Black Hawk (nightclub)
Encyclopedia
The Black Hawk was a San Francisco nightclub
which featured live jazz
performances during its period of operation from 1949 to 1963. It was located on the corner of Turk Street and Hyde Street in San Francisco's Tenderloin
District. Guido Caccienti owned the club along with Johnny and Helen Noga.
, Cal Tjader
, Thelonious Monk
, Shelly Manne
and Mongo Santamaría
.
Billie Holiday
and Lester Young
played their last West Coast club dates here and the Modern Jazz Quartet
played its first. When Charlie Parker
was supposed to be opening across town at the Say When Club, he could be found instead jamming at the Hawk. Other notable musicians who appeared there include Dave Brubeck
, John Coltrane
, Dizzy Gillespie
, Chet Baker
, Stan Getz
, Mary Stallings
, Johnny Mathis
, Art Blakey
, Shorty Rogers
, Art Pepper
, Art Farmer
, Gerry Mulligan
, Horace Parlan
and Russ Freeman
. Art Tatum
mainly did concert work in the last 18 months of his life; he played the Black Hawk in 1955.
Sunday afternoon sessions at the Black Hawk offered blowing time to young musicians. After a young sextet working at the Black Hawk brought Johnny Mathis
in for a Sunday afternoon session, Helen Noga, co-owner of the club, decided that she wanted to manage his career. In early September 1955, Mathis gained a job singing at weekends for Ann Dee's 440 Club. After repeated attempts, Noga convinced George Avakian
, then head of Popular Music A&R at Columbia, to see him. Avakian came to the club, heard Mathis sing and sent the now famous telegram to his record company: "Have found phenomenal 19-year-old boy who could go all the way."
Billie Holiday's old friend Dr. Herbert Henderson visited Holiday when she played dates at the Black Hawk during September 1958. For several months each year, Brubeck, who got his real start at the Black Hawk, returned for extended series of appearances, playing for consecutive weekends, sometimes for three months at a time.
Nick Esposito and his Sextet appeared many times at the Black Hawk during the 1950's. Esposito was known for his guitar jazz stylings. He had hit records such as “Empty Ballroom Blues”, “Penny”, “Fat Cat Boogie” and others. He always enjoyed coming home to San Francisco where he resided and the Black Hawk Nightclub.
The site of the Blackhawk is now a parking lot. Still standing is the adjacent building on Hyde Street (now housing the 222 Club) where tape recorders were set up to record the Miles Davis
album.
37.78271°N 122.41560°W
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
which featured live jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
performances during its period of operation from 1949 to 1963. It was located on the corner of Turk Street and Hyde Street in San Francisco's Tenderloin
Tenderloin, San Francisco, California
The Tenderloin is a neighborhood in downtown San Francisco, California, in the flatlands on the southern slope of Nob Hill, nestled between the Union Square shopping district to the northeast and the Civic Center office district to the southwest...
District. Guido Caccienti owned the club along with Johnny and Helen Noga.
History
The Black Hawk's intimate atmosphere was ideal for small jazz groups. In 1959, the fees that the club was able to pay jazz acts rose from less than $300 to more than $3,000 a week. A number of musicians recorded albums at the club, including Miles DavisMiles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Cal Tjader
Cal Tjader
Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. a.k.a. Cal Tjader was a Latin jazz musician, though he also explored various other jazz idioms. Unlike other American jazz musicians who experimented with the music from Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America, he never abandoned it, performing it until his...
, Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne , born Sheldon Manne in New York City, was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, swing, bebop, avant-garde jazz and fusion, as well as contributing...
and Mongo Santamaría
Mongo Santamaría
Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez was an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist. He is most famous for being the composer of the jazz standard "Afro Blue," recorded by John Coltrane among others. In 1950 he moved to New York where he played with Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, Fania All...
.
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
and Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
played their last West Coast club dates here and the Modern Jazz Quartet
Modern Jazz Quartet
The Modern Jazz Quartet was established in 1952 by Milt Jackson , John Lewis , Percy Heath , and Kenny Clarke . Connie Kay replaced Clarke in 1955...
played its first. When Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
was supposed to be opening across town at the Say When Club, he could be found instead jamming at the Hawk. Other notable musicians who appeared there include Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
, John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Chet Baker
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
, Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, Mary Stallings
Mary Stallings
Mary Stallings is an American jazz vocalist and mother of R&B/soul singer Adriana Evans.-Biography:Mary Stallings was born in San Francisco, one of the eldest of 11 children in the Stallings family; saxophonist Ron Stallings is her first cousin...
, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
, Shorty Rogers
Shorty Rogers
Milton “Shorty” Rogers , born Milton Rajonsky in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played both the trumpet and flugelhorn, and was in demand for his skills as an arranger. Rogers worked first as a professional musician with Will Bradley and...
