Birdland was a legendary nightclub in New York City and, from 1949 to 1965, was the scene for the greatest jazz music and musicians in the world. This illustrated book offers a history of this legendary jazz club and presents the greats who played its stage, in capsule biographies, vintage photos, and rare memorabilia. Named after legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Yardbird Parker, the club showcased memorable double and triple bills lasting until dawn. Many classic live recordings were made at the Jazz Corner of the World, such as A Night at Birdland by the Art Blakey Quintet, Basie at Birdland, and Coltrane, Live at Birdland. Birdland established itself as the one place that every jazz musician had to play. Greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Count Basie, John Coltrane, Art Tatum, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Clifford Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Oscar Peterson, and Sonny Rollins, to name only a few, graced its stage.

Swing Street was the name given to 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan in New York City, where there were more jazz clubs and bars per square block than anywhere else in the world, all showcasing the finest jazz musicians of the era. This illustrated book offers a history of Swing Street and presents the greats who played the clubs there in capsule biographies, vintage photos, and rare memorabilia. On Swing Street you were guaranteed to experience an evening of unforgettable jazz on a nightly basis, seven nights a week, until the wee hours of the morning; stopping into Club Downbeat to catch a set of Billie Holiday, or dropping by the Three Deuces to hear Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie playing bebop. On any given night you could hear other iconic jazz artists such as Bud Powell, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Count Basie, Art Tatum, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, and many others.