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) * Hollywoo ...

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. Today the original building still stands at the corner of Vine Street and De Longpre Avenue, currently named The Parker Room, in honor of jazz great Charlie Parke

Dizzy Gillespie Quintet debut

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 improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but a ...

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 saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

on the west coast. Along with Gillespie and Parker, the quintet was composed of

Al Haig Alan Warren Haig (July 19, 1922 – November 16, 1982) was an American jazz pianist, best known as one of the pioneers of bebop. Biography Haig was born in Newark, New Jersey and raised in nearby Nutley. In 1940, he majored in piano at Obe ...

on piano, Ray Brown on bass, and

Stan Levey Adolph Stanley Levey known professionally as Stan Levey (April 5, 1926 – April 19, 2005) was an American jazz drummer. He was known for working with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in the early development of bebop during the 1940s, and in ...

on drums.

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging so ...

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 (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

." 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.

Live recordings

One recording exists of the Gillespie band (with

Lucky Thompson Eli "Lucky" Thompson (June 16, 1924 – July 30, 2005) was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist whose playing combined elements of swing and bebop. Although John Coltrane usually receives the most credit for bringing the soprano sa ...

added) at Billy Berg's. "

Salt Peanuts "Salt Peanuts" is a bebop tune reportedly composed by Dizzy Gillespie in 1942, credited "with the collaboration of" drummer Kenny Clarke. It is also cited as Charlie Parker's. The original lyrics have no exophoric meaning. Instead, they are a skat ...

" 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. {{coord, 34.0961, -118.3264, type:landmark_region:US-CA, display=title Buildings and structures in Hollywood, Los Angeles Defunct jazz clubs in California Jazz clubs in Los Angeles