to modern jazz.

Photography

photo by Giovanni Piesco
Giovanni Piesco’s photographs of Tristan Honsinger

A Letter From the Publisher

An appeal for contributions to support the ongoing publishing efforts of Jerry Jazz Musician

Poetry

Maurice Mickle considers jazz venues, in two poems

In Memoriam

David Becker, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“Tony Bennett, In Memoriam” – a poem by Erren Kelly

Poetry

IISG, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ella Fitzgerald, in poems by Claire Andreani and Michael L. Newell

Book Excerpt

“Chick” Webb was one of the first virtuoso drummers in jazz and an innovative bandleader dubbed the “Savoy King,” who reigned at Harlem’s world-famous Savoy Ballroom. Stephanie Stein Crease is the first to fully tell Webb’s story in her biography, Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat that Changed America…The book’s entire introduction is excerpted here.

Feature

Hans Christian Hagedorn, professor for German and Comparative Literature at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Ciudad Real (Spain) reveals the remarkable presence of Miguel de Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote in the history of jazz.

Short Fiction

Dmitry Rozhkov, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“A Skull on the Moscow Leningrad Sleeper” – a short story by Robert Kibble...A story revolving around a jazz record which means so much to a couple that they risk being discovered while attempting to escape the Soviet Union

Book Excerpt

Book excerpt from Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music, by Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards

Short Fiction

photo via Appletreeauction.com
“Streamline Moderne” – a short story by Amadea Tanner

Publisher’s Notes

“C’est Si Bon” – at trip's end, a D-Day experience, and an abundance of gratitude

Poetry

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
A Charlie Parker Poetry Collection...Nine poets, nine poems on the leading figure in the development of bebop…

Contributing Writers

Click the image to view the writers, poets and artists whose work has been published on Jerry Jazz Musician, and find links to their work

Interview

Photo of Stanley Crouch by Michael Jackson
Interview with Glenn Mott, editor of Victory is Assured: The Uncollected Writings of Stanley Crouch (photo of Stanley Crouch by Michael Jackson)

Interview

photo of Sonny Rollins by Brian McMillen
Interview with Aidan Levy, author of Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins...The author discusses his book about the iconic tenor saxophonist who is one of the greatest jazz improvisers of all time – a lasting link to the golden age of jazz

Art

Designed for Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance: “Outtakes” — Vol. 2...In this edition, the authors Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder share examples of Cha Cha Cha record album covers that didn't make the final cut in their book

Pressed for All Time

“Pressed For All Time,” Vol. 17 — producer Joel Dorn on Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s 1967 album, The Inflated Tear

Photography

© Veryl Oakland
John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana are featured in this edition of photographs and stories from Veryl Oakland’s book, Jazz in Available Light

Coming Soon

An interview with Judith Tick, author of Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song; A new collection of jazz poetry; a new Jazz History Quiz; short fiction; poetry; photography; interviews; playlists; and lots more in the works...

Interview Archive

Eubie Blake
Click to view the complete 22 year archive of Jerry Jazz Musician interviews, including those recently published with Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom on Eubie Blake (pictured); Richard Brent Turner on jazz and Islam; Alyn Shipton on the art of jazz; Shawn Levy on the original queens of standup comedy; Travis Atria on the expatriate trumpeter Arthur Briggs; Kitt Shapiro on her life with her mother, Eartha Kitt; Will Friedwald on Nat King Cole; Wayne Enstice on the drummer Dottie Dodgion; the drummer Joe La Barbera on Bill Evans; Philip Clark on Dave Brubeck; Nicholas Buccola on James Baldwin and William F. Buckley; Ricky Riccardi on Louis Armstrong; Dan Morgenstern and Christian Sands on Erroll Garner; Maria Golia on Ornette Coleman.

Site Archive