| Address | New York City, New York State United States |
|---|---|
| Type | Jazz club |
Jimmy Ryan's was a jazz club in New York City, USA, located at 53 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, from 1934 to 1962 and 154 West 54th Street from 1962 to 1983. It was a venue for performances of Dixieland jazz.
History
The location at 52nd Street, Manhattan, New York City, was one of a row of brownstones with clubs operating in basements. As the last surviving jazz club on 52nd Street, its brownstone — along with all the other brownstones on the north side of the street — were demolished in 1962 to make way for construction of the new CBS Building. CBS had given Jimmy Ryan $9,000 to relocate.
The club was owned by partners Matthew C. (Matty) Walsh (1914–2006) and Jimmy Ryan (1911–1963). Walsh, Ryan's brother-in-law, continued ownership following Ryan's death in July 1963 at the French Hospital. Gilbert J. Pincus (1907–1980) — who served as doorman from 1942 to 1962 at the original location and from about 1963 until his death in 1980 — became known as the "Mayor of 52nd Street".
Jazz style
During the 1940s, three New York nightclubs stood out as centers for traditional style jazz: Jimmy Ryan's, Nick's in Greenwich Village, and Eddie Condon's just a few blocks away.
Performing artists
Resident musicians from the 1940s
- Mezz Mezzrow (1943)
- James P. Johnson (1943)
- Art Hodes (1945–1949)
- J. C. Higginbotham (1946)
- Henry "Red" Allen (1946)
- Sidney De Paris (1947–1957)
- Sidney Bechet (1948)
- Max Kaminsky (1948–1949)
- Wilbur De Paris (1951–1962)
- Zutty Singleton (1963–1970)
- Roy Eldridge (1970–1980)
Sunday jam sessions, organized and managed by Milt Gabler
- Sidney Bechet
- Pops Foster
- Hot Lips Page
- Pee Wee Russell
- Eddie Condon
- Mezz Mezzrow
- Kaiser Marshall
- Hank Duncan
- Sandy Williams
- Brad Gowans
- Ben Webster
- Chu Berry
- Coleman Hawkins
- Wildcats
Looking east from 6th Avenue, 52nd Street is at night (May 1948); photo by William P. Gottlieb (cropped)
Jazz tunes relating to the club
- Tony Parenti and his Dean's of Dixieland, "A Night at Jimmy Ryan's", Jazzology (1967)
- Max Kaminsky, Conrad Janis, Davis Quinn, Joe Henshaw, Zutty Singleton
- "Down in Jungletown" (renamed "Down at Jimmy Ryan's")
- "Blues for Jimmy Ryan"
- Live at Jimmy's, a complete album was recorded live there in 1973 by Maynard Ferguson.
References
- John S. Wilson, "Jimmy Ryan's, A Shrine to the Same Old Jazz", The New York Times, September 24, 1976
- Jazz A-Z, by Peter Clayton & Peter Gammond, Guinness Books (Guinness Superlatives Ltd.) (1986); OCLC 15353474, 76750957.
- Bill Crow, Jazz Anecdotes: Second Time Around, p. 116, Oxford University Press (2005) OCLC 224377631, 775055946 ISBN 0195187954 ISBN 9780195187953
- Arnold Shaw, 52nd Street, The Street of Jazz, p. 242, Da Capo Press (1977, 1983) OCLC 468129109, 3002082, 470090841 OCLC 462372683 ISBN 0306800683 ISBN 9780306800689
- John S. Wilson, "Gilbert J. Pincus, 73, Jazz Club Doorman and Mayor of 52nd Street," The New York Times, February 7, 1980
- Biography Index, A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 12: September 1979 – August 1982, H.W. Wilson Co., New York (1983) OCLC 83009305, 50355220, 183279994
- Arnold Shaw, The Street That Never Slept, New York's Fabled 52d St. McCann & Geoghegan, New York (1971) OCLC 205864.
- William P. Gottlieb, The Golden Age of Jazz, p. 13, Pomegranate Communications, Inc. (1995).
40°45′47″N 73°58′50″W / 40.76306°N 73.98056°W / 40.76306; -73.98056
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