"The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician."
Back in the day -- waaaay back in the day, Im talking the 1930's.., if you jumped in a taxi and said -- "take me to the street" you would be whisked off to 52nd street between 5th and 6th avenue. When prohibition ended in 1933 the jazz scene moved from uptown in Harlem (133rd St) to W.52nd St -- the new Swing Street. More convenient for musicians playing on Broadway or at more "legitimate" nightclubs. Musicians like Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald played nightly. Charlie Parker was performing on 52nd Street every night -- that's what made him great. Musicians needed a place to play, to hone their craft.., so they would play their "paying" gigs.., and then head over to "The Street" to play for themselves...
If you were to stand on the corner of 52nd St and 6th ave.., and look east -- all you saw were a sea of neon marques displaying the names of jazz joints.., that would go down in history as the most famous jazz clubs, ever! In it's prime, there were over 40 jazz clubs stacked side by side up and down this fabled street -- even the infamous 21 Club, better known as Jack and Charlies "21" Club or just "21" was located on "The Street" and originally opened as a speakeasy in 1930 and went to elaborate lengths to hide its liquor from the authorities.., using camouflaged doors, invisible chutes, revolving bars and a secret wine cellar to hide and destroy the evidence.
• Leon & Eddie's
• The Famous Door (previously The Onyx a speakeasy)
• Club Carosel
• 3 Dueces
• Jimmy Ryans
• Spotlight Club
• Kelly's Stable
• Club Samoa
• The Hickory House
• Yacht Club
• Club Beatdown
• Birdland (now on W. 44th St)
• …and the list goes on!
While there’s Bourbon Street in New Orleans and Rush Street in Chicago.., there was nothing quite like West 52nd Street in New York City in the 1930s… The Onyx, which would later become The Famous Door, opened its doors in 1927 and was owned by bartender / bootlegger Joe Helbock, who considered himself a patron of jazz. The Onyx quickly became a breeding ground for new music.., and musicians. Musicians could even pick-up their phone messages and have their mailed deliver there…
One night while Benny Goodman sat in the audience listening to Charlie Shavers jam on the trumpet, he sent a note up to the bandstand asking what the name of the tune was -- Charlie Shavers hadn’t named it yet so he scribbled ‘Undecided’ on the back of the note and passed it back to Benny, and it’s been ‘Undecided’ ever since. But just to get into this mecca of music, you had to be "in the know…"
When you walked up to 35 W.52nd St you had to go down a couple of stone steps leading down to a basement door that was always open, heading down a long, dark hallway, you’d come to a back staircase and climb up one flight. It was so dark you couldn’t see a foot in front of you. You’d knock on a door covered with silver paint.., and on the other side of that door A guy would look at you through a peep-hole. And if you said, “I’m from 802” the number of the New York City Musicians Union local chapter, they’d let you in. Once inside, you were greeted to the sounds of the best jazz, anywhere -- overflowing with people eating and drinking booze out of coffee cups. It was a world all its own…
And it wasn't just jazz -- Dixieland, Be-Bop and Swing emanated from "The Street" from Prohibition to the Eisenhower era… But easily, the most famous and talented singer to ever come out of The Onyx and Swing Street was -- Billie Holiday. Politicians, prostitutes, businessmen.., and the hoity-toity of the time all stood side by side rocking to the new beats that inspired a generation.
If you were one of the lucky few.., or just really well connected, to score a table at one of, if not the most famous speakeasies of all time -- the 21 Club or just "21" which is the only one that still exists today, you could rub elbows with movie stars, Presidents (not George Bush) and celebrities spanning every era since… The history (and music) that was born and made on West 52nd Street will live on forever.., even if "21" is still the only structure that stands.
Image Source: 1 2