The Blue Bird Inn, at 5021 Tireman, was a jazz night club in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

presenting music every night except Monday. An African American owned venue, by the end of the 1940s it was the most important live outlet for bop in the city.

Thad Jones Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923 – August 20, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists". Biography Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, U ...

' composition "5021" refers to the Blue Bird's address and

Tommy Flanagan Thomas Lee Flanagan (March 16, 1930 – November 16, 2001) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. ...

placed tribute to the venue in the title track to an album with

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ...

titled '' Beyond the Blue Bird'' (1990). The venue had featured live music since the 1930s, but in 1948

Phil Hill Philip Toll Hill Jr. (April 20, 1927 – August 28, 2008) was an American automobile racing driver. He was one of two American drivers to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, and the only one who was born in the United States ( ...

was hired to assemble a house band that could play bebop. Hill's first trio there comprised Abe Woodly on vibraphone and Art Mardigian on drums, with Hill on piano. The following year, Hill and Mardigan were joined by

Wardell Gray Wardell Gray (February 13, 1921 – May 25, 1955) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who straddled the swing and bebop periods. Biography Early years Gray was born in Oklahoma City, the youngest of four children. He spent his early chi ...

, James "Beans" Richardson on bass and Jack Tiant on bongos, and, as the Phil Hill Quintet, recorded a live album on July 20, 1949."Wardell Gray - A Discography 1944-1955"
Retrieved 8 July 2013. The following April, the Wardell Gray Quartet, with Hill, Richardson and Mardigan recorded for Prestige. In the latter half of 1949, the trio was headlined by

Tate Houston Tate Houston (November 30, 1924 – October 18, 1974) was a Detroit-based American baritone and tenor saxophonist. He played with Lionel Hampton's band and in 1946, he recorded with the Billy Eckstine band. In 1947, he played with Sonny Stitt ...

, and later by Frank Foster. In the early 1950s, the

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...

Quintet, featuring

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrate ...

, replaced Hill's trio as the house band. In 1953,

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

joined the band, and would return many times with his own groups. Other performers included

Pepper Adams Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III (October 8, 1930 – September 10, 1986) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 42 pieces, was the leader on eighteen albums spanning 28 years, and participated in 600 sessions as a s ...

Sonny Stitt Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his ...

Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones, July 2, 1930) is an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and educator. For six decades, he has been one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. Biography Early life Jamal was born Fr ...

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

Frank Gant Frank Gant (born May 26, 1931- July 19, 2021) was an american jazz drummer. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Gant recorded with Donald Byrd, Sonny Stitt, and extensively with Yusef Lateef in the late 1950s and then Red Garland before becoming a membe ...

, and

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 1932. ...

. In 2018, Detroit Sound Conservancy, local music preservation and advocacy nonprofit, purchased the building. In 2020, the club was designated a local Historic District by the City of Detroit. The National Park Service conducted a study of the site and

United Sound Systems United Sound Systems is a recording studio and locally designated historic district in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Many popular music artists over the last seventy years have recorded at the facility, including blues musicians like John Lee ...

in 2019 but found they were not suitable to be an affiliated area of the national park system.

House bands

;Led byBjörn, Lars Olof (2001) ''Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-60'', pp. 124-6. University of Michigan Press
At Google Books. Retrieved 9 July 2013. *1948: Phil Hill *1951: Billy Mitchell, featuring various musicians, including Oliver Jackson (drums) and his brother, Ali Jackson (bass), as well as

, Gitler, Ira (1985
Swing to Bop : An Oral History of the Transition in Jazz in the 1940s: An Oral History of the Transition in Jazz in the 1940s, p. 262. Oxford University Press
At Google Books. Retrieved 9 July 2013. but later becoming a quartet with

Terry Pollard Terry Pollard (August 15, 1931 – December 16, 2009) was an American jazz pianist and vibraphonist active in the Detroit jazz scene of the 1940s and 1950s. She has been described as a "major player who was inexplicably overlooked." Pollard began ...

, Beans Richardson and Elvin Jones *1954: Beans Anderson *1955: Alvin Jackson *1958:

Ernie Farrow Ernest Farrow (November 13, 1928 – July 14, 1969) was a jazz bassist who occasionally played other instruments. His half-sister was Alice Coltrane. Early life Farrow was born in Huntington, West Virginia, on November 13, 1928. He started on pia ...

and/or

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...

Berkman, Franya J. (2010) ''Monument Eternal: The Music of Alice Coltrane'', p. 34. Wesleyan University Press
At Google Books. Retrieved 9 July 2013.

References

{{Reflist Jazz clubs in the United States Music of Detroit Defunct jazz clubs in the United States