Jimmy Ryan's

Jimmy Ryan's

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.[1] It was a venue for performances of Dixieland jazz.[2]

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.[3][4]

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".[5][6][7]

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.[8]

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

1. John S. Wilson, "Jimmy Ryan's, A Shrine to the Same Old Jazz", The New York Times, September 24, 1976
2. Jazz A-Z, by Peter Clayton & Peter Gammond, Guinness Books (Guinness Superlatives Ltd.) (1986); OCLC 15353474, 76750957.
3. Bill Crow, Jazz Anecdotes: Second Time Around, p. 116, Oxford University Press (2005) OCLC 224377631, 775055946 ISBN 0195187954 ISBN 9780195187953
4. 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
5. John S. Wilson, "Gilbert J. Pincus, 73, Jazz Club Doorman and Mayor of 52nd Street," The New York Times, February 7, 1980
6. 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
7. Arnold Shaw, The Street That Never Slept, New York's Fabled 52d St. McCann & Geoghegan, New York (1971) OCLC 205864.
8. William P. Gottlieb, The Golden Age of Jazz, p. 13, Pomegranate Communications, Inc. (1995).

40°45′47″N 73°58′50″W