Jimmy Ryan's

Jimmy Ryan's was a jazz club in New York City, USA, located at 53 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, from 1934 to 1962 and 154 West 54th Street from 1962 to 1983.^[1] It was a venue for performances of Dixieland jazz.^[2]

Jimmy Ryan's

Address	New York City, New York State United States
Type	Jazz club

History

The location at 52nd Street, Manhattan, New York City, was one of a row of brownstones with clubs operating in basements. As the last surviving jazz club on 52nd Street, its brownstone — along with all the other brownstones on the north side of the street — were demolished in 1962 to make way for construction of the new CBS Building. CBS had given Jimmy Ryan $9,000 to relocate.^[3][4]

The club was owned by partners Matthew C. (Matty) Walsh (1914–2006) and Jimmy Ryan (1911–1963). Walsh, Ryan's brother-in-law, continued ownership following Ryan's death in July 1963 at the French Hospital. Gilbert J. Pincus (1907–1980) — who served as doorman from 1942 to 1962 at the original location and from about 1963 until his death in 1980 — became known as the "Mayor of 52nd Street".^[5][6][7]

Jazz style

During the 1940s, three New York nightclubs stood out as centers for traditional style jazz: Jimmy Ryan's, Nick's in Greenwich Village, and Eddie Condon's just a few blocks away.^[8]

Performing artists

Resident musicians from the 1940s

• Mezz Mezzrow (1943)
• James P. Johnson (1943)
• Art Hodes (1945–1949)
• J. C. Higginbotham (1946)
• Henry "Red" Allen (1946)
• Sidney De Paris (1947–1957)
• Sidney Bechet (1948)
• Max Kaminsky (1948–1949)
• Wilbur De Paris (1951–1962)
• Zutty Singleton (1963–1970)
• Roy Eldridge (1970–1980)

Sunday jam sessions, organized and managed by Milt Gabler

• Sidney Bechet
• Pops Foster
• Hot Lips Page
• Pee Wee Russell
• Eddie Condon
• Mezz Mezzrow
• Kaiser Marshall
• Hank Duncan
• Sandy Williams
• Brad Gowans
• Ben Webster
• Chu Berry
• Coleman Hawkins
• Wildcats

Looking east from 6th Avenue, 52nd Street is at night (May 1948); photo by William P. Gottlieb (cropped)

Jazz tunes relating to the club

• Tony Parenti and his Dean's of Dixieland, "A Night at Jimmy Ryan's", Jazzology (1967)

Max Kaminsky, Conrad Janis, Davis Quinn, Joe Henshaw, Zutty Singleton

• "Down in Jungletown" (renamed "Down at Jimmy Ryan's")
• "Blues for Jimmy Ryan"
• Live at Jimmy's, a complete album was recorded live there in 1973 by Maynard Ferguson.