, Art Pepper
Art Pepper
Art Pepper , born Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr., was an American alto saxophonist and clarinetist.About Pepper, Scott Yanow of All Music stated, "In the 1950s he was one of the few altoists that was able to develop his own sound despite the dominant influence of Charlie Parker" and: "When Art Pepper...
, Art Farmer
Art Farmer
Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet/flugelhorn combination designed for him by David Monette. His identical twin brother, Addison Farmer Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer (August 21, 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa –...
, Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
, Horace Parlan
Horace Parlan
Horace Parlan is an American hard bop and post-bop piano player.He is noted for his contributions to the classic Charles Mingus recordings Mingus Ah Um and Blues & Roots....
and Russ Freeman
Russ Freeman (pianist)
Russell Donald Freeman was a bebop and cool jazz pianist and composer.Initially, Freeman was classically trained...
. Art Tatum
Art Tatum
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
mainly did concert work in the last 18 months of his life; he played the Black Hawk in 1955.
Sunday afternoon sessions at the Black Hawk offered blowing time to young musicians. After a young sextet working at the Black Hawk brought Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
in for a Sunday afternoon session, Helen Noga, co-owner of the club, decided that she wanted to manage his career. In early September 1955, Mathis gained a job singing at weekends for Ann Dee's 440 Club. After repeated attempts, Noga convinced George Avakian
George Avakian
George Avakian is an American record producer and executive known particularly for his work with Columbia Records, and his production of albums by Miles Davis and other notable jazz musicians....
, then head of Popular Music A&R at Columbia, to see him. Avakian came to the club, heard Mathis sing and sent the now famous telegram to his record company: "Have found phenomenal 19-year-old boy who could go all the way."
Billie Holiday's old friend Dr. Herbert Henderson visited Holiday when she played dates at the Black Hawk during September 1958. For several months each year, Brubeck, who got his real start at the Black Hawk, returned for extended series of appearances, playing for consecutive weekends, sometimes for three months at a time.
Nick Esposito and his Sextet appeared many times at the Black Hawk during the 1950's. Esposito was known for his guitar jazz stylings. He had hit records such as “Empty Ballroom Blues”, “Penny”, “Fat Cat Boogie” and others. He always enjoyed coming home to San Francisco where he resided and the Black Hawk Nightclub.
The site of the Blackhawk is now a parking lot. Still standing is the adjacent building on Hyde Street (now housing the 222 Club) where tape recorders were set up to record the Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
album.
Selective discography
| Year | Title | Artist | Genre | Label | Recorded | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | A Night at the Blackhawk (Live) | Cal Tjader | Jazz | Fantasy | December, 1958 | |
| 1959 | At the Blackhawk, Vol. 1 | Shelly Manne | Jazz | Contemporary | September 1959 | |
| 1959 | At the Blackhawk, Vol. 2 | Shelly Manne | Jazz | Contemporary | September 1959 | |
| 1959 | At the Blackhawk, Vol. 3 | Shelly Manne | Jazz | Contemporary | September 1959 | |
| 1959 | At the Blackhawk, Vol. 4 | Shelly Manne | Jazz | Contemporary | September 1959 | |
| 1960 | Thelonious Monk Quartet Plus Two at the Blackhawk Thelonious Monk at the Blackhawk Thelonious Monk at the Blackhawk is an album by jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. It was originally issued on the Riverside label as RLP 12-323 /1171 and Original Jazz Classics OJCCD 305-2 in 1987.-Track listing:... |
Thelonious Monk | Jazz | Riverside | April 1960 | |
| 1961 | In Person Friday Night At The Blackhawk, Complete, Volume I In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete, also called The Complete Blackhawk, is a 2003 four-disc collection of the 1961 live performances of the Miles Davis Quintet at the Black Hawk nightclub in San Francisco... |
Miles Davis | Jazz | Columbia | April 21, 1961 | |
| 1961 | In Person Saturday Night At The Blackhawk, Complete, Volume II In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete, also called The Complete Blackhawk, is a 2003 four-disc collection of the 1961 live performances of the Miles Davis Quintet at the Black Hawk nightclub in San Francisco... |
Miles Davis | Jazz | Columbia | April 22, 1961 | |
| 1962 | At The Black Hawk | Mongo Santamaría | Latin Jazz | Fantasy | 1962 |
External links
- 1957 Poster: Miles Davis Quintet at the Blackhawk, San Francisco, California
- All About Jazz: Shelly Manne & His Men At The Black Hawk
- Dave Brubeck bio
- "I Heard That" -- Memories of the Blackhawk Club
- The Black Hawk « Up from the Deep
- Epitaph: the Black Hawk « Up from the Deep
- Guidespot: Finding Chet Baker In San Francisco
37.78271°N 122.41560°W