The history of Mintons Playhouse (the jazz club in New York), and why jazz clubs in general were a place people sought refuge Free Essay Example, 1000 words

Since Monday nights were usually the musicians’ night off, these became the most popular night for talents of all calibers to join in on these open sessions. â€Å"For years, at the start of every workweek, jazz musicians from around the city would converge on Minton’s in what Ralph Ellison called ‘a continuing symposium of jazz’† (Feuer, 2005). Musicians that dropped in to play as often as they could included such big-name stars as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. It was through these sessions that bebop was given birth as musicians left the strict rules of the directors and the dance floor in order to explore new musical expressions that focused on emotion, energy, harmony and rhythm. Up to this point in time, the early 1940s, musicians had little control over their own music as most of this was controlled by the band directors rather than the individuals. In the smaller setting of the clubs, musician s found the freedom to express their creativity in a way that gave birth to the new form of music. We will write a custom essay sample on The history of Minton's Playhouse (the jazz club in New York), and why jazz clubs in general were a place people sought refuge or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now â€Å"It’s where be-bop was born and took off. The polished acts all went downtown, but the experiments took place here† (Claire Haaga, president of Housing and Services Inc. cited in Feuer, 2005). While Minton’s is credited with the birth of bebop because of this free and explorative atmosphere, the truth is that this creativity was as true of Minton’s as it was of other clubs. â€Å"It’s true modern jazz probably began to get popular there [Minton’s], but some of these histories and articles put what happened over the course of ten years into one year. They put people all together in one time in one place. I’ve seen practically everybody at Minton’s, but they were just playing. They weren’t giving lectures† (Thelonious Monk cited in Baraka, 2003). Despite the interest in this new type of music among an increasingly educated and enthralled audience, it was several years before an y of this type of music became mainstream, thanks to a recording ban that had been in effect (Baraka, 2003). As time went by, though, the crowd at Minton’s failed to continue to live up to its early excitement. By the 1960s, it was reported that most of the music being played there were little more than replica groups of the old days. â€Å"These are groups that are now more ‘socially’ acceptable, and make up the mainstream of jazz, for the uptown mainstream listener† (Baraka, 2003). With the reduction in experimental music and adoption of mainstream music, Minton’s lost some of its earlier appeal.