Billy Berg's was a jazz club located at 1356 North Vine Street in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
.
History
Berg (d. 1962) had owned several other Hollywood jazz clubs prior to opening his Vine Street location. These included the Capri Club (Pico and La Cienega), the Trouville (Beverly and Fairfax), and the Swing Club (Hollywood and Las Palmas). Billy Berg's was noted as one of the first integrated jazz clubs in Hollywood.
The Vine Street club was most noted for booking the
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...
Quintet, an engagement that lasted from Monday, 10 December 1945 to Monday, 4 February 1946. This was the first appearance for both Gillespie and
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...
on the west coast. Along with Gillespie and Parker, the quintet was composed of
Al Haig on piano,
Ray Brown on bass, and
Stan Levey on drums.
Milt Jackson
Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solos as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and his penchant for collaborating with ...
was added to the quintet due to Parker's unreliable attendance. On the first night of the engagement Parker did not take to the stage until late in the second set, making his way through the audience while playing "
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
." Contrary to what was shown in the film
''Bird'', Parker had been in the back of the club eating the club's specialty Mexican food for the first part of the concert. Although the engagement between Berg's and Dizzy Gillespie was not commercially successful, it advanced the career of Charlie Parker and brought more attention to the bebop genre.
Today, the original building still stands at the corner of Vine Street and De Longpre Avenue, and is currently named The Parker Room, in honor of Charlie Parker.
Live recordings
One recording exists of the Gillespie band (with
Lucky Thompson added) at Billy Berg's. "
Salt Peanuts" was recorded for a WEAF radio broadcast on 24 January 1946.
References
*
Gioia, Ted. ''West Coast Jazz: Modern Jazz in California 1945-1960''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
*Koch, Lawrence O. ''Yardbird Suite: A Compendium of the Music and Life of Charlie Parker''. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1988. .
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Buildings and structures in Hollywood, Los Angeles
Defunct jazz clubs in California
Jazz clubs in Los Angeles