52nd Street is a 1.9-mile-long (3.1 km) one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan , New York City , United States. A short section of it was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s.
10-554: The Onyx Club was a jazz club located on West 52nd Street in New York City. This jazz club or venue-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a building or structure in Manhattan is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 52nd Street (Manhattan) Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, 52nd Street replaced 133rd Street as "Swing Street" of
20-673: Is a list of notable places within one block of 52nd Street. The section between Eleventh and Tenth Avenues is signed "Joe Hovarth Way" in tribute to Joseph Hovarth (1945–1995) who located the Police Athletic League William J. Duncan Center on the block after moving from its original location. The Duncan Center is named for a patrolman who was shot while chasing a stolen car in the neighborhood on May 17, 1930. The block between First Avenue and FDR has been subject of an attempt to designate it as its own neighborhood. In W. H. Auden 's poem " September 1, 1939 ", about
30-418: Is formally co-named "Swing Street" and one block west is called " W. C. Handys Place". The 21 Club was the sole surviving club on 52nd Street that also existed during the 1940s. It closed in 2020. The venue for the original Birdland at 1674 Broadway (between 52nd & 53rd), which came into existence in 1949, is now a strip club. The current Birdland is on 44th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues. This
40-414: Is on his album Sea Is a Lady . The Twilight Zone , episode 32, " A Passage for Trumpet ", refers to the jazz clubs of 52nd Street. Van Morrison 's 1972 song " Saint Dominic's Preview " includes the lyrics "And meanwhile we're over on a 52nd Street apartment/Socializing with the wino few". Daniel Okrent invented Rotisserie League Baseball, a form of fantasy baseball , in 1979. The name comes from
50-557: The Second World War , Auden narrates himself as being on 52nd Street. A 1948 amateur recording of Charlie Parker at the Onyx Club , Bird on 52nd St. , was released by Jazz Workshop in 1957. Billy Joel has a studio album titled 52nd Street . The songs, including the hit single " Honesty ", have a jazz flavoring not found on his other albums. Toshiki Kadomatsu wrote a song titled "52nd Street 'Akiko ' ", which
60-403: The city. The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth and Seventh Avenues became renowned for the abundance of jazz clubs and lively street life. The street was convenient to musicians playing on Broadway and the 'legitimate' nightclubs and was also the site of a CBS studio. Musicians who played for others in the early evening played for themselves on 52nd Street. In the period from 1930 through
70-438: The country. By the late 1940s, the jazz scene began moving elsewhere around the city and urban renewal began to take hold of the street. By the 1960s, most of the legendary clubs were razed or fell into disrepair. The last jazz club there closed in 1968, though one remains as a restaurant. Today, the street is full of banks, shops, and department stores and shows little trace of its jazz history. The block from 5th to 6th Avenues
80-420: The dissemination of bebop . In fact, a tune called " 52nd Street Theme " by Thelonious Monk became a bebop anthem and jazz standard. Virtually every great jazz player and singer of the era performed at clubs: 52nd Street, between 6th & 7th Avenues 52nd Street, between 5th & 6th Avenues Disc jockey Symphony Sid frequently did live broadcasts from the street which were transmitted across
90-429: The early 1950s, 52nd Street clubs hosted such jazz musicians as Louis Prima , Art Tatum , Fats Waller , Billie Holiday , Trummy Young , Harry Gibson , Nat Jaffe , Dizzy Gillespie , Thelonious Monk , Charlie Parker , Miles Davis , Marian McPartland , and many more. Although musicians from all schools performed there, after Minton's Playhouse in uptown Harlem , 52nd Street was the second most important place for
100-421: The name of the restaurant, La Rôtisserie Française restaurant on New York City's East 52nd Street, where he first suggested the idea to his friends. Notes 40°45′27″N 73°58′15″W / 40.75750°N 73.97083°W / 40.75750; -73.97083 Onyx Club The Onyx Club was a jazz club located on West 52nd Street in New York City. This jazz club or venue-related article
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