Live albums make up a good chunk of any good jazz collection. Many of the best ones were recorded at New York jazz clubs that are long gone. Some clubs even made their way into jazz album titles—like Wes Montgomery's Smokin' at the Half Note, Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street East, Thelonious Monk's Live at the Five Spot and Mingus at the Bohemia. [Photo by Herman Leonard/CTSImages.com]
Ever wonder where those and other long lost New York nightspots were located? So that the next time you're in town you can walk around and see where they were and what's there now? Here are the addresses of 28 shuttered ballrooms and clubs:
Arcadia Ballroom—Broadway and 53rd St.
Basin Street East—137 East 48th St. [pictured]
Birdland—1678 Broadway
Bop City—1619 Broadway
Bradley's—70 University Place at E. 11th St.
Buddy's Place—133 W. 33rd St.
Cafe au Go Go—152 Bleecker St. [pictured]
Cafe Bohemia—15 Barrow St.
Cafe Society—1 Sheridan Square
Cotton Club—644 Lenox Ave. at 142nd St.
Downbeat—66 W. 52nd St.
Count Basie's—2245 Seventh Ave. at 132nd St.
Eddie Condon's—47 W. 3rd St. (1945)
The Embers—161 E. 54th St.
Famous Door—56 W. 52nd St.
Five Spot—5 Cooper Square [pictured]
Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook—Route 23, Newark-Pompton Turnpike, Cedar Grove, N.J.
Glen Island Casino—Shore Road on Route 1-A, in New Rochelle, N.Y. [pictured]
Half Note—289 Hudson St., near Spring St.
Hickory House—144 W. 52nd St.
Jimmy Ryan's—53 W. 52nd St.
Latin Quarter—1580 Broadway (at 47th St.)
Minton's Playhouse—210 West 118th St. [pictured; photo by William P. Gottlieb]
Monroe's Uptown House—198 West 134th St. (between Seventh and Eight avenues)
Open Door—55 W. 3rd St.
Royal Roost—1574 Broadway
Savoy Ballroom—596 Lenox Ave. (between West 140th and 141st streets)
Small's Paradise—2294 1/2 Seventh Ave. (at 135th St.)
Where the old Half Note was is now a deli, I believe (across from the current Jazz Gallery); if you go here, you can see the Lennie Tristano Quintet playing there in 1964:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdedfoKIjIE
I heard one of Jimmy Rushing's last gigs there (spring 1972), with James Moody backing him. After the Canterinos moved the club up to W. 54th St. (it lasted there only a year or two), the Spring/Hudson location became The Onliest Place--it didn't last long, either.
Posted by: Bill Kirchner | July 30, 2010 at 12:49 PM
Aces! If I only had a Google 3D map with 360 degree camera attached, I could virtually go clubbing, in flesh as well as spirit. Virtually, that is. And sort of almost catch Bird at the Roost, McPartland at the Hickory House, Blakey at the Jazz Corner of the World... oops, which one's that? (Us benighted non-New Yorkers sure do miss out on stuff, darn it.)
Posted by: Ed Leimbacher | July 30, 2010 at 01:15 PM
About the Half Note! In the late spring of 1972, I and friends saw Jimmy Rushing there with Don Friedman, Ruby Braff, Bill Pemberton, and Dottie Dodgion -- Jake Hanna sat in on SENT FOR YOU YESTERDAY and the place rocked. Nowadays, when I am at the intersection of Spring and Hudson (Spring going E-W) there is a parking lot on one corner, a deli on the other, and anonymous buildings on the third and fourth. Sic transit gloria mundi, I would say. I remember The Onliest Place as well -- it featured, among others, a Buddy Tate - Jo Jones group and didn't last long.
Posted by: Michael Steinman | July 30, 2010 at 03:42 PM
Very enjoyable article, and one that fills a few gaps. Perhaps a list of Brooklyn jernts, Kingston Lounge, Club La Marchal, Putnam Central Club, Smuckers and Pumpkins....?
There was a nice discussion of some of these spots at a recent symposium at Brooklyn College; Robin D.G. Kelley was there just prior to publishing his Monk book, and Randy Weston reminisced and played. Yeah, Brooklyn had a scene.
But this is not meant to detract from your interesting and useful list. Thanks yet again.
Posted by: Rab Hines | July 30, 2010 at 09:22 PM
And don't forget that 5 Cooper Square was only the first location of the Five Spot; for all the rest of its years, it was located at 2 St. Marks Place. That's where I spent many nights listening to various Mingus groups, and witnessing many Mingus "happenings." It was an adventure every time.
What I'd give to be back there!
Posted by: Jon Foley | July 30, 2010 at 09:42 PM
As great as "Smokin at the Half Note" is, the "Complete Live in Paris 1965" is even better. And the Monk/Trane "Live at the Five Spot" doesn't hold a candle to the recently unearthed "Carnegie Hall Concert."
Posted by: David | August 01, 2010 at 01:24 PM