About Birdland
Birdland History
Ever since most of Chicago’s top musicians moved to New York in the mid-to-late 1920s, New York City has been the Jazz Mecca. Nearly every major jazz style of the past seventy years has been initiated in the Big Apple.
It was Charlie Parker, familiarly known to his fans and fellow musicians as “Bird,” a contraction of Yardbird, his formal nickname, who was the dynamic creative personality and genius of the alto saxophone who served as the inspiration for Birdland.
The Early Days of Jazz in NYC
When the original Birdland opened in December of 1949, Charlie Parker was the headliner and the club was located on Broadway at 52nd Street, which was a hotbed of jazz in the 1930s and 40s.
Birdland was born and quickly came to prominence. For the next fifteen years, the club’s survival formula was built upon memorable double and triple bills, commencing at 9 p.m. and sometimes lasting ’til dawn.
In addition to Bird, many jazz legends were regulars at the club. Count Basie and his Smokin’ Big Band made Birdland their New York headquarters, eventually recording George Shearing’s “Lullaby of Birdland” live at the club. John Coltrane’s classic Quartet regularly appeared at the club in the early 1960s, recording “Live at Birdland.” And the famous DJ, Symphony Sid Torin made a name for himself broadcasting live from the club to radio listeners up and down the eastern seaboard.
In its first five years of existence, 1,400,000 guests paid the $1.50 admission to made their way either to the right side cabaret section or left side listening bullpen to hear Birdland’s attractions. Birdland’s booking history reads like a who’s who of jazz: Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bud Powell, Stan Getz, Lester Young, Erroll Garner, and many, many others.
Considering the excitement that Birdland generated on a daily basis, it’s no surprise that the club attracted its share of celebrities. Regulars to the nightly festivities included such household names as Gary Cooper, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Joe Louis, Marlene Dietrich, Ava Gardner, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Sugar Ray Robinson.
As Allan Morrison, the long-time editor of Ebony once put it, “Birdland was both a cultural vantage point and a barometer of trends where all the big names in jazz performed.”
As Rock & Roll emerged in the 1960’s, Birdland’s fortunes declined and its doors were closed on Broadway and 52nd in 1965.
The Reawakening
Birdland reopened in 1986. In the first ten years, more than 2,000 emerging artists performed at the club. On many occasions, artists who performed at the original club on Broadway graced the stage of the second version of Birdland as well.
At it’s new location on 44th St, Birdland has been called “close to perfection for serious fans and musicians,” by The New York Times, and offers top-flight jazz in a world class setting, good sight lines and acoustics, elbow room, and an award-winning menu.
Modern Jazz in Manhattan
Over the past two decades, Birdland has greatly expanded it’s musical outreach. Jim Caruso’s Cast Party, our weekly impromptu variety show, has helped make Birdland the late-night place to rub shoulders with show folk every Monday since 2004. And the 2018 addition of the state-of-the-art Birdland Theater has made it possible to present the most buzzed-about up-and-comers and world-class resident bands such as Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks, The Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Frank Vignola’s Guitar Night, and the High Society New Orleans Jazz Band.
Since 1949, Birdland has established itself as an essential part of New York City culture and musical history.