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Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City in 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan[1], was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979[1]. A revival began in 1986.
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Original Birdland
The original Birdland was named by its owners, Morris Levy; and Irving Levy for alto Saxophonist Charlie Parker[1], nicknamed "Bird", who served as the headliner for the club. He is perhaps most associated with the club, but the 400 seat venue attracted other jazz musicians who also made recordings there[1]. This includes Art Blakey's 1954 record A Night at Birdland, John Coltrane's Live at Birdland, the Toshiko - Mariano Quartet's Live at Birdland, and George Shearing's hit song "Lullaby of Birdland." Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Stan Getz, Lester Young, and many others made appearances. The club's original concert master was a colorful character who stood under four feet tall, Pee Wee Marquette, who was also relieved by the Impressario Symphony Sid[1]. During its height, Birdland also became a fashionable place for celebrities, with Gary Cooper, Marilyn Monroe, Joe Louis, and others as regulars. In addition Sammy Davis, Jr. performed there at times. Despite this illustrious history, the club began to decline during the 1960s and closed in 1965.
Birdland revival
The current version of Birdland began in Uptown, Manhattan in 1986 at 2745 Broadway at 106th Street[1], but has since moved to West 44th Street west of Eighth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Notable performers include Michael Brecker, Pat Metheny, Lee Konitz, Diana Krall, Dave Holland, Regina Carter, and Tito Puente. It is also notable as the club where Toshiko Akiyoshi's jazz orchestra, on December 29, 2003, played its final concert. As mentioned above she had also played at the original Birdland.
Pop culture references
Birdland was popular with many of the writers of the Beat generation. Reference to Birdland is made in Jack Kerouac's novel On The Road: "I saw him wish a well-to-do man Merry Christmas so volubly a five-spot in change for twenty was never missed. We went out and spent it in Birdland, the bop joint. Lester Young was on the stand, eternity on his huge eyelids." Weather Report released their most commercially successful hit entitled "Birdland" on the album Heavy Weather in 1977. The Manhattan Transfer recorded a cover version of the same song in 1979, with vocalese lyrics describing the club in its heyday. U2 also references the club in the song "Angel of Harlem" with the lyrics "...Birdland on 53, the streets sounds like a symphony..." In the play Send Me No Flowers, George Kimball relates a story concerning a female friend who ran off with a "bongo player from Birdland" after her husband died. The bongo player subsequently "took her for every cent."
Recordings made at Birdland
- 1954: A Night at Birdland - Art Blakey
- 1956: Birdland Stars 1956 (Bluebird) - Kenny Dorham, Conte Candoli, trumpets; Al Cohn, tenor sax; Phil Woods, alto sax; Hank Jones, piano; John Simmons, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums
- 1960/1961: Live at Birdland - Toshiko - Mariano Quartet
- 1963: Live at Birdland - John Coltrane
